The Play That Goes Wrong lives up to its name: how Tier 3 closed the last big theatre show standing

Posted on January 2, 2021 by mkmswain

While the rest of British theatre was plunged into the doom and gloom of Tiers 3 or 4 before Christmas, miraculously, Theatre Royal Bath remained open. “Most of Somerset went into Tier 3 – somehow, Bath managed to stay in tier 2,” recalls producer Kenny Wax. “We were in this strange, unique position.”

Read my full Telegraph article here

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Andrew Lloyd Webber: ‘Theatres had to close, but the vaccine will make things dramatically better’

Posted on January 2, 2021 by mkmswain

Andrew Lloyd Webber, who famously took part in a trial for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, was delighted to hear that it’s been approved for use in the UK. “It’s great news. I’m thrilled. Everybody was pretty optimistic about it earlier in the year, so it was just a question of when.”

Read my full Telegraph article here

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Dull girl power speeches and wild sex do not make Bridgerton a feminist triumph

Posted on January 2, 2021 by mkmswain

“We’re seeing this Regency romance through a feminist lens,” proclaimed actor Regé-Jean Page, who plays the hunky-but-tortured Duke of Hastings in Netflix’s bodice-ripper Bridgerton, in a recent interview. Co-star Phoebe Dynevor has also thrown around the F word, saying that her character, Daphne, is “a feminist born in the wrong time.”

Read my full Telegraph article here

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Best dance in 2021

Posted on January 2, 2021 by mkmswain

My picks for the new year – from The Great Gatsby to The Car Man.

Read my full The i Paper article here

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Manchester theatre head: Easter warnings are ‘frightening’

Posted on December 27, 2020 by mkmswain

“The big frustration is that it’s really difficult to find a logic in all of this,” says Roy Alexander Weise, joint artistic director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, of the current situation facing his sector.

Read my full Telegraph article here

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The West End panto forced to move to Easter – if it can survive

Posted on December 27, 2020 by mkmswain

Is Easter the new Christmas? Producer James Seabright certainly hopes so. His Potted Panto, a best-bits of compendium of seven different pantomimes, opened and then closed prematurely in the West End when London was put into Tier 3. So, he’s planning another run at Easter, beginning April 1.

Read my full Telegraph article here

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The Nutcracker, Birmingham Royal Ballet online

Posted on December 22, 2020 by mkmswain

It’s a tough year for our festive favourite, with the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet’s (BRB) Nutcrackers all obstructed by the Government’s tier restrictions. But, 2020 style, it’s a pivot to digital for BRB, who live-streamed their production from Birmingham Rep – sans audience.

Read my full The i Paper review here

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‘What does ‘Spring’ mean exactly?’: London’s theatre chief on Tier 4 purgatory

Posted on December 22, 2020 by mkmswain

The recent swathe of theatre openings – and almost immediate closures – has knocked the confidence of many in the industry. How can you invest in a show when so many factors are out of your control?

Read my full Telegraph interview here

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Edinburgh Fringe faces the future: why a 2021 cancellation would be a ‘national tragedy’

Posted on December 22, 2020 by mkmswain

Looming on the horizon is a huge decision for the arts industry: whether or not to proceed with an in-person Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2021. The world’s largest arts festival, which in 2018 featured more than 55,000 performances of 3,548 shows in 317 venues, it’s a vital part of the ecosystem and a reliable springboard for talent such as Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the League of Gentlemen, and Graham Norton. But can it be managed in Covid times?

Read my full Telegraph article here

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Park Theatre chief Jez Bond brands the Government’s strategy and Tier 4 ‘disastrous’

Posted on December 22, 2020 by mkmswain

“It’s pretty disastrous.” That’s the view of Jez Bond, artistic director of London’s Park Theatre, of these last few weeks of Government decision-making, which have seen several regions plunged into first Tier 3 and then Tier 4 – meaning their theatres are forced to close for Christmas.

Read my full Telegraph article here

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