Best known as Rory Williams in Doctor Who, Arthur Darvill is swapping science fiction for Elizabethan drama as he takes on a leading role in Doctor Faustus at Shakespeare’s Globe. In The Stage this week, he explains why he is excited to play a villain but worried he might burn the theatre down…
We’re working with a puppeteer and a magician, which is just brilliant. In fact, I’ve got a magic call this afternoon, to work out how to set things on fire and how to make horns disappear. Coming in to do a play like this is so different from any other play I’ve worked on. There’ll be fire everywhere. Real fire in the Globe - and a lot of the fire is my responsibility. I’m terrified of being the next person to burn the Globe down.
With a new stage adaptation of Batman opening in July, composer James Brett tells Nick Smurthwaite about writing music for the Dark Knight and his enemies, and performing the duties of musical director
I listened to all the Batman scores that are available in order, so that I could bring a fresh voice to it. Obviously there are certain things you need to do to make it Batman-esque - big, bold, brassy stuff. It bears no resemblance to any West End musical you’ve ever seen. It is much more symphonic. I’m filling big arenas with sound, courtesy of a 90-piece orchestra.
EastEnders star Bunmi Mojekwu, who plays Mercy Olubumni, tells Matthew Hemley why she feels marginalised by perceptions of black actors in the UK and why the US is appealing in comparison
It’s hard out there as there is not much written for us. It’s the same old ‘let’s kill each other and shoot each other’ but there are so many other stories to us that can be explored - such as how we feel about race and how we feel about love - all these things I feel we are still yet to do.
Also this week:
Insight Focus: Mark Shenton takes a close look at Theatre Royal Haymarket Productions - the historic West End bid to turn itself into a producing house
A new campaign has been launched to monitor cuts in arts funding and assess the wider economic impact. But has Lost Arts got the numbers right and is this really the best way to win support for arts subsidy, asks Alistair Smith
Training: Natalie Abrahami is directing Pericles at the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park this summer. Susan Elkin finds out how she’s helping make it interactive for children
In a Backstage lighting and design special, AK Bennett-Hunter looks at the ways in which the latest technological advances are fostering greater interaction between various backstage disciplines, while Derek Smith rounds up some of the new products on the market
Dear John: I’m working on stage with my partner for the first time. How do we make it a plus, not a minus?
Backstage Focus: Seb Soper was once told that, living in Devon, he’d never make it as a theatre designer. But as project manager at Plymouth Theatre Royal’s huge TR2 centre, he now provides scenery not only for local theatre but the West End too. Kevin Berry went to meet him
The giant statue of Freddie Mercury is one of the most identifiable frontages of any West End venue, but there’s more to the Dominion Theatre than meets the eye. Natalie Lambracos meets its events manager Caroline Ginnane
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