'One day, I was summoned to a pub near the Royal Court theatre where Samuel Beckett was looking at my work. "These are wonderful pictures," he said' I knew Samuel Beckett's reputation. He di…
The playwright reveals how his clashes with the sexual predator haunt the most disturbing scenes of The Hills of California, his latest Olivier-nominated play about teenage singing sisters t…
From the terrible parking to the awful mural of Charles and Camilla, the Northampton Complaints Choir puts it all in song. Our man joins to vent his frustrations " and gets a surprise The au…
His comic novel The Commitments gave working-class Dublin its voice " and became a hit film. As the stage version returns to theatres, does Doyle still recognise the foul-mouthed young autho…
It scooped the Golden Lion at Venice and now the beach-set spectacular is bringing its burned-out workers and decadent globetrotters to the UK. But why does no one clap? Drizzle falls from p…
All-round entertainer whose readiness to take a joke against himself was key to his successOne day in 1964, over a cup of coffee, Des O'Connor told the comedian Eric Morecambe that he hoped …
A Chelmsford swimming baths has turned Ballard's prescient apocalyptic novel into a truly immersive performance. Our writer pulls on his trunks and dives in It's Saturday night in Chelmsford…
As she hits the stage in a powerful solo show, the frenetic star talks about sexist miners, over-friendly horses " and what really happened at that No 10 drinks party Speaking breathlessly b…
It mesmerised Proust, terrified Homer Simpson and gave us the Hunchback " Guardian critics celebrate Paris's gothic masterpiece at the heart of the modern imagination As Notre Dame Cathedral…
It was the cushty comedy that perfectly captured 80s Britain. As Only Fools and Horses hits the stage, we celebrate the TV classic that needed a new scale to measure audience laughterBack in…
Whether it's censorship, problematic tweets or #MeToo, comics are being scrutinised like never before. Is there a 'new sense of panic' in the industry?Comedy is in a period of extraordinary …
He's played baddies in everything from Bond to Beverly Hills Cop. Now he's tackling the disgraced movie mogul in a self-penned play. The actor-playwright explains why theatre is dying out " …
Raised to be sauteed in garlic butter but freed by French vegetarian art anarchists, meet the unlikely stars of a mindful music performance Only minutes after meeting Elizabeth Saint-Jalmes …
National Indoor Arena, Birmingham"Oh my God, Birmingham, England!" yelled Jerry Seinfeld as he came on stage suited and shouting as though he sought to sell us something disreputable. "Do yo…
The actor best known as Superintendent Ted Hastings in Line of Duty is bringing Homer and Heaney to County Donegal. Our writer joins him for oysters as he takes his dogs for a windswept walk…
Children's television presenter and actor who spent 21 years on Play School and whose baritone voice graced Camberwick Green, Chigley and Trumpton"HERE'S a house. Here's a door. Windows " on…
Kevin Spacey's first season in charge of the Old Vic starts tomorrow. Will he boost the fragile ecology of British theatre? Or will he leave us cold? Stuart Jeffries reportsIn the long queue…
The star talks about her novels for neglected women, missing her 'dear pal' Victoria Wood " and how it was a miracle she survived the lorry attack in Nice Celia Imrie breezes into the cafe, …
Liam Williams quit standup fearing his pessimissm about the state of the planet was making audiences worryingly apathetic. But is a sunny outlook really any healthier? We sat him down for a …
She was given her big break by Charlie Chaplin and worked with Richard Burton and Laurence Olivier. Claire Bloom talks about her rise to fame and reading her ex-husband Philip Roth's work'Te…
It's three months until she makes her debut " but there's already a frenzy of speculation. Meet the Brixton girl about to go galacticA few hours after Pearl Mackie was unveiled as Doctor Who…
In Pube, Eugénie Pastor gives her audience scissors and asks them to donate some pubic hair. Stuart Jeffries gets snippingI part the curtains and enter a tiny room. It's an intimate, low-li…
Ian Lavender was 22 when he was cast as mummy's boy Private Pike in Dad's Army. It was a role that would come to haunt his career, stopping him from getting meatier parts. His one-man Edinbu…
One of the great British comedians and all-round entertainers of her generation who wrote dramas, sketches and popular sitcomsWhen Victoria Wood was about six, she had an epiphany in Buxton.…
Actor and comedian who became a national treasure as partner to Ronnie Barker in The Two Ronnies"I was lying in bed with my wife last Sunday morning when she called me by a special pet name,…