reviews

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Sunn O))), O2 Institute, Birmingham review – the Gods of Thunder return

Guy Oddy |

To experience a performance by Seattle’s ambient metal kings, Sunn O))) is not like attending a conventional rock’n’roll gig, by any means. For a start, there are no drums, no bass and these days, no vocals. All the music comes from just two guitars, wielded by Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson, and an awful lot of amplifiers, speakers and sustain pedals.

Arcadia, Duke of York’s Theatre review - reaching for the stars

Demetrios Matheou
Hot from its successful run at the Old Vic, Carrie Cracknell’s Olivier-nominated revival of Tom Stoppard’s 1993 masterpiece has made a particularly…

My Father's Island review - ambitious literary adaptation

Saskia Baron
It’s a big ask of an audience to watch a film which for most of its two hour running time, focuses on just two actors, even when they are doing their…

Springwood, Hampstead Theatre review - international politics revealed as a gentle comedy of manners

Rachel Halliburton
In 1939, the newspapers dubbed it the Hot Dog Summit. When King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth visited President Franklin Roosevelt, it was…

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How to Live on Planet Earth review - a hopeful look at our collective future

Sarah Kent
The most important 'how-to video' you are ever likely to see

Tristan und Isolde, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - more impressive than profoundly moving

David Nice
Turbocharged orchestra, sometimes too much so, various approaches from the singers

Sinatra the Musical, Aldwych Theatre review - not exactly frank about Frank

Gary Naylor
Bad husband, bad dad, great singer

The Rolling Stones speak in 'Foreign Tongues'

Tim Cumming
The follow-up to comeback album 'Hackney Diamonds' is a raucous, joyful late-period classic

I puritani, Royal Opera - fine moments, tedious quarters of an hour

David Nice
Richard Jones tries hard with Bellini's vehicle for lyric madness; Lisette Oropesa dazzles

Lenny Henry, Touring review - family memories and familiar tales

Veronica Lee
Comic looks back on his life and career

Sting, Young Vic review - emotionally gruelling, but a bit bizarre

Aleks Sierz
New play about domestic abuse adopts a radical form that works - up to a point

theartsdesk at the Aldeburgh Festival - second-midweek concert gems in a row

David Nice
Two recitals in a thousand, other events good to excellent

Billy Budd, Glyndebourne review - superb revival of a classic production

stephen.walsh
Britten's dark ship of life and death sails on

I Will Find You, Netflix review - Sam Worthington stars in dead child mystery

Adam Sweeting
Harlan Coben thriller does what it says on the tin

Cyrano de Bergerac, Noël Coward Theatre review - smouldering sadness beneath the verbal fireworks

Rachel Halliburton
Adrian Lester’s spiky, swaggering hero is the apex predator in this linguistic ecosystem

theartsdesk on Vinyl 98: Metric, Arvo Pärt, Future Islands, Rainbow, Suede, Mekons and more

Thomas H. Green
The hugest regular record reviews in the universe

Archduke, Royal Court review - gloriously zany history play

Aleks Sierz
American playwright Rajiv Joseph’s account of Serbian political assassins really rocks

Supergirl review - flying low

Nick Hasted
Superman's party girl cousin earns her stripes underwhelmingly

Music Reissues Weekly: The 101’ers - the tangled musical legacy of Joe Strummer’s pre-Clash band

Kieron Tyler
Making the case for wading through a hotchpotch of archive releases

The Agency, Season 2, Paramount+ review - a gruelling trip to the dark side

Adam Sweeting
Second series of CIA drama ratchets up the pressure

Storey, RNCM Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Schuldt, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - bright hopes on show

Robert Beale
Distinction and emotional impact from young musicians and an exuberant maestro

Relics, Lyric Hammersmith review - faultless cast in an effortlessly funny family drama

Helen Hawkins
Michael Longhurst's intelligent directing wrings fresh laughs from a familiar setup

The Last Viking review - absurdist thriller with Scandinavia's stars

Saskia Baron
Convoluted drama takes on Fab Four delusions, brotherly trauma and ultraviolence

The Misanthrope, National Theatre review - exuberant verse and emotional depth

Aleks Sierz
Martin Crimp’s sparkling latest revisits Molière and gives the play a gender twist

Venus & Adonis, Barbican Pit review - wittily alternative expression of love's highs and lows

Rachel Halliburton
The aesthetic is as refined as it's raunchy

The Truth, Apollo Theatre review - how much honesty can a marriage withstand?

Helen Hawkins
Florian Zeller weaves a clever web of deceit around four Parisians

Blue Heron review - a beautiful meditation on memory

Markie Robson-Scott
Sophy Romvari's atmospheric first feature looks back at a tortured family dynamic

Hardenberger, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Harding, Barbican review - trumpet triumphant

Boyd Tonkin
A brass hero blows through favourite pieces - and a bluesy newcomer

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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…
Sunn O))), O2 Institute, Birmingham review – the Gods of Thunder return
To experience a performance by Seattle’s ambient metal kings, Sunn O))) is not like attending a conventional rock’n’roll gig, by any means…
Arcadia, Duke of York’s Theatre review - reaching for the stars
Hot from its successful run at the Old Vic, Carrie Cracknell’s Olivier-nominated revival of Tom Stoppard’s 1993 masterpiece has made a…
My Father's Island review - ambitious literary adaptation
It’s a big ask of an audience to watch a film which for most of its two hour running time, focuses on just two actors, even when they are…
Springwood, Hampstead Theatre review - international politics revealed as a gentle comedy of manners
In 1939, the newspapers dubbed it the Hot Dog Summit. When King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth visited President Franklin Roosevelt…
How to Live on Planet Earth review - a hopeful look at our collective future
How to Live on Planet Earth should be compulsory viewing in every classroom, boardroom, town hall and government office on the globe.…
Madonna's return to the club dancefloor, 'Confessions II', mingles the generic with nuggets of gold
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Tristan und Isolde, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - more impressive than profoundly moving
It was an awesome start, those three notes from the cellos even before Wagner's famous "Tristan" chord inspiring more deep emotion than the…
Sinatra the Musical, Aldwych Theatre review - not exactly frank about Frank
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