mon 14/07/2025

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...
Mark Kidel
Tuesday, 15 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...
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 military ranks of “Dig for Victory” cabbages arrayed in...
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 without in recent productions. In concert, the illusion needs...
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. Its title taken from an Auden poem urging people to...
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 with Mr Darcy at his gorgeous country pile tries to...
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...
Heather Neill
Friday, 11 July 2025
The National Health Service was established 77 years ago this month. Resident doctors are about to strike for more pay, long...
Sarah Kent
Friday, 11 July 2025
It took until the last room of her exhibition for me to gain any real understanding of the work of Australian Aboriginal...
Thomas H Green
Friday, 11 July 2025
Tami Neilson’s career is long and storied. The short version is that she began with a 1990s Canadian family band (opening...
David Nice
Thursday, 10 July 2025
Anyone seeking local genius in an international festival should look no further than the annual Ravenna concerts from...
Gary Naylor
Thursday, 10 July 2025
Well, I wasn’t expecting a Dylanesque take on "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" as an opening number and I was right. But The...
Kieron Tyler
Thursday, 10 July 2025
The branch of the fast-food chain Hesburger in downtown Tallinn shopping centre Solaris is busy. Nothing unusual as it’s...
Adam Sweeting
Thursday, 10 July 2025
A mixture of legal drama, medical mystery and psychological thriller with creepy supernatural overtones, Insomnia sometimes...
Rachel Halliburton
Thursday, 10 July 2025
Shakespeare’s Prince Hal may have rejected Sir John Falstaff as a symbol of his misspent youth, but the real-life monarch...
Hugh Barnes
Thursday, 10 July 2025
The journey not the destination matters in The Road to Patagonia, an epic pilgrimage of 30,000 miles that, unexpectedly,...

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★★★★ INSOMNIA, CHANNEL 5 A chronicle of deaths foretold

★ GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY, OLD VIC Conor McPherson's hit is looking dated already

THE ESTONIAN SONG AND DANCE CELEBRATION 2025 The mass expression of freedom

RAVENNA FESTIVAL 2025 Cervantes, Beethoven and Byron transfigured

★ NYE, NATIONAL THEATRE Michael Sheen's full-blooded Bevan returns to the Olivier

★★★ THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, GLOBE Hedonistic fizz for a summer's evening

★ EMILY KAM KNGWARRAY, TATE MODERN Glimpses of another world 

★ TAMI NEILSON - NEON COWGIRL Chiming with America's heartland bars and highways

disc of the day

Album: Kokoroko - Tuff Times Never Last

Sophomore album embraces horn-driven grooves and genre-blending experimentation

The future of Arts Journalism

 

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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 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

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

The Other Way Around review - teasing Spanish study of a breakup with unexpected depth

Jonás Trueba's film holds the romcom up to the light for playful scrutiny

The Road to Patagonia review - journey to the end of the world

In search of love and the meaning of life on the boho surf trail

theartsdesk Q&A: actor Emma Mackey on 'Hot Milk' and life education

The Anglo-French star of 'Sex Education' talks about her new film’s turbulent mother-daughter bind

new music

Album: Kokoroko - Tuff Times Never Last

Sophomore album embraces horn-driven grooves and genre-blending experimentation

Album: Wet Leg - moisturizer

A perfectly formed classic that will definitely be on those album of the year lists

classical

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

Siglo de Oro, Wigmore Hall review - electronic Lamentations and Trojan tragedy

Committed and intense performance of a newly-commissioned oratorio

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

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
theartsdesk at the Ravenna Festival 2025 - Cervantes, Beethoven and Byron transfigured
Muti revitalised by young musicians, and a three-year theatre project reaches completion

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

Summer Laugh review - five comics gear up for the Fringe

Terrific initiative by Scottish stand-ups

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

The whole review is stange and lazy. ...

It looks like someone has linked the wrong video...

Thanks for this wonderful tribute to one of my...

What a churlish and childish review of Ian Leslie...

A truly excellent review. It completely expressed...

The Beach Boys finally retired from touring as it...

Just saw this yesterday. A very gripping and...

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