In this week’s issue of The Stage, writer/director Neil Bartlett suggests it may be the first time that many theatregoers have been inside a bingo hall, but that’s exactly where they will find themselves when attending his new show, Everybody Loves a Winner. Part of the Manchester International Festival in July, the cast of 20 is led by former Coronation Street actress Sally Lindsay and features a live bingo game that audience members will participate in. There are even prizes. Nick Smurthwaite talks to Bartlett and Lindsay to find out more

It is all about hope. Your head knows bingo isn’t about winning, it’s about losing. Only one person wins. If it was all about winning, the bingo halls would go out of business overnight. But the interesting thing is that your heart rate increases dramatically as you’re playing, because you are telling yourself that your life is about to change…

We’ve no idea who is going to win. It might be a member of the audience, it might be a member of the cast. The only thing you can be sure of in bingo is that there is always going to be a winner. There will be passages of improvisation which are not in the script because they will depend on what the audience does and on what the computer does.

Leading the cast of Ruby in the Dust’s adaptation of Dorian Gray, Matthew James Thomas has experienced highs and lows recently, landing a part in the ITV drama Britannia High, only for it to be cancelled after nine episodes. He talks to The Stage about his career so far, and keeping mum about moving away from dance.

When we first had the music, they did have very different storylines and they were going to a very different place with it… There is a lot of drama in just being a young kid and involved in the performing arts. Obviously it’s a very different job and something where you have to be very mature from a young age. And you have to take yourself quite seriously, I think.

Whether you are looking at the availability of drama schools in your area to find a suitable place to send your child or as an entry to drama teaching, then research is essential. In our Weekend Schools supplement, Susan Elkin examines the wide range of classes on offer nationally and looks at some company and career success stories.

Also this week:

• In light of Gordon Ramsay’s recent antics in Australia, Chris Bartlett reflects on how much crudity and swearing is tolerated on British television in comparison to the USA and Australia, and how well our presenting talents translate

• Insight: Creative disciplines in classrooms, such as drama, dance and music, not only reach pupils who are not academic but also develop communication skills. Nick Smurthwaite argues that we need to act quickly to educate youngsters for the workplace of the future

• Animatronics may have been overtaken by CGI in films, but it’s making a comeback in live shows. Sonny Tilders, director of Global Careatures and creator of the dinosaures for Walking with Dinosaurs - The Arena Spectacular, explains why

• Dear John: If ‘star quality’ is what sets one performer apart from others, is there an equivalent for backstage professionals?

• Ian Herbert on the International Association of Theatre Critics’ Amsterdam conference

• Richard Jordan on two very different musicals — Spring Awakening and Dirty Dancing — that could not be more different

Showpeople

• Shaun McKee, of all-male Shakespeare troupe The Lord Chamberlain’s Men
• Christopher Beeny, star of Upstairs Downstairs and currently playing Lane in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
• Rebecca Allin-Jayns, a National Youth Theatre member currently touring with the British Shakespeare Company

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In this week’s issue of The Stage:

Currently starring as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing in Regent’s Park, Samantha Spiro talks about the varies roles she has performed over her career, from impersonating Barbara Windsor in Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick to playing Fanny Brice in the musical Funny Girl.

When Barbara came to see the show at the National, I could her hear laughing in the audience, even before I made my entrance. She really got the audience going and afterwards she came to my dressing room with champagne, flowers and balloons. We just fell into each other’s arms, crying. The whole thing had been so emotional for both of us.

Also this week:

• As the artistic directorship of the Bolton Octagon changes hands, we talk to outgoing director Mark Babych and his successor David Thacker about the venue’s past, present and future

• As Monk Bretton Priory outside Barnsley plays host to the medieval Mystery Plays, we talk to director John Kelly

• We look more closely at the possible sale of the 17 theatres currently owned by Live Nation. Which companies are likely to be interested in buying them?

• Last week, the government announced its Digital Britain report, which is intended to transform Britain’s media for the internet age. The Stage’s media expert Maggie Brown assesses the report’s impact and its likely consequences

• As many acts and theatre troupes gear up for this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, PR guru Mark Borkowski looks at the best ways to court the press — and why shock tactics are unlikely to work

• Theatre producer Imogen Lloyd-Webber on the perils of taking a London show to Off-Broadway

• Dear John: “I’ve mainly worked as a solo artist but a lot of the jobs I see advertised are for ensemble shows. Is it hard to adapt?”

• We present a special look at the lighting and sound sectors, including an examination of the effects of the new Noise at Work regulations and a conversation with Mountview’s outgoing director of production arts and former head of sound Michael Livermore. Plus Nick Moran reports from the recent Showlight 2009 conference in Glasgow.

