Arts
Shaping up nicely for some truly epic bloodletting: House of the Dragon reviewed
House of the Dragon got off to a pretty uninspirational start, I thought: no major characters brought to a shocking…
Are bankers really as bad as they're portrayed on screen?
Is the onscreen portrayal of investment bankers as monsters true to life? Martin Vander Weyer talks to the writers of Industry
His lightning art
The combinations and permutations of different forms of artistic activity are always weird. Stacks of people will want to see…
The company has a hit on their hands: Scottish Ballet's Coppélia reviewed
With the major companies largely on their summer breaks, the Edinburgh International Festival struggles to programme a high standard of…
Why we must defend Radio 3 from threatened cuts
Who doesn’t love Eurovision? All that razzmatazz. The ghastly frocks and gloopy pop songs, the false bonhomie and bare-faced bias…
The show works a treat: Globe's The Tempest reviewed
Southwark Playhouse has a reputation for small musicals with big ambitions. Tasting Notes is set in a wine bar run…
The fiasco of Operation Yewtree: C4's The Accused – National Treasures on Trial reviewed
At 4.38 a.m., one morning in October 2013, the radio presenter Paul Gambaccini was understandably asleep when the doorbell rang.…
Full of unexpected delights: Green Man Festival reviewed
One learns the strangest things at festivals. That, for instance, this summer has been a bit of a blackcurrant disaster…
Schlocky and silly but fun: Beast reviewed
Beast is, the blurb tells us, a ‘pulse-pounding thriller about a father and his daughters who find themselves hunted by…
There's much more to Winslow Homer than his dramatic seascapes
Winslow Homer may be too all-American for British tastes but a forthcoming retrospective could change all that, says Laura Gascoigne
Don’t be routine
It’s a marvellous thing that the great Indian conductor Zubin Mehta will be wielding the baton for that illustrious group…
In praise of character actors
If you want real acting in films, forget the leads – it’s in the supporting roles that you’ll find true talent, says Tanya Gold
Guston is treated with contempt: Philip Guston Now reviewed
Philip Guston is hard to dislike. The most damning critique levied against the canonical mid-century American painter is that he…
Identity politics is in retreat in Hollywood
‘Diversity is woven into the very soul of the story.’ If those words of praise from a rave review in…
A four-way race between poet, actor, video artist and sound engineer: Edinburgh Festival's Burn reviewed
In a new hour-long monologue, Burn, Alan Cumming examines the life and work of Robert Burns. The biographical material is…
Absolutely nuts: My Old School reviewed
My Old School is a documentary exploring a true story that would have to be true as it’s too preposterous…
An electrifying, immersive thrill: Scottish Opera's Candide reviewed
The first part of the adventure was getting there. Out of the subway, past the tower blocks and under the…
Sensational: Herbie Hancock, at the Edinburgh Festival, reviewed
‘Human beings are in trouble these days,’ says Herbie Hancock, chatting to us between songs. ‘And do you know who…
Trash and treasure
It’s cheering to see that the new head of Melbourne’s Arts Centre is Karen Quinlan. For years now, she has…
The magic of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
Louise Levene on the male ballet troupe that realised the ballerinas have all the best lines
If you’re going to make it up, please make it up better: Eiffel reviewed
Eiffel is a romantic drama purporting to show how a passionate but forbidden love inspired Gustave Eiffel to design and…
A victory of the imaginatively crafted over the conceptual: In the Black Fantastic reviewed
‘These artists are offering other ways of seeing,’ says Ekow Eshun, curator of In the Black Fantastic, and from the…
A magnificent farewell: Stornoway, at Womad Festival, reviewed
The greatest pleasure of writing about pop music – even more than the free tickets and records, nice as they…
Rivals Wagatha Christie for its lowbrow twists: FT's Hot Money – Who Rules Porn? reviewed
It was recently reported that almost 8 per cent of global internet traffic is to pornographic websites. The rise of…
Fascinating but flat: Amazon Prime's Thirteen Lives reviewed
About ten minutes in to Thirteen Lives, Boy came in and asked me whether it was any good. I said:…
