reviews
Helen Hawkins |

Dismemberment is a key motif in the writer-director Simon Stone’s The Oresteia. It reflects the treatment of two of the piece’s several dead bodies, as is hinted at when their killer is asked where he buried them. “Many places,” he replies coolly. And it’s what Stone himself has done with his ancient source material,

Sarah Kent |

Ana Mendieta’s work gives me the creeps. This is a deeply unfashionable view, so much so that I may well be cancelled for it. Mendieta is so highly regarded that The Guardian devoted a four-page feature to her while their art critic Jonathan Jones gave her Tate Modern exhibition a five-star review.

Jonathan Geddes
It is never a great sign when a local authority is forced to comment on a music festival. The opening night of the In The Park series of shows at…
Robert Beale
Buxton International Festival, long known for its explorations of some of the less well-known parts of the opera repertoire, this year features two…
Kieron Tyler
Reviewing The Clash’s 27 October 1976 appearance at Birmingham’s Barbarella’s, UK music weekly Sounds detected a particular, unique, characteristic…

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Gary Naylor
Lots of innovative ideas, but we need to hear the line readings clearly
Helen Hawkins
A Bellocchio classic is retooled as a stifllng rich-brats' revenge story
Guy Oddy
A new album is unveiled and old tunes are played for the last time
Helen Hawkins
Aakash Odedra is superb as a tortured creature seeking freedom and transcendence
Rachel Halliburton
Eurovision star Sam Ryder is made for the title role, while Drew McOnie’s choreography makes us feel the delirium
Sarah Kent
Darkness reigns in powerful but competing installations
Veronica Lee
Dolls, heroes and changing therapists
Helen Hawkins
Olivia Wilde's snappy comedy on the perennial subject of reviving a failing marriage
Kieron Tyler
First-rate salute to a creative colossus
David Nice
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Aleks Sierz
Chloë Moss’s new drama is a nerve-fraying example of telephonic tension
Adam Sweeting
You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time...
James Saynor
Kiss kiss, bang bang in a moving Middle East documentary
Guy Oddy
An eardrum damaging evening spent with Birmingham’s Sunn O))) worshippers
Sebastian Scotney
Trio with Gene Calderazzo and Alec Dankworth is a jewel of British jazz
Demetrios Matheou
Carrie Cracknell’s splendid revival of Stoppard’s masterwork transfers with its magic intact
Saskia Baron
David Vann's acclaimed novella transposed to the screen with mixed results
Rachel Halliburton
Transatlantic tensions are diffused through alcohol, sex, and the etiquette of hot dogs
Sarah Kent
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David Nice
Turbocharged orchestra, sometimes too much so, various approaches from the singers
Gary Naylor
Bad husband, bad dad, great singer
Tim Cumming
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David Nice
Richard Jones tries hard with Bellini's vehicle for lyric madness; Lisette Oropesa dazzles

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