Showpeople

• New Art Club, aka Tom Roden and Pete Shenton, on moving from pure dance to comedy
• Neil Bromley and Simon Lloyd, playing Laurel and Hardy at the Jermyn Street Theatre from July 1-18
• Albuquerque-based comedians Shenoah Allen and Mark Chavez, also known as the Pajama Men

The Stage is available in major newsagents for £1.40, or via subscription — see http://www.thestage.co.uk/ for further details

Often typecast due to her curvaceous figure and told to lose pounds at the audition for her first West End show, Alison Jiear has felt the full force of weight issues during her career. As she prepares to perform in cabaret at Pizza on the Prk, she tells us why she has turned her attention to solo work.

We have the latest reviews from recent student showcases, from the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, Rose Bruford College, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Central School of Speech and Drama, Birmingham School of Acting, Guildford School of Acting, Central School of Speech and Drama and Drama Studio London

Former drama commissioning editor for Five Abigail Webber explores how many actors are turning their attention to writing, whether as a career progression or to supplement their income

Also this week:

• With a turnover of £5 million last year and 120 performances planned for this season, Wicksteed Park in Northamptonshire has so far avoided the credit crunch

• From corsetry and underwear to military uniforms and parka jackets, the National Theatre’s costume hire department houses some 70,000 items from most historical periods. Paul Vale takes a tour of the vast collection

• As the UK prepares for another summer of arts festivals, theatre critic Michael Coveney argues that elitism rather than inclusiveness should be the aim

• Dear John: “I’ve got a musical theatre background but would like to do more drama. Is there a different way to approach auditioning?” With advice from actress Catherine Hammond and casting director Sarah Hughes

• Training and Education: Susan Elkin speaks to the people behind CDET’s Recognised Status scheme, supported by The Stage and Dancing Times to discover why dance schools should join up to help raise teaching standards

Many people are forced to do a part-time job aside from the career they are passionate about. For theatrical historian and Stage critic William J Lawrence, his night job washing dishes in a restaurant was a secret he took to his grave. Eric Villiers investigates

Showpeople

• Mike Shearer, currently playing Zanna in Zanna, Don’t!
• Victoria Morris, starring as Katherina in Mooted Theatre’s modern dress touring production of The Taming of the Shrew
• Leanne Masterton, who presents her Jerry Herman tribute cabaret show Hello Jerry! at the Henley Fringe Festival next month

The Stage is available from major newsagents for £1.40. For subscription details and pricing, go to http://www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe/

Star of the American hit TV series Lost Daniel Dae Kim joins Maria Friedman in the lavish new staging of The King and I at the Royal Albert Hall which opens next week. He tells us about stepping into Yul Brynner’s shoes, and how his role in Lost helped him reconnect with his South Korean roots.

As a boy, I wanted to be as American as I could, because I did not want to feel like an outsider. So I ended up consciously forgetting a lot of my heritage. But now I feel there is a middle path to be taken between two cultures, East and West

Former EastEnders actor Sean Maguire, who currently lives in the US, explains why he was attracted to the title role in BBC’2 new action comedy Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire and how he’s keen to tread the boards in the UK

Sometimes you hear a title and think something is never going to work. Take Thate sounded stupid. Boyzone sounded stupid. But once you attach something to it, you don’t think about it any more. And, I think, as soon as audiences see Matt Lucas is in the show, they will give it a go, as he is the funniest man in the country.

Also this week, we have a comprehensive guide to part-time courses. Whether you fancy dipping your toe into the world of performing arts to discover your talents or you are already a professional who wants to brush up on or extend their skills, there’s bound to be a course out there to suit your needs.

Also in The Stage this week:

• Some argue variety is a dying art form, but a new generation of stars disagree. Miss Behave, whose new show The Crack plays at the E4 Udderbelly from June 16-21, argues that although the genre may be changing direction it remains as popular as ever

• Since opening the Mean Fiddler 27 years ago, Vince Power has been the brains behind events as diverse as Glastonbury to the glossy Pigalle Club. He tells us about his latest venture, the Hop Farm Festival, which launched last summer

• Michael Quinn reflects on the success of the Cardiff International Singer of the World as the competition prepares to crown a new winner in 2009’s final on Sunday

• Curtain Up: Alistair Smith sneaks a peek at the new £4 million staging of Peter Pan, which flies in to Kensington Gardens this summer

• Insight: As the recesssion bites, Theatre in Education companies are having to evolve and diversify to survive, especially following changes to schools’ exam systems

• Dear John: I’m ready to do a one-person show - what are the most important steps in making it a success?

