reviews

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Avenue Q, Shaftesbury Theatre review - we need that puppet sex now, and the rest

Gary Naylor |

Returning to the West End to celebrate two decades since those strange muppetty posters went up on London buses, I’m still laughing along with “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist”.

Gerald Barry's Salome, NSO Ireland, Kuhn, National Concert Hall, Dublin review - funny-queasy genius

David Nice
You know to expect a crazy ride, especially when Gerald Barry, greatest living Wildean and wild one among composers, has flagged up his very…

The Rite by Heart, Aurora Orchestra, Multitudes Festival, RFH - exhilarating display of changing rhythms and moods

Rachel Halliburton
The Southbank Centre’s second Multitudes festival – which commissions artists ranging from filmmakers to acrobats to shine new light onto the…

The Flying Dutchman, Welsh National Opera review - running, jumping and standing still

stephen.walsh
Just now, everything WNO does inevitably bears the mark of their Arts Council-imposed financial troubles, and this new Flying Dutchman directed by…

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Carsie Blanton & the Burning Hell, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham review - a fine revolutionary singalong

Guy Oddy
Socialist troubadours spread hope and optimism

Frang, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - Los Angeles meets Leningrad

Boyd Tonkin
Secret handshakes between works that weathered trauma

The Blue Trail review - take it to the river

Saskia Baron
Full steam ahead for Rodrigo Santoro and Denise Weinberg

Diamanti review - welcome to the vaginodrome

Markie Robson-Scott
Soap-opera in the Roman style: Ferzan Özpetek's opulent, melodramatic meta drama

Heart Wall, Bush Theatre review – deeply felt, but frustratingly incomplete

aleks.sierz
New play about family trauma and grief is subtle, sensitive, but pitted with plot holes

theartsdesk on Vinyl Record Store Day Special 2026

Thomas H. Green
Check our reviews of 28 Records Store Day exclusives

Harry Enfield, Touring review - 40 years of arsing about

Veronica Lee
The character comic looks back at his career

Rebuilding review - finding hope after wildfire devastation

Markie Robson-Scott
The things that got left behind: Max Walker-Silverman directs a film of quiet beauty

The Capture, Series 3, BBC One review - fake it till you make it

Adam Sweeting
Is anything real in Ben Chanan's digital dystopia?

Nicholas Royle: Finders, Keepers review - a never-ending story

Jon Turney
A small-scale journey through literary afterlives unveils a world of wonders

Northern Chamber Orchestra, Beyers, King’s School Macclesfield review - the high-wire experience

Robert Beale
Orchestral music without a conductor has its own unique frisson

Music Reissues Weekly: The Lovin’ Spoonful - What A Day For A Daydream The Complete Recordings

Kieron Tyler
When a narrative becomes more complicated than the one delineated by the hit singles

Tori Amos, Symphony Hall, Birmingham review - a sell-out show that steers away from the obvious

Guy Oddy
A set that is short on hits but that keeps the fans more than happy

Flyby, Southwark Playhouse review - new musical is stratospherically impressive

Gary Naylor
Distance grows between two lovers - and extends to millions of miles

Cecily Brown: Picture Making, Serpentine Gallery review - from vigorous paintings rich in allusion to murky tangles of oil paint

Sarah Kent
An artist who has lost her way

Hurvin Anderson, Tate Britain review - being in one place and thinking about another

Sarah Kent
Gorgeous paintings in search of belonging

A Doll's House, Almeida Theatre review - updated version of Ibsen proves a dispiriting watch

Helen Hawkins
Anya Reiss has turned Ibsen's repressed married couple into money-mad monsters

National Youth Orchestra, Chauhan, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - massed ranks in their element

Robert Beale
Eagerness and skill from the musicians of tomorrow

Father Mother Brother Sister review - families aren't families without secrets and lies

Saskia Baron
Jim Jarmusch's slow take on intergenerational tensions

You, Me & Tuscany review - The Little Mermaid meets Bridgerton

Markie Robson-Scott
Shirts off in a vineyard: Kat Coiro's silly rom-com stars Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page

Undertone review - what a spooky web we weave

James Saynor
Quite a few bumps in the night in a haunted-internet chiller

Copenhagen, Hampstead Theatre review - with scientists like these, who needs enemies?

Demetrios Matheou
Michael Frayn's great play remains a potent cautionary tale

California Schemin' review - James McAvoy's directing career gets off to an entertaining start

Helen Hawkins
A feelgood true story about the Scottish rappers who hoaxed the music industry

theartsdesk at the Baden-Baden Easter Festival - from trenches terror to forest fairytale

David Nice
Electrifying Britten and Wagner under Joana Mallwitz, plus top chamber music and song

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latest in today

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support
We are bowled over! We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts…
Music Reissues Weekly: Evil Grave - Death From Malta
Evil Grave were from Malta. They were a going concern between December 1971 and around May 1977. Despite their longevity, they released no…
Avenue Q, Shaftesbury Theatre review - we need that puppet sex now, and the rest
Returning to the West End to celebrate two decades since those strange muppetty posters went up on London buses, I’m still laughing along…
Gerald Barry's Salome, NSO Ireland, Kuhn, National Concert Hall, Dublin review - funny-queasy genius
You know to expect a crazy ride, especially when Gerald Barry, greatest living Wildean and wild one among composers, has flagged up his…
The Rite by Heart, Aurora Orchestra, Multitudes Festival, RFH - exhilarating display of changing rhythms and moods
The Southbank Centre’s second Multitudes festival – which commissions artists ranging from filmmakers to acrobats to shine new light onto…
The Flying Dutchman, Welsh National Opera review - running, jumping and standing still
Just now, everything WNO does inevitably bears the mark of their Arts Council-imposed financial troubles, and this new Flying Dutchman…
Carsie Blanton & the Burning Hell, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham review - a fine revolutionary singalong
In these times of genocide, illegal invasions and a class war which the ultra-rich are emphatically winning, we clearly need a woman to…
Frang, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - Los Angeles meets Leningrad
Antonio Pappano’s pairing for last night’s Barbican concert intrigued – and, initially, baffled – me. Shostakovich’s Fifth: a clear choice…
The Blue Trail review - take it to the river
“Since when was getting older an honour?” asks Tereza, rightly suspicious when she finds officials nailing up a cheap garland around her…
Judie Tzuke's 'Now or Never' sees the singer in great voice
This is, surprisingly, Judie Tzuke’s 24th album since her 1979 debut with Welcome to the Cruise.  After early stints with Elton John’s…