Reviews
The Boy with Two Hearts, National Theatre review - poignant yet humorous story of family forced to flee Afghanistan
Thursday, 06 October 2022
It’s particularly poignant to watch this story in the knowledge that a little over a year after US-led troops withdrew from Afghanistan, women and girls are enduring a renewed repression of their rights under the Taliban. The real-life story of The Boy with Two Hearts took place in 2000 – the year before the western invasion began; to see it today is a depressing reminder of how little was achieved through that ill-thought-out venture.
James IV: Queen of the Fight, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh review - revelatory historical drama
Thursday, 06 October 2022
"The poem is real," intones entertainer-turned-courtier Ellen solemnly as a prologue and epilogue to Rona Munro’s vivid, vibrant new James IV: Queen of the Fight, presented by Scottish producers Raw Material and Edinburgh’s Capital Theatres in association with the National Theatre of Scotland, and getting its premiere at the city’s Festival Theatre before a Scotland-wide tour.
Inside Man, BBC One review - strong cast trapped...
Wednesday, 05 October 2022
Screenwriter and showrunner Steven Moffat is renowned for some of his work, especially Sherlock, but other stuff not so much (I direct you towards...
Lucian Freud: New Perspectives, National Gallery...
Wednesday, 05 October 2022
There stands Lucian Freud in Reflection with Two Children (Self-portrait), 1965 (main picture) towering over you, peering mercilessly down. Is that a...
Jaminaround, Ancient Technology Centre, Cranborne...
Tuesday, 04 October 2022
The most unlikely venue: an extraordinary, authentic-as-can-be replica of a large Iron Age roundhouse. There’s a turf and grass roof, and the...
Andrew Murray: Is Socialism Possible in Britain? review - what went wrong and why Corbynism failed
An inside take on the most radical period in Labour's history |
Iphigenia in Splott, Lyric Hammersmith review - raises as many questions as answers
Timely revival of Gary Owen's solo play |
Music Reissues Weekly: Catch-A-Fire - Treasure Isle Ska, Top Ranking DJ Session
Unearthed - Jamaica’s impact on the music of punk and post-punk Britain |
Tosca, English National Opera review - a tale of two eras
Powerful singing and playing, but mixed historical periods mute the drama |
The Crucible, National Theatre review - visually stunning revival of Miller's classic drama
Lyndsey Turner paints this seminal drama with disturbing colours |
Mrs Harris Goes to Paris review - Lesley Manville as a Fifties charlady with a heart of gold
Director Anthony Fabian embraces escapism in his adaptation of Paul Gallico's novel |
Remote review - an irredeemably silly first feature
An ill-conceived 'art' movie about overcoming loneliness |
Blonde review - Marilyn Monroe thrown to the wolves
Cruel biopic revels in the star's victimhood |
John Gabriel Borkman, Bridge Theatre review - amusing tale of awful people
Simon Russell Beale is the unapologetically corrupt banker, in Ibsen's chilly tragicomedy |
Savala Nolan: Don't Let It Get You Down review - finding voice in the liminal
Essays on the spaces between black and white, rich and poor, thin and fat |
Jews. In Their Own Words, Royal Court review - calling out ancient prejudice
After its antisemitic blunder a year ago, this venue makes amends |
Yiyun Li: The Book of Goose - fame, reality and two teenage French girls
Yiyun Li's compelling fifth novel marks a new departure |
This England, Sky Atlantic review - how Boris's No 10 got Covid wrong
Kenneth Branagh gets Boris (mostly) right, but what does this docudrama hope to achieve? |
Kim Noble, Soho Theatre review - final part of trilogy about loneliness
You'll need a strong stomach for the comedy-performance art overlap of 'Lullaby for Scavengers' |
In Front of Your Face review - a day in the life
An ex-actress's return to Seoul is beatific and drunkenly raw, in Hong Sangsoo's latest |
Purcell's Playhouse, Bevan, Barokksolistene, Eike, Purcell Room review - kaleidoscopic delights
Vivacious British soprano shares the communicative spirit of her Norwegian colleagues |
Hallyu! The Korean Wave, V&A review - frenetic but fun
Learn how to succeed, South Korean style, right across the cultural board |
Bronwyn Adcock: Currowan review - a fire foretold, a warning delivered
Stories of surviving Australia’s worst bushfire |
Eureka Day, Old Vic review - fun if not entirely fulfilling
Dissent in the ranks in uber-timely American comedy |
Igor Levit, Wigmore Hall review - titanic talent shows his lighter side
Dazzling range in mastery of tone and technique |
Marina Abramović: Gates and Portals, Modern Art Oxford and Pitt Rivers Museum review - transcendence lite
The grandmother of performance art induces deep breathing and a slow heartbeat |
Aida, Royal Opera review - dour but disciplined
Uniformly good cast, idiomatic conducting, production rigidly consistent in khaki |
The Big Moon, Oran Mor, Glasgow review - partying prevails despite band's bad luck
The quartet's pop and indie blend was in fine fettle |
Gurrelieder, LPO, Gardner, RFH review - everything in place, but still something’s missing
Schoenberg's epic of love, death, afterlife and earthly regeneration sold a bit short |
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The Boy with Two Hearts, National Theatre review - poignant...
It’s particularly poignant to watch this story in the knowledge that a little over a year after US-led troops withdrew from Afghanistan, women and...
James IV: Queen of the Fight, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh re...
"The poem is real," intones entertainer-turned-courtier Ellen solemnly as a prologue and epilogue to Rona Munro’s...
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