Reviews
Ricky Gervais, BIC review - nudging the boundaries againMonday, 27 February 2023
Ricky Gervais tells us at the top of the show that there was a backlash to his 2022 Netflix special SuperNature. So big, he says, that it’s become the most watched comedy special of the year. “So I’ve learnt my lesson,” he says with a side-eye to... Read more... |
The Walworth Farce, Southwark Playhouse Elephant review - dysfunctional Irish myth-makingMonday, 27 February 2023
The farce in question is fast and furious, but not often hilariously funny; that’s because it’s the invention of a scary Irish dad who forces his sons to act it out with him every day in their seedy Walworth Road flat. Go with conventional... Read more... |
Giulio Cesare, English Touring Opera review - a return visit to Handel's EgyptMonday, 27 February 2023
English Touring Opera opened its spring season with Handel's Giulio Cesare – not a new production, but in a new guise. Typically for Baroque opera, the version of the work premiered in 1724 was very long. ETO previously took up the challenge by... Read more... |
We Are Scientists, Oran Mor, Glasgow review - fan service with a smile proves lackingMonday, 27 February 2023
Although We Are Scientists onstage chat is always delivered with a light touch, there is truth running through it as well. Early on at this set their singer and guitarist Keith Murray quipped that he wouldn’t be needing his lucky charm for the... Read more... |
What's Love Got to Do With It? review - Jemima Khan's feelgood romcomMonday, 27 February 2023
Here's a question. A romcom stars a man and woman, friends from childhood, both straight and with no romantic history. He's a Muslim and has decided to pursue an arranged marriage; she has a chaotic love life. What are the odds that they will end up... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Stranger In Town - A Del Shannon CompendiumSunday, 26 February 2023
After Del Shannon took his own life in February 1990 at age 55, some obituaries were careful to point out that he stood apart from other pop stars who were big in pre-Beatles America. “The most tragic thing would be for Del Shannon to be lumped with... Read more... |
Grenfell: System Failure, Playground Theatre review - if this doesn't make you angry, nothing willSaturday, 25 February 2023
It’s been five years since 72 people died in the Grenfell Tower fire in West London. Five years and no arrests, as countless placards and posters around the neighbourhood point out.The Grenfell Tower Inquiry into how the tragedy occurred – why it... Read more... |
Joyland review - a tender tragedySaturday, 25 February 2023
Partially banned in Pakistan, Saim Sadiq’s debut uses a young man’s affair with a trans woman to reveal the sadness and brutality of the nation’s patriarchal norms. It’s also a deeply sympathetic character study written from under the country’s skin... Read more... |
Cocaine Bear review - comedy horror lacks the bare necessitiesSaturday, 25 February 2023
This is one of those films where it’s really best to stick with the trailer. The incompetence of the directing and screenwriting is easy to disguise when a crafty promo-maker has picked out the good bits from a large pile of bear scat. Cocaine... Read more... |
The Sacrifice, Dada Masilo, Brighton Dome review - eye-popping dance from South AfricaFriday, 24 February 2023
The Soweto-born dancer-choreographer Dada Masilo has made her name telling classic European stories in African dialect. The last piece she toured in the UK was a striking Giselle in which the avenging Wilis were not undead brides but ancestral... Read more... |
Drive to Survive, Season 5, Netflix review - fly-on-the wall F1 show may need a rebootFriday, 24 February 2023
The backstage revelations about the politics and personalities that fuel Formula One have made Drive to Survive one of Netflix’s most reliable bestsellers, but on this fifth outing there’s a lurking sense that the novelty is wearing off.Viewers were... Read more... |
Creature review - Asif Kapadia shines light on a dark dance pieceFriday, 24 February 2023
Filmed ballets involve a different way of watching: you may know a piece well, but you aren’t used to staring into its lead dancers’ eyes as they perform their roles. Not all dancers give good close-up, either. But a new film by the Oscar-winning... Read more... |
