‘It’s a feeling I’ve been chasing ever since’: Edinburgh festival debuts

Alan Cumming did a gig for a cat, Tiff Stevenson was drowned out by samba and some performers even made a profit … fringe veterans discuss their first time and how the festival has changedIt was when I still had a fringe of my own: 1974 seems like yest…

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From West Side Story to The Witcher: a complete guide to this week’s entertainment

Whether it’s a Spielberg musical, a global photography prize or a comedy Christmas show, our critics have your plans for the week coveredWest Side StoryOut nowSteven Spielberg takes on the classic musical (above), pitting Sharks against Jets in 1950s N…

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From Dune to Duran Duran: a complete guide to this week’s entertainment

Whether it is epic sci-fi, hilarious standup or a new album to listen to, our critics have your plans for this week coveredBigfoot HuntersOut nowHarking back to the days when first-time directors would borrow a camcorder and make an essentially zero-bu…

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Let’s not ‘get back to normal’: the Southbank Centre will reflect our changed world

From postponed Meltdowns to melted icecream, shutting down an 11-acre multi-venue site has made for a challenging 15 months at London’s Southbank Centre. But, as it reopens, there have been gains as well as lossesPerhaps not right at the top of the lis…

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Love Bites review – gleeful salute to theatre’s thrilling return

York Theatre RoyalA mix of music, dance, comedy and poetry delivers a bittersweet reminder of what lockdown deprived us of – and a joyous celebration of live performanceOn the screen at the back of the stage, familiar images flicker: the river, streets…

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‘I’m optimistic – hell, yeah’: stars of music and theatre on one year of Covid

In the second of our two-parter, rock stars, roadies, actors, dancers, composers and comics describe how their lives have been transformed without live shows – and imagine what now lies ahead‘The nation needed a rescue from despair’: Part 1 of culture’…

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They move in mysterious ways: the delirious thrill of Figs in Wigs

The identically dressed quintet combines dance, comedy and DIY electro-punk in a world they have created for themselvesHow to describe the joy of watching people dancing in unison? Anthropologists talk about synchronous activities leading to a sense of…

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‘We have £52 left’: the dire future for England’s small arts organisations

This week, the UK government announced £257m in emergency arts funding – we hear from some of those who missed out, complaining of baffling applications and a lack of guidanceOf course it was disappointing not to be successful in this round of the cult…

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This week’s best culture, from Beckett to Scottish Ballet

The Observer’s critics recommend the best new arts in galleries, on air and onlineBeckett double billTrevor Nunn’s sell-out productions of Krapp’s Last Tape, starring James Hayes, and The Old Tune, with Niall Buggy and David Threlfall, opened in Januar…

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Edinburgh festival fringe sets stage for summer of online shows

Organisers prepare for ‘weird’ visitor-free season including weekly variety performanceEdinburgh festival fringe is preparing for a “weird” visitor-free summer with a package of online initiatives including variety shows streamed every Friday.The world…

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