reviews

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Bonfire Radicals, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham review – a new chapter for the untraditional folkies

Guy Oddy |

This week saw something of a landmark gig for Birmingham’s ever-exuberant folkies, Bonfire Radicals. New album, Spaghetti Junction was revealed to a home crowd; long-time violinist Sarah Farmer played her last show with the band; her replacement, Emily Dawe was introduced to a welcoming crowd; and at least one tune was performed for the last time and finally exorcised from their live set.

Songs of the Bulbul, Sadler's Wells East review - beautiful melding of kathak moves and Sufism

Helen Hawkins
A voice at the start of dancer Aakash Odedra’s performance speaks out of the darkness about the Sufi myth behind what we are going to see, one of a…

Jesus Christ Superstar, London Palladium review - febrile classic captures the burning energy of the original

Rachel Halliburton
A febrile energy powers Timothy Sheader’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar, which arrives in the West End with an edgy vibe that powerfully…

Though beautifully crafted, US-based Australian duo Luluc's 'Sweet Thief' is intrinsically aloof

Kieron Tyler
The most up-front factor defining the 10 tracks of Sweet Thief’s 26 minutes is Zoë Randell’s voice. Figuratively, she does not – vocally, that is –…

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Ai Weiwei: Button Up, Aviva Studios, Manchester review - apocalypse now and also then

Sarah Kent
Darkness reigns in powerful but competing installations

Ania Magliano, Touring review - SNL UK star back on the road

Veronica Lee
Dolls, heroes and changing therapists

The Invite review - who’s afraid of the couple having noisy sex upstairs?

Helen Hawkins
Olivia Wilde's snappy comedy on the perennial subject of reviving a failing marriage

Music Reissues Weekly: Shop Around - The Smokey Robinson Songbook

Kieron Tyler
First-rate salute to a creative colossus

O'Sullivan, Fantasia Orchestra, Fetherstonhaugh, Smith Square Hall review - the sassy airs of summer

David Nice
Latest in a line of great Irish mezzos shows her versatility, and the strings swoon

The Guilty, Donmar Warehouse review - spine-tingling and gut-tightening thriller

Aleks Sierz
Chloë Moss’s new drama is a nerve-fraying example of telephonic tension

Rolf Harris: Primetime Predator, Prime Video review - rise and fall of the 'beloved entertainer'

Adam Sweeting
You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time...

Birds of War review - we found love in a hopeless, hopeful place

James Saynor
Kiss kiss, bang bang in a moving Middle East documentary

Sunn O))), O2 Institute, Birmingham review - the Gods of Thunder return

Guy Oddy
An eardrum damaging evening spent with Birmingham’s Sunn O))) worshippers

Zoe Rahman's 'Hull Suite Live' lands themes of migration in a good place

Sebastian Scotney
Trio with Gene Calderazzo and Alec Dankworth is a jewel of British jazz

Arcadia, Duke of York’s Theatre review - reaching for the stars

Demetrios Matheou
Carrie Cracknell’s splendid revival of Stoppard’s masterwork transfers with its magic intact

My Father's Island review - ambitious literary adaptation

Saskia Baron
David Vann's acclaimed novella transposed to the screen with mixed results

Springwood, Hampstead Theatre review - international politics revealed as a gentle comedy of manners

Rachel Halliburton
Transatlantic tensions are diffused through alcohol, sex, and the etiquette of hot dogs

How to Live on Earth review - a hopeful look at our collective future

Sarah Kent
The most important 'how-to video' you are ever likely to see

Tristan und Isolde, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - more impressive than profoundly moving

David Nice
Turbocharged orchestra, sometimes too much so, various approaches from the singers

Sinatra the Musical, Aldwych Theatre review - not exactly frank about Frank

Gary Naylor
Bad husband, bad dad, great singer

The Rolling Stones speak in 'Foreign Tongues'

Tim Cumming
The follow-up to comeback album 'Hackney Diamonds' is a raucous, joyful late-period classic

I puritani, Royal Opera - fine moments, tedious quarters of an hour

David Nice
Richard Jones tries hard with Bellini's vehicle for lyric madness; Lisette Oropesa dazzles

Lenny Henry, Touring review - family memories and familiar tales

Veronica Lee
Comic looks back on his life and career

Sting, Young Vic review - emotionally gruelling, but a bit bizarre

Aleks Sierz
New play about domestic abuse adopts a radical form that works - up to a point

theartsdesk at the Aldeburgh Festival - second-midweek concert gems in a row

David Nice
Two recitals in a thousand, other events good to excellent

Billy Budd, Glyndebourne review - superb revival of a classic production

stephen.walsh
Britten's dark ship of life and death sails on

I Will Find You, Netflix review - Sam Worthington stars in dead child mystery

Adam Sweeting
Harlan Coben thriller does what it says on the tin

Cyrano de Bergerac, Noël Coward Theatre review - smouldering sadness beneath the verbal fireworks

Rachel Halliburton
Adrian Lester’s spiky, swaggering hero is the apex predator in this linguistic ecosystem

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latest in today

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support
We are bowled over! We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts…
Bonfire Radicals, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham review – a new chapter for the untraditional folkies
This week saw something of a landmark gig for Birmingham’s ever-exuberant folkies, Bonfire Radicals. New album, Spaghetti Junction was…
Songs of the Bulbul, Sadler's Wells East review - beautiful melding of kathak moves and Sufism
A voice at the start of dancer Aakash Odedra’s performance speaks out of the darkness about the Sufi myth behind what we are going to see,…
Panda Bear & Sonic Boom blur cathedral and kindergarten on 'A ? of When'
Pyschedelic music has always encouraged intergenerational influence. Thus West Midlander Pete “Sonic Boom” Kember, in his 1980s Spacemen 3…
Jesus Christ Superstar, London Palladium review - febrile classic captures the burning energy of the original
A febrile energy powers Timothy Sheader’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar, which arrives in the West End with an edgy vibe that…
Though beautifully crafted, US-based Australian duo Luluc's 'Sweet Thief' is intrinsically aloof
The most up-front factor defining the 10 tracks of Sweet Thief’s 26 minutes is Zoë Randell’s voice. Figuratively, she does not – vocally,…
Ai Weiwei: Button Up, Aviva Studios, Manchester review - apocalypse now and also then
The Aviva studios in Manchester consist of an open plan warehouse with black walls and no windows. The space is vast, dark and difficult to…
Ania Magliano, Touring review - SNL UK star back on the road
Ania Magliano has built a solid body of work over the past few years with her thoughtful, self-reflective shows (gaining an Edinburgh…
SMart festival spotlights mobile phone filmmaking
A recent OFCOM study found that over 90% of young people tune into video-sharing platform and streamers and only spend a quarter of their…
Blu-ray: The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz
Playwright and novelist Rodolfo Usigli wasn’t impressed with Luis Buñuel’s 1955 film version of his novel Ensayo de un crimen, unhappy with…