Sophocles
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…
Is it time to cancel Sophocles?
Gstaad The sun has returned, the snow is so-so, and exercise has replaced everything, including romance. What a way to…
Ancient and modern: Antigone and algorithms
Hardly a day goes by without someone making excitable predictions about human progress and how, thanks to AI, we are…
Not a repertory piece but in its dignity it earns respect: Royal Opera’s Oedipe reviewed
For years I have been telling people that they should listen to, in the absence of staged performances, Enescu’s opera…
Why isn’t it creepy when women phwoar at Poldark?
When women lust after blokes on telly it’s funny, not seedy
Those ancient Greeks were bores — but things are looking up
Thick snow is falling hard and heavy, muffling sounds and turning the picturesque village postcard beautiful. I am lying in…
Brian Aldiss unpicks the Jocasta complex
What if the gods of Greek myth had parallels with Freud’s notion of the unconscious? This is just one idea…
Were the cast of the Old Vic’s Electra clothed by Oxfam?
First, a bit of background. Conquering Agamemnon slew his daughter, Iphigenia, in return for a fair wind to Troy. This…
More woe for Oedipus
I had high hopes for Julian Anderson’s first opera, Thebans. Premièred at the Coliseum last Saturday, it promised to mark…
'Keeler' is not just about Tory bigwigs chasing nymphettes around the pool
It’s an unlovely venue, for sure. Charing Cross Theatre, underneath the arches, likes to welcome vagrant plays that can’t find…
