sat 09/11/2024

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Theartsdesk
Sunday, 01 December 2024
It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.It followed some hectic and intensive months when a disparate and eclectic...
Jenny Gilbert
Saturday, 09 November 2024
It takes a lot to make an audience not want to head to the bar at the interval. But the preparation of the stage floor for The Rite of Spring in the version by Pina Bausch is a...
Bernard Hughes
Saturday, 09 November 2024
Until 2022, the lovely 18th century church of St Mary-le-Strand was a traffic island, ignored and unloved and rarely visited. Then came the pedestrianisation of the section of the...
Liz Thomson
Saturday, 09 November 2024
Among the many things that make the folk community such a warm and welcoming “family” is that you know which side you’re all on, to paraphrase the title of the song written by...
Graham Rickson
Saturday, 09 November 2024
 Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 1, Schubert: Wanderer Fantasy Alexandre Kantorow (piano) (BIS)I’d previously encountered pianist Alexandre Kantorow via his exuberant set of Saint-...
David Nice
Friday, 08 November 2024
Having all but sunk one seemingly unassailable opéra comique, Bizet’s Carmen, director Damiano Michieletto goes some way to helping out another with so many problems. Not far...
Adam Sweeting
Friday, 08 November 2024
Fred Zinnemann’s 1973 film The Day of the Jackal was successful thanks to its lean, almost documentary-like treatment of its...
Robert Beale
Friday, 08 November 2024
Pavel Kolesnikov returned to the Hallé last night with a bobby-dazzler of a concerto. He’s a laid-back dude in appearance,...
Aleks Sierz
Friday, 08 November 2024
Can experimental theatre survive the decades? This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Forced Entertainment theatre...
Hugh Barnes
Friday, 08 November 2024
A quarter of an hour into The Problem With People, there’s a 15-second clip of Bill Forsyth’s Local Hero – and it’s the best...
Liz Thomson
Friday, 08 November 2024
A father and son union – the first joint collaboration by Garfunkel père et fils. Art Junior it seems has already released...
Thomas H Green
Thursday, 07 November 2024
Tucker Zimmerman is singing a number called “Don’t Go Crazy (Go in Peace)”. At 83, he performs sitting down. Surrounded by...
Jon Turney
Thursday, 07 November 2024
If you are bothered about climate change – and who isn’t? – you’ll soon come across references to the “energy transition”....
Guy Oddy
Thursday, 07 November 2024
In many ways, Primal Scream have had a strikingly similar career path to the Rolling Stones – despite them forming some 20...
Helen Hawkins
Wednesday, 06 November 2024
The latest true-crime adaptation about a murderous man and his female victims turns its star into a bloody mess on a...
David Nice
Wednesday, 06 November 2024
As Steven Isserlis announced just before the final work, in more senses than one, of a five-day revelation, the 79 year old...
Matt Wolf
Wednesday, 06 November 2024
The Catalan capital has given its name to a famous number in the Stephen Sondheim musical, Company. And here it is lending...
Joe Muggs
Wednesday, 06 November 2024
If the names Pinch, Vex’d, Burial, Digital Mystikz, The Bug mean anything to you, stop reading now and buy or stream this...
Guy Oddy
Tuesday, 05 November 2024
More than once during their barnstorming performance this weekend, Bobby Vylan, vocalist with Bob Vylan proclaimed from the...

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★★★★ BOB VYLAN, 02 INSTITUTE, BIRMINGHAM UK's self-proclaimed top band blow the roof off

★★★ THE DAY OF THE JACKAL, SKY ATLANTIC Frederick Forsyth's assassin gets a makeover

★★★ UNTIL I KILL YOU, ITV1 Anna Maxwell Martin and Shaun Evans are compelling, but the script needs more ballast

★★★★ LEGACY, LINBURY THEATRE An exceptional display of black dance prowess

★★★★ KOLESNIKOV, HALLE, ELTS, BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER The dude who dazzles

★★★ BARCELONA, DUKE OF YORK'S THEATRE Lily Collins migrates from France to Spain

★★★★ ALLEY CAT - THE WIDOW PROJECT Quiver in the shadows with dubstep auteur

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

tv

Until I Kill You, ITV1 review - superb performances in a frustrating true-crime story

Anna Maxwell Martin and Shaun Evans are compelling, but the script needs more ballast

Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Disney+ review - the Boss grows older defiantly

Thom Zimny's film reels in 50 years of New Jersey's most famous export

film

The Problem With People review - local zero

Hardly a Forsyth saga, this unfunny Oirish comedy is a homage to catatonia

Anora review - life lesson for a kick-ass sex worker

Sean Baker's bracing Palme d'Or winner twists, turns, and makes a star of Mikey Madison

Blitz review - racism persists as bombs batter London

Steve McQueen's overwought World War Two boy's adventure film delivers its message

new music

Le Vent du Nord, Cecil Sharp House review - five extraordinary musicians

Joie de vivre, thanks to a bracing wind from Canada

Tucker Zimmerman, The Lexington, London review - undersung old-timer airs songwriting excellence

Rare and welcome appearance from superb octagenarian American singer-songwriter

classical

Mailley-Smith, Piccadilly Sinfonietta, St Mary-le-Strand review - music in a resurgent venue

Neglected London church now the home of a vibrant concert series

Classical CDs: Mandolins, multiphonics and multiple pianos

Classical horn concertos, a Gallic record label celebrated and Seventies pop meets the French baroque

Kolesnikov, Hallé, Elts, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - the dude who dazzles

Fun French music forms a foil to naked, virtuoso pianism

opera

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The Tales of Hoffmann, Royal Opera review - three-headed monster feels baggier than ever

Offenbach left multiple choices for his swansong, but this production lacks the key

Rigoletto, English National Opera review - another hit for Miller's Mob

More tragic than gimmicky, this classic staging can still succeed

theatre

L’Addition, BAC review - top billing for physical comedy duo
The latest in Forced Entertainment’s 40 years of experiment is a thought-tickling farce
Barcelona, Duke of York's Theatre review - Lily Collins migrates from France to Spain
The 'Emily in Paris' star surrenders to cliche - or does she?
Guards at the Taj, Orange Tree Theatre review - miniature marvel with rich resonances
Rajiv Joseph’s play pitting beauty against duty gets an impressive staging

dance

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Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring/common ground[s], Sadler’s Wells review - raw and devastating

Returning dancers from 13 African countries deliver celebrated vision with blistering force

Legacy, Linbury Theatre review - an exceptional display of black dance prowess

An all-too-fleeting celebration of black and brown ballet talent that demands a reprise

comedy

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Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Brighton Dome review - a foster carer's tale

Comic skilfully melds a personal story with sharp social commentary

Rose Matafeo, Arcola Theatre review - Starstruck star muses on love

Kiwi comic on dating, phone apps and Taylor Swift

Books

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Jean-Baptiste Fressoz: More and More and More review - fuel for thought

A re-reading of our complex history of energy use shows the long way we have to go

Alan Hollinghurst: Our Evenings review - a gift that keeps on giving

Common themes are retuned with political edge in critique of Brexit, race, and sexuality

visual arts

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Vanessa Bell, MK Gallery review - diving into and out of abstraction

A variation of styles as the Bloomsbury artist breaks free from Victorian mores

latest comments

Great review. Agree completely. Recommend reading...

An excellent production and very moving. 

I watched 3 episodes before I read the Very...

I loved his 'Mandrake' precisely because it was...

Are the recent plot developments and murder...

Watching it for the first time in 2024. I've...

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