The Budget; The Stage goes from weekly to monthly; theatre since COVID survey; podcast: playwright David Ireland on Most Favoured; deaths of Jack Shepherd & Tom Stoppard
The Budget; The Stage goes from weekly to monthly; theatre since COVID survey; podcast: playwright David Ireland on Most Favoured; deaths of Jack Shepherd & Tom Stoppard
News, reviews, features and podcast on theatre across the UK
The British Theatre Guide Newsletter
No 1240: 30 November 2025
Editorial
On the eve of Advent, we already have reviews of seven pantos and four other Christmas shows, as well as of shows not related to the current season. I won’t be seeing my first panto for more than a week, but I have seen my first A Christmas Carol with another lined up shortly.
There have been some big news stories this week that affect theatre in some way. One of these is the Budget, in which Chancellor Rachel Reeves has set out the Government’s spending and tax plans. I’ve seen various statements responding to it, including from Equity, the actors’ union, and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, but Philip Fisher has given his own interpretation of what it means for theatre and the performing arts.
Something that may catch the eye of anyone who works in the performing arts is the announcement from The Stage, which has been a major source of news and jobs for the industry since it was launched in 1880, that it is to change from a weekly newspaper to a monthly magazine from January.
There has been a lot of speculation about the state of British theatre in the current financial climate and how well it has recovered since the COVID pandemic—it’s something I’ve raised with a lot of people I’ve interviewed for the podcast over the last five years or so.
The British Theatre Consortium, led by playwrights Dan Rebellato and David Edgar, has gone beyond these subjective reflections to collect extensive data on theatre in the years 2019 and 2023 to show exactly how things have changed over the intervening period. We have a news item on this with a link to the full report, but we will be releasing a more detailed look at this shortly—keep an eye on our podcast for this.
But this week’s new podcast episode is with Irish playwright David Ireland, who has a reputation for shocking, hard-hitting drama such as The Fifth Step, Ulster American and Cypress Avenue, but Soho Theatre is reviving his 45-minute play Most Favoured, which is closer to romantic comedy. He told me he had originally wanted to write like Neil Simon or Woody Allen, but “somehow, I got into all this violence and baby murder and all that, and I don't really know how it happened.”
We did discover more about his influences, as well as how his love for Shakespeare could be traced back to seeing Laurence Olivier on a TV in a Blackpool guest house when he was nine years old and how, at nearly 50, he doesn’t think he could watch Cypress Avenue himself now, while “some of the dialogue in Ulster American, I'd be a bit like, that's a bit much.”
Finally, we lost a couple of major figures in British theatre this week. I mentioned a couple of months ago about seeing Jack Shepherd as Lucifer in Tony Harrison’s The Mysteries at the National Theatre around 2000; he died this week at the age of 85.
Tom Stoppard, who has died at 88, was originally born in Czechoslovakia but came to England as a child refugee from the Nazis and became a major writer for stage and screen. His death was even mentioned this morning on BBC6 Music, and not on the news, although this was by Mark Radcliffe whose late father Phil was a respected local theatre critic and fellow panellist for the Manchester Theatre Awards.
So anyway, it’s goodbye to November; our Christmas tree is up, I’ve written some of my cards and I’m looking forward to opening the first door on my Advent calendar tomorrow.
The world première of The Silence of the Lambs is to take to the stage in 2026, with the production opening in Leicester before going on a UK and Ireland tour.
The world première of The Silence of the Lambs is to take to the stage in 2026, with the production opening in Leicester before going on a UK and Ireland tour.
The world première of The Silence of the Lambs is to take to the stage in 2026, with the production opening in Leicester before going on a UK and Ireland tour.
Coventry’s University of Warwick and the Belgrade Theatre have appointed a PhD researcher to explore how theatres can work with their local communities.
The world première of The Silence of the Lambs is to take to the stage in 2026, with the production opening in Leicester before going on a UK and Ireland tour.
Former Birmingham Poet Laureate Casey Bailey’s show Please Do Not Touch will be performed at Birmingham Hippodrome five times before going on a national tour.
The world première of The Silence of the Lambs is to take to the stage in 2026, with the production opening in Leicester before going on a UK and Ireland tour.
The world première of The Silence of the Lambs is to take to the stage in 2026, with the production opening in Leicester before going on a UK and Ireland tour.
The world première of The Silence of the Lambs is to take to the stage in 2026, with the production opening in Leicester before going on a UK and Ireland tour.
The world première of The Silence of the Lambs is to take to the stage in 2026, with the production opening in Leicester before going on a UK and Ireland tour.
The world première of The Silence of the Lambs is to take to the stage in 2026, with the production opening in Leicester before going on a UK and Ireland tour.
The world première of The Silence of the Lambs is to take to the stage in 2026, with the production opening in Leicester before going on a UK and Ireland tour.
The world première of The Silence of the Lambs is to take to the stage in 2026, with the production opening in Leicester before going on a UK and Ireland tour.
Former Birmingham Poet Laureate Casey Bailey’s show Please Do Not Touch will be performed at Birmingham Hippodrome five times before going on a national tour.
The Writers' Guild of Great Britain's Olwen Wymark Awards allow its members to thank "those who have given them a positive experience in new writing" over the past year.
The British Theatre Consortium, led by playwrights Dan Rebellato and David Edgar, has examined British theatre in 2019 and 2023 in an extensive report.
Ordinary Decent Criminal Paines Plough, Live Theatre, Theatre Royal Plymouth and Ellie Keel Productions, in association with Synergy Theatre Project at HOME Manchester
The Big Day Pure Class Theatre at Theatre 118 Glasgow
A Midsummer Night's Dream Headlong and Shakespeare’s Globe with Bristol Old Vic and Leeds Playhouse at Shakespeare's Globe / Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London
Beauty and The Beast Pantomime (Martin Dodd for UK Productions Ltd in association with Blackpool Grand Theatre) - Blackpool Grand Theatre, Blackpool, –
Cinderella (Regal Entertainments) - The Epstein Theatre, Liverpool, –
Sleeping Beauty (York Theatre Royal and Evolution Productions) - York Theatre Royal, York, –
Miss Saigon (Michael Harrison in association with Cameron Mackintosh) - Leeds Grand Theatre, Leeds, –
Ordinary Decent Criminal (Paines Plough, Live Theatre, Theatre Royal Plymouth and Ellie Keel Productions, in association with Synergy Theatre Project) - York Theatre Royal, York, –
A Christmas Carol (Sheffield Theatres) - The Crucible / Lyceum Theatre / Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse, Sheffield, –
