reviews
theartsdesk |

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 response to our appeal to help us relaunch and reboot has been something else.

Rachel Halliburton |

War Horse was without a doubt one of the boldest experiments in the National Theatre’s history. As Tom Morris, co-director with Marianne Elliott of the original production says in the programme, “Essentially putting a non-speaking central character on the Olivier stage was going against everything that everyone understood about that space. The design is for epic theatre in which text makes the space come alive.

David Nice
It's nine years since soprano Lise Davidsen gave a Wigmore Hall audience her first credentials as a recitalist, in true partnership with a pianist to…
Sebastian Scotney
Whereas the more venerable European jazz festivals, founded from the 1960s onwards, are typically faced with challenges of mid- or later life,…
Helen Hawkins
South Korea’s soft power isn’t restricted to K-pop and K-drama. The latest Festival of Korean Dance, hosted by venues around the UK, is a…

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.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

David Nice
Not a huge number of laughs, but plenty of vocal charm from tenor and soprano
Guy Oddy
Robin Dallaway’s crew return to the stage after a 40-year break
David Nice
Niamh O'Sullivan is the perfect Knight of the Rose in classy revival
Adam Sweeting
Friendships tested to destruction in Catherine Shepherd's satirical drama
Jonathan Geddes
The Manchester foursome's post-punk and garage rock remains danceable and rousing.
Bernard Hughes
40th anniversary event overcomes disruption with exquisite music-making
Kieron Tyler
Firm candidate for one of the year’s most notable archive releases
Boyd Tonkin
High farce and explosive feeling collide in a Fifties Neapolitan romp
Gary Naylor
Just too geared to a multiplex audience to succeed as it could on stage
Bernard Hughes
Veteran American singer in fine voice, complemented by characterful accordion
Helen Hawkins
Peter Schaffer's 1965 hit is still the perfect vehicle for premium physical comedy
James Saynor
When Lucian Freud and Kate Moss brushed up against each other
Robert Beale
Luxurious sonic experience and tonal beauties in a moving Mahler 6
Rachel Halliburton
Alexander Zeldin's play is a deeply moving meditation on mortality
Gary Naylor
YA genre show needs more pace and character development to realise its potential
David Nice
Quality in spades on a modest budget
Gary Naylor
Spectre of colonialism an inescapable ghost at the feast
alexandra.coghlan
A handsome staging of Puccini's gold-rush opera seems bound to win some converts
Thomas H. Green
Guitars a-go-go with hungry performances by bands from around the world
Adam Sweeting
Steve Coogan and Tom Burke lead a formidable cast in Neil Forsyth's drama
Helen Hawkins
Peter Schaffer’s 1973 hit can still pack a theatrical punch, but its ideas seem dated now
Veronica Lee
Comic revisits her alma mater to talk politics
David Nice
Five-star duets for two women elevate cramped production of patchy Bellini
Joe Muggs
A total deconstruction of pop-alternative dichotomies, and a 360° immersive overload

the future of arts journalism

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing! 

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

latest in today

We are bowled over! We knew that theartsdesk.com had plenty of supporters out there – we’ve always had a loyal readership of arts…
War Horse was without a doubt one of the boldest experiments in the National Theatre’s history. As Tom Morris, co-director with Marianne…
It's nine years since soprano Lise Davidsen gave a Wigmore Hall audience her first credentials as a recitalist, in true partnership with a…
Whereas the more venerable European jazz festivals, founded from the 1960s onwards, are typically faced with challenges of mid- or later…
A new album from Evanescence doesn’t come around all that often. But when they do, they are always worth at least a pause and cursory…
South Korea’s soft power isn’t restricted to K-pop and K-drama. The latest Festival of Korean Dance, hosted by venues around the UK, is a…
Spirit of place first: Nevill Holt, which I was visiting for the first time, is a beauty. There's an Oxford college look about the facades…
“Pruning, pruning, pruning, pruning, pruning” declaims a suited and booted Robin Dallaway into his microphone on stage at Birmingham’s…
Freshly-exhumed from the vaults, this latest Children's Film Foundation selection follows an established template. We get nine pacy short…
If you find endless riches in Hugo von Hofmannsthal's words and Richard Strauss's score for their "Comedy for Music", as I do, you'll be…