A love letter to old school American showbiz - we review Crazy for You, which is now on at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. This feet-tapping musical features the songs of George and Ira Gershwin, and it’s directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman.

Cherrelle Skeete, star of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and the Amazon original, Hanna, joins Nick Curtis to talk about her role in Beneatha’s Place, which is written and directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah. The show’s now on at the Young Vic.

Plus, we discuss Michael R. Jackson’s A Strange Loop which is now on at the Barbican Theatre. You can hear our interview with Michael here.

And what’s been happening this week? Which “rubbish” Shakespeare scene is going to be rewritten by comedian Stewart Lee for the RSC? Also, Cabaret is going to Broadway in spring 2024 and will be on at the August Wilson Theatre.

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To mark the halfway point of 2023, join Nick Clark and Nancy Durrant for this special episode showcasing the finest shows that have impressed them this year so far. You can find all the links to the full shows below, but theatrical amuse-bouches to tempt you with the best of the West End and beyond include:

Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical 

Interview with the cast and creators

Our review

Sheridan Smith in Shirley Valentine

Shirley Valentine review

The Lehman Trilogy

The Lehman Trilogy cast interview

Our review

Accidental Death of an Anarchist

Interview with Daniel Rigby

Our review

Groundhog Day

Interview with Tim Minchin and Danny Rubin

Our review

Dear England

Dear England at the National Theatre review

Sleepova

Our review

Sir Lenny Henry and Lynette Linton on August in England

Interview with Lenny & Lynette

Our review

Find all our latest reviews over at standard.co.uk/culture/theatre

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Double Tony Award-winning American playwright Michael R. Jackson joins us to chat about his Broadway show A Strange Loop, which is now on at London’s Barbican. The 2020 Pulitzer Prize winner tells us about the long journey to success, life as a theatre usher before fame, his irritation with Disney corporate rules, a “complex phone relationship” with American actor Tyler Perry, and his upcoming musical project based on the film Teeth.

What did we think of Lily Allen in The Pillowman? Also starring Paul Kaye, the “miserable” play is written by Martin McDonagh and directed by Matthew Dunster.

For our second review, it’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist, starring Daniel Rigby. Dario Fo’s 1970 political farce has been adapted by Tom Basden and is now on at the Theatre Royal Haymarket - but did it deserve a West End transfer? To hear Daniel Rigby’s interview in full, click this link.

Also, what’s happening in stage news this week, Kristin Scott Thomas and Lily James are to star in a new West End play, Lyonesse at the Harold Pinter Theatre.

Plus, have theatre employers failed to learn lessons from Covid?

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House of the Dragon’s Milly Alcock and Succession’s Caitlin FitzGerald join us at the Gieldgud theatre for The Crucible. The stars share what they love about the play, working with 17th-century language - which Milly describes as “like cooking with really good meat" - plus what they miss about home, how fame has changed their lives, and adopting London life.

We review Dear England at the National Theatre, which stars Joseph Fiennes as Gareth Southgate and Gina McKee as Pippa Grange, sports psychologist and Head of People & Team Development at The Football Association from 2017 until 2019.

We discuss School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play. It’s written by Jocelyn Bioh, directed by Monique Touko, and is on at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre.

What’s been happening in theatre this week? Sarah Snook (Shiv from Succession) is to return to the UK stage in January for The Picture of Dorian Gray, and we share our top picks of shows coming to the West End.

To hear our interview with Kate O'Flynn for All of It click here.

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We're joined by the star of the hit BBC TV series' Eric and Ernie, award-winning comedian and actor, Daniel Rigby. He tells us about his new role in Accidental Death of an Anarchist, a play by Dario Fo and Franca Rame. He shares what it was like stepping away from comedy and how it felt to beat the likes of Matt Smith and Benedict Cumberbatch for a BAFTA.

Our review of Groundhog Day is in and let's just say, it’s worth seeing again, and again, and again. To hear our interview with Tim Minchin and Danny Rubin click here.

We discuss Romeo and Juliet at the Almeida in Islington, which stars Ted Lasso’s Toheeb Jimoh as Romeo, Metal Lord’s Isis Hainsworth as Juliet, and is directed by Rebecca Frecknall.

Plus in our weekly theatre news, Rufus Norris steps down from the National Theatre, and we pay tribute to Oscar- winning actress and politician, Glenda Jackson, following the news of her death at the age of 87.

To read our reviews and find the latest news visit standard.co.uk/culture/theatre.

