Arts
Why do British galleries shun the humane, generous art of Ruskin Spear?
Where do you see paintings by Ruskin Spear (1911–90)? In the salerooms mostly, because his work in public collections is…
Not pleasant, and not in tune, but unarguably compelling: Royal Opera's Nabucco reviewed
Nabucco, said Giuseppe Verdi, ‘was born under a lucky star’. It was both his last throw of the dice and…
A story of reflection and self-discovery: Anaïs Mitchell's new album reviewed
Any artist who has habitually written or performed in character — from David Bowie to Lady Gaga — eventually arrives…
A dog’s breakfast but I’m rather enjoying it: Sky Atlantic's Yellowjackets reviewed
It has taken me a while to watch Yellowjacketsbecause I found the premise so offputting: in 1996 a plane carrying…
Suchet makes Poirot sound like craft beer: Poirot and More, at Harold Pinter Theatre, reviewed
Producers are getting jittery again. Large-scale shows look risky when a single infection can postpone an entire show. Hence Poirot…
Manipulative and sentimental but also affectionate: Belfast reviewed
After Artemis Fowl and Murder on the Orient Express you may have had concerns about Kenneth Branagh ever helming a…
Robert Harris on Boris Johnson, cancel culture and rehabilitating Chamberlain
Nigel Jones talks to the writer Robert Harris about Blair, Johnson and Polanski, cancel culture and his quest to rehabilitate Neville Chamberlain
West Side Story
How strange to revisit the Nova in Lygon Street, Carlton, where a lifetime of films have been experienced, after an…
The best podcasts about dying, or almost dying
If there’s any form of entertainment that I will reliably find time for, no matter how big the to-read pile…
Lovely and wistful: Neil Young and Crazy Horse's Barn reviewed
Grade: A I have persisted in buying everything Neil Young releases since I first heard On the Beach as a…
One of the best nights of my life: Hampstead Theatre's Peggy For You reviewed
Hampstead Theatre has revived a play about Peggy Ramsay, the legendary West End agent who shaped the careers of Joe…
Ethereal and allusive, all nuance and no schmaltz: Helen Frankenthaler, at Dulwich Gallery, reviewed
In 1950 the 21-year-old painter Helen Frankenthaler, fresh out of college, went to an exhibition at New York’s Betty Parson’s…
'Oculus Quest is really the way': film-maker Apichatpong Weerasethakul interviewed
Igor Toronyi-Lalic talks to the film-maker Apichatpong Weerasethakul about sleep, Tilda Swinton and VR
A booster shot of sunlight: Unsuk Chin's new violin concerto reviewed
Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra began the year with a world première. Unsuk Chin’s Second Violin Concerto…
A cut above TV's usual #MeToo fare: BBC1's Rules of the Game reviewed
As you may have noticed, it’s something of a golden age for TV shows about how invisible middle-aged women are…
I won't ever look at cows the same way again: Andrea Arnold's Cow reviewed
The latest film from Andrea Arnold (Red Road, Fish Tank, American Honey) is a feature-length documentary about a cow, starring…
The Cardinal’s books
There are a thousand overtly artistic things to talk about at this summer moment including the new Sidney Nolan exhibition…
Business as usual
It’s 2022 and classical music is, again, dead. It’d be surprising if it wasn’t. In 2014 the New Yorker published…
Mild at heart
It’s a sweet, green, glowing dawn in north-west Scotland. All around us are empty hillsides of rock and heather. The…
The heat is on
Boiling Point is a single-take drama set during a busy service at a London restaurant and it has to be…
The drugs don’t work
One of my first jobs in journalism was as the arts correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. I’d hop on my…
His thuggish materials
Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust has been adapted at the Bridge. The yarn is set in Oxford, and the…
Brought to book
‘This is not a book,’ is the first line of Paul Gauguin’s final memoir, Avant et Après, written on Hiva…
Second in command
The importance of understudies has been elevated to new heights by the pandemic, says Sarah Crompton
Sigrid Thornton
It was the thought of Stephen Sondheim’s death that made us watch Imelda Staunton in Gypsy. It’s the second musical…
