From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.
"I'm doing a play in a couple of months starting in February called Marcel on the Train, which I co-wrote with Marshall Pailet," Slater tells Inverse. "I love theatre and I love doing theatre. It's something that I always hoped to be doing as much as possible, but I really love film and it's been amazing to get to do more of that."
The play is a two-hander starring Clive Owen (Closer) and Saskia Reeves (Catherine Standish in Slow Horses) as Alfie and Julie, a successful Gen X couple both aged 59 and living in Highgate. The ninety minute one-act play has the couple wrestling with the emotional turmoil caused by Alfie's terminal cancer diagnosis as they try to negotiate their way through this ultimate disruption to their comfortable life.
I'm listening to Saves the Day's Stay What You Are on the car CD-player, on the way to play Soul Caliber and hold hands with my boyfriend after school ... It's cold, and you can still hear the dull thud of the music from the goth club in the basement under the sushi bar, and I'm wearing a cheap polyester corset, and I think I'm about to be kissed
Acting is like quicksilver. It's difficult to pin down exactly what makes one actor great and another merely good. As a critic, you can run the gamut of the thesaurus and it's still hard to capture a truly great performance with your pen. What, then, of an actor's whole oeuvre? How do you convey their career in a meaningful way, so mercurial is the talent, so ephemeral is the product they leave behind, especially when major parts of their career are on the stage?
Tom Hanks is a star who's always had one foot squarely in the past. As an actor he's forever been likened to James Stewart, a reincarnation of the charming, essentially good American everyman, a from-another-era lead who's increasingly been more comfortable in period fare (in the last decade, he's appeared in just four present-day films). As a producer, he's gravitated toward historical shows such as Band of Brothers, John Adams and The Pacific;
Rossum's Universal Robots-Foothill Theatre Arts is mounting the West Coast premiere of Rossum's Universal Robots (R.U.R.), running through Nov. 23. The 1921 play, which introduced the word "robot" to the English language, has received an update by adaptor Bo List to address one of today's most pressing questions: What can happen if A.I. goes rogue? $15-$28. Nov 13 & 20, 7:30pm; Nov 14-15 & Nov 21-27, 8pm; Nov 16 & 23, 2pm. Loham Theatre, Foothill College,12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills. foothill.edu/theatre.
While maybe not as famous as his other musicals, Stephen Sondheim has said that Company was his most biographical. The story follows Bobby, a single New Yorker surrounded by married and engaged couples, who contemplates his future on the brink of his 35th birthday. After it debuted in 1970, the show went through several revivals, including 2021's feminist, gender-swapping version in which an actress played the lead role.
Jason Thorpe (The Witcher, The Banishing) is instantly lovable as Winston Smith, who arrives unannounced at his daughter Joy's flat. He is a chaotic, grey-haired dad, full of quick wit and risky jokes (the audience laughs constantly). Joy played by writer Farino herself (Anatomy of a Scandal, Masters of the Air) is perturbed by her father's appearance. She's a soft-spoken, formidable presence, wise to his erratic nature but without the capacity to resist him.
From intriguing shows and concerts to great actors in great movies, this weekend has a lot of promise. So let's get to it, shall we? (As always, be sure to double check event and venue websites for any last-minute changes in health guidelines or other details.) Meanwhile, if you'd like to have this Weekender lineup delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning for free, just sign up at www.mercurynews.com/newsletters or w.eastbaytimes.com/newsletters .
Paddington stands within touching distance. His fur flutters as he turns, his neat button nose sniffs the air, and his eyes soften with a smile. For years, design details of the bear for Paddington the Musical, directed by Luke Sheppard, have been kept top secret. Now here he is, in his blue duffel coat and red hat. A quiet theatrical marvel.
There's a lovely intimacy to Every Brilliant Thing at @sohoplace, a play that's as much about the performer as it is about the story. The West End season has seen a star-studded rotating cast including Lenny Henry, Jonny Donahoe, Ambika Mod and Sue Perkins, each bringing their own flavour to Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe's one-person tour de force. Minnie Driver closes the run, lighting up the stage with her warmth, humour and natural charm,
Until I was 12 I was in the French school system, where theatre was Moliere, Corneille, Racine. Going to the theatre meant The Sound of Music or My Fair Lady. Then it was decided I would switch to school in England. So, at 13, I arrived at Westminster school. It was 1968, and the world opened up. I went to see a school production of Waiting for Godot in French in a small room with a little stage, and I was sitting at the back.
