As chief associate director of the RSC, Greg Doran has certainly turned his childhood love of Shakespeare into a frutiful and distinguished career. He talks to us about writing The Shakespeare Almanac and making some brave directorial decisions.
Working and living in Stratford, I began to see all the references Shakespeare makes to the natural world though his eyes. I even went to the spot on the river where a girl called Catherine Hamlet drowned. To my astonishment there was a willow that “grew aslant the brook”, just as he writes in Hamlet.
I became increasingly fascinated by his alertness to the natural world and it started to have a knock-on effect on me.
Grammy-nominated singer, pianist and Great American Songbook devotee Michael Feinstein tells Michael Darvell about his upcoming gig at the London Palladium with special guest John Barrowman, and his search for rare songs.
I’ve just had a message saying that two Jerome Kern songs from 1941 have been discovered and did I want to sing them. I’m hoping they have good lyrics, because sometimes songs are suppressed for a reason.
ITV’s director of drama, Laura Mackie, talks about the turning point for its programming ad the challenge of balancing quality shows and tight budgets.
At the beginning of 2008, we launched a lot of new dramas in quite a short period of time. And I think, with hindsight, we were trying to have too big a gear-shift. But by the time we got to autumn last year, we had pulled back a bt. We decided, having had a break from psychological thrillers, that we did want to commission some. But that we wanted them to feel very authored, like The Children.
Also this week:
For the first time in a quarter century, London is set to host a city-wide festival of puppetry — and it is aimed exclusively at adults. With a host of British and international companies showcasing their productions across seven venues, the event hopes to challenge the notion that the genre is for kids only
After establishing a School of Comedy club in west London, Laura Lawson cranked up the creative process a few levels by taking the youngsters to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and ultimately landing an E4 television show to showcase their talents. She speaks to Angela Thomas about nurturing comic talent
Technical Michael Sowby — better known as ‘Gadget’ — has worked on a huge range of productions at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. As he takes on a full-time job and makes 2009 his last working stint at the event, he talks about his experiences
Well known to long-time Stage readers as a vocal and passionate advocate of the reform of the British drama training establishment, Sam Kogan was the founding principal of the Academy of the Science of Acting and Directing. His daughter Helen Kogan explains how her father’s early life influenced his outlook and why she was compelled to present his life’s study in a new book
Insight: In the 30 years since children’s theatre has taken off, the variety of performances on offer for the under-fives has been expanding. Susan Elkin examines the market
Antony Gormley’s recent fourth plinth project One & Other crossed the boundary between visual art and live theatre. Is it the start of a new trend?
Maggie Brown looks at online EastEnders spin-off, E20, the competition beteen Strictly Come Danicng and The X Factor and why there are better choices for the House of Lords than Kirstie Allsop
Richard Jordan defends the term ‘showbusiness’.
Showpeople: Q&A interviews with Ian Kelly, playing Robert Lyon in The Pitmen Painters and Jacqui Dankworth, actress and duaghter of Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth, who has released her latest album, Back to You;
Dear John: “How do I combine live and online marketing to best promote my music?”
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