religion
theartsdesk Q&A: playwright William NicholsonSaturday, 27 April 2019
It is 30 years since Shadowlands, William Nicholson's much-loved play about CS Lewis's unexpected love affair with Joy Gresham, an American poet, was first seen on stage. The famous academic and author of the Narnia books, apparently content in his... Read more... |
Brockes-Passion, AAM, Egarr, Barbican review - fleshly Handel for our earthbound timesSaturday, 20 April 2019
Whips, scourges, sinews, blood and pus: where Bach’s two Passions lament from a contemplative distance, Handel’s plunges right to the bone, to the cruel, tortured death that is the heart of the Easter story.Perhaps that explains the work’s recent... Read more... |
Fleabag, Series 2 finale, BBC Three review - Phoebe Waller-Bridge's miraculous situation tragedyTuesday, 09 April 2019
The problem with Fleabag (BBC Three/BBC One) is that it makes almost all television look pedestrian. It’s like the difference between Fleabag’s scummily inadequate boyfriends and the unattainable perfection embodied by the cool sweary priest. Earth... Read more... |
Pah-La, Royal Court review - complex ideas, wild storytellingTuesday, 09 April 2019
Theatre can give a voice to the voiceless – but at what cost? Abhishek Majumdar, who debuted at the Royal Court in 2013 with The Djinns of Eidgah – about the situation in Kashmir – returns with his latest play, Pah-La. Just as his debut was... Read more... |
The Crucible, The Yard Theatre review - wilfully over-stirredWednesday, 03 April 2019
The Crucible is a play that speaks with unrelenting power at times of discord, most of all when the public consciousness looks ripe for manipulation. Never more appropriate than now, you might think – and in a year in which the work of Arthur Miller... Read more... |
Classical CDs Weekly: Martinů, Prokofiev, SullivanSaturday, 23 March 2019
Martinů: The Complete Music for Violin and Orchestra Bohuslav Matoušek (violin), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra/Christopher Hogwood (Hyperion)You can't overdose on Martinů: four reissued discs of concertante music for violin and orchestra might... Read more... |
Derry Girls, Series Two, Channel 4 review - welcome back, gangWednesday, 06 March 2019
When Derry Girls premiered on Channel 4 in early 2018, there was little fanfare. But it’s been a whirlwind year for the four girls from Derry (and the wee English lad), capturing British hearts before conquering the US through Netflix... Read more... |
Boy Erased review - gay vs God drama treated with empathyWednesday, 06 February 2019
Joel Edgerton’s second turn as a director is the second film in a year to treat the subject of gay conversion therapy. The first was Desiree Akhavan’s The Miseducation of Cameron Post, whose victory at Sundance a year ago confirmed, symbolically not... Read more... |
Screenwriter Adam Price on 'Ride Upon the Storm' - 'If we discuss faith, we will possibly not kill each other'Saturday, 26 January 2019
Apparently in Denmark they pronounce screenwriter Adam Price’s surname as “Preece”, but its English-looking spelling stems from the fact that his ancestors moved from London to Denmark in the 18th century. He came storming back into the British... Read more... |
The Convert, Young Vic review - Africa's electric cry for justiceSaturday, 15 December 2018
Wow! First, the Black Panther team took cinema by storm; now, they have conquered theatre as well. Or, at least, two of them have. The Convert has been written by actor and playwright Danai Gurira (Okoye), and stars Letitia Wright (Shuri).... Read more... |
DVD/Blu-ray: The Blood of HussainTuesday, 23 October 2018
Jamil Dehlavi is a filmmaker whose work straddles two worlds. His native Pakistan is certainly the key element in the two early films on this BFI dual-format release – it follows on from the director’s August South Bank retrospective, the first... Read more... |
Oceania, Royal Academy review - magnificent encountersTuesday, 02 October 2018
In the video, Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner smiles shyly before beginning. As she speaks, her voice gains conviction, momentum, power. Her poem tells of the Marshall Islands inhabitants, a “proud people toasted dark brown”, and a constellation of islands... Read more... |
