theartsdesk.com, first with arts reviews, news and interviews
theartsdesk |
We are bowled over! We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts lovers and professionals alike – but the…
Aleks Sierz |
The best thrillers have not one, but two twists. Often, there’s a predictable twist, and an unpredictable one. So it is with The Guilty, Chloë Moss’s adaptation for the stage of…
Guy Oddy |
To experience a performance by Seattle’s ambient metal kings, Sunn O))) is not like attending a conventional rock’n’roll gig, by any means. For a start, there are no drums, no…
Demetrios Matheou |
Hot from its successful run at the Old Vic, Carrie Cracknell’s Olivier-nominated revival of Tom Stoppard’s 1993 masterpiece has made a particularly sweet landing in the West End.…
Saskia Baron |
It’s a big ask of an audience to watch a film which for most of its two hour running time, focuses on just two actors, even when they are doing their best work. It’s…
Springwood, Hampstead Theatre review - international politics revealed as a gentle comedy of manners
Rachel Halliburton |
In 1939, the newspapers dubbed it the Hot Dog Summit. When King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth visited President Franklin Roosevelt, it was the first time a reigning…
Sarah Kent
How to Live on Planet Earth should be compulsory viewing in every classroom, boardroom, town hall and government office on the globe. Billed as a “how-to video” the documentary…
Thomas H. Green
Confessions II arrives amid a welter of promotional spectacle and global corporate partnerships. At heart, though, it’s Madonna retreating from projects stuck in development hell…
David Nice
It was an awesome start, those three notes from the cellos even before Wagner's famous "Tristan" chord inspiring more deep emotion than the whole of the previous evening's Bellini…
Gary Naylor
A couple of years ago, on a drive through the picture book hills and lakes of Connemara, my pal (his car, his driving, his choice) played a compilation of Frank Sinatra’s hits on…
Joe Muggs
If, like me, you’re not a dedicated jazz listener, sometimes when you dip back in even the most straightforward playing can take your breath away. Go to a small jazz club in any…
Tim Cumming
“Guys, don’t grow old gracefully… it wouldn’t suit you,” The Who’s Pete Townshend told the Rolling Stones at their induction to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. They listened…
David Nice
When it was last staged at the Royal Opera 34 years ago, 33-year-old Bellini's swansong felt like a baggy monster barely justified by some brilliant singing (chiefly from June…
Veronica Lee
Lenny Henry’s latest foray into live performance takes him back to his comedy roots, after several years doing theatre and television work. Still at Large, which I saw at Soho…
Aleks Sierz
Violence against women – it’s horrible, and horribly familiar. Let’s make a list: everyday sexism, coercive control, physical attacks, mind games, casual cruelty, double standards…
Guy Oddy
Butthole Surfers were once a major force in underground rock music. Due to a combination of bad luck and bad decisions, poor management and selling far fewer records than the…
David Nice
There was so much to be thankful for throughout the three days I spent at the Aldeburgh Festival this year. First, of course, to have struck gold in so many of the concerts I…
stephen.walsh
Fifty years since Benjamin Britten died, and his operas are still in repertory: half a dozen of them at least. It’s a tribute to his theatrical, as much as to his musical, genius…
Adam Sweeting
One sometimes finds oneself wondering whether Harlan Coben is an author or a set of AI procedures designed to manufacture plots of ludicrous twistiness. Whatever he or it is, it’s…
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Madonna and Stuart Price concoct a set that's bangin' and occasionally affecting
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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 great deal, and hope you do too.
To take a monthly subscription now simply click here.
Or
Why not take an annual subscription and save a third off our monthly price simply click here.
tv
Harlan Coben thriller does what it says on the tin
Second series of CIA drama ratchets up the pressure
A cancer operation is just one of the trials ahead for Diddly Squat in a moving new season
film
David Vann's acclaimed novella transposed to the screen with mixed results
The most important 'how-to video' you are ever likely to see
new music
An eardrum damaging evening spent with Birmingham’s Sunn O))) worshipers
Madonna and Stuart Price concoct a set that's bangin' and occasionally affecting
Boundaries not broken, but extraordinary interlocked playing, on the quintet's fourth album
classical
Two recitals in a thousand, other events good to excellent
Distinction and emotional impact from young musicians and an exuberant maestro
A brass hero blows through favourite pieces - and a bluesy newcomer
opera
Turbocharged orchestra, sometimes too much so, various approaches from the singers
Richard Jones tries hard with Bellini's vehicle for lyric madness; Lisette Oropesa dazzles
Britten's dark ship of life and death sails on
theatre
Chloë Moss’s new drama is a nerve-fraying example of telephonic tension
Carrie Cracknell’s splendid revival of Stoppard’s masterwork transfers with its magic intact
Springwood, Hampstead Theatre review - international politics revealed as a gentle comedy of manners
Transatlantic tensions are diffused through alcohol, sex, and the etiquette of hot dogs
dance
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
A company that is alive and kicking - literally
Double bill takes the Royal Ballet dancers to unusual new heights
comedy
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Comic looks back on his life and career
Comic revisits her alma mater to talk politics
books
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
As her collection of music by goth divas appears, the writer reveals the appeal of the dark side
Joyce lurks in the margins of his own biography in a detailed history of Irish politics
visual arts
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Celebrating chutzpah on a grand scale
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