Theatre & Dance

Theatre & Dance

Portrait of choreographer Akram Khan with a wooden chair resting on his left shoulder.
INTERVIEW
Akram Khan: Why I made a ballet for Saudi Arabia

The choreographer talks about putting women dancers on stage for the first time in the country and why Brexit is to blame for the closure of his company after 25 years

Nicola Walker as Isabel Adomakoh on her knees and yelling, with two other cast members in the background.
REVIEW
FIRST NIGHT
I couldn’t believe in The Unbelievers — but Nicola Walker is outstanding
Vadim Muntagirov as Colas and Marianela Nuñez as Lise dancing in La Fille mal gardée.
REVIEW
FIRST NIGHT
La Fille mal gardée — a night of pure joy
Munya Chawawa posing with members of Black Boys Theatre Club in front of the National Theatre.
‘Theatres are too white — so I’m taking black teenage boys for free’
Rafiki in costume, gesturing right, with three gazelle puppets leaping on the left, all against a red and orange gradient background.
REVIEW
ROSAMUND URWIN ON THEATRE
Does The Lion King still roar after 26 years?
A puppet show scene where a man holds a chicken puppet while a pig puppet is next to him and a cow puppet looks through a window.
Five things to see this week: A Squash and a Squeeze on stage
Scotland
Two men sit on a stage smiling, with stacks of red and gold chairs behind them.
The 2 Johnnies: Ireland’s Ant and Dec on their entertainment empire
Ireland
Vadim Muntagirov as Colas and Marianela Nuñez as Lise dancing in La Fille mal gardée.
REVIEW
FIRST NIGHT
La Fille mal gardée — a night of pure joy
Vadim Muntagirov as Colas and Marianela Nuñez as Lise dancing in La Fille mal gardée.
REVIEW
FIRST NIGHT
La Fille mal gardée — a night of pure joy
Munya Chawawa posing with members of Black Boys Theatre Club in front of the National Theatre.
‘Theatres are too white — so I’m taking black teenage boys for free’
Munya Chawawa posing with members of Black Boys Theatre Club in front of the National Theatre.
‘Theatres are too white — so I’m taking black teenage boys for free’
Rafiki in costume, gesturing right, with three gazelle puppets leaping on the left, all against a red and orange gradient background.
REVIEW
ROSAMUND URWIN ON THEATRE
Does The Lion King still roar after 26 years?
Rafiki in costume, gesturing right, with three gazelle puppets leaping on the left, all against a red and orange gradient background.
REVIEW
ROSAMUND URWIN ON THEATRE
Does The Lion King still roar after 26 years?
A puppet show scene where a man holds a chicken puppet while a pig puppet is next to him and a cow puppet looks through a window.
Five things to see this week: A Squash and a Squeeze on stage
Scotland
A puppet show scene where a man holds a chicken puppet while a pig puppet is next to him and a cow puppet looks through a window.
Five things to see this week: A Squash and a Squeeze on stage
Scotland
Two men sit on a stage smiling, with stacks of red and gold chairs behind them.
The 2 Johnnies: Ireland’s Ant and Dec on their entertainment empire
Ireland
Two men sit on a stage smiling, with stacks of red and gold chairs behind them.
The 2 Johnnies: Ireland’s Ant and Dec on their entertainment empire
Ireland
Portrait of choreographer Akram Khan with a wooden chair resting on his left shoulder.
Rafiki in costume, gesturing right, with three gazelle puppets leaping on the left, all against a red and orange gradient background.
REVIEW
ROSAMUND URWIN ON THEATRE
Does The Lion King still roar after 26 years?
Rafiki in costume, gesturing right, with three gazelle puppets leaping on the left, all against a red and orange gradient background.
REVIEW
ROSAMUND URWIN ON THEATRE
Does The Lion King still roar after 26 years?
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Theatre reviews

Three women performing on stage with microphones.
‘Offensive’ musical starring a pansexual Anne Frank could save Broadway
Abigail Cruttenden (Holly), Ben Lamb (The Lawyer), and Katie Matsell (The Heiress) on stage for the play Ragdoll.
REVIEW
FIRST NIGHT
Ragdoll — an atmospheric, time-travelling take on Patty Hearst’s kidnap

Theatre features

Writer Alan Hollinghurst in a garden pergola.
‘With Hollinghurst, people want the sex’ — The Line of Beauty comes to the stage
Is theatre elitist? No, Daniel Day-Lewis needs to get out more
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Dance reviews

Dance features

Comedy reviews

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Comedy features

More Theatre & Dance

Oct 10, 2025
Two sumo wrestlers in a match, with one wrestler lifting the other off the ground in the ring, while a crowd watches.
A tonne of food and reinforced toilets: Royal Albert Hall braces for sumo’s comeback

The Grand Sumo Tournament is returning to the UK for the first time since 1991. Will it finally break the Japanese sport in Britain?

