London
A Christmas Carol, Arts TheatreMonday, 12 December 2011
That a tale confronting society’s most pernicious evils, giving poverty a human face and desperation a voice, should become a cornerstone of the British festive experience is perhaps unexpected: testimony either to the moral deviance of the general... Read more... |
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Gardner, Barbican HallSunday, 11 December 2011
It’s typical: you wait ages for a Belshazzar’s Feast and then two come along at once. And judging by the performance delivered by Ed Gardner and the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus last night, Andrew Nethsingha and his massed Cambridge choirs will... Read more... |
Cabaret Falafel, Gaby's Deli, second verse!Saturday, 10 December 2011
Well, the stars were out near Leicester Square, and it was neither the premiere of a Hollywood blockbuster, nor even a clear night. Instead, the stars were in conjunction at Gaby’s Deli, now the hotbed of a revolt against the plastification of... Read more... |
Cabaret Falafel, Gaby's DeliWednesday, 07 December 2011
Even in London’s variegated show-world, something called Cabaret Falafel stands out as an exotic title. To discover that it will take place in a delicatessen, performed by the wonderful Henry Goodman, makes it both more piquant and more explicable,... Read more... |
Richard II, Donmar WarehouseWednesday, 07 December 2011
A recent newspaper article championed the topicality of Richard II, laboriously rewriting it from camp conservatism to a politically current meditation on the “sad stories” we still tell of the deaths of kings. Heads may have rolled and states... Read more... |
Hanson, IndigO2Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Can the Hanson brothers ever rid themselves of the shackles of “MMMBop” (the 1997 hit that brought them global renown)? More to the point, should they bother to try? These were the burning questions I armed myself with as I prepared to watch a band... Read more... |
Gillian Slovo: Writing The RiotsWednesday, 23 November 2011
I was shocked by the riots. I think everybody was shocked by the riots. It’s not just the scale of the rioting that was shocking. It’s the failure of the police and the fire services to take control of the situation. During my research for The Riots... Read more... |
The Riots, Tricycle TheatreWednesday, 23 November 2011
Ever since 9/11, political theatre has mobilised the techniques of verbatim drama, and the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn, north London, has an impressive reputation for its tribunal plays, often staging the proceedings of judicial enquiries. Earlier... Read more... |
London Jazz Festival Round-UpTuesday, 22 November 2011
The 10-day London Jazz Festival, now in its 19th year, is a diverse and international festival that embraces the unapologetically commercial Jazz Voice, the outer reaches of (free) free improv and even Abram Wilson’s Jazz for Toddlers. Despite a... Read more... |
Robert Glasper, London Jazz Festival, Kings PlaceFriday, 18 November 2011
There aren't too many pianists who excite jazz aficionados and hip-hop fans in equal measure. But then no other artist has been inspired equally by hip-hop beats on the one hand and Thelonious Monk on the other. And while it appears increasingly... Read more... |
Soul Rebels Brass Band, London Jazz Festival, QEHThursday, 17 November 2011
Funkier than a James Brown bridge, the mighty Soul Rebels Brass Band swung back into town last night and flattened all before them. Possessing that rare combination of serious chops, impeccable stagecraft and down-home soul, they confirmed their... Read more... |
Jazz Voice, London Jazz Festival, BarbicanSaturday, 12 November 2011
It would be difficult to imagine a more impressive curtain-raiser to the London Jazz Festival than Jazz Voice, and this year's vintage was the finest yet. One sensed from the very opening bars of Gregory Porter and Ian Shaw's a cappella duet, “... Read more... |
