‘I’m bursting with ideas’: Michael Sheen launches new national theatre for Wales

Michael Sheen, a global star of screen and stage, is spearheading a new national theatre for Wales, promising to create big, bold plays that bring vital stories about his homeland to life.Sheen said he was bursting with ideas and promised to appear in the newly forged Welsh National Theatre’s first production, a “foundation” story about Wales staged at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff.The actor, who has been announced as artistic director of the theatre company, told the Guardian that Wales’s stories were “under-explored in the English language”.Sheen said: “Could you tell me the name of the great play about Aberfan or the Merthyr Rising or the Rebecca riots? Where is our Welsh canon of great plays? We can’t do Under Milk Wood for the rest of eternity. I’m bursting with ideas people are bursting with work that they want to do with us and that’s what’s really exciting about it

Stephen Colbert on Angelenos: ‘Doing everything they can to help one another’

Late-night hosts addressed Donald Trump’s latest rambling press conference and the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, which forced Jimmy Kimmel to cancel his show.Stephen Colbert opened Wednesday’s Late Show with a message to the people of Los Angeles as they endure out-of-control wildfires. “We know that the people of Los Angeles are resourceful and kind, and they’re doing everything they can to help one another,” he said. “And we here want to send our love and concern to all of the residents of Los Angeles, who are facing what has been described as the most destructive fire in the city’s history.“Other parts of the country are dealing with a different kind of crisis, due to record cold,” Colbert continued

‘It’s our Olympic opening ceremony’: Dynamo, David Hockney and more unite for Bradford city of culture

This year sees the city celebrate its rich, diverse creativity. Magician Dynamo, AKA Steven Frayne, and director Kirsty Housley discuss collaborating to shine a light on the arts of their home city – and offer hints on what to expectSlathered in mud, the magician formerly known as Dynamo emerged from a five-tonne mound of earth. It was 2022 and Steven Frayne had just buried himself alive, a magic trick that even Houdini never successfully performed. In the coffin-sized pit he dragged himself out of, Frayne left behind the weight of expectation that came with his alter ego, having spent two decades creating impossible, death-defying performances as Dynamo: floating above the Shard; walking across the Thames; levitating below Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. Now working under his own name, Frayne’s latest project takes him out of the spotlight

Wicked, A Complete Unknown and Shôgun lead Screen Actors Guild nominations

Music-led films Wicked and A Complete Unknown and TV shows Shôgun and The Bear lead this year’s Screen Actors Guild nominations, it was announced this morning.Blockbuster musical Wicked heads up the film side with five nominations including for actors Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey, as well as the ensemble. It was also nominated for stunt ensemble. The film, based on the long-running Broadway hit, has made more than $680m at the global box office.The Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown was next with four nods, for actors Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton and Monica Barbaro, as well as the ensemble

Jimmy Kimmel: ‘Trump is already reminding us of what a terrible mistake we made’

Late-night hosts sorted through the many outlandish claims made by Donald Trump during his pre-inauguration press conference at Mar-a-Lago.“Trump is already reminding us of what a terrible mistake we made,” said Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday evening, after the president-elect held a 72-minute press conference at his Florida hotel that “covered all the issues, including his plan to rebrand the ocean itself”.Trump, in fact, did propose renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”.“Yes, what a beautiful name he spent two seconds thinking of,” Kimmel deadpanned. “He still has no healthcare plan, stayed up almost all night drinking Diet Coke to come up with the Gulf of America

Jon Stewart on Harris presiding over election certification: ‘Like attending your own funeral’

Late-night hosts talk the fourth anniversary of the 6 January insurrection and an uneventful transfer of power in Washington.“What a historic day in Washington DC,” said Jon Stewart, returning to the Daily Show on 6 January 2025. “Once again, a blanket of angry white is descending on the Capitol,” he added over a picture of the Capitol covered in snow. “This white, oddly enough, not as disruptive. It did snarl traffic, but a lot less bear spray and Confederate flags