theartsdesk com, first with arts reviews, news and interviews
Marina Vaizey
Tuesday, 18 February 2020
It’s all in the timing. Here was David Baddiel beginning a stand-up turn at a gig in Finchley. A Holocaust survivor gets to heaven, and God asks for a Holocaust joke. God says...
Mark Kidel
Tuesday, 18 February 2020
8 ½ is one of the classic films about the art of cinema. There is something about the make-believe of movies, and our buying into the dreams they foster, which suggests reflection...
Veronica Lee
Tuesday, 18 February 2020
What joy it is to welcome this offshoot of the television series to the West End stage – complete with several of that show's cast, plus a few new additions. Ben Elton has...
Jessica Duchen
Monday, 17 February 2020
Nobody could deny that this was a weekend when we needed cheering up. The place for that was the Wigmore Hall, which played host to a recently formed “shape-shifting” ensemble of...
Jonathan Geddes
Monday, 17 February 2020
It might have been 24 hours after Valentine’s Day, but James McGovern still seemed to have a touch of romance in his head. At one stage during the Murder Capital’s bruising set he...
Bernard Hughes
Monday, 17 February 2020
In my reviewing for theartsdesk I like as much as possible to ski off-piste, reaching areas of repertoire, performer and venue that mainstream coverage doesn't. There is much...
Veronica Lee
Monday, 17 February 2020
Simon Evans is a comic known for pithy observational humour, and an often acerbic take on politics, with occasional bits of...
Kieron Tyler
Monday, 17 February 2020
Spook The Herd concludes with “A Fitting End”. In a cracked, reflective voice, Hazel Wilde sings: “I want a door to the...
Kieron Tyler
Sunday, 16 February 2020
August and September 1964 were golden months for Pye Records. The Kinks hit number one on the British charts in September...
Matt Wolf
Saturday, 15 February 2020
Lesley Manville’s thrilling career ascent continues apace with The Visit, which marks American playwright ...
Thomas H Green
Saturday, 15 February 2020
Welcome to the biggest plastic reviews party on earth. Now that vinyl is steadily successful as niche musical medium, some...
Adam Sweeting
Saturday, 15 February 2020
This eight-part mystery from Netflix is based on the titular novel by American writer Harlan Coben, who has formed a...
Aleks Sierz
Saturday, 15 February 2020
Queer people of colour face a double discrimination: racism and homophobia. Against this sickness of negation and stupidity...
Jill Chuah Masters
Saturday, 15 February 2020
Roland Orzabal, co-founder and lead guitarist of Tears for Fears, laughs to himself often during this documentary — the...
Graham Rickson
Saturday, 15 February 2020
Brahms: The Orchestral Music Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/Kurt Masur (Decca Eloquence)Conductor Kurt Masur's role...
Owen Richards
Saturday, 15 February 2020
He's one of Japan's foremost directors, and if you’ve witnessed one of his films before, you know what to expect from a...
Sebastian Scotney
Saturday, 15 February 2020
From This Place (Nonesuch) is a complex, meticulously produced and many-layered album which demands concentrated and...
Jill Chuah Masters
Friday, 14 February 2020
Netflix’s Sex Education has returned to our screens and streams. The show made waves last year for its refreshing take on...
Jenny Gilbert
Friday, 14 February 2020
When Pina Bausch died at the height of her creative powers in 2009, no one knew if her work or her company would survive. A...
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tv
Confronting Holocaust Denial with David Baddiel, BBC Two review - grappling with the incomprehensible
Writer and comedian tries to fathom how so many can deny such well-documented history
The Stranger, Netflix review - strong cast grapples with labyrinthine plotting
Adaptation of Harlan Coben's novel is improbable but watchable
Classic Albums: Tears for Fears, Songs From The Big Chair, BBC Four review - anatomy of an anthem
Latest BBC Classic Albums documentary hits the right notes, mostly
film
First Love review - Miike delivers thrills and spills
Renowned director is the ultraviolent gift that keeps on giving
Sonic the Hedgehog review - stuck in first gear
Bizarrely slow-motion effort to exploit Sega's speedster
new music
The Murder Capital, QMU, Glasgow review - Dublin outfit find catharsis through pummelling songs
Slow-burning set builds to a thumping conclusion
Album: Lanterns On The Lake - Spook The Herd
The atmospheric Newcastle band wrestle with the issues of the day
Reissue CDs Weekly: The Honeycombs - Have I The Right? The Complete 60s Albums & Singles
Exhaustive box set dedicated to the Joe Meek-produced hit-makers
classical
Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, Wigmore Hall review - a joyous celebration
A sparky, shape-shifting ensemble of starry young musicians
Elysian Singers, SPCMH, Sam Laughton, St Luke’s, Chelsea review - John Cage and friends given a rare airing
Adventurous choral modernism alongside entertainingly anarchic postmodernism
Classical CDs Weekly: Brahms, Magnard, Skempton
A great German conductor's vintage years, plus neglected French symphonies and British vocal music
opera
Luisa Miller, English National Opera review - Verdi in translation makes a stylish comeback
Musical splendours peak in a tenor aria to die for and a moving last act
theartsdesk Q&A: soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn
Returning to ENO to sing Verdi's Luisa Miller, a great singer-actor reflects
Les vêpres siciliennes, Welsh National Opera review - spectacular, silly, but some great music
Verdi's reluctant grand opera colourfully staged, brilliantly played, unevenly sung
theatre
Upstart Crow, Gielgud Theatre review - terrific Shakespeare spoof
Ben Elton's new comedy is a gagfest
The Visit, National Theatre review - star turn bolsters baggy rewrite
Lesley Manville rises above the prevailing muddle
The High Table, Bush Theatre review - party on in Lagos and London
New debut play is a heartfelt account of the black lesbian experience
dance
Bluebeard, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Sadler's Wells review - bleak but ground-breaking
This 1977 take on Bartok's murderous opera was a watershed for European theatre
Michael Keegan-Dolan, MÁM, Sadler's Wells review - folk goes radical
Digging deeper into Irish tradition has yielded Michael Keegan-Dolan's most visionary work yet
'She was revolutionary': Tanztheater Wuppertal's new director on the legacy of Pina Bausch
Bettina Wagner-Bergelt talks violence and taped music in a monumental early masterpiece
comedy
Simon Evans, Blackheath Halls review - a big reveal worth waiting for
The comic's most personal show yet
Jen Brister, Soho Theatre review - parenting, privilege and porn under scrutiny
Domestic anecdotes and political insights
gaming
Rage 2 review – garish but great post-apocalyptic shooter
Challenge The Authority in this 'Mad Max on mushrooms' renegade romp
Win a Luxury Weekend for Two to Celebrate Brighton Festival!
An eclectic line-up spanning music, theatre, dance, visual art, film, comedy, literature and spoken word could be yours with boutique hotel and exquisite meals included
World War Z review - bloodthirsty fun with the zombie apocalypse
Chainsawing the brain-eaters as you battle against the tide of the undead
visual arts
Steve McQueen, Tate Modern review – films that stick in the mind
Memorable artist's films by the award winning director
Radical Figures: Painting in the New Millennium, Whitechapel review - ten distinctive voices
Exhilarating proof that painting is alive and kicking
Darren Waterston: Filthy Lucre, V&A review - a timely look at the value of art
Whistler's Peacock Room destroyed, or so it seems
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