Reviews
I Fagiolini, Hollingworth, St Martin-in-the-Fields review - it's not the Messiah...
Sunday, 10 December 2023
“Nobody likes a Messiah…”, deadpanned Robert Hollingworth, with the timing of a practised stand-up. After a pause, “…more than I do.” At St Martin-in-the-Fields on Friday evening, however, the seasonal blockbuster did not, just for once, feature on the festive menu. Instead, Hollingworth’s ever-enterprising ensemble I Fagiolini served up a savoury and well-spiced alternative to Handel’s ubiquitous staple.
Music Reissues Weekly: Chelsea - The Step-Forward Years
Sunday, 10 December 2023
On 21 June 1977, listeners to John Peel’s radio show heard a song titled “Pretty Vacant.” It wasn’t a preview of the forthcoming Sex Pistols single of the same name, which would be in shops on 2 July, but a different song. The band lifting the title was Chelsea, a UK punk outfit whose first single, “Right to Work,” had been released on 3 June.
Please Don't Destroy: Treasure of Foggy...
Saturday, 09 December 2023
Despite an ominous title, there’s always fair weather in the debut comic adventure film featuring Please Don’t Destroy, a NYC sketch comedy trio that...
Wonka review - a confusingly mixed bag of bonbons
Saturday, 09 December 2023
As the 117 minutes of Wonka tick by, the question it poses gains momentum: who is this film actually for? Children of all ages?It’s an “origins”...
Smyrna review - Greece at twilight
Saturday, 09 December 2023
The Smyrna Catastrophe of 1922, in which tens of thousands of Greeks and Armenians were slaughtered by Turkish soldiers, is a topical subject...
The Peasants review - earthbound animation
An elaborate paint job for a Polish saga of woe |
Mathias Énard: The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers' Guild review - a man of infinite death
A modern morality tale teeming with morbid excess |
Monica review - sombre American drama
Slow moving story about a trans woman reconciling with her family |
Natalie Dessay, Philippe Cassard, Milton Court review - flashes of magic
More downtime than expected in an intelligent programme |
Paul Lewis, Wigmore Hall review - Schubert sonatas revisited
A meditation on how the pianist handles what he calls 'inconsequentiality' |
The Homecoming, Young Vic Theatre review - Pinter's disturbing masterpiece is given a low-key revival
Unsettling investigation of patriarchal family and sexual relationships has uneven force |
Kin, BBC One review - in Dublin's not-so-fair city
Superb cast and powerful writing fuel this gripping gangland drama |
Voces8 Foundation Choir and Orchestra, Smith, Voces8 Centre review - joyous Christmas music by Bach
Seasonal greatest hits selection with a spotlight on spectacular trumpeting |
Dreaming and Drowning, Bush Theatre - dense and intense monologue about Black queer identity
Terrific showcase for writer-director Kwame Owusu and his performer |
Infinite Life, National Theatre review - beguiling new comedy about a world of pain
Annie Baker delivers a richly satisfying piece about hungry women |
Rodelinda, The English Concert, Bicket, Saffron Hall review - perfect team helps us stay the long Handel course
Saffron Hall celebrates its 10th anniversary in the greatest possible style |
£1 Thursdays, Finborough Theatre review - dazzling new play is as funny and smart as its two heroines
Seldom does one see a writer's vision so perfectly realised on stage |
Music Reissues Weekly: Myriam Gendron - Not So Deep As A Well
The surprise reappearance of the Canadian stylist’s interpretations of Dorothy Parker’s poems |
Eileen review - a dank fairytale film noir
A naive prison worker crushes on a chic colleague in William Oldroyd's disturbing thriller |
A Sherlock Carol, Marylebone Theatre review - merry, but mirthless
Seasonal Eng Lit mash-up returns with its festive message of forgiveness |
Fallen Leaves review - deliciously dry Finnish romcom
Aki Kaurismaki returns to the cinema with a touching tale of love |
Album: Shirley Hurt - Shirley Hurt
Canadian singer-songwriter’s enigmatic debut |
Macbeth, The Depot, Liverpool review - Ralph Fiennes leads a conventional production in an unconventional space
Touring show lands first in Liverpool with a terrifying relevance |
Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Lyric Theatre review - adult panto delivered as jolly chaos
Mischief Theatre’s sight gags are faultlessly timed, though the verbals need a trim |
Queendom review - an LGBTQ+ performance artist takes to the streets of Moscow in protest
Startlingly beautiful costumes designed to challenge the authorities |
The House of Bernarda Alba, Lyttelton Theatre review - dazzling darkness
Harriet Walter is a toweringly monstrous matriarch in Lorca’s tale of cruelty and repression |
Odyssey: A Heroic Pantomime, Charles Court Opera, Jermyn Street Theatre review - topsy-turvy Homer
Five heroic women and two instrumentalists go Hellenic, with panache |
Grosvenor, Park, Ridout, Soltani, Wigmore Hall review - chamber music supergroup in perfect accord
Thoughtful programming puts quirky novelty alongside big beasts |
A Christmas Carol, The Old Vic review - older, wiser, and yet more moving
Christopher Eccleston is a Scrooge for the ages |
latest in today
I Fagiolini, Hollingworth, St Martin-in-the-Fields review -...
“Nobody likes a Messiah…”, deadpanned Robert Hollingworth, with the timing of a practised stand-up. After a pause, “…more than I do.” At...
Music Reissues Weekly: Chelsea - The Step-Forward Years
On 21 June 1977, listeners to John Peel’s radio show heard a song titled “Pretty Vacant.” It wasn’t a preview of the forthcoming Sex Pistols...
Please Don't Destroy: Treasure of Foggy Mountain review...
Despite an ominous title, there’s always fair weather in the debut comic adventure film featuring Please Don’t Destroy, a NYC sketch...
Wonka review - a confusingly mixed bag of bonbons
As the 117 minutes of Wonka tick by, the question it poses gains momentum: who is this film actually for? Children of all ages...
Smyrna review - Greece at twilight
The Smyrna Catastrophe of 1922, in which tens of thousands of Greeks and Armenians were slaughtered by Turkish soldiers, is a topical subject...
The Peasants review - earthbound animation
After a few years of cinema, the wow factor of seeing actual things moving about on a screen wore off a bit and showmen saw that jump cuts...
Mathias Énard: The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers'...
"Death, as a general statement, is so easy of utterance, of belief", wrote Amy Levy, "it is only when we come face to face with it that we find...
Album: Samara Joy - A Joyful Holiday
This six-track EP on Verve/UMG brings the breakthrough year of 2023 for Samara Joy to a neat close. In February she won two Grammys, as Best New...
Monica review - sombre American drama
There’s a rich seam of folk stories about changelings, infants snatched from home and replaced with a substitute child, to the horror and...