Arts
Why the Arts Council should kill off ENO and ENB
It is high time the Arts Council put ENO and ENB out of their misery, says Rupert Christiansen
More depravity, please: Salome, at the Royal Opera House, reviewed
The first night of the new season at Covent Garden was cancelled when the solemn news came through. The second…
Exhilarating, frightening and hilarious: Made in Leeds – Three Short Ballets reviewed
Good, better, best was the satisfying trajectory of Northern Ballet’s terrific programme of three original short works, which moves south…
Fresh and dreamy: Edward Lear, at Ikon Gallery, reviewed
‘It seems to me that I have to choose between 2 extremes of affection for nature… English, or Southern… The…
I'm too tired for Lena Dunham: Catherine Called Birdy reviewed
Catherine Called Birdy is written and directed by Lena Dunham and it’s a medieval comedy about a 14-year-old girl resisting…
Joyous and sexy: Nathy Peluso, at O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, reviewed
Few forms of music have colonised the world like metal and hip-hop. Wherever you go you will find these two…
A masterpiece: P Word, at Park Theatre, reviewed
Look at this line. ‘I’m 80 years old. I find that unforgivable.’ Could an actor get a laugh on ‘unforgivable’?…
Well-meaning thriller with moments of implausibility: BBC1's Crossfire reviewed
Crossfire was a three-part drama in more ways than one. Running every night from Tuesday to Thursday, it brought together…
A god of fury and destruction
David Hare is the most eminent British dramatist of the generation that includes the man we have to learn to…
A tremendous show that will attract serious attention from the West End: Rehab – The Musical reviewed
Rehab: The Musical opens with a boyband star, Kid Pop, getting busted for possession of cocaine. The judge sentences him…
A David Bowie doc like no other: Moonage Daydream reviewed
Moonage Daydream is a music documentary like no other, which is fitting as the subject is David Bowie. If it’s…
The art of the monarchy
Michael Hall on how the Queen made her mark on the Royal Collection
When Lee Miller met Picasso
During the liberation of Paris in August 1944, the photographer Lee Miller made her way to Picasso’s studio on rue…
The political cunning of Elizabeth II: BBC1's The Longest Reign – The Queen and Her People reviewed
In all the tributes to Her late Majesty’s constancy, dignity, wisdom and devotion to duty, not enough has been said…
BBC radio has excelled itself over the past week
Listening to BBC Radios 3 and 4 over the past week has been like meeting an old friend who, after…
Just yesterday
The death of Mikhail Gorbachev last week transcended politics because it was a reminder of how the culture of the…
Gore-fest meets snooze-fest: Crimes of the Future reviewed
You always have to brace yourself for the latest David Cronenberg film, but with Crimes of the Future it’s not…
The uncomfortable lessons of the new Fourth Plinth statues
Alexander Chula on the uncomfortable lessons of the new Fourth Plinth statues
Confounding and fantastic: 100 Gecs, at O2 Forum Kentish Town, reviewed
Let me introduce you to the two poles in pop and rock. One is marked by authenticity, musicianship, a certain…
Nureyev deserves better: Nureyev – Legend and Legacy, at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, reviewed
I was never Rudolf Nureyev’s greatest fan. I must have seen him dance 30 or 40 times, starting with a…
Will you be able to get through the ponderous aphorisms without giggling? The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power reviewed
Amazon’s much-heralded Tolkien prequel The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power began by answering a question that has…
Holds out huge promise for future seasons: If Opera's La Rondine reviewed
One swallow might not make a summer, but it certainly helps rounds the season off. ‘Perhaps, like the swallow, you…
Rhapsodic banalities: I, Joan, at the Globe, reviewed
‘Trans people are sacred. We are divine.’ The first line of I, Joan at the Globe establishes the tone of…
Promethean grandeur: Maurice Broomfield – Industrial Sublime, at the V&A, reviewed
When Maurice Broomfield left school at the age of 15, he took a job at the Rolls-Royce factory, bending copper…
Emily Maitlis tries too hard not to be teachery on her new podcast
The competition between news-led podcasts is nearing boiling point. If you tuned in to The Media Show on Radio 4…