• Maggie Brown on media: The Commons Public Accounts Committee’s assertion that there is no discernable core skill to being a presenter is an ignorant thing to say

• Simon Tait on the Aldeburgh Music Festival

Showpeople

• Arthur Darvill, composer of funk/soul musical comedy Been So Long currently playing at the Young Vic

• Marc Joseph, the musical theatre star who has just released his debut albim, Clear Blue Sky

• Francesca Roche, member of historical dance company Nonsuch

The Stage is available from majore newsagents for £1.40, or via subscription - see http://www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe/ for further details and pricing

One of the best known faces in British theatre, Sir Ian McKellen is starring in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot at the Theatre Royal Haymarket after a UK tour. He tells The Stage why he is pleased to be acting alongside his X-Men adversary and real life friend Patrick Stewart, and why touring is important:

In my case, it was because I like to to tour. I like the audiences and I remember with gratitude the actors who used to tour when I was living in Lancashire in the fifties. And it gives us a wonderful chance to rehearse the play — here we are arriving in London and we’ve already done 60 performances. It helps you feel more secure of yourself.

Sheila Hancock describes nuns as mysterious, but many people are equally intrigued by such a profilifc actress is appearing in new musical Sister Act. She tells Nuala Calvi why she’s not a fan of ‘theatrical snobbery’:

Everyone’s saying isn’t it dreadful there’s all these musicals at the moment — that’s nonsense. We’ve got a Natioanl theatre doing plays, we’ve got hte Donmar, we’ve got the Bush — there are masses of straight plays. If the Palladium, which is a variety theatre, has a musical in, and it’s packing ’em in and they’re standing and cheering at the end, for God’s sake don’t let’s knock it.

As Sean Holmes settles down to his first season as artistic director of the Lyric Hammersmith, he shares his vision for the venue’s future:

I plan a big departure here [for the Studio]. The studio’s going to become our creative learning space, so that in one way it will becoma a practical utility, not for audiences. But I want that work to be seen by the public too, and my hope is that we end up with a broad range of work and a constantly replenished young company at the heart of it.

He’s not a fan of role research, he likes watching a good comedy and you won’t find him reading up on what other characters say in the script in order to get a better grasp of who he is portraying. Brian Cox talks about simply getting the job done in The Take, which starts on Sky One later this month.

This is what television used to do. I did a lot of these kind of things in the seventies, wonderful Trevor Preston things like Out. They were wonderful scripts and had Tom Bell playing … a criminal released from prison seeking revenge. The scripts for The Take had that quality to it and I had not seen that quality in a long time.

Also this week, we have a complete guide to next week’s ABTT Theatre show, plus:

• Producer Jon Bonfiglio explains why he’s not taking a show to the Edinburgh Fringe this year and why he has chosen to play productions at arts festivals in Brighton and Oxford instead

• Jason Barnes is stepping down as production manager of the Cottesloe at the National Theatre after more than 30 years in the role. He tells us about his career

• Insight: The recent announcment that PRS for Music is slashing royalty rates has been welcomed by many — but as artists seek to regain control of their work, the battle over digital music is far from over

• As a growing number of West End shows are brought about by large teams of producers, Richard Jordan believes the emerging trend will ultimately have a positive impact on Theatreland

• Dear John: “I’m thinking of moving abroad to work as an actor — is the audition/casting process basically the same everywhere?”

Showpeople

• Myra Dubois, the actress, socialite, showgirl creation of Gareth Joyner
• Bryony Taylor, member of the CragRats company at Holmfirth
• Actor/musician Mark Stanford, playing the lead in Crazy For You at Kilworth House, nr Leicester

The Stage is available from major newsagents for £1.40, or via subscription — see www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe for more information.

The Stage’s musical theatre supplement 2009 is free with this week’s paper. A special guide to working in the genre, the 12-page supplement is full of ways to help you choose the right training as well as interviews with performers and industry experts to help you get the skills you need or build on the skills you have.

Oliver! star Jodie Prenger, whose rise to West End stardom has all the makings of a musical in itself, talks about how battling with working men’s club audiences and with her weight toughened her up for the role of Nancy.

Having dropped to a size eight [by the final of I’d Do Anything], I was gutted that my size remained an issue.. I was so worried that Cameron’s opinion would mean I was out of the running. The public might vote me through, but that didn’t mean the producer would be happy about it.

Money from the voting lines for I’d Do Anything and its predecessor shows including Any Dream Will Do and How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? have helped to fund the BBC Performing Arts Fund (formerly the Fame Academy Musical Theatre Bursary), a scheme which provides grants of up to £8,000 a year for performing arts students. We talk to Miriam O’Keeffe, project manager for the Fund, about the scheme and what is involved in applying for it.

Acting teachers from Central School of Speech and Drama and Mountview Academy of Performing Arts explain why acting is the most fundamental skill in musical theatre, and why your acting skills need to be every bit as good as those working in straight theatre. And other tutors from around the country talk about the importance of drama within musical theatre courses.

Casting director Richard Evans, author of Auditions - A Practical Guide, advises on how to find the right course to suite your needs, and how to build on your talent to ensure a successful audition, while Free Degrees author Lyndi Smith talks about ways to fund your training

Angela and Nick Rudling, founders of London Theatre School, talk about how they help talented singers learn to become accomplished dancers and actors

Also in this week’s packed paper:

Former Coronation Street and Queer as Folk actress Denise Black is heading back to her singing roots with a series of concerts in London. But, as she tells The Stage, she still has some acting projects in the pipeline, including a stint in Alan Ayckbourn’s Bedroom Farce at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

“There are a few who remember me as a singer as I was predominantly a singer for eight years. Dillie Keane, who runs Fascinating Aida, said to me, ‘Darling, I remember you. But nobody else is going to give a fuck’,” she laughs.

