Reviews
Pascal and Ami Rogé, Howard Assembly Room, Leeds Grand TheatreFriday, 11 April 2014
For record collectors of a certain age, Pascal Rogé is Mr French Piano Music; if you’re looking for decent recordings of Ravel, Poulenc, Saint-Saëns and Debussy, he’s the man. Hearing him perform live, here with his wife and duet partner Ami Rogé,... Read more... |
Kinect Sports RivalsFriday, 11 April 2014
With Wii Sports even elderly relatives could suddenly play videogames. The addition of motion control to Nintendo's console exPanded its audience far beyond traditional gamers. But then... nothing. Can Kinect Sports Rivals on the new Xbox One... Read more... |
The Strange Colour of Your Body’s TearsFriday, 11 April 2014
Making sense of The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears is impossible. Beyond some early scene-setting, this Giallo-inspired film has no narrative and, apart from its protagonist, it becomes increasingly difficult to work out who is who, what is... Read more... |
tauberbach, les ballets C de la B, Sadler's WellsThursday, 10 April 2014
Belgian Alain Platel makes the kind of dance theatre (like Pina Bausch, to whom he has an oft-remarked debt) for which both “dance” and “theatre” are very loose and inadequate umbrella terms. “Sets” are often jaw-dropping colonisations of stage... Read more... |
Birdland, Royal Court TheatreThursday, 10 April 2014
If rock is magic, then what about its creators? Are they wonderful magicians, or empty charlatans? Infused by the spirit of the Patti Smith song of the same name, playwright Simon Stephens’s new play puts a rock star centre stage — and then lets him... Read more... |
The Beautiful Game, Union TheatreThursday, 10 April 2014
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton's musical was first seen in the West End in 2000, where it received mixed reviews and ran for just under a year. In 2009-10, they reworked the show for productions in Canada and South Africa under the title The Boys... Read more... |
Ian Hislop's Olden Days: the Power of the Past in Britain, BBC TwoThursday, 10 April 2014
BBC channels One and Two currently present such different sides of Ian Hislop that his appearances should by now be required watching for trainee psychologists. As a founding team captain on Have I Got News For You, his knuckles have left a lasting... Read more... |
The LunchboxThursday, 10 April 2014
A mouth-watering mixture of romance, drama and comedy is delivered in this fresh and impressive debut from Indian writer-director Ritesh Batra. A poignant and bittersweet relationship between a lonely housewife and a man on the brink of retirement... Read more... |
Under Offer: Estate Agents on the Job, BBC TwoThursday, 10 April 2014
Hang about with estate agents (for the only reason that anyone would) and you notice the men among them often stand with their hands clasped pliantly in front of them, with their shoulders bent slightly inwards. The pose semaphores trustworthiness,... Read more... |
Let The Right One In, Apollo TheatreWednesday, 09 April 2014
Flying masonry put the Apollo in the headlines late last year when part of the theatre’s ceiling collapsed; now an airborne vampire and an impressive refurbishment give it new life. A cyclorama of dark tree branches and cloud-scudded skies covers... Read more... |
theartsdesk in Oslo: The Tape to Zero FestivalWednesday, 09 April 2014
The on-stage collaboration between north-Norwegian ambient maestro Biosphere and his similarly inclined but sonically darker countryman Deathprod was a one off. At Oslo’s Tape to Zero festival, Biosphere and Deathprod bought the you-had-to-be-there... Read more... |
A Small Family Business, National TheatreWednesday, 09 April 2014
Are the 2010s a rerun of the 1980s? You know that familiar feeling of déjà vu: economic collapse, royal wedding and Tories in power. Not to mention privatization and the spirit of rampant capitalism abroad in the land. Surely, these are the ideal... Read more... |