The three plays aren't linked narratively as I wanted audiences to be able to experience them as individual works. Beginning tells the story of a couple on the edge of 40 who have just met and the 100 minutes it takes them to kiss. Middle is the story of a late fortysomething couple whose marriage hangs in the balance at 4am. In End, Alfie and Julie must decide how to live the end of their relationship.
"I made this record in December 2024 and it was a way for me to process what was happening in my life," Allen said, "There are things that are on the record that I experienced within my marriage, but that's not to say that it's all gospel... It is inspired by what went on in the relationship."
The only performers on stage for the 60 minutes or so of Katie Mitchell, Nina Segal and Melanie Wilson's new work Cow | Deer are four Foley artists. They work expertly with an array of objects positioned on or around a row of bales of straw to evoke the experiences of a heavily pregnant cow and a year old roe deer over the course of one day in early August 2025.
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley presents Louisa May Alcott's Little Women: Watch this classic novel come to life on stage now through Oct. 12 with a new twist in this adaptation by Lauren Gunderson directed by Giovanna Sardelli. Follow the adventures of four sisters Meg, Amy, Beth and Jo exploring life and relationships. 8 p.m., Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. bit.ly/4ntGIBO
It was commissioned by the Artistic Director of Nottingham Playhouse, Adam Penford, after Penford heard the story of how, in 2011 in Nottingham, a teenager (Dunne) threw a punch that resulted in the unintended death of a young man, James Hodgkinson. Punch is dedicated to James, and all victims of one-punch, a term for legal cases where a single punch has unforeseen fatal consequences and the perpetrator is convicted of manslaughter.
Set around the rehearsals of Michael Jackson's 1992 Dangerous World Tour, the show delves into Jackson's creative process, personal struggles, and the pressures of fame. Blending his iconic music with moments from his life, this multi award-winning musical offers insight into his artistry, family dynamics, and public persona. Through flashbacks and interactions with his creative team, the musical reveals the complexities of Jackson's character-his determination, vulnerability, and passion for music.
I'd clocked him as I walked up to the restaurant. Well dressed, not Irish. Nice tattoos. What did you talk about? Having quickly established that we are both from the same part of London, we ascertained that we'd had the same driving instructor as teenagers (shoutout to Ollie). We also talked about recent plays we've seen, our tattoos and their meanings, trainspotting (the actual activity) and the fact I've been reading this column religiously since I was seven.
Adrian Prosper is a no-nonsense kind of guy. A retired police officer, he has dealt with enough lowlifes to see the worst in everyone. Played with frightening humourlessness by Stuart Fox, he is all suspicion and mistrust. When his newly bereaved brother-in-law, Gerald (Russell Richardson), is befriended by Daniel (Iskandar Eaton), an enigmatic young man, he thinks only the worst of the relationship.
She is a sought-after TV writer (on Succession and Normal People) but Birch's blazing plays are known for their form and fury. Her brutal breakout in 2014, Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again, was written in a 72-hour whirl. She wrote her latest, Romans now on at the Almeida in around 10 days. Of course I didn't write' it in 10 days, she clarifies. I wrote it in eight years.
The Tempest (Jan 17-Apr 12 2026) is a Globe staple, but you're unlikely to have ever seen one like this before. The great avant-garde theatre maker Tim Crouch - last seen at the Globe with his one-man Shakespearean kids' show I, Malvolio - has been given the keys to the theatre. He'll star as Prospero in a version of the play in which Crouch's magician, his daughter Miranda, and the spirits Ariel and Caliban are the only living creatures on the island,
Irish actor Denise Gough is one of the most acclaimed stage performers of her generation, most famously for her monumental breakthrough role as a recovering addict in Duncan Macmillan's People, Places and Things. The role propelled her to screen success, most notably with Tony Gilroy's Andor, in which her role as a cold-blooded, ultimately out of her depth imperial intelligence officer brought her to global notice.
Her instructors had warned her that if she wanted a real shot at making it as an actress in the US, she'd have to "fix" her accent. Paltrow's voice - crisp, polished, "full of money," as Gatsby says of Daisy's - became the model. "My teachers were like, Gwyneth Paltrow will be your way in," Novi recalls. When she came across the Goop tutorial, something clicked.
Entering the almost silent rehearsal room, I fear I've blundered into a private moment. The Lady from the Sea cast are seated in a tight circle and at least two of them have tears in their eyes. The quiet murmur of conversation suggests something heavy has just gone down. So I'm relieved when I realise they're reading a scene and stunned to discover the scene was written only yesterday.
