800 stories by "Alistair Smith"
Last week's front-page story about the National and other leading theatres signing up to the #YesOrNo campaign generated quite a response. A
For all its professed liberal sensibilities, theatre can still be a deeply conservative world. Set ways of doing things, strict hierarchies and
No one forgets their big break. What has proved to be so exciting about The Stage Debut Awards is the chance it
Can a theatre be cursed? Well, no, but it can certainly develop a bad whiff about it. Soon after I started at
I find myself continually impressed by theatremakers' seemingly boundless optimism. Theatre is a career that most people would not have pursued were
Most theatre histories focus on individuals " larger-than-life characters who shaped the art form over the centuries: Richard D'Oyly Carte, Binkie Beaumont,
Having left Ambassador Theatre Group, the mega-business they founded, the irrepressible impresarios are rebuilding their empire. They tell Alistair Smith about their
When I joined The Stage nearly 15 years ago, I wanted to be a theatre critic. It took me one week and
This evening, we'll know if the England football team has reached its first Fifa World Cup final in 52 years. But, whether
A fortnight ago, the results were announced of Actors Touring Company's disciplinary process into accusations of misconduct against its artistic director Ramin
How has theatre criticism changed in the past eight years? In 2010, The Stage ran a survey asking our readers what you
If you thought West End tickets were getting expensive, spare a thought for all the private equity firms, multimillionaires and billionaires out
I recently took part in a round-table discussion about London's theatres. One of the key issues discussed was how the planning system
For a few years, regional theatre leaders have warned that things are getting tougher outside of London. In the subsidised sector, local
The Edinburgh Fringe started by accident. In 1947, eight companies took advantage of the existence of the official Edinburgh International Festival to
We've had a couple of enlightening anecdotes this month from artists revealing how they stumbled into a career in theatre by accident.
When diversity quotas were discussed 10 years ago, most people I spoke to " including those engaged in actively pursuing improved representation
Lyn Gardner's departure from the Guardian after 23 years has sent a shockwave through the theatre world. While at the Guardian, she
It looks likely we will have a new figure joining the West End's top table in the coming weeks: Len Blavatnik. Sir
It's not uncommon to hear grumbling, especially around Olivier Awards time, that the West End is too in awe of its American
At the Olivier Awards earlier this month, people wanted to talk about only one thing. It wasn't the abysmal weather, nor how
The Theatre Royal Haymarket, one of London's oldest and grandest playhouses, was put up for sale in January. Since then, there have
Two stories in this week's paper highlight one of the crucial challenges in theatre's struggle to combat harassment in the workplace. Actors
Theatre ticket prices can be an emotive subject. But, as Richard Howle observes in his Long Read this week, there is often
Two of London's most unforgiving theatres have claimed two more victims. First it was Rufus Norris, as his production of Macbeth failed
