PMQs: Sunak struggles to defend David Cameron
The House of Lords is like a bag of doughnuts in the lap of a traffic policeman. There’s always room…
Branagh can’t quite banish the spirit of Noel Edmonds: King Lear, at Wyndham’s Theatre, reviewed
Branagh vs Lear. The big fixture in theatreland ends in a win for Shakespeare’s knotty and intractable script which usually…
Real women do not behave like this: Lyonesse, at the Harold Pinter Theatre, reviewed
Lyonesse by Penelope Skinner takes a while to get going. The central character, Elaine, is a washed-up British actress (Kristin…
Elon and Rishi’s unseemly love-in
Two of the world’s great unelected power-brokers met last night at Bletchley Park. Elon Musk and Rishi Sunak held a…
It’s a bit late for Dominic Cummings to apologise
Dominic Cummings showed up at the Covid Inquiry dressed in his signature white shirt. Plus, in a nod to formality,…
If only Caryl Churchill’s plays were as thrillingly macabre as her debut
The first play by the pioneering feminist Caryl Churchill has been revived at the Jermyn Street Theatre. Owners, originally staged…
Rishi Sunak has lost his fizz
A harrowing session at PMQs. Rishi Sunak seemed subdued and de-energised. His fizz had gone flat. The usual hip-wriggling shuffle…
They call me the ‘problem teetotaller’
My guts went on strike last July. I was staying in a hotel and I spent several days sprawled on…
Scherzinger is superb but why’s the set so dark and ugly? Sunset Boulevard, at the Savoy Theatre, reviewed
Sunset Boulevard is a re-telling of the Oedipus story set in the cut-throat world of Hollywood. Pick a side in…
As gripping as an Agatha Christie thriller: Shooting Hedda Gabler, at the Rose Theatre, reviewed
The unlovely Rose Theatre in Kingston is a modest three-storey eyesore. The concrete foyer looks like an exercise area on…
London’s ‘Free Palestine’ protest descended into farce
Central London succumbed last night to a mob of protestors celebrating the outrages perpetrated by Hamas on Saturday. That was…
Godot with gags: It’s Headed Straight Towards Us, at Park200, reviewed
It sounds like a barking-mad student sketch but the final product is marinated in wisdom and maturity. It’s Headed Straight…
Rishi the revolutionary? Come off it
It was preposterous. A prime minister at the head of a party that’s been running the country for 13 years…
What you won’t learn from Channel 4’s Partygate drama
Partygate has morphed from a half-forgotten scandal into a new drama-documentary which airs on Channel 4 tomorrow night. This rehash…
Could I find a girlfriend on a Guardian Blind Date?
Was a Guardian Blind Date the answer?
Cheesy skit: A Mirror, at the Almeida Theatre, reviewed
The playwright Sam Holcroft likes to toy with dramatic conventions and to tease her audiences by withholding key information about…
Russell Brand’s gags are coming back to haunt him
It has now officially all gone wrong for stand-up’s sex god. Ahead of Saturday night’s Channel 4 documentary about Russell…
Watch three irascible women screaming at each other: Anthropology, at Hampstead Theatre, reviewed
Anthropology is a drama about artificial intelligence that starts as an ultra-gloomy soap opera. A suicidal lesbian, Merril, speaks on…
Osborne, Balls and a glimpse of Westminster’s rotten culture
Podcast mania continues at Westminster. Discarded grandees from all parties have noticed the success of The Rest is Politics, the…
Lacks any air of mystery, foreboding or darkness: Macbeth, at the Globe, reviewed
Macbeth at the Globe wants to put us at our ease and make us feel comfortable with the play’s arcane…
Like an episode of Play School: Dr Semmelweis, at the Harold Pinter Theatre, reviewed
Bleach and germs are the central themes of Dr Semmelweis, written by Mark Rylance and Stephen Brown. The opening scene,…
Two very long hours: The Effect, at the Lyttelton Theatre, reviewed
Lucy Prebble belongs to the posse of scribblers responsible for the HBO hit, Succession. Perhaps in honour of this distinction,…
Trump, Diogenes, the Mitfords and Malaysian comedy: Edinburgh Fringe round-up
The Mitfords is a superb one-woman show by Emma Wilkinson Wright who focuses her attention on Unity, Diana and Jessica.…
A tragicomic lecture about Gold at Edinburgh Festival
A chilly August in Edinburgh. Colder than it’s been for 20 years and the city looks scruffier than ever. Locked…
Alex Salmond teases a reconciliation with Sturgeon
Even in her absence, Nicola Sturgeon dominated Iain Dale’s discussion with Alex Salmond and David Davis at the Edinburgh festival.…
