Hackney Empire announces new artistic director in leadership shake-up
Longtime member of the creative team Yamin Choudury replaces panto pioneer Susie McKenna, who stepped down at the start of 2017
Stage
Hamlet, Hackney Empire, review: RSC’s African restaging brings the energy of youth to the tragedy
The Royal Shakespeare Company come to Hackney with a West African-influenced production that features their first use of a black actor in the title role
Arcola Theatre’s Creative/Disruption festival: we preview this season of new plays from the local community
From over 50s to Turkish theatre, the Dalston theatre is throwing the spotlight on underrepresented groups’ stories in this iteration of the annual festival
You, Me, The World and Hackney Wick: new play at The Yard explores the history and future of E9
Following a free community meal, the stories of twenty locals from all walks of Wick life will be told tomorrow 13 January
Green Room: Arcola Theatre aims to steal show in Sustainability category at The Stage awards
The magazine gave the Dalston performance hub the nod for its recent LED lighting scheme and its many other environmental credentials
‘They believe because we believe’: an interview with the stars of the Empire’s panto Cinderella
We talk to Aisha Jawando and Kat B, playing Cinderella and an Ugly Sister respectively, about what panto is all about
The Unburied: The Saint of Darkness, play review, Rose Lipman Building: ‘song, movement, light and poetry’
The ‘Mother Theresa meets Greek mythology’ plot may be a tad obtuse, but this memorable piece of dark, poetic theatre makes the most of its unusual staging
From Russia to Watford: OperaUpClose to perform restaged, rewritten Tchaikovsky libretto in Arcola show
We speak to the Olivier Award-winning lyricist Robin Norton-Hale about the company’s unique take on Eugene Onegin
Insignificance, Arcola Theatre, theatre review: ‘Bailey Johnson plays Marilyn with speedily unwinding energy’
This production of the witty, contemplative 1982 play brings together thinly-veiled versions of Marilyn Monroe, Albert Einstein, Joe McCarthy and Joe DiMaggio
Frau Welt becomes Hackney Showroom’s first star of the stage
The cabaret and drag inspired solo narrative is the venue’s first play
Proof, Courtyard Theatre, review: ‘open-throated, no holds barred performances’
The intensity of the performances – particularly during the fights – gives visceral power to this otherwise stripped-back production of David Auburn’s Tony Award-winning play
Amateur hour: 85-year-old AmDram group Tower Theatre Company set sights on Stoke Newington
Booze license approved for site on Northwold Road despite objections from locals
Learning French by rote? Très ennuyeux! Dalston kids get into new habit with bilingual Sister Act performance
Rio Cinema performance of the musical version of the 1992 Whoopi Goldberg film, taking place this Friday, will be the culmination of a two-week scheme run by Hackney’s Mind Your Language
Arcola, The Marriage of Kim K review: ‘it isn’t going to break the internet’
This new, zeitgeisty production – the opener of the Arcola Theatre’s Grimeborn opera season – is packed with ideas that sometimes pay off, but is ultimately noisy and confused
Hackney Empire’s work experience week sees teenage theatrical talents learn ‘how to be a producer’
Children aged 14 to 16 shadowed Empire staff and pitched hypothetical productions as part of the theatre’s drive to engage East London’s youth
Richard III, Arcola, theatre review: the bovver boy royal in a bare bones production
This enjoyable staging of Shakespeare’s historic tragedy makes the most of its stark setting and a “performance on fire”