Are A-list actors saving theatre or spoiling it?
Should Rob Icke have stuck to adaptations? How did Layton Williams win an Olivier for playing an iceberg? Will Wigmore Hall inspire others to abandon ACE? All in this week's Shouts and Murmurs.
Hello, and welcome to Shouts and Murmurs, a weekly round-up of theatre news, reviews, interviews and more from The Crush Bar, written by Fergus Morgan. Sorry this issue is a bit late: I have been under the weather for the last few days.
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Previously in The Crush Bar:
Everywhere you look at the moment, famous names are finding time for theatre.
The West End, of course, has always been starry, but it does seem particularly celebrity-stuffed this year. We have already had The Tempest with Sigourney Weaver, Oedipus with Rami Malek, Elektra with Brie Larson, and Much Ado About Nothing with Tom Hiddleston, plus Richard II with Jonathan Bailey at the Bridge Theatre and The Seagull with Cate Blanchett and Tom Burke at the Barbican. The Brightening Air with Chris O’Dowd, My Master Builder with Ewan MacGregor and Elizabeth Debicki, Dealer’s Choice with Alfie Allen, The Fifth Step with Jack Lowden and Martin Freeman and The Deep Blue Sea with Tamsin Greig are on the way. And, over the last week, more star-studded shows have been announced: Ncuti Gatwa will appear in Liz Duffy Adams’ Born With Teeth in August, Brian Cranston will appear in Arthur Miller’s All My Sons in November, and David Tennant, Meera Syal and more have signed up as performers in Tim Crouch’s An Oak Tree when it runs at the Young Vic next month.
Perhaps more remarkably, famous actors are suddenly signing up for regional theatre shows: Gary Oldman is currently doing Krapp’s Last Tape in York, Brian Cox will star in a new James Graham play in Dundee and Edinburgh in August, Jodie Comer will tour Prima Facie all over the country in 2026, and Michael Sheen will star in both Thornton Wilder’s Our Town and a new Gary Owen play with his infant Welsh National Theatre next year, too, after returning to Cardiff with Nye next month. Oh, and Alan Cumming has taken over as artistic director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre.
There is lots to like about this influx of big-name performers finding time in their filming schedules for theatre. Their presence in the playhouses of Shaftesbury Avenue and the surrounding area helps shift tickets, and the West End is booming, attracting more punters than both Broadway and the Premier League did last year, according to recent figures. Some of this work has been interesting, too, islands of theatrical innovation amid a sea of movie-musical adaptations. If it takes someone from a successful Netflix series with an urge to indulge their artistic ego to make a new Thomas Ostermeier adaptation commercially viable, something Elizabeth Debicki alluded to in this recent interview with The Independent, then I am fine with that. Of course, it would be nice if said star actually knows how to do stage acting.
And, lest we forget, regional theatre needs all the help it can get. If that help comes in the shape of an A-list actor, then so be it. It is not as if anyone else - like, I don’t know, the government - is coming to save regional theatre, is it? Sure, it would be nice if the big studios like Netflix and HBO and Amazon chucked a few quid towards the industry that supplies them with stars, but, if you think about it, a famous name signing up to spend time in a regional theatre is sort of the same process: they have made a lot of money on screen, so they can give something back on stage.
Let’s not pretend that famous actors suddenly rediscovering their love of theatre does not come with frustrations, though. Their presence in commercial shows pushes ticket prices through the roof. It skews the public framing of the production towards sensationalism and celebrity gossip, which the theatre wankers among us find annoying: I don’t really give a shit about Tom Hiddleston, but I am interested in Jamie Lloyd. It causes havoc at stage doors. And, as critic Jude Rogers has pondered in The Guardian with regard to Michael Sheen’s widely-covered new Welsh National Theatre, there is the risk of existing organisations and artists being overlooked, something that, to be fair, Sheen seems acutely conscious of. On top of all that, the concept of a theatre industry that cannot survive without a sprinkling of stardust bothers me. I don’t want a theatre that is either an expression of a famous actor’s ego-trip or saviour complex. I want a well-supported, risk-taking and inclusive theatre that thrives on interesting ideas, quality acting and bold visuals. Is that too much to ask?
I am not saying that star casting is wrong per se. I don’t love Michael Sheen any less than you do. I am very excited about Alan Cumming’s plans for Pitlochry Festival Theatre. These are muddy waters with myriad financial, professional and cultural sensitivities at play, though. All I am saying is that we should be open-minded about famous actors’ intentions but wary of ego-driven enterprises; that we should praise any well-known performer that chooses to champion theatre, but not forget those organisations, artists and workers that already do; and that we should welcome the much-needed boost A-listers bring, while not becoming entirely dependent on it.
In other news: Girl From The North Country is coming back; Chris Stafford has joined Manchester Royal Exchange as interim co-chief executive; Anoushka Lucas’ Elephant will run at the Menier Chocolate Factory; three Scottish theatres will commission three new Christmas shows for kids; Welsh arts organisations have received a 3.5% funding uplift; Berwick Maltings’ £28m revamp has got the green light; Summerhall has introduced some new development opportunities; the Pantomime Awards happened; the National Theatre has teamed up with Bank Of America to expand its Skills Centre; the Ian Charleson Award nominees have been announced; the Rose Theatre has revealed its 2025/26 season, including a pantomime by Chris Bush.