Steven Osborne
Articles By Steven Osborne
latest in today
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It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.
It followed some...
![To life: Tim McMullan and Alison Halstead in rehearsal](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/morelife1.jpg?itok=Kudmr4l5)
It started with a Guardian long-read. I’m ashamed to admit it since so many shows could say the same, but that was the beginning.
It was the...
![Dysfunctional family: Count Almaviva's household loses its grip on sanity in Joe Hill-Gibbins' production](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/rsz_the_cast_of_eno%E2%80%99s_the_marriage_of_figaro_2025_%C2%A9_zoe_martin_1.jpg?itok=48dgt3uM)
Who’s in and who’s not – on the secret, the joke, the relationship, the family, the club? That’s the fulcrum of Joe Hill-Gibbins’ ingeniously...
![A whole new ballgame: Leonie Benesch and John Magaro in 'September 5'](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Munich%201.jpg?itok=nA5LU0SH)
There’s a common understanding about journalists, especially ones at the top of their game, that they’re flying by the seat of their pants –...
![Mismatch: Rami Malek as Oedipus and Indira Varma as Jocasta](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Rami%20Malek%20%28Oedipus%29%20and%20Indira%20Varma%20%28Jocasta%29%20in%20Oedipus%20at%20The%20Old%20Vic%20%282025%29.%20Photo%20by%20Manuel%20Harlan_0.jpg?itok=51b1i5d7)
The opening scene of the Old Vic’s Oedipus is dominated by a giant backdrop of a skull-like face, eyes shut and rock-like. It...
![Twlight: woozy](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Hi_Fi_Sean_David_McAlmont_Twilight.jpg?itok=2_Bw-1Fm)
It was only six months ago that Hifi Sean and David McAlmont released their Daylight album. A fine disc of summery dance pop that was...
Your response to Barney Norris’s one-...
![Boyd's doorstop of a book](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/boyd.jpg?itok=6iWELHRb)
The latest in Peter Culshaw’s peripatetic radio...
![Miriam Grace Edwards in 'Mrs President' - What? He's won again?](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Miriam%20Grace%20Edwards%20in%20Mrs%20President%20%28credit%20Pamela%20Raith%29.jpg?itok=GeE5e6CJ)
The phenomenal global success of Six began when two young writers decided to give voices to the wives of a...
!['The personal stories of life in the city and self-realisation sneak up on you '](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/unnamed-8_2.jpg?itok=P0JhC-6n)
Is there such a thing as a boundary between pop and alternative any more? The presence of strange characters like Chappell Roan, Billie Eilish and...