Infectious enthusiasms
Hard times on stage—and off it
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
All boys together in Pinterworld
A new production of Betrayal reminds us of the playwright’s insights into male relationships
A Steppe In The Right Direction
Patrick Marber cuts Turgenev back to the essentials while Cumberbatch triumphs in a muddled Hamlet
Puck at 80
Sir Ronald Harwood serves as a reminder that the traditions of J.B. Priestley and Noël Coward are not quite dead in British theatre
All the World’s Royal Stage
Robert Whelan’s history of the Theatre Royal indulges in a bit of frippery, but otherwise artfully and humorously tells the 350-year long story of West-End drama
Wanted: A Keynesian Vision for the Arts
The Arts Council started with a tiny budget and a mandate to lift the postwar gloom. Now this meddlesome quango has lost its way and its chair, Liz Forgan, must go
The Character of Englishness
Dr Johnson, the greatest writer of critical prose in the English language, was able to impart to his readers both human nature in general, and the character of Englishness in particular
Facing the Music
Ronald Harwood's plays tackle the thorny issue of great artists accused of collaborating with the Nazis
Nothing Left But the Credits
Philip French, who has died aged 82, was the doyen of British film criticism. In 2009, in the run-up to the Oscars, he discusses the demise of cinema as an art form
Drama Behind the Scenes
A Strange Eventful History by Michael Holroyd
Bringing the House Down
The playwright Simon Gray died on August 7. Shortly before his death he shared his thoughts on the theatre and much else in a Standpoint Dialogue with The Daily Telegraph's theatre critic