theartsdesk com, first with arts reviews, news and interviews
Tom Birchenough
Friday, 14 November 2025
We are bowled over! We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts lovers and professionals alike – but the...
Veronica Lee
Tuesday, 21 October 2025
Bryony Kimmings’ new show – her first in five years – was created to celebrate the opening of Soho Walthamstow, the previously neglected Art Deco beauty that’s now one of...
Robert Beale
Monday, 20 October 2025
Phyllida Lloyd’s production of La Bohème for Opera North is over 32 years old but still feels young. And for its audiences it still has the ability to capture – as the opera is...
Bernard Hughes
Monday, 20 October 2025
Many orchestral concerts leaven two or three established classics with something new or unusual. The LSO reversed that formula at the Barbican last night, with three pieces...
Nick Hasted
Monday, 20 October 2025
Guillermo del Toro strains every sinew to bring his dream film to life, steeping it in religious symbolism and the history of art, cannily restitching Mary Shelley’s narrative and...
Guy Oddy
Monday, 20 October 2025
Their new album may have been born out of a deep dive into Quentin Tarantino’s cinematic reimagining of the post-Manson killings’ atmosphere of late 1960’s Los Angeles, Once Upon...
Veronica Lee
Monday, 20 October 2025
It’s always good to welcome the opening of a new arts venue, and sadly it doesn’t happen too often in the current economic...
Guy Oddy
Monday, 20 October 2025
The Lemonheads were one of the original punk-pop outfits and have been an on-off going concern for 40 years. However, singer...
Sebastian Scotney
Sunday, 19 October 2025
Helping to build the careers of superb young singers is what Wigmore Hall has done for decades: I still remember Olaf...
Kieron Tyler
Sunday, 19 October 2025
Over 1965 to 1968 Brooklyn's Evie Sands issued a string of singles with classic top sides. Amongst them were “Take Me For a...
Oliver Pashley
Saturday, 18 October 2025
“Why the name?” and “Why the instruments?” are the two most common things we get asked about our group. As a member of The...
Helen Hawkins
Saturday, 18 October 2025
No Other ChoicePark Chan-wook’s outstanding black comedy is a rare treat, biting social satire delivered with immaculate...
Rachel Halliburton
Saturday, 18 October 2025
This powerful, austere collaboration between Les Arts Florissants and the Amala Dianor Company – presented as part of Dance...
Graham Rickson
Saturday, 18 October 2025
British Piano Concertos: Walton, Britten & Tippett Clare Hammond (piano), BBC Symphony Orchestra/George Vass (BIS...
Tom Carr
Saturday, 18 October 2025
Anxiety and self-doubt have been constant themes for Kevin Parker, the Australian musician who now finds himself among the...
Demetrios Matheou
Friday, 17 October 2025
The last few years have seen the much-needed positivity of the #MeToo movement followed by a raft of ethical confrontations...
Robert Beale
Friday, 17 October 2025
Manchester Camerata have had a ten-year association with composer-conductor Jack Sheen. For this short programme, one...
Adam Sweeting
Friday, 17 October 2025
Is This Thing On? Bradley Cooper has previously directed A Star Is Born and Maestro, but they weren’t nearly as much...
Demetrios Matheou
Friday, 17 October 2025
Whether it’s the trenches of the First World War, or the halls and chambers of Vatican City, we’re becoming used to director...
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disc of the day
The Lemonheads' 'Love Chant' is a fine return to form
Evan Dando finally gets back in the saddle with an album of new tunes
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Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
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tv
Murder Before Evensong, Acorn TV review - death comes to the picturesque village of Champton
The Rev Richard Coles's sleuthing cleric hits the screen
Black Rabbit, Netflix review - grime and punishment in New York City
Jude Law and Jason Bateman tread the thin line between love and hate
The Hack, ITV review - plodding anatomy of twin UK scandals
Jack Thorne's skill can't disguise the bagginess of his double-headed material
film
Frankenstein review - the Prometheus of the charnel house
Guillermo del Toro is fitfully inspired, but often lost in long-held ambitions
Ballad of a Small Player review - Colin Farrell's all in as a gambler down on his luck
Conclave director Edward Berger swaps the Vatican for Asia's sin city
new music
Solar Eyes, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham review - local lads lay down some new tunes for a home crowd
Psychedelic indie dance music marinated in swirling dry ice
The Lemonheads' 'Love Chant' is a fine return to form
Evan Dando finally gets back in the saddle with an album of new tunes
Music Reissues Weekly: Evie Sands - I Can’t Let Go
Diligent, treasure-packed tribute to one of Sixties’ America’s great vocal stylists
classical
Shibe, LSO, Adès, Barbican review - gaudy and glorious new music alongside serene Sibelius
Adès’s passion makes persuasive case for the music he loves, both new and old
Anja Mittermüller, Richard Fu, Wigmore Hall review - a glorious hall debut
The Austrian mezzo shines - at the age of 22
First Person: clarinettist Oliver Pashley on the new horizons of The Hermes Experiment's latest album
Compositions by members of this unusual quartet feature for the first time
opera
La bohème, Opera North review - still young at 32
Love and separation, ecstasy and heartbreak, in masterfully updated Puccini
Albert Herring, English National Opera review - a great comedy with depths fully realised
Britten’s delight was never made for the Coliseum, but it works on its first outing there
Carmen, English National Opera review - not quite dangerous
Hopes for Niamh O’Sullivan only partly fulfilled, though much good singing throughout
theatre
Ragdoll, Jermyn Street Theatre review - compelling and emotionally truthful
Katherine Moar returns with a Patty Hearst-inspired follow up to her debut hit 'Farm Hall'
Troilus and Cressida, Globe Theatre review - a 'problem play' with added problems
Raucous and carnivalesque, but also ugly and incomprehensible
Clarkston, Trafalgar Theatre review - two lads on a road to nowhere
Netflix star, Joe Locke, is the selling point of a production that needs one
dance
'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
R:Evolution, English National Ballet, Sadler's Wells review - a vibrant survey of ballet in four acts
ENB set the bar high with this mixed bill, but they meet its challenges thrillingly
Like Water for Chocolate, Royal Ballet review - splendid dancing and sets, but there's too much plot
Christopher Wheeldon's version looks great but is too muddling to connect with fully
comedy
'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Bryony Kimmings, Soho Walthamstow review - captivating tale of the cycle of life
Witty ode to Mother Nature
The Free Association launch review - strong start for improv company
Troupe moves into permanent home
Books
'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Thomas Pynchon - Shadow Ticket review - Pulp Diction
Thomas Pynchon's latest (and possibly last) book is fun - for a while
Justin Lewis: Into the Groove review - fun and fact-filled trip through Eighties pop
Month by month journey through a decade gives insights into ordinary people’s lives
visual arts
'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support
Much-appreciated words of commendation from readers and the cultural community
Lee Miller, Tate Britain review - an extraordinary career that remains an enigma
Fashion photographer, artist or war reporter; will the real Lee Miller please step forward?
Kerry James Marshall: The Histories, Royal Academy review - a triumphant celebration of blackness
Room after room of glorious paintings
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