72 m. ago ‘There was rage and pain and iron in him’: Patrick Marber on the great hits – and fond smokes – he had with Tom Stoppard

The director worked with theatre colossus Tom Stoppard on two smash hits. Here, he remembers their heated rehearsals, the night they stayed up watching Jaws – and the last four cigarettes they smoked togetherTom was my hero from the night I first saw Travesties in 1979. I was 15. The older kids at school did a production of it and I was spellbound; it was glamorous, sensual and completely incomprehensible. I wanted to know everything about this cool, obscure playwright. I started in the school library with the Encyclopedia Brittanica. Then I read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (incomprehensible) and then I read a third of Jumpers before giving up (totally incomprehensible).As an English Lit student in the mid 1980s, I studied Stoppard and found his work slightly less incomprehensible. But in 1993, I saw the original production of Arcadia and felt that same spell I’d felt as a child. Let’s call it art. And beauty. And words spoken from a stage like no one else. A couple of yea...

Events

89 m. ago Terminator director James Cameron says the idea of AI replacing actors is 'terrifying'

The filmmaker admitted that he fears people might think movies like his Avatar franchise used artificial intelligence. He said he's determined not to 'replace actors'

Events

2 h. ago David Tennant makes rare appearance with budding actress daughter Olive, 14, after getting death threats

The actor’s wife Georgia recently received abusive messages on social media, just weeks after an alleged stalker reportedly offered a reward for her murder

Events

2 h. ago 'Lotto wife' with lavish lifestyle after £1m win now lives in caravan

Michelle Oakes enjoyed a champagne lifestyle with a swimming pool and stables in Essex after her partner won the lottery, but now lives in a static caravan

Economics

2 h. ago Josh Brolin on Donald Trump: ‘There’s no greater genius than him in marketing’

The actor met the future president while making Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, and says he is ‘not scared’ of himActor Josh Brolin says President Trump was a “different guy” when he first met him in 2009, and that “there is no greater genius than [Trump] in marketing”.Brolin was speaking to the Independent to promote his new film Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery and said that while his clergyman character was not based on the president, there was a similarity in that once he “garners a sense of power, then there are no boundaries”. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago I'm a Celebrity's Tom Read Wilson's TV talent show spot before finding fame on Celebs Go Dating

The TV personality rose to fame on Celebs Go Dating, however, he is also a trained performer and appeared on a popular show

Culture

2 h. ago ‘We were swimming in the mind pool of Tom Stoppard!’ – actors salute the great playwright

Rufus Sewell, Christine Baranski, Susan Wokoma, Toby Jones and Harriet Walter share their unforgettable encounters with a theatrical giantI worked with Tom when I was quite young, on Arcadia in 1993, and again on Rock’n’Roll 13 years later. In the interim it slowly dawned on me that not all jobs were like that. He was one of the most intelligent people you could ever meet but the extraordinary thing was that you’d walk away from conversations with him feeling like you were not unintelligent or unwitty yourself. That’s not always the case with incredibly brilliant writers and funny people. That generosity of spirit marked my time with him. He was incredibly good company, very sweet, and you felt encouraged to put forward your own ideas, make your own jokes. Continue reading...

Politics

3 h. ago Paul Walker’s daughter Meadow, 27, marks 12th anniversary of his death with emotional tribute

Vin Diesel also paid tribute to the late actor

Events

4 h. ago Gavin and Stacey star Mathew Horne teases reunion with 'phenomenal' sitcom legend

The actor wrapped up his time on the BBC sitcom with an eventful Christmas special last year

Politics

5 h. ago Old offices will be transformed into hotel, restaurant and spa with pool and sauna

RCT Council's planning committee has approved plans for the Rock Grounds site

Society

5 h. ago I'm A Celebrity star Tom Read Wilson's mum breaks silence on his accent

I'm a Celebrity star Tom Read Wilson's mum has addressed his sophisticated accent and the origin of his wide vocabulary

Politics

5 h. ago ITV stars play festive charades to flag mammoth Xmas film line

ITV has unveiled a series of Christmas ads, starring everyone from Masked singer star Davina McCall to Welsh crooner Tom Jones to reveal a host of films available to viewers this Christmas

Culture

6 h. ago I'm A Celebrity star Tom Read Wilson's mum insists 'it's real' as she reveals accent's origin

Tom is one of the favourites to make the final of the ITV reality series

Politics

6 h. ago Gratitude can be truly healing – but you need more than a checklist

Transformative gratitude occurs within sincere relationships, but building those links is not always an easy process Recently, my psychoanalyst annoyed me. She said something and I felt misunderstood, criticised – and that she was wrong. I wanted an apology. As we worked through this, as she listened to me and I listened to her, I gradually realised that she hadn’t meant exactly what I thought, and that I was the one who had misunderstood, who was being so critical. But why couldn’t she have made it easier for me to understand, phrased it like I would have done? She responded: “That isn’t what I thought.”In that moment, something clicked. I felt the rush and the relief of sudden emotional clarity. I think this came from seeing that my psychoanalyst, by not apologising to appease my anger, by not taking an easy way out of the conflict, by persisting in offering me her honest thoughts about what was going on in my mind and by bearing my struggle to take them in, was giving me an extre...

Politics

6 h. ago Man appears in court after 'pool cue attack' inside Livingston pub

Sean Rennie, 23, appeared at Livingston Sheriff Court on Wednesday.

Events

6 h. ago Surreal, erudite and always experimenting: Tom Stoppard was a playwright never likely to stand still

David Lister remembers the brilliant, complicated man whose work explored politics, science, love, Shakespeare, and even rock’n’roll

Politics

7 h. ago Olivia Attwood confirms This Morning future after missing Loose Women slot

The Love Island star was forced tom pull out of Loose Women last week

Events

7 h. ago Brigitte Bardot issues statement to fans following health concerns

‘Ms Bardot wishes to reassure those who are genuinely concerned about her,’ says the French actor’s representatives

Politics

7 h. ago The US love of football is reaching new levels. Just look at Arsenal super

The New York mayor-elect’s devotion to a north London club shows how the global game is winning hearts across the USBryan Armen Graham is the deputy sport editor of Guardian USWhen Zohran Mamdani made an appearance on The Adam Friedland Show last week, the newly elected mayor of New York was expecting the typical nimble rundown of politics, jokes and conversational detours. What he wasn’t expecting was Ian Wright suddenly filling a phone screen with a congratulatory video. The former England and Arsenal striker saluted him on “what you’ve achieved”, urged him to channel that “winning energy” into the job ahead before signing off with a nod to the Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta. Mamdani cheesed guilelessly as it played before finally blurting out: “I love this man.”For a moment, the incoming mayor of the most powerful city in the United States was simply another geeked-out Arsenal obsessive left weak by one of his childhood heroes. And in that moment lies something revealing about how...

Sport

7 h. ago Tom Aspinall diagnosed with 'traumatic' eye condition leaving UFC future in doubt

Heavyweight champion saw his title defence ended prematurely

Events