theartsdesk com, first with arts reviews, news and interviews
Tom Birchenough
Friday, 14 November 2025
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...
Helen Hawkins
Thursday, 17 July 2025
Before Luigi Illica wrote the libretti for Puccini’s Tosca and Madama Butterfly, he had joined the composer as the librettist in a race to stage the first production of La Bohème...
Sebastian Scotney
Thursday, 17 July 2025
The frenetic brand of humour that Tim Robinson brings to Friendship comes from a long lineage. There have been turbo-charged, mad-staring, cringe-inducing figures occupying the...
Joe Muggs
Thursday, 17 July 2025
In the eternal now of the strobe-lit sweatbox, innovation functions in a different way to the rest of culture. Yes of course, the thrill of the new has consistently been a vital...
Rachel Halliburton
Wednesday, 16 July 2025
“I still can’t believe that some pseudo-critics continue to accuse me of having murdered tango,” Astor Piazzolla once declared. “They have it backward. They should look at me as...
Mark Kidel
Wednesday, 16 July 2025
Brian Clarke died on 1 July 2025, after a long illness. He was one of the most original British artists of our time – wide-ranging, ground-breaking and influential. His...
Tim Cumming
Wednesday, 16 July 2025
“I like guns. At school we had to fight with guns in the army cadets. I’m actually a first-class sniper. I could shoot...
Guy Oddy
Wednesday, 16 July 2025
As the name suggests, the Near Jazz Experience owe a huge musical debt to jazz, but that’s not the full story by any means....
Katie Colombus
Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Billie Eilish may be one of the biggest names in new music, but here at the O2 Arena, she’s just Billie – the one who stares...
Boyd Tonkin
Tuesday, 15 July 2025
From the animatronic cat on the bar of the Garter Inn to the rowers’ crew who haul their craft across the stage and the...
Graham Rickson
Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Heart of Stone (Das kalte Herz) was the first colour film produced by East Germany’s state film studio DEFA, a big-budget...
Nick Hasted
Monday, 14 July 2025
A three-century-spanning countdown rapidly ticks to a version of now, and a beaten Superman (David Corenswet) ploughing into...
David Nice
Monday, 14 July 2025
A Salome without the head of John the Baptist is nothing new: several directors have perversely decided they could do...
Helen Hawkins
Monday, 14 July 2025
The 2024 play at the National Theatre that put writer Beth Steel squarely centre-stage has now received a West End transfer...
Helen Hawkins
Monday, 14 July 2025
A thirtysomething American woman with wavering self-confidence, a tendency to talk too much and a longing for married bliss...
Peter Quinn
Monday, 14 July 2025
This second album from London-based septet Kokoroko welcomes you into its warm embrace with the gorgeous, beatific vocal...
Kieron Tyler
Sunday, 13 July 2025
Tubeway Army’s “Are ‘Friends’ Electric” hit the top of the UK single’s chart in the last week of June 1979. It stayed there...
Helen Hawkins
Saturday, 12 July 2025
Can a romcom be intellectually challenging while hitting all the sweet spots of the genre? Jonás Trueba, the director of the...
Kathryn Reilly
Saturday, 12 July 2025
War, pestilence, famine, death. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had my fill of them all. So what better time to visit the...
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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.
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tv
Too Much, Netflix - a romcom that's oversexed, and over here
Lena Dunham's new series presents an England it's often hard to recognise
Insomnia, Channel 5 review - a chronicle of deaths foretold
Sarah Pinborough's psychological thriller is cluttered but compelling
Live Aid at 40: When Rock'n'Roll Took on the World, BBC Two review - how Bob Geldof led pop's battle against Ethiopian famine
When wackily-dressed pop stars banded together to give a little help to the helpless
film
Friendship review - toxic buddy alert
Dark comedy stars Tim Robinson as a social misfit with cringe benefits
S/HE IS STILL HER/E - The Official Genesis P-Orridge Documentary review - a shapeshifting open window onto a counter-cultural radical
Intimate portrait of the Throbbing Gristle & Psychic TV antagonist
new music
Billie Eilish, O2 review - power, authenticity and deep connection
A stripped back, intimate and emotionally charged gig
classical
Interview: Quinteto Astor Piazzolla on playing in London and why Mick Jagger's a fan
Music Director Julián Vat and pianist Matias Feigin compare notes on Piazzolla
theartsdesk at the Ravenna Festival 2025 - Cervantes, Beethoven and Byron transfigured
Muti revitalised by young musicians, and a three-year theatre project reaches completion
Classical CDs: Bells, birdsong and braggadocio
British contemporary music, percussive piano concertos and a talented baritone sings Mozart
opera
Falstaff, Glyndebourne review - knockabout and nostalgia in postwar Windsor
A fat knight to remember, and snappy stagecraft, overcome some tedious waits
Salome, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - a partnership in a million
Asmik Grigorian is vocal perfection in league with a great conductor and orchestra
Semele, Royal Opera review - unholy smoke
Style comes and goes in a justifiably dark treatment of Handelian myth
theatre
That Bastard, Puccini!, Park Theatre review - inventive comic staging of the battle of the Bohèmes
James Inverne enjoyably reconstructs the rivalry between Puccini and Leoncavallo
Till the Stars Come Down, Theatre Royal Haymarket review - a family hilariously and tragically at war
Beth Steel makes a stirring West End debut with her poignant play for today
Nye, National Theatre review - Michael Sheen's full-blooded Bevan returns to the Olivier
Revisiting Tim Price's dream-set account of the founder of the health service
dance
'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Quadrophenia, Sadler's Wells review - missed opportunity to give new stage life to a Who classic
The brilliant cast need a tighter score and a stronger narrative
The Midnight Bell, Sadler's Wells review - a first reprise for one of Matthew Bourne's most compelling shows to date
The after-hours lives of the sad and lonely are drawn with compassion, originality and skill
comedy
'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Kieran Hodgson, Soho Theatre review - a love affair soured by Trump
Can America be great again for the comic?
Books
'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Tom Raworth: Cancer review - truthfulness
A 'lost' book reconfirms Raworth’s legacy as one of the great lyric poets
Ian Leslie: John and Paul - A Love Story in Songs review - help!
Ian Leslie loses himself in amateur psychology, and fatally misreads The Beatles
visual arts
'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Sir Brian Clarke (1953-2025) - a personal tribute
Remembering an artist with a gift for the transcendent
Emily Kam Kngwarray, Tate Modern review - glimpses of another world
Pictures that are an affirmation of belonging
latest comments
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Thanks for this wonderful tribute to one of my...
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A truly excellent review. It completely expressed...
Why is the opening song "infamous"?
The Beach Boys finally retired from touring as it...
Just saw this yesterday. A very gripping and...