Sign Up

What’s in a name? West End casting directors raise concerns about trend for big stars

The Guardian 1 min read 4 hours ago

<p>Film and TV stars are selling tickets, but director says reliance on famous names is ‘killing audiences’ intellects’</p><p>From Ncuti Gatwa in Born With Teeth to Alicia Vikander in The Lady From the Sea and Susan Sarandon in Mary Page Marlowe, there is no shortage of starry celebrities being cast for the West End right now.</p><p>It is a phenomenon happening in subsidised theatre too: Indhu Rubasingham’s inaugural season at the National Theatre features the likes of screen favourites Paul Mescal and Nicola Coughlan.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/oct/24/west-end-casting-directors-raise-concerns-trend-big-stars">Continue reading...</a>
Read original The Guardian

More from The Guardian

Still life that never moved: mystery of missing Picasso painting solved
‘His teeth flew out of his mouth and landed in my spaghetti’: 10 first date horror stories
‘Unflappable, witty and super smart’: the rise and rise of Claudia Winkleman
Blue Lights is more than great TV. It might be the best chance Britons have of reckoning with the Troubles | Jonathan Freedland

Related in Lifestyle

Not to be: Hamlet rages in Stockholm against the political closure of a cultural institution
The Assembled Parties review – Christmas comes early in a crackling family comedy
‘I hate that they show my bum in the first scene!’ David Duchovny on poems, podcasts – and his TV comeback
This isn’t the spin-off you’re looking for: why Disney was right to ditch Adam Driver’s Ben Solo feature