Arts
As seductive as Chagall: Sarah Sze’s The Waiting Room reviewed
Exiting Peckham Rye station, you’re not aware of it, but standing on the platform you can see a mansard roof…
In praise of goths – the most enduring of pop subcultures
Michael Hann on the most enduring of pop subcultures
Strange bedfellows
What a whirlwind the world of the arts can be. Gabrielle Carey who changed forever the image of teenage girlish…
Watching Queen Cleopatra felt like witnessing the death of scholarship
The most controversial aspect of Netflix’s new drama-documentary Queen Cleopatra – not least in Egypt – was the casting of…
Warm, charming and tender: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret reviewed
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is an adaptation of Judy Blume’s seminal young adult novel (1970) about an…
The Georgian fashion revolution
Normally, when you look at portraits you feel obliged to focus on the sitter. But quite often you’re thinking, ‘Ooh,…
The quiet genius of Gwen John
In the rush to right the historical gender balance, galleries have been corralling neglected women artists into group exhibitions: the…
The new Pogues: The Mary Wallopers, at O2 Forum Kentish Town, reviewed
I was listening the other week to a solo album by an ageing rock guitarist, once terrifically famous. It was…
Sad, blinkered and incoherent: Arcola’s The Misandrist reviewed
A new play, The Misandrist, looks at modern dating habits. Rachel is a smart, self-confident woman whose partner is a…
Florid flummery: ETO’s Il viaggio a Reims reviewed
Lightning sometimes strikes twice. English Touring Opera hit topical gold last spring when, wholly by coincidence, they found themselves touring…
‘Netflix are incredibly conservative’: documentary-maker Nick Broomfield interviewed
Adam Sweeting talks to the documentary-maker Nick Broomfield about the forgotten Rolling Stone
Rattle and HM
It’s funny to think that at the very moment when King Charles was going through his Coronation, pledging service and…
Patronising to the people of Peterborough: BRB2’s Carlos Acosta Classical Selections reviewed
Fulfilling its sacred duty to serve regions that higher culture tends to avoid, Birmingham Royal Ballet made a midweek visit…
‘I love twigs’: botanical painter Emma Tennant interviewed
Claudia Massie talks to the botanical painter Emma Tennant about grief, finding success later in life, and her love of twigs
Riveting and sumptuous: The Motive and the Cue, at the Lyttelton Theatre, reviewed
The Motive and the Cue breaches the inviolable sanctity of the rehearsal room. The play, set in New York in…
The coronation music was – mostly – a triumph
Sir Hubert Parry was upgraded from knight bachelor to baronet by King Edward VII in 1902, and my goodness he…
Deeply moving but bleak: Plan 75 reviewed
Plan 75 is a dystopian Japanese drama about a government-sponsored euthanasia programme introduced to address Japan’s ageing society. Aged 75…
Prayer for the Day is the best thing to wake up to
As the owner of a radio alarm clock, I could theoretically start listening to the Today programme before I’m even…
Heartfelt but bland: Ed Sheeran’s – (Subtract) reviewed
Whether by accident or design, the mathematical theme of Ed Sheeran’s previous album titles (+, ×, ÷ and = respectively)…
WNO sinks an unsinkable opera: The Magic Flute, at Birmingham Hippodrome, reviewed
As stage directions go, the The Magic Flute opens with a zinger. ‘Tamino enters from the right wearing a splendid…
From Botticelli to Marvel: why artists love St Francis
Laura Gascoigne on the pulling power of St Francis of Assisi
Dragons, broomsticks and whatnot
It was saddening to hear of the death of the poet John Tranter the other week. For those of us…
Despite the lack of sex, stick with it: Paramount Plus’s Fatal Attraction reviewed
With the current taste for remakes of erotic-thriller movies of the 1980s and ’90s, these are certainly good times for…
A phenomenally exciting new band: The Last Dinner Party, at Camden Assembly, reviewed
A user’s guide to how pop music works in the 21st century. Step one: you see a great new band.…
‘I have uncancelled myself’: David Starkey interviewed
David Starkey’s commentary on the Queen’s funeral on GB News was generally agreed to be the best of all the…
