Stepping Down - Celebrated lighting designer Paule Constable has announced her retirement from theatre. The multi-Olivier award-winning designer announced the move after accepting her award for Services to UK Theatre at the WhatsOnStage Awards 2025.
Over her lengthy career, she has worked for organisations including the National Theatre, the Donmar Warehouse and the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as the Michael Grandage Company. Her many shows have included War Horse, Evita, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The Light Princess and Ballet Shoes, as well as operas with Glyndebourne, the Royal Ballet and Opera and English National Opera. She has won five Olivier awards and two Tony Awards.
Creamfields - Anyma has been named as the first headliner at the upcoming Creamfields festival. The "groundbreaking multidisciplinary audio-visual project" led by Matteo Milleri will be playing his only UK festival date when he closes the event in Cheshire in August. The full line-up is "expected to drop at the end of February".
Creamfields, which takes place at a 600-acre (240-hectare) site in Daresbury, near Runcorn, from 21 to 24 August, announced a three-year plan to massively reduce its environmental impact in 2024. A Creamfields representative said the announcement of Anyma as a headliner would set the tone "for what promises to be another unforgettable year".
Cancellation - A "large" sewer blockage caused by "fat, grease and rags" forced the cancellation of a Bryan Adams concert in Australia on public health grounds. The singer was due to perform at the RAC Arena in Perth on Sunday, but the city's water corporation said a blocked main risked backing up the venue's toilets.
The concert promoter said the cancellation was "bitterly disappointing" and would provide ticketholders with a full refund. Perth's water corporation said the fatberg responsible for the disruption had already "caused several wastewater overflows" on the main road near the venue and urged the public to avoid direct contact with "pooled water" in the area.
Eurovision - Emmy has been selected to represent Ireland in the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland. The 24-year-old singer, who was born in Norway, will perform her song Laika Party. Six competitors performed on a special Eurosong edition of RTÉ's The Late Late Show on Friday evening. The winner was chosen by the combined votes of the public phone vote, an international jury and a national jury. The Eurovision Semi-Finals will take place on 13 May and 15 May, with the Grand Final taking place on 17 May.
Homecoming - Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath's choice to play a final reunion gig in Birmingham has been described as a "homecoming" that recognises the city's status in music culture. The band will headline a one-day festival at Villa Park on 5 July dubbed "the greatest heavy metal show ever". The charity fundraiser will also feature dozens of other heavy metal legends, including Metallica, Pantera and Anthrax. "It feels like the acknowledgement that this city's important," said local writer Kirsty Bosley. "We deserve this moment, and it deserves to be us."
Classical Update - One of the world's most pre-eminent conductors, Daniel Barenboim, has confirmed he has Parkinson's Disease. The 82-year-old has served as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin State Opera and La Scala in Milan, but is equally well known for his efforts to promote peace through music in the Middle East.
In 2022, he cut back his performance schedule after developing a "serious neurological condition". In a statement on Thursday, he confirmed the long-suspected diagnosis of Parkinson's. The musician said he was not retiring altogether, and planned to "maintain as many of my professional commitments as my health permits".
Theatre Focus - David Hare has accused the National Theatre of "angling for the West End" rather than focusing on presenting truly artistic productions. The two-time Olivier award-winning playwright claimed that the London-based organisation was failing to "present the world’s drama" in favour of "semi-commercial" shows.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s This Cultural Life with broadcaster John Wilson, Hare discussed the health of British theatre-making compared to the early days of his career, whether playwrights could still live on their writing, and the state of regional venues.
He also claimed artistic directors in theatres outside of London did not feel "free" to champion work by writers as they once did thanks to the pressures on the buildings they lead. Hare said: "I would say that if they believe that a particular writer was the writer who that region should be hearing, or the whole of the country should be hearing, it’s very, very hard for them to back that single writer to the degree that we once backed John Osborne or Edward Bond or Harold Pinter as the voices of their time. That kind of backing is what’s missing at the moment."
(Jim Evans)
