The Inheritance at the Noel Coward Theatre: A virtuoso piece of theatre that ranks among the modern greats October 23, 2018 Until 19 Jan The Inheritance, set in New York’s gay community a generation on from the Aids epidemic, draws natural, inevitable comparisons to Angels in America. And while Matthew Lopez’s two-part, seven-hour epic is certainly worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as that superlative play, to think of it as merely a kind-of [...]
Fahrenheit 11/9 film review: Michael Moore’s latest documentary is a brash left-wing polemic but its passionate punches still land October 19, 2018 The same debate has been swirling around Michael Moore’s documentaries for 30 years. From his first film Roger & Me, about General Motors’ abandonment of his hometown Flint, Moore’s formula has remained largely unchanged: brash left-wing polemic, spiced with stunts and gags. To his fans, he’s a gifted ironist with a cause. To his critics, [...]
Wise Children at the Old Vic review: Emma Rice’s latest show is a celebration of all things theatre October 19, 2018 Emma Rice has named her new theatre company after its very first production, which is ballsy, a bit like getting your partner’s name tattooed across your chest, or calling your child Susan B Successful. Had her fever dream adaptation of Angela Carter’s last novel been a resounding flop, the name Wise Children would haunt Emma [...]
Picture this: Art-enriched offices make us more productive October 17, 2018 Some say a picture is worth a thousand words, but I like to think that art holds the key to unlocking a more productive economy. Recently, Frieze – which is one of the biggest events in the cultural calendar – saw the art world’s elite descend upon the capital. It’s a time of year when [...]
othellomacbeth at Lyric Hammersmith review: A fascinating but not entirely successful Shakespearian experiment October 12, 2018 Until 3 November Shakespeare’s major works are so familiar that theatremakers are almost expected to be bold and innovative. What audience would choose to sit through a traditional staging of Hamlet, when it could be performed in Farsi, on tricycles, in a shoe shop? In a world of flamboyant reinventions, the Lyric Hammersmith’s othellomacbeth is, [...]
Editor’s Notes: The joy of Scan-dining, coming down to earth and never mind the Banksys October 12, 2018 The City’s restaurant scene has changed enormously even in the last few years. There’s more life in the Square Mile at weekends and more choice for City lunches than ever before. These are exciting times. A good way to get a sense of this is to embark, as I did yesterday, on a lunch safari. [...]
Bad Times at the El Royale review: A strange but bewilderingly original chamber piece October 11, 2018 The premise of Bad Times at the El Royale sounds like the beginning of a bad joke: a priest, a cop, a hippie and a singer walk into a hotel lobby. Each has something to hide, as does the hotel itself, which straddles the California and Nevada border and is staffed by a single bumbling [...]
What wicked rugs we weave: Anni Albers at the Tate Modern is a retrospective of modernism’s forgotten pioneer October 11, 2018 Born in Berlin in 1899, Anni Albers was a pioneer of the textile art movement. A weaver, designer, writer and printmaker, she trained at the Bauhaus, where she explored the possibilities of bringing weaving into the modernist project. She later became a teacher at the legendary Black Mountain College, where her work sought to redefine [...]
I’m Not Running at the National Theatre: David Hare’s political drama misses the mark October 11, 2018 With 17 original plays debuting at the National Theatre, screenwriting credits that include The Hours and The Reader, a steady stream of writer/director gigs for the BBC, and a knighthood, we may have to start referring to David Hare by that most patronising of titles: the national treasure. His latest play, I’m Not Running, centres [...]
First Man review: A thrilling and awe-inspiring Armstrong biopic October 11, 2018 When it was first screened, Damien Chazelle’s movie about that time we went to the moon drew criticism from a particularly moronic corner of society. Ryan Gosling stated his educated belief that Neil Armstrong never considered himself to be an American hero. Coupled with the director’s decision not to include a scene in which the [...]