Anne McElvoy
Get me to the Fifties on time
The American director Bartlett Sher has restaged two classical musicals with style and panache
Why the small stage is beautiful
Little theatres like the Donmar and Jermyn Street are important venues for attracting new audiences
Sleaze and sex — plus ça change
The rap musical Hamilton reminds us that shakedowns and steamy liaisons are far from new in US politics
Whigs, wigs and Generation Z
A Congreve classic revival and a new play tackle societal mores and the battle of the sexes 200 years apart
Lay on, Matilda; lay off Macbeth
The hit musical is going on tour, demonstrating a success that eludes the National Theatre’s Shakespeare
Hytner’s Caesar hits paydirt
The National Theatre’s former director is giving it stiff competition further down the Thames
Driving home the point of Pinter
A new production of The Birthday Party emphasises its roots in the grim reality of post-war Britain
They needed to talk about Kevin
The Old Vic is tarnished by its refusal to face the truth about its former artistic director
Missed chances in war and love
A drama about the Middle East peace process and a Sondheim revival explore wasted opportunities
Grande dame and grand old man
Stockard Channing is now lighting up the London landscape that was shaped by the late Sir Peter Hall
Why Remoaners should back Boris
“Boris, ironically, now offers Remoaners the best chance of a soft Brexit, or at least a sensible one. And to those who want a second referendum—’the people’s vote’—there may even be a chance of that too.”
On the road
“In the summer of 1980, in the grip of some Kerouac-ish fantasy, I opted to hitch-hike from Laredo to New York”
Discovering the Great War of China
A third of a million Chinese labourers helped the Allies defeat the Kaiser, but their huge unsung contribution ended in betrayal