Derek Jacobi

Derek Jacobi: high ticket prices are making theatre ‘elitist’

Veteran actor, awarded Olivier for lifetime achievement, says cost must not prohibit putting ‘bums on seats’

Chris Wiegand Stage editor

02, Apr, 2023 @9:20 PM

Sir Derek Jacobi: ‘The sound and magic of voice are disappearing from theatre’

The acclaimed actor – who is to receive a lifetime achievement award at this year’s Olivier Awards – says the demise of repertory theatre is putting paid to the vocal prowess

Dalya Alberge

18, Mar, 2023 @3:00 PM

Derek Jacobi and Arlene Phillips picked for career-crowning Olivier awards

The actor is to get the lifetime achievement honour and the choreographer the special award at this year’s theatre prizes in April

Chris Wiegand

22, Feb, 2023 @2:23 PM

‘We fetishised being young – it’s just stupid!’: Judi Dench and Richard Eyre on ageing, Covid and saving the NHS

Shot in 2021, a film of Allelujah, Alan Bennett’s 2018 play set on a geriatric ward, is released next month. How relevant does it remain? Its stars, including Jennifer Saunders and Bally Gill, share their thoughts during production – and more than a year later

Catherine Shoard

10, Feb, 2023 @6:00 AM

'I’ve got a feeling I won’t be on stage again’: Derek Jacobi on age, ego, Igglepiggle and unrequited love

Sixty-five years after his first rave reviews, the star of I, Claudius and Last Tango in Halifax is still drowning in work – and self-doubt. Can a man who won Ian McKellen’s heart really see himself as ‘bland and uninteresting’?

Ryan Gilbey

17, Oct, 2022 @5:00 AM

A Bird Flew in review – heartfelt portrait of film-makers struggling with lockdown

Ensemble study of film professionals struggling with enforced isolation features some good performances but doesn’t really come together

Peter Bradshaw

27, Sep, 2022 @10:00 AM

Allelujah review – sweet but slight Alan Bennett hospital drama

A-listers are tended to by formidable nurse Jennifer Saunders in Richard Eyre’s adaptation of the 2018 play about a struggling geriatric hospital

Peter Bradshaw

10, Sep, 2022 @6:17 PM

Never mind the nose: what makes Cyrano de Bergerac a hero for all time?

Edmond Rostand’s great romantic has drawn actors including Ralph Richardson, Antony Sher and James McAvoy to its lead role. It is a tale of glorious theatricality, glittering poetry and heroic self-sacrifice

Michael Billington

11, Jan, 2022 @6:00 AM

Singing celebrities make film urging Britons to get Covid jab

David Walliams, Jim Broadbent, Nicola Roberts and Asa Butterfield among stars performing in short film

Mattha Busby

03, Jul, 2021 @11:55 AM

'A critic said my stomach was a warning to us all!' Simon Callow meets Derek Jacobi

The theatre legends look back at working with Laurence Olivier and Peter O’Toole, the pain of biting reviews, the joy of a good run – and the agonies of being miscast

Chris Wiegand

16, Feb, 2021 @6:00 AM

Romeo & Juliet review – Verona is a dystopia in trailblazing tragedy

Sam Tutty and Emily Redpath star in an ambitious new version of Shakespeare’s play created with digital wizardry

Arifa Akbar

11, Feb, 2021 @11:59 PM

For One Knight Only: what we learned about Judi, Maggie, Ian and Derek in their Zoom knees-up

In an event for the theatrical charity Acting for Others, Dench, Smith, McKellen and Jacobi spoke about their highs and lows, superstitions and acting tips

Chris Wiegand

30, Nov, 2020 @9:37 AM