religion
Broken, BBC One review - things look bleak in McGovernvilleWednesday, 31 May 2017
This is Jimmy McGovern, so it’s no surprise to find ourselves up north and feeling grim. The prolific screenwriter’s latest drama series is located in what is described only as “a northern city” (though apparently it’s 60 miles from Sheffield, which... Read more... |
Life of Galileo, Young Vic review - shared-experience Brecht is powerful, timelyWednesday, 17 May 2017
Never mind breaking the fourth wall, Joe Wright and the Young Vic have smashed the other three as well. This isn’t simply because their engaging production of Life of Galileo, demonstrating the struggle between science and prevailing authority, is... Read more... |
The Secret Scripture review - Jim Sheridan's turgid homecomingTuesday, 16 May 2017
It's the church wot done it! That's the unexceptional takeaway proffered by Jim Sheridan's first Irish film in 20 years, which is to say ever since the director of My Left Foot and The Boxer hit the big time. But despite a starry and often glamorous... Read more... |
Sughayer, Manchester Camerata Soloists, Manchester CathedralWednesday, 03 May 2017
Two works whose whole significance depends on (unspoken) sacred texts made a stimulating combination for a concert in Manchester Cathedral’s sacred space. Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of our Saviour on the Cross – usually heard in its string... Read more... |
Michelangelo's Madonna and ChildSunday, 16 April 2017
Michelangelo's Taddei tondo, which depicts the Madonna and Child with the Infant St John in a rocky landscape, is the only Michelangelo marble in Britain. Currently one of the stars of the National Gallery's Michelangelo & Sebastiano show, it is... Read more... |
Mahler 8, LPO, Jurowski, RFHMonday, 10 April 2017
For the first performances of his Eighth Symphony in Munich, Mahler conducted 11 rehearsals. He arranged for the bells of the city’s trams to be silenced during the concerts. He left nothing to chance. On Saturday night, for once, one felt that all... Read more... |
Mary Magdalene: Art's Scarlet Woman, review - 'lugubrious'Friday, 07 April 2017
Mary Magdalene: Art's Scarlet Woman (BBC Four) is, says art critic Waldemar Januszczak, a film about a woman who probably never existed. "So why,” he asks, “are we so obsessed with her?” He delivers the answer in breathy, lugubrious tones as if... Read more... |
Madonnas and Miracles: The Holy Home in Renaissance Italy, Fitzwilliam Museum, CambridgeTuesday, 14 March 2017
A lovely, scholarly and gently revelatory exhibition, Madonnas and Miracles explores a neglected area of the perennially popular and much-studied Italian Renaissance – the place of piety in the Renaissance home. We are used to admiring the great... Read more... |
Viceroy's HouseFriday, 03 March 2017
The Partition of India is vast and unexplored terrain in modern cinema. It triggered the migration of 14 million people: Muslims moved from an India reduced in size overnight to the new homeland of Pakistan, and non-Muslims made the opposite journey... Read more... |
The StudentTuesday, 28 February 2017
Translating terrorism is tricky. Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov’s The Student is an adaptation of a play by the German writer Marius von Mayenburg which was staged in London two years ago under its original title, Martyr. One exchange in this... Read more... |
Josh Ritter, St Stephen's ChurchSaturday, 18 February 2017
The only British gig in Josh Ritter’s so-called work-in-progress tour took place in the somewhat unlikely venue of St Stephen’s Church, Shepherd’s Bush, a rather fine example of gothic revival style. It’s almost opposite Bush Hall, which would have... Read more... |
SilenceSaturday, 31 December 2016
Audiences cannot fail to register the enormity of Martin Scorsese’s achievement in Silence. At 160 minutes, it hangs heavy over the film: adapted from the 1966 novel by Japanese writer Shusaku Endo, Silence has been close on three decades in... Read more... |