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Recorded from our new TV studio, this week’s reviews are Patriots at the Noël Coward Theatre - starring Tom Hollander and Will Keen - plus A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe.

We speak with actor Jamie Parker, who you’ll know from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and The History Boys. He joins us from Southwark Playhouse Elephant to talk about The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

This interview includes:

• How you reverse the age of Benjamin Button on stage
• Performing as an adult Harry Potter - and what sold him on the prestigious role
• His time in The History Boys - and who he’s still mates with...

Plus, we discuss news of British theatre director Tim Sheader taking over as artistic director at the Donmar Warehouse.

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We have an accidental Dickens special this week for you. Our review of Great Expectations starring and produced by Eddie Izzard at the Garrick Theatre, plus Bleak Expectations at the Criterion Theatre.

For some non-Dickens relief, actor Kate O’Flynn joins us during rehearsals for All of It by Alistair McDowall at the Royal Court Theatre.

Kate tells us what it’s like to bring the one-woman trilogy to the stage after the pandemic, how she’s approaching the production this time round, why she thinks “writing is a much braver thing to do than acting”, what it’s like to perform alongside Danny Dyer in Henpocolyspe! - and sharing their love for Harold Pinter.

Plus, what’s been happening this week? We discuss the incredibly talented female playwrights behind the hit TV show Succession after its final episode, give our reaction to the West End theatre strike being called off, and is Drop the Dead Donkey returning on tour?

You can hear our interview with Eddie Izzard by clicking here.

For all our reviews and interviews visit standard.co.uk/theatre.

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Actor, writer and director Mark Gatiss joins us to discuss his role as Sir John Gieldgud in the National Theatre’s sell out show The Motive and the Cue, written by Jack Thorne and directed by Sam Mendes. He reveals what drew him to the role and how he got a little help from his famous friends in pulling it off.

For our first review we talk about the new adaptation of Brokeback Mountain at @SohoPlace, starring West Side Story’s Mike Faist and Manchester By The Sea’s Lucas Hedges. We also saw Once on This Island at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, starring Gabrielle Brooks, who was nominated for an Olivier for her role in Get Up! Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical.

Nick Curtis discusses attending the theatrical event of the year: Ruth Wilson’s marathon 24 hours show at the Young Vic, and Nancy Durrant discusses the response to Theatre Royal Stratford East’s forthcoming Black Out performance for Tambo and Bones.

For all the latest theatre news and reviews visit standard.co.uk/theatre.

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Eddie Izzard joins us to talk about her new one-woman adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel Great Expectations and how the show borrows heavily from her stand-up. Eddie talks preparations for another one-woman show, this time Hamlet, and about holding open rehearsals around Britain this year.

We review SplitLip Theatre’s raucous Second World War musical Operation Mincemeat, at the Fortune Theatre in the heart of London’s West End, as well as Sir Lenny Henry's play August in England which is inspired by the Windrush Scandal. That’s on now at the Bush Theatre and is co-directed by Lynette Linton and Daniel Bailey.

Plus, what’s happened in theatre this week? We talk about the great news that Cush Jumbo is joining David Tennant in the Donmar Warehouse’s Macbeth, and the not-so-great news of quite how much it can cost to rent accommodation during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

You can hear our chat with the cast and creators of Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical here, and our interview with Sir Lenny Henry and Lynette Linton for August in England here.

Find all our reviews at standard.co.uk/theatre.

© Music used by Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical and Sony Music CG

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Comedian Tim Minchin and screenwriter Danny Rubin talk Groundhog Day the musical, which is returning to the Old Vic seven years after its debut there.

They discuss how they looked for the ‘things that could sing’ in the original script as they brought the much-loved film to the stage, and why so many fans – and Bill Murray – have left the show with their minds blown.

Recorded at the Jermyn Street Theatre in the West End, in this episode we review Ryan Calais Cameron’s new play Retrograde, directed by Amit Sharma. Starring Ivanno Jeremiah as a young Sidney Poitier, it's now running at the Kiln Theatre in Kilburn.

We also went to see Dixon and Daughters at the National’s Dorfman Theatre, written by Deborah Bruce and directed by Róisin McBrinn.

Plus, we discuss the strange choice of Shakespeare staged at the King’s Coronation Concert, and what we think of news that David Tennant will play Macbeth at the Donmar Warehouse this autumn…

You can hear our interview with Ryan Calais Cameron by clicking here.

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