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SHOCKING: 6 - You Need To See This

Helen Mirren: ‘I used to think Shakespeare should be banned’

Dame Helen Mirren has jokingly suggested that Shakespeare’s plays should be banned for teenagers, in order to make young people more eager to read them.

The Independent UK

Ian McKellen admits he struggles to perform Shakespeare roles

Speaking at the launch of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s new digital learning app on Wednesday (12 November), Sir Ian McKellen confessed that he still grapples with the complexities of Shakespeare’s language, even after more than 60 years on stage.

The Independent UK

Oscar winner expresses profound excitement for new school curriculum

IN FULL

The Independent UK

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Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen launch new Shakespeare curriculum

Dame Helen Mirren has expressed her profound excitement over a new Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) curriculum, designed to revolutionise the teaching of Shakespeare in UK secondary schools.

The Independent UK

Helen Mirren ‘unbelievably excited’ to help launch RSC’s Shakespeare curriculum

The curriculum is a teaching and learning platform that is free for all state and Send schools.

Evening Standard

‘I really enjoyed it’: new RSC curriculum brings Shakespeare’s works to life in UK classrooms

Starting with Macbeth, online platform using rehearsal-based teaching methods aims to transform study of the Bard

The Guardian - UK

Does Britain value culture any more? Ask the striking workers at the British Library

The dispute over pay at this great national institution gets to the heart of our misplaced priorities, says novelist Zadie Smith

The Guardian - UK

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‘That was better than my wedding day!’ The 20 greatest moments from The Celebrity Traitors

Alan the assassin, Clare as Boris Johnson and of course, Celia’s fart … the dynamite scenes have come thick and fast in the inaugural series. Here are the very best bits

The Guardian - UK

Othello at Theatre Royal Haymarket: 'Why does this star vehicle feel so humdrum?'

3/5 David Harewood, Toby Jones and Caitlin FitzGerald are an accomplished team but this West End Shakespeare is oddly flat

Evening Standard

Othello, Theatre Royal Haymarket review – Toby Jones plays Shakespeare’s most notorious villain like a peevish middle manager

3/5 David Harewood reprises the titular role in a starry production that grants more power to the play’s women, but ultimately dulls its edge

The Independent UK

James McAvoy Recalls The Moment He Had With Patrick Stewart And Ian McKellen On X-Men: Days Of Future Past That Showed Him They’re ‘A Different Kind Of Actor’

I'd have been impressed too.

Cinemablend

Yvonne Brewster obituary

Theatre director and founder of Talawa, the company that champions writers and actors of African and Caribbean heritage

The Guardian - UK

From The Housemaid to Hamnet, these are the book to screen adaptations I’m genuinely excited for

From Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet to Frieda McFadden’s The Housemaid, don’t miss these movies at the cinema

The Independent UK

Prunella Scales was a queen of comedy with a passion for classical theatre

The actor best known as TV’s Sybil Fawlty dazzled over five decades on stage, in roles from from Shakespeare to Alan Bennett

The Guardian - UK

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The Independent UK

Murder, racism… and a drama therapist? David Harewood, Toby Jones and Caitlin FitzGerald on their new Othello

INTERVIEW: Almost three decades after Harewood made history as the National Theatre’s first Black Othello, he is stepping back into the role. Annabel Nugent meets him and his co-stars over steak and salad to talk drama therapists, stinky smooches, and Blackface in theatre

The Guardian - UK

Not to be: Hamlet rages in Stockholm against the political closure of a cultural institution

The experimental annexe of Sweden’s national stage, Elverket, has fallen victim to severe government cuts. Its final play is a powerful protest against being forced to leave its home

The Conversation

London Film Festival: a hit year for human dramas – the films to look out for in 2026

It was a classic year at this year’s BFI London Film Festival, which took place earlier this month. If there was any observable shift, it was the number of filmmakers who turned to smaller-scale dramas of human connection, with action, fantasy and, to some degree, politics less prominent than usual.

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“To Be Or Not To Be?”: Test Your Literature Knowledge With This 28-Question Shakespeare Quiz

Test your Shakespeare knowledge with this quiz on plays, quotes, and characters. Challenge yourself and see how well you know the Bard’s works—take the quiz!

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Bette Midler excited about 'brilliant' Hocus Pocus 3 script

Bette Midler says the script for Hocus Pocus 3 is “brilliant” and she is very excited.

The Guardian - UK

‘It’s been a shock’: Taylor Swift fans flock to see German museum’s Ophelia

Depiction of Shakespeare character by Friedrich Heyser believed to have inspired pop superstar’s new music video

The Guardian - UK

‘I need to do everything now’: the Ukrainian combat medic-turned playwright

Since Alina Sarnatska’s first play premiered a year ago, she has documented wartime Ukraine with unflinching frankness

The Guardian - UK

Actors trained during pandemic lack vocal power and range, says RSC leader

Daniel Evans says young drama graduates who learned voice work online missed out on the physical presence of theatre training

Tom’s Guide

GPT-5 has a new informal writing style — can you spot the real text versus the AI?

ChatGPT-5 has become more conversational and personal, making it an ideal writing partner, but harder to detect

BANG Premier

Woody Allen pays lengthy tribute to Diane Keaton

Woody Allen has paid a heartfelt tribute to his late friend and former lover Diane Keaton following her death over the weekend.

The Guardian - UK

My Right Foot review – wryly humorous look at life with a terminal illness

Mixing childhood memories, songs and Shakespeare, Michael Patrick delivers a one-man show about the reality of being given four years to live

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