London
Phaedra, National Theatre review - stunning acting in stunning showMonday, 13 February 2023
How can old texts speak to us now? The point is not just to adapt classics, but to reimagine them – and that’s exactly what hotshot Australian director Simon Stone does. Having brilliantly staged Lorca’s Yerma with Billie Piper, he now turns his... Read more... |
Magic Mike's Last Dance review - ludicrous and radical gyrationsSaturday, 11 February 2023
Magic Mike began as a cautionary tale rooted in Channing Tatum’s spell as a teenage stripper, then morphed into a franchise of reality and theatre shows. Now this second sequel brings original director Steven Soderbergh back, and leaps into pure... Read more... |
Smoke, Southwark Playhouse review - dazzling Strindberg updateMonday, 06 February 2023
A play’s title can be an almost arbitrary matter – there’s no streetcar but plenty of desire in that one for example – and it might have crossed Kim Davies’ mind to call her play Ms Julie, since it is a reimagining of August Strindberg’s... Read more... |
Titus Andronicus, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse review - notorious play hits and missesFriday, 03 February 2023
If All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida have earned the sobriquet "‘problem plays", what price Titus Andronicus? Does a director seek out a Saw vibe for the horror? Do they go for a deadpan Spinal Tap’s... Read more... |
Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, Harold Pinter Theatre review - cool cast chills the dramaThursday, 02 February 2023
Culture which arrives from the margins to the mainstream is a classic phenomenon. In the case of Sam Steiner’s Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons it has taken almost a decade for this two-hander to make the journey from a student production at... Read more... |
Sound of the Underground, Royal Court review - loud and triumphantly proudMonday, 30 January 2023
Ever been to a queer club? You know, drag cabaret night at Madame Jojo’s, or the Black Cap or Her Upstairs. No? Well, not to worry – the Royal Court’s latest provides a fabulously extravagant simulation of the experience with its staging of Sound of... Read more... |
Noises Off, Phoenix Theatre review - much revived classic farce gains in poignancyFriday, 27 January 2023
There’s a chance – a slim one – that you haven’t seen Noises Off, Michael Frayn’s farce about a farce that, as legend has it with The Rocky Horror Show, must surely be going up somewhere in the world every day.If you’re in that minority,... Read more... |
Allegiance, Charing Cross Theatre review - George Takei's childhood story makes a heartfelt musicalFriday, 20 January 2023
Like families, nations have secrets: dirty linen that they prefer not to expose to the light of day. Patriotic myths need to be protected, heroic narratives shaped, good guy reputations upheld. In 1942, the USA rounded up Japanese-Americans and... Read more... |
A Streetcar Named Desire, Almeida Theatre review - Patsy Ferran rises above fussy stagingFriday, 13 January 2023
It’s a long way from the dank chill of an English winter to the stultifying heat of a New Orleans summer, but we’ve been here before at this venue. Five years on from their award-winning Summer And Smoke, Rebecca Frecknall is back in the director’s... Read more... |
A Child in Striped Pyjamas, The Cockpit review - a brave tackling of a Holocaust storyFriday, 13 January 2023
The obstacles that have faced Noah Max in the five years since he resolved to make an opera of John Boyne’s Holocaust novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas would have stymied someone less determined. Not just the usual fundraising and logistical... Read more... |
First Person: Royal Academy of Music Principal Jonathan Freeman-Attwood on why a conservatoire should make recordingsWednesday, 11 January 2023
Why is it important for a music conservatoire to make recordings? What is the educational context? These are questions we have continued to reflect upon at the Royal Academy of Music – celebrating its bicentenary this year – since we took our first... Read more... |
Blu-ray: CroupierTuesday, 10 January 2023
The recently-departed director Mike Hodges was one of our most underrated filmmakers. Along with Get Carter (1971), a dark story of revenge starring Michael Caine, Croupier (1998) – newly released on 4K Ultra HD – is one of the most fascinating and... Read more... |
