Playwright Simon Stephens’ Port is arguably one of his most personal, not least because it is based where he, and the play’s director, Marianne Elliott, grew up. It was also written while his father was battling cancer, and themes of loss pervade the text.

'Anywhere in the world I smell hickory, it takes me straight home'

The outspoken star, who died yesterday, played the game with style. By Tim Rich

Tales of raucous excess and tortured creativity are the hallmarks of a good rock autobiography. Best read with a bottle of Jack Daniels at your elbow...

Forget charcoal – the secret of gourmet grilling is sizzling your meat over mesquite, hickory, or even wood chips infused with Jack Daniel's.

Don't be surprised if you hear your rock hero in the ad break – collaborating with the Man isn't what it used to be, says Chris Mugan

Former Stereophonics drummer Stuart Cable choked to death on his own vomit at the end of a three day bender.

With the exception of Diane Abbott, whose parlaying of a minor TV career into D-list celebrity has been admirably opportunistic, this has been the Castrati Election

A chief of the Mafia Cruenza, one of the biggest drug gangs in the 1980s, was recorded expressing his gratitude for the war on drugs as 'good for business'

Louise Dean’s fearless, frank and darkly comic novels have brought a fresh colour and character to English fiction. Boyd Tonkin meets her on home soil in rural Kent

It's been too long since Darren Clarke has been atop of a big-time leaderboard, but there the big Ulsterman is, looking as imposing as he always did after a first-round 65. From announcing he was considering walking away last month, Clarke has marched right back in again.

A care worker stabbed her friend's boyfriend to death after the pair had sex with two soldiers they met in a pub, a court heard today.

That a concert venue in a major city should make it to 20 years old is a feat, but hardly unique. For Glasgow's King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, though, the sense of history accompanying today's anniversary is well-earned. This was where, in May 1993, Creation Records boss and native Glaswegian Alan McGee first saw Oasis play, deciding to sign them before they had finished their second song. And so the 1990s, Britpop and Cool Britannia all sprang from a 300-capacity upstairs room just off the M8.

Tales of the City