Reviews
Wild Men review - Danish-Norwegian black comedyFriday, 06 May 2022
There are films that, after seeing the trailer, I very much expect to love. But when the actual movie is disappointing, I find writing the review makes me just a little bit sad. Unfortunately, Wild Men is one of those movies. Billed as a... Read more... |
Barry & Joan review - quirky documentary about two vaudevilliansFriday, 06 May 2022
If the state of the world is a little too bleak for you right now, do yourself a favour and watch this utterly charming documentary about Barry and Joan Grantham, a couple who have been married and performing together for several decades (Audrey... Read more... |
Middle, National Theatre review - a bit of a muddleThursday, 05 May 2022
The traditional, and much derided, well-made play is meant to have a beginning, middle and end. Although playwright David Eldridge often writes in opposition to these outdate forms, his trilogy about relationships, which started in 2017 with the hit... Read more... |
Bevan, Williams, Bebbington, RPO, Davan Wetton, Barbican review - Vaughan Williams celebratedWednesday, 04 May 2022
Amid the warm familiarity of a programme of established Vaughan Williams favourites, presented at the Barbican by the RPO and the City of London Choir, what really drew me in was the chance to hear his Fantasia on the “Old 104th” Psalm Tune,... Read more... |
Spiritualized, Symphony Hall, Birmingham review - a curate's egg of a show from Jason Pierce's space rockersWednesday, 04 May 2022
Most artists tend to view the live arena as an opportunity to commune with fans old and new, with audience reaction being an integral part of the whole experience. Not so much Jason Pierce’s Spiritualized.The nine-piece band trooped onto the stage... Read more... |
Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare's Globe review – a perfect piece of escapism for our uncertain summerTuesday, 03 May 2022
Lucy Bailey’s joyous, visually ravishing Much Ado About Nothing opens on a sombre note. On stage there is laughter and merriment as people prepare for a party in the sprawling grounds of an Italian estate, but then a lone soldier enters the... Read more... |
Rangwanasha, Williams, Hallé Orchestra and Choirs, Elder, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - epic Vaughan WilliamsMonday, 02 May 2022
In the first and sixth symphonies of Vaughan Williams, Sir Mark Elder had two of the most ambitious and rewarding of the whole canon to present in Saturday’s VW 150 concert, which consisted of those two works alone. A Sea Symphony in particular (the... Read more... |
RSNO, RCOS Students, Søndergård, Usher Hall, Edinburgh - a massive gesture of solidarityMonday, 02 May 2022
In my last review from Edinburgh, I remarked on the sheer size of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, with over 100 players on stage. Little did I know that two weeks later the Royal Scottish National Orchestra would swell its ranks with... Read more... |
Music Reissues Weekly: Dusty Springfield - Dusty Sings SoulSunday, 01 May 2022
First on were The Supremes with “Baby Love.” Next, The Miracles performed “You Really Got a Hold on me.” After this, Stevie Wonder’s “I Call it Pretty Music But the Old People Call it the Blues,” The Temptations’ “The Way You do the Things You do”... Read more... |
Jerusalem, Apollo Theatre review - Mark Rylance blazes in this astonishing revivalSaturday, 30 April 2022
At long last, the giant has come back. Over a decade after its critical apotheosis on both sides of the Atlantic, Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem returns to London in an astonishing revival starring Mark Rylance as the high priest of its proceedings.... Read more... |
Kožená, LSO, Rattle, Barbican review - Berlin to Broadway, and backSaturday, 30 April 2022
As Walter Huston croaked in 1938, it’s a long, long while from May to December. And Kurt Weill – who wrote his evergreen “September Song” for Huston in that year – spanned several musical epochs within not so many years as he travelled from the... Read more... |
Downton Abbey: A New Era review - will we ever see its like again?Friday, 29 April 2022
A dozen years have passed since Downton Abbey first landed on our TV screens, since when it has passed into folklore. Whether you thought it was escapist historical froth, a ludicrous anachronism full of class-system clichés or a documentary probing... Read more... |
