Little Dogs – review
Bold and spirited, dynamic and raw, this play revels in the nocturnal rituals enacted on Swansea's streets and beach, writes Elisabeth Mahoney
My 1960s wasn’t all sex, drugs and rock’n'roll – and I suspect I’m not alone
Ian Jack: For a lot of people, today's dominant narrative about the 1960s and the baby-boomer generation does not ring true
Name of Federico García Lorca’s lover emerges after 70 years
Box of mementoes reveals that young art critic Juan Ramírez de Lucas had brief affair with Spanish poet
Warning: review quotes can be very misleading
We see quotes from critics plastered all over adverts, posters and book jackets. But is their use always what it seems?
Culture coach: the week’s essential arts stories
Charlotte Higgins: Every week I'll round up the biggest arts stories from around the web, recommend a long read and look ahead at what's coming up
Derek Walcott: ‘The Oxford poetry job would have been too much work’
As his reworking of Robinson Crusoe goes on stage, Derek Walcott talks about Caribbean culture, his spat with VS Naipaul - and why he didn't want the poetry job anyway
Carol Ann Duffy to bring folk tales to stage for Christmas
Poet laureate will retell classic stories for Royal Exchange Manchester's winter show Rats' Tales
The Great Gatsby – review
It would be perfectly possible to exit the theatre none the wiser about what exactly is the problem with Gatsby, Daisy and this generation of American youth, writes Lyn Gardner
Gatz: The greater Gatsby
A performance of every word of F Scott Fitzgerald's jazz era classic, Gatz lasts a marathon eight hours (with a break for dinner). How do the actors manage it? Emma Brockes meets them in New York
Kidnapped – review
Ed Robson clearly understands the value of storytelling simplicity, so it's a shame he keeps throwing out ideas that muddy the waters, writes Mark Fisher
The Humorist by Russell Kane – review
Russell Kane's debut novel revolves around a secret formula for comedy, but his own humour falls flat, writes Jessica Holland
World Shakespeare festival: around the Globe in 37 plays
The World Shakespeare festival, with performances from across the globe in nearly 50 languages, begins this weekend. Andrew Dickson travelled to India to find out more
Angelin Preljocaj: Who’s the kinkiest of them all?
He did a totalitarian Romeo and Juliet and turned Casanova into a VD nightmare. Now choreographer Angelin Preljocaj has given Snow White a dominatrix for a stepmother, writes Judith Mackrell
Clytemnestra gets a makeover
Is Clytemnestra, whose daughter is sacrificed for Troy, finally about to get her revenge? Poet Gwyneth Lewis explains why she reimagined her fate
Long Day’s Journey Into Night; Where Have I Been All My Life?; Chalet Lines – review
David Suchet and Laurie Metcalf anchor a majestic production of Eugene O'Neill's masterpiece, writes Susannah Clapp
Toni Morrison: ‘I want to feel what I feel. Even if it’s not happiness’
Nobel prize-winning author Toni Morrison talks to Emma Brockes about being a single mother, the death of her son and why love doesn't last
Booker winner attacks bid to ban Israeli national theatre company from Globe
Stars of theatre and literature split over invitation to Israeli company to stage Merchant of Venice in London
Alice in Funderland – review
For all its brittle edges and underground, club-culture aesthetic, this production has a huge heart. writes Helen Meany
The Owl and the Pussycat – review
This is an engaging but rather old-fashioned hour of brightly coloured entertainment, writes Lyn Gardner
New faces on Sgt Pepper album cover for artist Peter Blake’s 80th birthday
Amy Winehouse, JK Rowling, Noel Gallagher, Mick Jagger and the Monty Python foot to feature in update of 1967 original
John Arden obituary
Playwright whose work combined poetry, politics and passion
The Most Incredible Thing – review
Buried inside this big multimedia production, an illuminating fable is waiting to get out, writes Sanjoy Roy
The Hound of the Baskervilles – review
This production never seems to arrive at a decision whether it is presented in earnest or as knowing spoof, writes Alfred Hickling
2012 Olympics inspire love poetry across Britain
The traditional Olympics truce has inspired a 'peace camp' that will bring poetry readings to remote coastal sites across the UK
Mary Shelley – review
The early scenes suggest something more emotionally resonant than is finally delivered, and radical ideas are sidelined in favour of giddy teen romance, writes Lyn Gardner
Matilda the Musical weaves magic over Olivier theatre awards
Stage version of Roald Dahl classic receives 10 nominations, including collective nod for all four actors playing title role
Angus, Thongs and Even More Snogging – review
There's a curiously old-fashioned feel to Georgia and her mates – none of whom appear interested in social media or even own a mobile phone, writes Alfred Hickling
Brian Logan on nasty reviews
Brian Logan: The truth might hurt but hatchet jobs are too much
Matilda is top of the class at Whatsonstage.com awards
Musical based on Roald Dahl's novel takes four prizes at only major theatre awards voted on by public
Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World by Simon Callow – review
David Edgar on an insider's view of the writer as actor
The Odyssey – review
There is wonder in the everyday poetry of Paper Cinema's ingenious retelling of The Odyssey as it delivers an epic in makeshift miniature, writes Lyn Gardner
John Lahr on Joe Orton: ‘He’d only just found his voice when he was killed’
Alex Needham: The man behind the only definitive account of Joe Orton's life and death talked to me about what inspired him to write it – and the motives behind the playwright's murder
Earthfall – review
The darker tug of erotic tension and the fear of self-revelation is finely observed in the aggressive, thrashing heft of the choreography, writes Judith Mackrell