wed 16/07/2025

Reviews

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages of love and support

Tom Birchenough

We are bowled over! 

S/HE IS STILL HER/E - The Official Genesis P-Orridge Documentary review - a shapeshifting open window onto a counter-cultural radical

Tim Cumming

“I like guns. At school we had to fight with guns in the army cadets. I’m actually a first-class sniper. I could shoot people from half a mile away.”

Billie Eilish, O2 review - power, authenticity...

Katie Colombus

Billie Eilish may be one of the biggest names in new music, but here at the O2 Arena, she’s just Billie – the one who stares deep into your soul,...

Falstaff, Glyndebourne review - knockabout and...

Boyd Tonkin

From the animatronic cat on the bar of the Garter Inn to the rowers’ crew who haul their craft across the stage and the military ranks of “Dig for...

Superman review - America's ultimate...

Nick Hasted

A three-century-spanning countdown rapidly ticks to a version of now, and a beaten Superman (David Corenswet) ploughing into Arctic snow. His super-...

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Salome, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - a partnership in a million

David Nice

Asmik Grigorian is vocal perfection in league with a great conductor and orchestra

Till the Stars Come Down, Theatre Royal Haymarket review - a family hilariously and tragically at war

Helen Hawkins

Beth Steel makes a stirring West End debut with her poignant play for today

Too Much, Netflix - a romcom that's oversexed, and over here

Helen Hawkins

Lena Dunham's new series presents an England it's often hard to recognise

Music Reissues Weekly: Beggars Arkive - Gary Numan's 1979 John Peel session

Kieron Tyler

Saying goodbye to Tubeway Army

The Other Way Around review - teasing Spanish study of a breakup with unexpected depth

Helen Hawkins

Jonás Trueba's film holds the romcom up to the light for playful scrutiny

Nye, National Theatre review - Michael Sheen's full-blooded Bevan returns to the Olivier

Heather Neill

Revisiting Tim Price's dream-set account of the founder of the health service

Emily Kam Kngwarray, Tate Modern review - glimpses of another world

Sarah Kent

Pictures that are an affirmation of belonging

theartsdesk at the Ravenna Festival 2025 - Cervantes, Beethoven and Byron transfigured

David Nice

Muti revitalised by young musicians, and a three-year theatre project reaches completion

Girl From The North Country, Old Vic review - Dylan's songs fail to lift the mood

Gary Naylor

Fragmented, cliched story rescued by tremendous acting, singing and music

The Estonian Song and Dance Celebration 2025 review - the mass expression of freedom

Kieron Tyler

Communion, ecstasy, rain and traditional clothing

Insomnia, Channel 5 review - a chronicle of deaths foretold

Adam Sweeting

Sarah Pinborough's psychological thriller is cluttered but compelling

The Merry Wives of Windsor, Shakespeare's Globe review - hedonistic fizz for a summer's evening

Rachel Halliburton

Emma Pallant and Katherine Pearce are formidable opponents to Falstaff's buffoonery

Run Sister Run, Arcola Theatre review - emphatic emotions, overwrought production

Aleks Sierz

Chloë Moss’s latest play about the different lives of two sisters is deeply felt

Album: Gwenno - Utopia

Kieron Tyler

The Welsh musical explorer surveys her life

Live Aid at 40: When Rock'n'Roll Took on the World, BBC Two review - how Bob Geldof led pop's battle against Ethiopian famine

Adam Sweeting

When wackily-dressed pop stars banded together to give a little help to the helpless

Sabrina Carpenter, Hyde Park BST review - a sexy, sparkly, summer phenomenon

Katie Colombus

The Summer of Sabrina continues to shine bright

Music Reissues Weekly: Motörhead - The Manticore Tapes

Kieron Tyler

Snapshot of Lemmy and co in August 1976 proves fascinating

Kiefer / Van Gogh, Royal Academy review - a pairing of opposites

Sarah Kent

Small scale intensity meets large scale melodrama

Siglo de Oro, Wigmore Hall review - electronic Lamentations and Trojan tragedy

Bernard Hughes

Committed and intense performance of a newly-commissioned oratorio

Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting, National Portrait Gallery review - a protégé losing her way

Sarah Kent

A brilliant painter in search of a worthwhile subject

Hot Milk review - a mother of a problem

Graham Fuller

Emma Mackey shines as a daughter drawn to the deep end of a family trauma

Glastonbury Festival 2025: Five Somerset summer days of music, controversy and beautiful mayhem

Caspar Gomez

The full, brain-frazzling, immersive deep dive into Worthy Farm's music and arts spectacular

Tom Raworth: Cancer review - truthfulness

Jack Barron

A 'lost' book reconfirms Raworth’s legacy as one of the great lyric poets

Hill, Sky Documentaries review - how Damon Hill battled his demons

Adam Sweeting

Alex Holmes's film is both documentary and psychological portrait

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From the animatronic cat on the bar of the Garter Inn to the rowers’ crew who haul their craft across the stage and the military ranks of “Dig for...

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Heart of Stone (Das kalte Herz) was the first colour film produced by...

Superman review - America's ultimate immigrant

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Salome, LSO, Pappano, Barbican review - a partnership in a m...

A Salome without the head of John the Baptist is nothing new: several directors have perversely decided they could do without in recent...