“What I have to do it make that transition. People will be surprised. And people are always suspicious when you are known for one thing, but want to try another.”

• Laurie Sansom, artistic director of the Royal and Derngate, talks about how Northampton’s theatre scene is thriving despite the recession. and the impact of his mentor Alan Ayckbourn on his career.

• The light entertainment world is finally cottoning on to the sort of graduate recruitment schemes long favoured by other industry sectors. We speak to people who have found work straight after studying and the organisations offering the jobs

• Backstage Focus: Staging a promenade play poses a whole new set of challenges for the production crew trying to realise the ambitions of the show. Those who have been involved with site-specific theatre share their experiences

• We meet the four finalists vying for The Stage scholarship to Kent-based KSA - and reveal the winner

• Garsington Opera has won a landmark case which challenged HM Revenue & Customs on the amount of VAT that the company could recover. Laywer Lawrence Graham explains the arguments and hos it could affect you.

• Dear John: “I have good material and, I’m told, a lot of talent. How do I polish all those elements into a successful act?” WIth guest advisers Annie Bright and Judith Baxter

• Malta-based Unifaun Theatre has been banned from performing Anthony Neilson’s controversial play Stitching because it is deemed ‘blasphemous’ and ‘pro-abortion’. The company’s artistic director Adrian Buckle tells Nick Awde how the ban has succeeded in bringing the Maltese theatre community together

• As Scarborough’s Spa Theatre celebrates its 90th consecutive summer season, we look at the venue’s history and whether this annual celebration of variety has a future.

The Stage is available from major newsagents for £1.40, or via subscription - see thestage.co.uk/subscribe for prices and further details.

Nicklas Radstrom’s Monsters, mkaing its UK premiere under Christopher Haydon’s direction, aims to provoke discussion about James Bulger’s murder. In this week’s paper, Radstrom and Haydon talk to The Stage about the challenges of presenting a play on such an emotive issue while avoiding sensationalism.

“The story is already out there, so it’s more about how we deal with incidents like this that we know have happened, but we don’t want to think about,”explains Radstrom.

“We have to explore them, we have to think about them think about what they mean to us as human beings and being part of a society where this actually happens.

“There are miles of text written about this case in the tabloids, on the internet, but how do we try to understand something like this in a mature, sensible way?”

Also this week:

• Comedian and Stage columnist Arthur Smith talks about his new autobiography, what made him want to do stand-up comedy and why, despite being one of the BBC’s Grumpy Old Men, he’s quite cheerful really

  • Listen to Arthur Smith on The Stage Podcast

• As she prepared for her tole in Time and the Conways at the National Theatre, Francesca Annis took a moment out to talk to us about the Priestley play and her career

  • Listen to Francesca Annis on The Stage Podcast

• David Timson has played characters from swashbuckling Errol Flynn types to all of the roles in the Sherlock Holmes stories in his years in radio dramas and audiobooks. He explains how his background as a singer helped with dialects, his experience in radio rep and as a freelance, and changes at the BBC

• Best known for the music of The Wombles, Mike Batt continues to enjoy a successful career as songwriter and producer

• Curtain Up: Tim Crouch tells Alistair Smith how his latest play, England, takes the form a guided tour around the Whitechapel Gallery

• Screen to stage adaptations are all very well — but creativity is suffering as original work becomes less bankable, argues Roger Foss

• British theatre company Inspector Sands tooks its award-winning production of Hysteria, along with Q&As and workshops, to major Chinese cities. Duncan Hodson reports on audience response

Plus Maggie Brown, guest columnist Andrew Fishwick, Dear John on how to choose betwen two very different offers of roles, and Q&As with actor Amit Sharma, ballet dancer Darren Goldsmith, Bale de Rua’s Fernando Narduchi and Dina Hall, head of wardrobe at Plymouth Theatre Royal

The Stage costs £1.40 and is available from major newsagents every Thursday. For subscription prices, go to http://www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe/

In this week’s issue of The Stage:

• After a turbulent two years, Bristol Old Vic has unveiled its new regime, under the leadership of artistic director Tom Morris and executive director Emma Stenning. New Editor Alistair Smith reports, while Bristol theatre critic Robert Gore-Langton assesses the state of play

• Insight: With no representative body to safeguard their interest and desperate for the opportunity to perform n a professional production, the majority of child performers are earning little or no pay. Is this education or exploitation?

• Dear John: “Does Susan Boyle’s Britain’s Got Talent success pave the way for more performers who don’t fit the norm?”

