Reviews
Prom 34, Soltani, BBC Philharmonic, Ollikainen review - journeys into inner worlds
Friday, 12 August 2022
Proper music tells stories just about itself, the stern pedagogues insist; it doesn’t (or anyway shouldn’t) paint descriptive pictures of places and people. Well, maybe not – but it was hard to banish all thoughts of geography, even of biography, at the Proms as the BBC Philharmonic under Eva Ollikainen travelled from Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s chthonic Iceland to Sibelius’s composite Italy-Finland by way of the intensely subjective journey embodied in Elgar’s Cello Concerto.
Shetland, Series 7, BBC One review - Douglas Henshall is back for the last time as Jimmy Perez
Friday, 12 August 2022
The last couple of series of Shetland (BBC One) brought the previously much-loved series alarmingly close to shark-jumping territory, converting the remote and thinly-populated Shetland archipelago into a war zone teeming with people-trafficking gangs, murderers and drug dealers. Can Series 7 restore some sanity?
Eiffel review - sensuous secret history
Friday, 12 August 2022
This is a romantic historical epic with elan, giving sensual immediacy to a fanciful secret history of the Eiffel Tower, here inspired by a forbidden...
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Temping / Work.txt
Friday, 12 August 2022
Temping, Assembly George Square Studios ★★★★Sarah Jane is away in Hawaii. But don’t worry – she’s left plenty of instructions for your day temping in...
Nope review - more a nope than a yep
Friday, 12 August 2022
Writer/director Jordan Peele’s first two features were horror films with bells on, their genuinely creepy chills accompanied by sharp, satirical...
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Afghanistan Is Not Funny / Yippee Ki Yay / Eh Up, Me Old Flowers!
War as entertainment, Die Hard as an epic poem, and a potted biography |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Every Word was Once an Animal / Tim Crouch: Truth’s a Dog Must to Kennel
Theatre about theatre? There's plenty of it at the Fringe: here are two fine examples |
Rusalka, Edinburgh International Festival 2022 review - sumptuous rendition of a watery fable
Total triumph for replacement water-nymph Elin Pritchard |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Kiri Pritchard-McLean / Lou Sanders / Snort
Exploring Welsh identity; rollerskating diaries; New Zealand improv |
Prom 31, Alder, Ulster Orchestra, Rustioni review - a summer night's dream
Romantic favourites served with flair and care |
All of Us, National Theatre review - revelatory, but problematic
Francesca Martinez’s debut play about disability politics entertains - and frustrates |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Colin Hoult / Nick Helm / Susie McCabe
A sad adieu, a pandemic experience and the awfulness of hen dos |
Gustav Metzger: Earth Minus Environment, Kestle Barton review - an illuminating glimpse of a visionary activist-artist
Ecological dirty-realism plus mass-media overload in an idyllic Cornish setting |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: The Last Return / Psychodrama / Exodus
Three shows at the Traverse take in gritty realism and no-holds-barred farce |
theartsdesk at the Bayreuth Festival Ring 2022 - a jumbled mess of ideas, some of them compelling
A Tarantino-style Ring cycle offers many inspired scenes, but little coherence or depth |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder! / Hiya Dolly!
A musical whodunnit and an ovine origin story |
Prom 27, Dinnerstein, National Youth Orchestra, Gourlay review - colour symphonies
A luscious musical tour with the cream of young players |
Burn, Edinburgh International Festival 2022 review - bold, risky, sometimes baffling
Strong constituent parts in Alan Cumming's Burns dance show - but do they add up? |
Utopia, Limited, National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company review - bounded rapture
Savoy turkey almost flies, in a spirited new staging |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Boy / Intruder|Intruz
Two shows at Summerhall explore issues of identity - though with contrasting outcomes |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Les Dawson: Flying High / Boris III
'World king' as a young man; and a comedy legend |
Music Reissues Weekly: The Movers - Vol. 1 1970-1976
Unstoppable South African groove machine gets another day in the sun |
Nightclubbing: The Birth of Punk Rock in NYC review - cheap thrills
Chasteningly mundane history of punk venue Max's, plus Sid Vicious' last stand |
South Pacific, Sadler's Wells review - strong singing in Daniel Evans's fast-paced production
After a hard-hitting 'Oklahoma!', the latest Rodgers & Hammerstein revival stays on the sunnier side |
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Tiff Stevenson / Seann Walsh / Rosie Holt
The world's biggest and best arts festival begins |
The Tempest, Shakespeare's Globe review - occasional gales of laughter drown out subtlety
If you think a fat man wearing yellow swimming trunks is funny, you're on the right island |
Give Them Wings review - down but not out in Darlington
Daniel Watson and Toyah Willcox shine as a disabled man and his doughty mam |
Our Eternal Summer review - tragedy taps authentic teenage emotions in Marseille
Innocence ends abruptly for a group of school leavers in Emilie Aussel's promising directorial debut |
theartsdesk on Vinyl 72: Blondie, Joe Meek, Asha Puthli, Minions, Prince, Horse Meat Disco and more
The most extensive regular record reviews in the universe |
latest in today
Prom 34, Soltani, BBC Philharmonic, Ollikainen review - jour...
Proper music tells stories just about itself, the stern pedagogues insist; it doesn’t (or anyway shouldn’t) paint descriptive pictures of places...
Shetland, Series 7, BBC One review - Douglas Henshall is bac...
The last couple of series of Shetland (BBC One) brought the...
Eiffel review - sensuous secret history
This is a romantic historical epic with elan, giving sensual immediacy to a fanciful secret history of the Eiffel Tower, here inspired by a...
Nope review - more a nope than a yep
Writer/director Jordan Peele’s first two features were horror films with bells...
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Afghanistan Is Not Funny / Yi...
Afghanistan Is Not Funny, Gilded Balloon ★★...
Les Rencontres d'Arles 2022 review - the place to be th...
Les Rencontres d’Arles 2022 is upon us and the town has given itself over to...
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Every Word was Once an Animal...
Every Word was Once an Animal, Zoo Southside ★★...
Rusalka, Edinburgh International Festival 2022 review - sump...
The last-minute indisposition of your leading lady is enough to give festival directors palpitations, let alone their audiences, now forewarned by...
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 reviews: Kiri Pritchard-McLean / Lou S...
Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Monkey Barrel ★★★...