Edinburgh fringe with the family: five shows for kids
Imaginary friends, runaway horses and Roger McGough’s take on the Wind in the Willows are among the treats for younger audiences at the festival
‘One of the great American stories’: the incredible life of playwright August Wilson
The legendary playwright’s humble beginnings and Pulitzer-winning career are explored in the first authoritative biography of him
The Ballad of Truman Capote review – party play goes jolly lightly
Andrew O’Hagan’s script has some witty lines but this drama about the author of Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood lacks narrative focus
The Weekend review – Charlotte Wood stage adaptation tells of love, loss and ageing
Warmth, humour and a heartbreaking dog ground this new play about three women in their 70s dealing with the death of a friend
Oliver Mol: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet)
The author shares what makes him laugh online, featuring Lou Reed, Wim Hof, and one very Brisbane video
‘His story just continues to grip people’: Philippa Gregory revisits the history of Richard III for stage
The historical novelist’s first play looks again at the ‘panto villain’ image of the king reviled by Shakespeare
The Smeds and the Smoos review – songs and screams in Donaldson and Scheffler’s jolly voyage
This show from Tall Stories brings children into the action with a gentle warmth, squeal-inducing gags and engaging puppetry
Sovereign review – CJ Sansom’s historical doorstopper comes home to York
Large-scale community play casts Henry VIII putting an end to the city’s beloved Mystery Plays as a clever framing device in Mike Kenny’s adaptation
Jekyll and Hyde review – Shakespearean style shows another side to Stevenson thriller
Bard in the Botanics stages Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic novella as a tense three-way struggle that asks big questions about human nature
Pleasure and pliés: the ballet bonkbusters handling dance’s hot button issues
New novels combine romance and raunchy trysts with body politics and an exploration of the industry’s power dynamics
They review – Maxine Peake’s powerful delivery leaves us wanting more
The actor’s controlled inner outrage reels us in with this eerily prescient tale from 1977 of a dystopia in which art is criminalised
‘Our feminist ancestor’: Ama Ata Aidoo, author, activist and African heroine
In her writing, she depicted bold African women; in her activism, she nurtured and inspired people everywhere
‘It was shocking’: the author under attack for doubting Shakespeare
Elizabeth Winkler’s controversial new book Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies investigates highly fraught theories around the beloved playwright
On my radar: Lesley Sharp’s cultural highlights
The actor on her love of dance, the reality TV series Below Deck and what helps her to write
‘Mine’s lobster and champagne’: Judi Dench reveals secret onstage supper at Shakespeare play
The Oscar-winning star discusses her Shakespearean roles and the characters she brought to life in watercolours in her new book