Arts
Contains moments of spellbinding banality: Radio 4's The Poet Laureate has Gone to his Shed reviewed
The interview podcast is a genre immoderately drawn to gimmicks, as the logical space of possible formats is gradually exhausted.…
Why I will miss our mighty cooling towers – and I suspect I am not alone
There are many examples of beautiful old buildings being knocked down in favour of undistinguished new ones. But not everything can be preserved in aspic, says Martin Gayford
Neither Tristan nor Isolde quite convinced: Glyndebourne's Tristan und Isolde reviewed
Glyndebourne is nothing if not honest. ‘In response to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions our 2021 performances of Tristan und Isolde…
Apocalypse, Seventies-style: BritBox's Survivors reviewed
When the apocalypse comes, I want it to be scripted by a 1970s screenwriter. That’s my conclusion after watching the…
What a genuine delight to be among people: Gorillaz, at the O2, reviewed
The new music economy relies on cross-promotion and artists reaching out to different scenes. And the rise of streaming means…
An intensely quiet and soulful performance from Nicolas Cage: Pig reviewed
What use does a fallen and corrupted world have for a man of integrity? This was not the question I…
Homeric levels of misery: Paradise, at the Olivier Theatre, reviewed
The National Theatre has given Sophocles’s Philoctetes a makeover and a new title, Paradise. This must be ironic because the…
Aden Young
No one has any guarantee of seeing Sigrid Thornton in Lifespan of a Fact with the Sydney Theatre Company now…
A total mess: BBC2's The Watch reviewed
Last Sunday on Channel 4, a man called Eric Nicoli proudly remembered ‘the bravest thing I’ve ever done’. In November…
The death of the Edinburgh Fringe
Lloyd Evans finds the newly returned Edinburgh Fringe quieter, more low-key — and all the better for it
Sinatra, Bacon and a YouTube star: Edinburgh Fringe Festival round-up
Sinatra: Raw (Pleasance, until 15 August) takes us inside the mind of the 20th century’s greatest crooner. The performer, Richard…
Hugely unmemorable: Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever reviewed
Grade: C+ Time to get the razor out again — Billie’s back. The slurred and affected can’t-be-arsed-to-get-out-of-bed vocals. The relentless,…
The best Cold War thriller I've seen that I fully understand: The Courier reviewed
The Courier is a Cold War spy thriller and the prospect of a Cold War spy thriller always makes my…
Glorious: Bernardo Bellotto at the National Gallery reviewed
What is the National Gallery playing at? Why, in this summer of stop-start tropical storms, is the NG making visitors…
Why do I find sketch shows – even the better ones – so embarrassing and charmless?
On sketch shows, the wisdom once was that you needed a punchline. That is, a slightly hammy, summative sign-off to…
Rose Byrne
‘Unemployed at last!’ That wonderful bit of national self-mockery that opens the classic Australian novel Such is Life takes on…
Ian McKellen is riveting: Hamlet, at Theatre Royal Windsor, reviewed
Ian McKellen in his early eighties plays the Dane in his mid-twenties. A production with such a strange innovation should…
The history of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane is the theatrical history of England
The newly renovated Theatre Royal Drury Lane has seen it all and staged it all, says Robert Gore-Langton
Mesmerising and monstrous: @zola reviewed
The distinction between on and offline life blurred long ago. The greatest spats, sexual self-fashionings and mad soliloquies now unfurl…
Hugely pleasurable – a vision of summer: Jennifer Packer at the Serpentine Gallery reviewed
We need to talk about Eric. In Jennifer Packer’s portrait of her friend and fellow artist, Eric N. Mack sits…
When musical collaborations go right – and when they go horribly wrong
Big Red Machine release their second album later this month. It’s a fine name for ten tonnes of agricultural apparatus…
Switch over to Eurosport: BBC's Olympic coverage reviewed
I’ve not been allowed anywhere near the TV remote control this week because of some kind of infernal sporting event…
Ecstasy from Birmingham Opera Company: Wagner's RhineGold reviewed
At the end of Birmingham Opera Company’s RhineGold, as the gods stood ready to enter Valhalla, Donner swung a baseball…
A podcast that listens to what anti-vaxxers think rather than lecturing them
Work is our new religion. There are people whose primary job is writing listicles of celebrity gossip, illustrated with gifs…
John Mortimer & Leo McKern
What earthly guarantee do we have that live performance is going to be a viable option for Sydney or Melbourne…