The Times
Oct 9, 2025
Collage of John Thaw as Inspector Morse, David Suchet as Poirot, and John Nettles as John Barnaby.
‘Audiences have short attention spans’: how whodunnits took over the stage

Murder mysteries have become theatre’s biggest banker, with The Thursday Murder Club, a revamped Mousetrap and the sleuths Morse, Barnaby and Poirot all taking to the stage

The Times
Oct 8, 2025
The video was screened in protest at the theatre’s partnership with the Royal Bank of Canada, which invests in fossil fuels
Drama outside Old Vic as TV actors appear in sponsorship protest

Siobhán McSweeney and Samuel West star in video about greenwashing shown to theatregoers before the London debut of Hollywood star Susan Sarandon

The Times
Oct 4, 2025
A person in an emerald green Victorian gown with a black hat and veiled face, resting a hand on a cane, looks to the right.
DOMINIC MAXWELL ON THEATRE
Stephen Fry is a hologram on a mission to have fun

The actor makes a surprise theatrical return in this star-studded West End revival of The Importance of Being Earnest

The Sunday Times
Oct 3, 2025
Nicole Scherzinger poses at Claridge's ahead of The Fashion Awards 2023.
Nicole Scherzinger: ‘In pop, it’s like you have an expiration date’

The former Pussycat Doll is being hailed as the new queen of Broadway. She talks Tony awards, Sunset Boulevard and her friend Liam Payne

The Times
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Sam Heughan being interviewed with regards to his new role as Macbeth for the RSC.
Outlander’s Sam Heughan: ‘I auditioned for James Bond. It was very odd’

The star, best known as Jamie Fraser in the historical drama, is tackling another Scottish warrior — Macbeth at the RSC. He talks cocktails, failure and family

The Times
Hiran Abeysekera as Hamlet holding a skull at the National Theatre.
FIRST NIGHT
This Hamlet is like a breathless podcast — the National hasn’t found its feet

As the Prince of Denmark, Hiran Abeysekera spends so much time joshing with the audience that it’s hard to care what happens in this disjointed production

The Times
Oct 2, 2025
A woman with long wavy hair, in a green dress, sits on a wet stage next to a large golden basin of water.
RICHARD MORRISON
This Israeli take on Salome is hammy — but I’m glad it’s in the West End

There’s a good reason why a small theatre company from Jaffa is being showcased on one of London’s biggest stages — and now more than ever

The Times
Marcelino Sambé as Pedro lifting Francesca Hayward as Tita in The Royal Ballet's "Like Water for Chocolate"
FIRST NIGHT
Like Water for Chocolate — an all-star Royal Ballet seethes with emotion

The new season got off with a bang in this adaptation of Laura Esquivel’s novel, blending gritty realism with the supernatural

The Times
Oct 1, 2025
Collage of Cameron Mackintosh, John Caird, Trevor Nunn, and Patti LuPone as Fantine in Les Misérables at the Barbican Theatre.
‘What are you trying to prove?’ The furious rows behind the making of Les Mis

As the hit musical turns 40, John Nathan talks to the original team about cutting songs and sacking lyricists — and tours a revealing new archive

The Times

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Oct 10, 2025
A tonne of food and reinforced toilets: Royal Albert Hall braces for sumo’s comeback

The Grand Sumo Tournament is returning to the UK for the first time since 1991. Will it finally break the Japanese sport in Britain?

The Times
Oct 9, 2025
‘Audiences have short attention spans’: how whodunnits took over the stage

Murder mysteries have become theatre’s biggest banker, with The Thursday Murder Club, a revamped Mousetrap and the sleuths Morse, Barnaby and Poirot all taking to the stage

The Times
Oct 8, 2025
Drama outside Old Vic as TV actors appear in sponsorship protest

Siobhán McSweeney and Samuel West star in video about greenwashing shown to theatregoers before the London debut of Hollywood star Susan Sarandon

The Times
Oct 4, 2025
DOMINIC MAXWELL ON THEATRE
Stephen Fry is a hologram on a mission to have fun

The actor makes a surprise theatrical return in this star-studded West End revival of The Importance of Being Earnest

The Sunday Times
Oct 3, 2025
Nicole Scherzinger: ‘In pop, it’s like you have an expiration date’

The former Pussycat Doll is being hailed as the new queen of Broadway. She talks Tony awards, Sunset Boulevard and her friend Liam Payne

The Times
ADVERTISEMENT
Oct 3, 2025
Outlander’s Sam Heughan: ‘I auditioned for James Bond. It was very odd’

The star, best known as Jamie Fraser in the historical drama, is tackling another Scottish warrior — Macbeth at the RSC. He talks cocktails, failure and family

The Times
Oct 3, 2025
FIRST NIGHT
This Hamlet is like a breathless podcast — the National hasn’t found its feet

As the Prince of Denmark, Hiran Abeysekera spends so much time joshing with the audience that it’s hard to care what happens in this disjointed production

The Times
Oct 2, 2025
RICHARD MORRISON
This Israeli take on Salome is hammy — but I’m glad it’s in the West End

There’s a good reason why a small theatre company from Jaffa is being showcased on one of London’s biggest stages — and now more than ever

The Times
Oct 2, 2025
FIRST NIGHT
Like Water for Chocolate — an all-star Royal Ballet seethes with emotion

The new season got off with a bang in this adaptation of Laura Esquivel’s novel, blending gritty realism with the supernatural

The Times
Oct 1, 2025
‘What are you trying to prove?’ The furious rows behind the making of Les Mis

As the hit musical turns 40, John Nathan talks to the original team about cutting songs and sacking lyricists — and tours a revealing new archive

The Times