• Lee Ingleby has played a diverse range of roles across theatre, film and TV and is returning to the role of John Bacchus in BBC1’s Inspector Geroge Gently. He talks to Matthew Hemley about the show.

  What I first started doing TV, I did not have a clue. I was being too big and I didn’t know what cotinuity was or who the guy wit the tape measure on set was. My first day was terrifying. But I loved it.

• Currently starring in Deadly Murder at the Mill at Sonning, sultry actress and Polish countess Rula Lenska tells Michael Coveney that she has no regrets about her career choices

  I like touring. After two divorces, I’m a free agent with no domestic responsibilities. When the show’s going well and it’s a good company, there’s nothing better. In theatre, you can play a much wider age range. There used to be more of a spread with television and film, but with the advent of reality television, there’s far less money being spent on drama. Si in the last ten years, virtually all my work is on stage.

• Artistic director of the Menier Chocolate Factory David Babani tells Alistair Smith about taking risks, creating hit shows, running a producing house without subsidy and theatre in the recession

  There are a lot of theatres that potentially might be very well funded, who might not have that commercial imperative. It might be very easy to fall back on “arts for arts’ sake”, which is fine, but I think thatre has to be entertaining and fun. It is show-business and I programme with that commercial edge.

• These days, being an actor just doesn’t cut it. You need to be a singing, dancing, instrument-playing trapeze artists and puppeteer too. Nuala Calvi looks at how performers can broaden their talent

• Alia Williams, founder member of contemporary circus company NoFit State, tells Nick Smurthwaiter about its new show Tabu and the highs of circus life

• Backstage Focus: Lizzie Cheeld, resident stage manager at the Barbican Theatre, reveals how the many challenges of her job have included juggling the stringent demands of a dance company and a 45-piece orchestra

• Performing solo is a huge risk but it can create a bond between the audience and the actor on stage like no other. Performer John Cairney looks at the art of the ‘monopolylogue’

• Ian Herbert reports form the Europe Theatre Prize ceremony

• Dillie Keane on the “breathtaking” Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury

This week’s Showpeople:

• Actor and playwright David Gooderson, whose play The Killing of Mr Toad is being revived at the Finborough Theatre

• Jack Brady, who will speak the first lines on Hull Truck’s new stage as he appears in Funny Turns, a premiere by John Godber

• Former Waterloo Road star Ellie Paskell, who returns to BBC1 this week playing a gypsy girl in Ashes to Ashes

The Stage is available in major newsagents for £1.40, or via subscription

This week’s issue of The Stage is a special dance-themed edition, and includes full details of how you could win a dance bursary on the three-year musical theatre course at the Expressions Academy of Performing Arts, worth £18,000!

• Adam Cooper tells Kevin Berry why he jumped at the chance to choreograph, direct and perform in Shall We Dance?, a show celebrating the work of composer Richard Rodgers, and how he relished the opportunity to dance to someone else’s choreography while working with Russell Maliphant on Critical Mass

• Insight: As TV programmes including Strictly Come Dancing help generate a surge of interest in dance and schools embrace the phenomenon, Michael Quinn examines what steps ought to be taken to ensure the popularity and appreciation of dance continues to increase

• Jane Hackett, vice-chair of Dance UK, considers why young British dancers are not reaching higher standards in greater numbers, despite there being improved training opportunities, more funding available and an increased interest in the art form

• Zara Deakin talks about playing Marilyn Monroe in her husband’s new dance musical, Marilyn, which opens at the Apollo, London on June 3.

• Rebranded and with plans for new facilities, Tring Park School is building on its strong reputation for training young performers, particularly dancers. Principal Stefan Anderson, head of musical theatre Donna Hayward and some of the students talk about what the school has to offer

• Light entertainment is increasingly being mixed with ballet and contemporary dance as modern choreographers create fresh work. Mark Ritchie looks at some of these cross-genre productions

• Dance Training: Leading artistic directors explain why classical training is so important; Advice on how to dance your way to better health and avoid injury, and the artistic programme manager of Kent’s Hextable Dance explains how students and dance companies can benefit from the venue’s facilities

• Backstage Focus: Media artists Kit Monkman and Tom Wexler talks about their use of the latest technology to enhance live performance, collaborating with the likes of Darshan Singh Bhuller and Tom Sapsford

• Dancepeople: Professional belly dancer Fleur Estelle; Charlotte Broom, a regular in Will Tuckett’s shows; London-based American dancer/actor Bret Jones; urban hip hop choreographer and dancer Kymberlee Jay

The Stage is available for £1.40 from major newsagents, or via subscription - check out http://www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe/ for more details

In this week’s packed issue of The Stage:

• As Michael Frayn’s Alphabetical Order returns to Hampstead Theatre as part of the theatre’s 50th birthday celebrations, he tells Al Senter how shaken he was that his recent play Afterlife was so badly received by the critics and how he’s currently busying himself with revivals

