Reviews
Rohtko, Barbican review - postmodern meditation on fake and authentic art is less than the sum of its partsSaturday, 04 October 2025
It’s truly thrilling to see the Barbican embracing big concept long-form theatre again, seeking out productions that are as conceptually challenging as they are visually exhilarating. Last week, audiences were asked to understand the forces of... Read more... |
Murder Before Evensong, Acorn TV review - death comes to the picturesque village of ChamptonFriday, 03 October 2025
Rockin’ vicar the Rev Richard Coles is not only a C of E priest and former member of Bronski Beat and The Communards, but also a purveyor of crime fiction in the shape of his Canon Clement mysteries. The first of these was Murder Before Evensong,... Read more... |
Urchin review - superb homeless dramaFriday, 03 October 2025
Urchin feels like a genuine moment in British cinema. Thematically, it offers a highly original, thoughtful, affecting account of the endless cycle of misfortune and institutional ineptness that can trap someone in homelessness. At the same time, it... Read more... |
Measure for Measure, RSC, Stratford review - 'problem play' has no problem with relevanceFriday, 03 October 2025
An opening video montage presents us with a rogues' gallery of powerful men who have done bad things. Plenty of the usual suspects appear to stomach-churning effect, but no ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy, sentenced last week to five years in prison by... Read more... |
The Importance of Being Earnest, Noël Coward Theatre review - dazzling and delightful queer festThursday, 02 October 2025
Star casting has, since the pandemic, done much to restore the fortunes of commercial theatre. And, when they can pull off a similar deal, the same applies to subsidised venues. If the downside is that many smaller institutions get left behind, the... Read more... |
Kerry James Marshall: The Histories, Royal Academy review - a triumphant celebration of blacknessTuesday, 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 Academy. Celebrating Kerry James Marshall’s 70th birthday, The Histories occupies these grand rooms with such joyous ease... Read more... |
'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and supportFriday, 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 response to our appeal to help us relaunch and reboot has been something... Read more... |
Susanna, Opera North review - hybrid staging of a Handel oratorioMonday, 06 October 2025
Turning Handel oratorio into opera can be a rewarding enterprise. Charles Edwards’ presentation of Joshua, over 15 years ago, for instance, was very effective for Opera North in using projection as well as costume design to make a parallel of the... Read more... |
Scott, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Whelan, RIAM, Dublin review - towards a Mozart masterpieceMonday, 06 October 2025
One miracle of musical performance is that a work you’ve loved for years can be revealed as never before in an outstanding interpretation. That happened to me last week at the New Ross Piano Festival when 22-year-old pianist Magdalene Cho turned us... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: The Earlies - These Were The EarliesSunday, 05 October 2025
The reappearance of These Were The Earlies for its 21st-anniversary is a surprise. Although The Earlies' debut LP received a maximum-marks review from NME on its 2004 release – and widespread praise in general – it is not an album instantly shouting... Read more... |
Hamlet, National Theatre review - turning tragedy to comedy is no jokeSaturday, 04 October 2025
The National’s latest production of Hamlet opens with a bang: a sureness of style, atmosphere and refreshing comedic effect, accompanied by a performer, Hiran Abeyeskera (The Father and the Assassin, Life of Pi), whose presence promises a night... Read more... |
France, LPO, Gardner, RFH review - the sound of other worldsSaturday, 04 October 2025
Even in the 21st century, it may not take that long for an outlandish literary experiment to jump genres and become an established musical classic. In 2008, I enthusiastically reviewed a strange, poetic, almost Beckett-like novella by the writer and... Read more... |
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