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...
Thomas H Green
Wednesday, 01 October 2025
The backscreens pop alive. A wall of photographer’s flashguns. On cyberpunk crutches, Lady Gaga stumbles jerkily towards us. She sings her 2009 global smash “Paparazzi”, her arms...
Gary Naylor
Wednesday, 01 October 2025
In a fair few bars around the world tonight, bands will be playing “That’s The Way (I Like It)”, “Give It Up” and so many more of KC and the Sunshine Band’s bangers. They’ve...
Veronica Lee
Wednesday, 01 October 2025
Comedy is strange old thing; it’s supposed to be funny ha-ha, but the laughs can often come from a dark place, as evidenced by Nick Helm’s latest show (which I saw at the Arts...
Kieron Tyler
Wednesday, 01 October 2025
The 16-minute album opener “Between the Fingers the Drops of Tomorrow's Dawn” coalesces at the 12-minute point, when clattering percussion meshes with what sounds like a sitar to...
Graham Fuller
Tuesday, 30 September 2025
Paul Thomas Anderson’s frantic One Battle After Another is a storm warning for a fascist America and both a lament and a rallying call for revolutionary fervour.Unfurling in the...
Adam Sweeting
Tuesday, 30 September 2025
They say no good deed goes unpunished, so when New York restaurateur Jake Friedken (Jude Law) allowed his wayward and star-...
Sarah Kent
Tuesday, 30 September 2025
This must be the first time a black artist has been honoured with a retrospective that fills the main galleries of the Royal...
Clara Marshall Cawley
Tuesday, 30 September 2025
Over the past decade, Manchester Camerata has gained a reputation for continually innovating and redefining what an...
Helen Hawkins
Monday, 29 September 2025
The latest instalment of the ITV drama department’s attempts at trial by television is another anatomy of a scandal, but...
Rachel Halliburton
Monday, 29 September 2025
For the first part of Punch it feels as if you’re riding a roller coaster, watching the world speed and loop past as you see...
Boyd Tonkin
Monday, 29 September 2025
When you go to the prince’s ball, would you prefer a night of sobriety or excess? Julia Burbach’s new production of Rossini’...
Tom Carr
Monday, 29 September 2025
In the age of streaming, it’s never been less clear knowing when you can safely say an artist is well known in the...
Kieron Tyler
Sunday, 28 September 2025
“It's a Happening Thing,” January 1967’s debut single from California’s Peanut Butter Conspiracy, is one of the year’s best...
Bernard Hughes
Saturday, 27 September 2025
Last night’s concert at Kings Place was a programme of contemporary pieces – including several premieres – by horn superstar...
Helen Hawkins
Saturday, 27 September 2025
What would it be like to be driven by OCD urges into idolising Elon Musk and aspiring to be one of his tribe of tech bros?...
Rachel Halliburton
Saturday, 27 September 2025
Donghoon Shin has a taste for the esoteric – a love of labyrinths, literary puzzles, and contradictory aspects of the self....
Thomas H Green
Saturday, 27 September 2025
Doja Cat is a fascinating one-off. She’s a rap-centric Californian artist whose background dips into everything from new age...
Rachel Halliburton
Friday, 26 September 2025
So often the focus – in the coverage of a royal wedding – is the story of the woman wearing the bridal dress. While every...
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disc of the day
Slovenian avant-folk outfit Širom’s 'In the Wind of Night, Hard-Fallen Incantations Whisper' opens the door to inner space
Unconventional folk-based music which sounds like nothing else
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
Black Rabbit, Netflix review - grime and punishment in New York City
Jude Law and Jason Bateman tread the thin line between love and hate
The Hack, ITV review - plodding anatomy of twin UK scandals
Jack Thorne's skill can't disguise the bagginess of his double-headed material
Slow Horses, Series 5, Apple TV+ review - terror, trauma and impeccable comic timing
Jackson Lamb's band of MI5 misfits continues to fascinate and amuse
film
One Battle After Another review - Paul Thomas Anderson satirises America's culture wars
Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, and Sean Penn star in a rollercoasting political thriller
Steve review - educator in crisis
Cillian Murphy excels as a troubled headmaster working with delinquent boys
Can I get a Witness? review - time to die before you get old
Ann Marie Fleming directs Sandra Oh in dystopian fantasy that fails to ignite
new music
Lady Gaga, The Mayhem Ball, O2 review - epic, eye-boggling and full of spirit
One of the year's most anticipated tours lives up to the hype
Slovenian avant-folk outfit Širom’s 'In the Wind of Night, Hard-Fallen Incantations Whisper' opens the door to inner space
Unconventional folk-based music which sounds like nothing else
'The Art of Loving': Olivia Dean's vulnerable and intimate second album
Neo soul Londoner's new release outgrows her debut
classical
First Person: Manchester Camerata's Head of Artistic Planning Clara Marshall Cawley on questioning the status quo
Five days of free events with all sorts of audiences around Manchester starts tomorrow
Goldscheider, Brother Tree Sound, Kings Place review - music of hope from a young composer
Unusual combination of horn, strings and electronics makes for some intriguing listening
theartsdesk Q&A: composer Donghoon Shin on his new concerto for pianist Seong-Jin Cho
Classical music makes its debut at London's K-Music Festival
opera
Cinderella/La Cenerentola, English National Opera review - the truth behind the tinsel
Appealing performances cut through hyperactive stagecraft
Tosca, Royal Opera review - Ailyn Pérez steps in as the most vivid of divas
Jakub Hrůša’s multicoloured Puccini last night found a soprano to match
Tosca, Welsh National Opera review - a great company reduced to brilliance
The old warhorse made special by the basics
theatre
Get Down Tonight, Charing Cross Theatre review - glitz and hits from the 70s
If you love the songs of KC and the Sunshine Band, Please Do Go!
Punch, Apollo Theatre review - powerful play about the strength of redemption
James Graham's play transfixes the audience at every stage
The Billionaire Inside Your Head, Hampstead Theatre review - a map of a man with OCD
Will Lord's promising debut burdens a fine cast with too much dialogue
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
iD-Reloaded, Cirque Éloize, Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury review - attitude, energy and invention
A riotous blend of urban dance music, hip hop and contemporary circus
How to be a Dancer in 72,000 Easy Lessons, Teaċ Daṁsa review - a riveting account of a life in dance
Michael Keegan-Dolan's unique hybrid of physical theatre and comic monologue
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
Nick Helm, Touring review - brash comic shows his vulnerable side
Matters of the heart and heavy metal
Kerry Godliman, G-Live review - she's livid but delivers the laughs
Perimenopause provides rich seam of gags
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
Joanna Pocock: Greyhound review - on the road again
A writer retraces her steps to furrow a deeper path through modern America
Mark Hussey: Mrs Dalloway - Biography of a Novel review - echoes across crises
On the centenary of the work's publication an insightful book shows its prescience
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
Kerry James Marshall: The Histories, Royal Academy review - a triumphant celebration of blackness
Room after room of glorious paintings
Folkestone Triennial 2025 - landscape, seascape, art lovers' escape
Locally rooted festival brings home many but not all global concerns
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