• As the recession worsens, even the otherwise buoyant tribute market is starting to feel the pinch. Mark Ritchie talks to performers and agents about how to make the most of the opportunities available and highlights some areas of the market that seem to be bucking the downward trend

• Best known for her starring role in the BBC’s adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank broadcast in January, Ellie Kendrick is preparing for her professional stage debut as Juliet at Shakespeare’s Globe. She talks to Lisa Martland about her tomboy tendencies, her enduring love of the Bard and how she handles playing such iconic roles

• Last year, the BBC launched the College of Comedy initiative, selecting six applicants from more than 1,300 aspiring writers to develop sitcom ideas. Twelve months on, we attend a showcase of their work performed before an audience of high-profile TV executives

• Mark Shenton meets Matthew Byam Shaw, the former actor who has produced a slate of new work and classical revivals in less than a decade, including Frost/Nixon and Humble Boy, and is behind the current West End transfer of Spring Awakening

• Backstage Focus: To commemorate the 250th anniversary of Handel’s death, Karlsruhe Opera House in Germany is revisiting the 18th century in its production of Radamisto, using original production methods such as candle lighting

• Curtain Up: Kneehigh’s latest show, Don John, opens at the Battersea Arts Centre this week and sees the launch of a purpose-built 470-seat theatre within the venue

• Insight: The latest attempt to extend musicians’ copyright to 95 years failed and the UK was one of the countries to reject it. What are the arguments for and aganist the proposal?

• Might criminalising incitement in relation to sexual orientation create a future where comedy is steeped in censorship?

• Dear John: “I need new headshots — but with so many options and services, how do I choose?”

• The pick of the student showcases:

  • Mountview (BA Musical Theatre), February 5
  • Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (BA Acting), February 16
  • Glasgow Academy of Musical Theatre Arts (BA Musical Theatre), February 18
  • Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (3 year Acting), March 5
  • Arts Educational School London (3 year Musical Theatre), March 18
  • Arts Educational School London (3 year Acting), April 1

• Allan Glen looks at the enduring appeal of the Detroit sound of Motown, and the growing number of touring shows dedicated to the genre

Columnists:

• Ian Herbert: How well are university drama departments conducting their research?

• Arthur Smith: I doubt there is a comedian able to suppress a small snigger of pleasure at the rubbishing of Horne and Corden

Showpeople:

• Jessica Harris, playing Desdemona opposite Lenny Henry in Northen Broadsides’ Othello

• Singer Catherine Porter on her new album, Gems for Ruby

The Stage is available from major newsagents for £1.40, and also by subscription — see http://www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe for more details

This week, comedy writer and presenter Denis Norden talks about his lengthy career, from how he got into showbusiness to his work with long-time collaborator Frank Muir, co-creating It’ll Be Alright on the Night and writing his autobiography, Clips from a Life.

We had the great advantage over today’s comedy writers and shows, in that we had an audience that had all undergone, suffered and ensured an enormous common experiencem, so any references you made were picked up by everybody. IN a sense, it’s easier to entertain under those cirumstances, as people who ever do a corporate event will also know.

Also this week:

• Now starring in A Little Night Music at the Garrick, London, Hannah Waddingham talks about bringing youth and glamour to a role that’s more traditionally been played by older women.

• RSC artistic director Michael Boyd on why ensemble theatre-making is central to his plans for the company, and how he hopes the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre will bring audiences and performers closer together

• Matthew Hemley meets Archie Duffy, winner of this year’s full Stage scholarship to Sylvia Young Theatre School, and the other young performers who were auditioning for scholarship places

• Armed with his trusted spirit guide Sam, spiritualist medium Derek Acorah, who is currently touring UK theatre, claims a successful demonstration relies as much on entertaining the audience as communicating with the dead.

• Jack Shepherd tells us how his love of music hall comedians has inspired his new play, Only When I Laugh

• Insight: With ticketing companies merging and others establishing new agencies to battle it out in a competitive market, is it just the customer who’s losing out?

• Dear John: “I’ve got a good part in a long-running series, but I’m nervous about working alongside household names who all know each other. How can I avoid being the ‘newbie’?” With guest advisors Beverley Hills and Daniella Denby-Ashe

• Backstage Focus: Equipped with more psace, better facilities and a bigger seating capacity, Hull Truck is settling into its new home that opens at the end of the month

• Pyrotechnics displays form an increasing role in the most dramatic shows. We talk to some of the country’s leading practitioners

• Showpeople: Oliver Thornton, currently in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; De Napoli Clarke, artistic director of RJC Dance; Pippa Cleary, composer of musical Jet Set Go! which opens at the Jermyn Street Theatre this week

And our columnists this week:

• Maggie Brown: When Sky TV gets behind a project, they can really deliver a punch

• Liz Thomas: Whose fault is it that we have tired of Horne and Corden so quickly?

