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James Saynor |

“We will sacrifice our souls for you!” yells out a class of kids in The President’s Cake, nominally addressing a leader hundreds of miles away – the Iraqi despot, Saddam Hussein. The slogan the children are forced to spew by their paranoid teachers is, on one level, mindless enough. On another, it goes to the heart of this exceedingly good movie: How much do you have to sell your soul in a dictatorship falling apart at the seams?
 

Gary Naylor
Some 16 or so years ago, I recall hearing what sounded like fireworks from my hotel room in Chișinău, the capital of Moldova. I was aware of the…
Adam Sweeting
Would you want to marry a spy? After watching Betrayal, probably not.Writer David Eldridge has used the paradigm of the secret world as a means of…
Thomas H. Green
“Lincoln, you have not been a Monday night crowd, they can be a bit funny,“ says Suede frontman Brett Anderson just before then band exit the stage…

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Demetrios Matheou
A shady financier and even worse dad has one last roll of the dice in Rattigan’s late play
Bernard Hughes
Bayard Rustin-inspired programme has excellent music but a bit too much chat
Helen Hawkins
This lurid reworking is designed to deliver shocks, mad frocks and a porny eroticism
Sebastian Scotney
Benji Akintuyosi, playing jazz legend Miles Davis, articulates belief in the genius of the music
David Nice
Perfect programme for two pianos and four hands at one
Jenny Gilbert
In the shortest time, the compèred dance series seems to have become a brand
Jonathan Geddes
A slick show from the duo offered vibrant stagecraft and varied genres
Veronica Lee
Comic urges us to fight the machine
Markie Robson-Scott
Goodman's second novel, structured like a play, is challenging and original
Helen Hawkins
Richard Eyre’s adaptation gives Strindberg’s warring monsters a human dimension
Graham Fuller
Kristen Stewart directs Imogen Poots in a shattering story of abuse and redemption
Kieron Tyler
Explosive collection of the Sheffield stylist’s favourite singles
David Nice
Conductor Dinis Sousa paces a brilliant cast and orchestra perfectly in this classy revival
Gary Naylor
Elton John fights back, and wins a battle with Fleet Street
Sarah Kent
Ecologists versus shepherds; can a compromise be found?
Adam Sweeting
Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien sparkle in Sam Raimi's black comedy
Matt Wolf
Tom Stoppard's best play is unbeatable now as it was then
David Nice
Savage parade includes wonderfully discombobulating Martinů concerto
Helen Hawkins
Noel Coward never saw a staging of the play he wrote at 18, now exhumed at the Park
aleks.sierz
New play about urban alienation is a beautifully acted and acutely emotional experience
Rachel Halliburton
Thrillingly authoritative and stirringly poetic in Brahms
Helen Hawkins
Will Arnett’s standup is ably delivered but there’s not enough punch in his lines
Kieron Tyler
Double-CD set tracing the thread linking pub rock and punk rock
Bernard Hughes
Committed and high-class performance doesn’t quite overcome doubts about the piece

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We are bowled over! We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts…
“We will sacrifice our souls for you!” yells out a class of kids in The President’s Cake, nominally addressing a leader hundreds of miles…
Some 16 or so years ago, I recall hearing what sounded like fireworks from my hotel room in Chișinău, the capital of Moldova. I was aware…
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