theartsdesk.com, first with arts reviews, news and interviews
Gary Naylor |
Popular culture includes both will-o'-the-wisp confections, gone in 900 seconds pace Warhol’s aphorism, but can also creates a shorthand that conveys more than a lengthy monograph…
Boyd Tonkin |
What does a spectacular backdrop give to – or maybe take from? – a music festival? Exit the Wigmore Hall and, however transcendent the performance, you find yourself gazing on a…
Tim Cumming |
Tread softly into Jon Batiste’s third volume of his Piano Series, Monk Meditations, drawing on and drawing out a number of introspective solo piano pieces inspired and adapted…
David Kettle |
Water Colour ★★★★Milly Sweeney’s powerful two-hander comes to one of the Fringe’s highest-profile venues bearing prestigious awards for new writing, and it’s not hard to see…
Kieron Tyler |
Although the sound quality is slightly boxy, the opening track on CBGB’s 1985 is a treat. “Gardens” is on a line between first-album Rain Parade and Unhalfbricking-era Fairport…
Joe Muggs |
On first impressions, London vocal trio FLO’s music can seem very familiar. Their sound has always been that of American R&B rooted heavily in the 00s – before EDM throb and…
Helen Hawkins
It’s three typical cat-lives since Andrew Lloyd Webber and Trevor Nunn staged TS Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats as a musical. The piece can’t quite shake the feel of…
India Lewis
Director Charlie McDowell's The Summer Book is a beautiful, somewhat wistful film that follows the residents of a tiny Finnish island (daughter, father, grandmother) over a summer…
Boyd Tonkin
Poor Oberon! An opera scorned so long as weird and silly,A mash-up of outlandish tales all chucked in willy-nilly.Now brave Sir Mark (the Elder one) rides out to save its…
Thomas H. Green
Comparatively speaking, Rotherham appears in the news more than most British towns of an equivalent size. And much of that news is not good. Much of it is representative of…
Sebastian Scotney
Last night's BBC Prom was a celebration – of 40 years since the release of Paul Simon’s triumphant album Graceland in August 1986. Before long, the celebration had morphed into a…
Sarah Kent
Spanning a hundred years, the Dulwich Picture Gallery's show of American photography is a twofold delight. Most of the great names are included, so practically every picture is a…
Thomas H. Green
VINYL OF THE MONTHJohn R Miller The Great Unknowing (Rounder)
Image
John R Miller’s youth was spent in the Eastern Panhandle of…
Helen Hawkins
There’s an incendiary one-woman monologue to be had from Christine Lahti’s 2018 book about the misogyny of her upbringing, but The Smile of Her feels rather like an early draft of…
Ibi Keita
There is something quietly reassuring to me about hearing a record that knows exactly what it wants to be. Wales-born duo Overmono's latest release Pure Devotion isn't chasing…
Boyd Tonkin
Last night’s Prom saw two beloved favourites – Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony – prefaced by a fairly unknown quantity. This was Bernd Alois Zimmerman’…
Camp Bestival 2026, Lulworth Castle review - where the daytime magic still outshines everything else
Katie Colombus
A few years ago, Camp Bestival felt like a charming, quietly eccentric affair, fairly small in the best sense, especially set beside the giants of the British festival calendar.…
Guy Oddy
It’s absolutely normal to expect the weird and the wonderful each time those prolific Australian psychedelicists, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard release a new album. Yet,…
Mark Kidel
There is a jovial intensity about the Jeremy Ledbetter Trio. As they launch vivaciously into the second set of their visit to a packed Ronnie Scott's, they clearly enjoy playing…
disc of the day
The genre-crossing musician brings a New Age sheen to his solo piano tribute
tv
Diane Morgan and Sarah Kendall's comedy is full of heart and soul
You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time...
film
Soft seasonal vignettes set on a Finnish island
Spider-Man matures in a sporadically moving return
Life is sweet and sour in a closely observed film about Luton youth
new music
The genre-crossing musician brings a New Age sheen to his solo piano tribute
New York band’s blend of folk rock and psychedelia grabs attention
The London trio add toilet bowls and ugly crying to the hedonistic glamour
classical
A young festival finds music to match a stupendous setting
Fairies, and ogres, in old favourites, and a rediscovery
Czech piano trios, English choral music and an influential wind soloist celebrated
opera
A joyous outing for Weber's mash-up of panto and profundity
Architecture, balance and charm in the David McVicar production
Laurent Pelly's production proves you can have a great cast yet fail them as characters
theatre
All the old failings and all the old appeal for 'Game of Thrones' fans
Fractured friendships and haunting folk magic in three fine openings at the Traverse Theatre
Drew McOnie and team create an exciting entertainment with strong performances
dance
Matthew Bourne’s 2000 hit revs up again with impressive dancers and a witty score
Marianela Nuñez celebrates 28 years at the company
A test of stamina for the audience as well as the dancers
comedy
Comic looks back on his life and career
Comic revisits her alma mater to talk politics
books
David Thomson explores the dark side of cinema, but still offers a flicker of hope
Joyce lurks in the margins of his own biography in a detailed history of Irish politics
An enjoyable look at 'missingness' and how it affects the way we experience the world
visual arts
Great American photographers all in one place
Four artist's films and a computer game speculate on societal collapse
A wild imagination outlined in miniature
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