• Richard Jordan: In times of recession, theatre turns to revivals and star names

The Stage is available from major newsagents every Thursday for £1.40, or via subscription.

After years at the top on TV as a comedian and presenter, followed by public humiliation and heartbreak, Les Dennis has reinvigorated his life and career to emerge as a talented stage actor, self-deprecating author and new father. Currently performing in When We Are Married at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Les talks about the different sides to his nature:

I went for a lads’ lunch in Gordon Ramsey’s new place in Camden the other day and when I came out there was a huge mob of paparazzi. Oh no, I thought, what have I done now? They said, “Calm down, Les, Gwyneth’s Paltrow in there.”

My trouble is I’m two people — Leslie Heseltine from Liverpool, who likes to stay at home and not go to parties, and Les Dennis, who’ll do 20 minutes if the fridge door’s open. I still haven’t reconciled the two.

Also this week:

• Former commissioning editor of Channel Five Abigail Webber explains how budding scriptwriters can ensure that their dramas catch the attention of the broadcasters

• Backstage Focus: Barbara Eifler talks to the Society of British Theatre Designers’ two new honorary secretaries, Iona McLeish and Sophie Jump, about their backgrounds, previous works and what their appointements will mean for the society

• Insight: Musicals that use big-budget marketing campaigns and strong visuals can achieve global success, but independent productions may find it hard to compete. Charles Lee, author of a PhD thesis on musical theatre marketing, argues that as cultural references are reduced to widen appeal, globalised productions can have more in common with corporations such as McDonald’s than theatre

• PR guru Mark Borkowski says there is no excuse for promoters to ignore the word-of-mouth appeal that can be cultivated by engaging with Twitter and Facebook. Read the article online now.

• Dear John: Our small production does, for once, have some budget for light, sound and set design How can we get the best value in these areas to enhance our production?

• Michael Quinn examines the twenty year history of NMS Records, dedicated to contemporary classic music

• Best known for his role as Sanjay in EastEnders, Deepak Verma is also an accomplished stage and screen writer. He talks about his latest project, a Bollywood vrsion of Wuthering Heights currently at the Oldham Coliseum and then touring the UK

• Ian Herbert: Time to do right by the regions

• Dillie Keane: This isn’t the age of the train

• Showpeople: Sofia Escobar, touring in West Wide Story; Tim Lewis, in War Horse which transfers to the New London this weekend; Toby Fitzgibbons, touring with Scottish Dance Theatre

The Stage is available from major newsagents every Thursday for £1.40, or on subscription. See http://www.thestage.co.uk/ for details of our latest subscription offers

In this week’s print edition of The Stage, actor Greg Hicks and director David Farr talk about their preparations for the new production of The Winter’s Tale at the RSC’s Courtyard Theatre, including how much they enjoy working together and what they really think of the play.

“The Winter’s Tale is not so rock’n’roll as Coriolanus,” says Hicks. “It’s a spiritually deeper journey.” Farr agrees: “Coriolanus is driven by that sense of one person’s psychology, but The Winter’s Tale is not like that… [it] is a much more modern play than most of his other work, especially because its style sits somewhere between fairy tale and realism — which I find very attractive.”

Also this week:

• Tony Hall, chief executive of the Royal Opera House, on their new choral work On the Rim of the World, which saw a record 372 children on stage at once, believed to be a West End record (Oliver! has a mere 120)

• News reporter Lalayn Baluch looks at reaction to the Royal Opera’s plans to create a Manchester base

• Touring the eurozone and taking part in continental festivals can be a major source of income for those in the live music industry. As economies struggle, Allan Glen assesses the market’s health

• At a time when most of the country is cutting costs where it can, one of the few booming businesses is the holiday camp. Qdos Entertainment director Jon Conway explains why the Hi-De-Hi! style getaway is growing in popularity and how the light entertainment sector is growing in popularity

• Dear John: How do I get it right in auditions?

• Busy establishing itself as a performing arts hot spot, Queen’s University in Belfast is launching a one-year, postgraduate, intensive performer training course

• In our Postgraduate Courses supplement, find help and advice on finding the best course for your needs

• Nick Giles has been at the helm of Newbury’s Corn Exchange for a year now and has overseen a shift in its theatrical output, moving from tribute shows and revivals to shows by innovative companies such as Improbable, Filter and the Scottish Dance Theatre.

• Debbie Horsfield’s new drama for BBC1, All the Small Things, starts later this month and tells a tale of rival choirs. Actress Kiruna Stamell and musical director Chris O’Hara talk about their respective challenges of challenging outdated attitudes and acting as a “stunt conductor”

• We look ahead to the National Student Drama Festival 2009 (March 28-April 4), at which many contirbutors to The Stage will be making an appearance.

• Backstage Focus: AK Bennett-Hunter looks behind the scenes at the staging of this year’s Laurence Olivier Awards

• Acclaimed conductor Roger Norrington celebrated his 75th birthday earlier this week with a special concert at the Royal Festival Hall. He tells The Stage about the reaction to his musical views and that he has no plans to retire yet.

