Arts
I'm proud to say The Book Thief couldn't pull my heartstrings
The Book Thief is based on Markus Zusak’s novel of the same name which, although written for young adults, appears…
Less subsidy means better music
One of the unlooked-for side effects of the financial crisis has been what might be called the desocialising of music…
Superior Donuts – a very irritating success
Tracy Letts, of the Chicago company Steppenwolf, has written one of the best plays of the past ten years. August:…
A quietly stunning quest for Bonnie Prince Charlie
What if Bonnie Prince Charlie, as he swept down from Scotland towards London to lay claim to the throne, hadn’t…
The Today programme's 'Phwoof!' moment
‘Phwhoof!’ exclaimed Evan at 8.27, before reluctantly turning us over to the sport report on Saturday morning’s Today (Radio 4).…
Do critics make good artists? Come and judge ours
Artists make good critics, but do critics make good artists? It’s hard to tell, when most are too chicken to…
Double vision
Artists make good critics, but do critics make good artists? It’s hard to tell, when most are too chicken to…
Double vision
Artists make good critics, but do critics make good artists? It’s hard to tell, when most are too chicken to…
Bring on the young
One of the unlooked-for side effects of the financial crisis has been what might be called the desocialising of music…
Bring on the young
One of the unlooked-for side effects of the financial crisis has been what might be called the desocialising of music…
What now for ENO?
Michael Henderson wonders what direction English National Opera will now take
Rigoletto in a gentleman's club
So it’s farewell to the fedoras and adieu to the jukebox. After 32 years of service, Jonathan Miller’s Little Italy…
Brave Tommies and dim earls — Oh What a Lovely War is hoity-toity reductionism
Here it is. Fifty years late. Oh What a Lovely War was originally staged at Stratford East in 1964. It…
Four artists you ought to know — and a famous one you can know better
In this round-up of exhibitions in London’s commercial galleries, I feature three shows of little-known but mature contemporary British artists.…
You may be the Only One Left Awake at Only Lovers Left Alive
Jim Jarmusch is the noted American ‘cult director’, and if you were to judge him solely on the basis of…
The TV shows my children allow me to watch at half-term
Half-term again, so naturally all my TV viewing plans have gone out of the window. In some households — my…
When a Chinese and a Japanese visit Tokyo's Yasukuni war shrine
What does freedom mean to you? That’s the question the BBC World Service has been asking of us through its…
Tutus, loo rolls and a roomful of balloons
A tip: go see Martin Creed’s retrospective at the Hayward in the company of a child. I didn’t, but I…
Laugh but don’t pop
A tip: go see Martin Creed’s retrospective at the Hayward in the company of a child. I didn’t, but I…
Laugh but don’t pop
A tip: go see Martin Creed’s retrospective at the Hayward in the company of a child. I didn’t, but I…
What Emperor Augustus left us
Roderick Conway Morris on the influence and legacy of Augustus
Are hymns dying?
I love a good hymn, so long as I’m not expected to sing it. Lusty declarations of faith sound ridiculous…
Putin: ‘Oi, Europe, you’re a bunch of poofs’
Sochi 2014 is the least wintry Winter Olympics ever. Yes, there’s a bit of downhill shimmying going on in the…
'Castiglione: Lost Genius' loses his genius in a sea of brown
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609–64) was, I must admit, unknown to me until I visited this show, the only Castiglione I…
Manon Lescaut is twerking — should we applaud or shudder?
Last seen clambering over the MDF wheelchair ramps of Laurent Pelly’s Royal Opera House production of Jules Massenet’s opéra comique,…