The Stage is available from major newsagents every Thursday for £1.40, or via subscription - see http://www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe/ for more details

In this week’s edition of The Stage, Ciaran Hinds talks about returning to the London stage after an absence of 12 years during which he forged a successful film career. Now starring in Peter Flannery’s adaptation of Burnt By The Sun at the National’s Lyttleton, he tells us how he wanted to exercise his theatre muscles.

My London agent had been suggesting that it was time that I did a play here again, but Burnt by the Sun just came out of left field. What I enjoy most about the theatre, as opposed to most film, is the sense of a group of people, of an ensemble cooking up together…

…When I did The Seafarer on Broadway, I was working with David Morse, another actor who’d been away from the stage for some time. We both knew that we’d have to find more energy than we’d needed working on film, but we both believed we’d have enough. We were wrong.

Also returning to the stage is Geraldine James, currently playing in Victory at the Arcola.

Theatre takes a long time — although this is actually a short job, very often in the theatre if you’re going to do something, you’ve got to do it for quite a long time, so it has to be something you really want to do. I don’t want to spend a year playing a not very good part, so I prefer to wait for one to come along.

Also in this week’s Stage:

• He may be better known as the boorish Pub Landard, but Al Murray is branching out into many new characters for his new ITV sketch show, Al Murray’s Multiple Personality Disorder. He talks about modern comedy minefields and why Harry Hill is “the absolute hero of comedy”

• Insight: With West End theatre posting record attendances and box office for 2008, it seems that people are seeking refuge in cultural pursuits during a time of economic hardship. But can this growth be sustained?

• As TV shows and money-hungry producers seek to open up theatre to new and inexperienced audience members, what can be done to ensure they behave appropriately?

• Dear John: What’s the best way to stand out in a crowded dance audition?

• Variety acts may have a troubled time getting onto TV or into the musical-filled West End, but Mike Martin discovers a warm welcome for them in village halls across the country

• We preview Move It 2009, the three-day dance expo at Olympia sponsored by The Stage

• Backstage Focus: Lorna Seymour, deputy stage manager on Rupert Goold’s King Lear, talks about her career behind the scenes and the challenges of her job

• As preparations get underway for the second annual Musical Theatre Matters Conference in London on Friday, March 6, we talk to steering committee chairman Chris Grady about how the conference was established

The Stage is available from major newsagents every Thursday for £1.40, or you can subscribe at get every edition delivered. See http://www.thestage.co.uk/subscribe for more information.

Best known for writing the highly successful book and screenplay for Mamma Mia!, Catherine Johnson’s new play, Suspension, is the first new work to be performed at the Bristol Old Vic since its closure 18 months ago.

I found it was closing and suddenly it hit me what a huge loss and how I really wanted to work there again. I missed being involved. I didn’t realise how much it bothered me until it wasn’t there any more…

…I thought it was important for my play to have a Bristol flavour, although the issues of parental responsibility and family breakdown are more universal. It does get a bit dark and the language is fairly ripe, but it is basically a comedy

Also in this week’s paper:

His varied career has seen him play John Lennon, work with Neil Jordan and appear in the first Harry Potter film. Now Ian Hart is about to take on the role of Tom Ripley in a Radio 4 version of Patricia Highsmith’s books

Jon Cassar, executive producer of US TV series 24, explains how the writers’ strike affected the show in a positive way, how the show mirrors current affairs and its future

As the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs celebrates its 40th anniversary of being converted from a nightclub to an integral part of the Royal Court Theatre, five of its artistic directors share their memories

Backstage: Leicester’s Curve theatre challenges the traditional concept of a theatre building — but Barbara Eifler remains a sceptic

Insight: The Creative Apprentice scheme promised to train thousands of young people for careers in the backstage sector, but recession now threatens to derail it

Dear John: “A lot of performers, like me, do several jobs to keep going — what’s the best way to balance them all and get the best out of them?”

The best opinion writers:

• A Night Less Ordinary, the scheme to give away free theatre tickets to those under 26 aims to convert young people into tciket-buying audience members. Tim Joss argues that this is unlikely to happen and instead argues for improved research into audience development for the arts and increased efforts to involve older theatre-goers in inspiring the next generation

• Maggie Brown: There is no quick fix to ITV’s problems

• Richard Jordan: Many of this year’s Oscars hopefuls owe their career to the theatre. Maybe the studios should invest in theatre development and training?

Showpeople:

• Marc Geoffrey, appearing in the Tobacco Factory’s productions of Julius Caesar and Anthony and Cleopatra

• Jonathan Jones, currently rehearsing for Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, the first play without a regional theme to be staged at Durham’s Gala Theatre

• Catherine Boot, a TV presenter and actress who uses BSL and Makaton in both her on and off-screen roles.