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 [...]
Venom review: A talented cast struggles its way through this jumbled anti-hero affair October 5, 2018 Spider-Man recently made a critically acclaimed Homecoming to Disney/Marvel after years tied to Sony, leaving the alien entity known as Venom in a strange hinterland. The character’s first stand alone film is produced by Sony “in association with Marvel” as part of their new sharing agreement, but the resulting conflagration of themes and tones bears [...]
Pinter at the Pinter: Stagings of the great playwright’s short plays and poems offers a rare chance to see these unmissable works October 5, 2018 Harold Pinter was prolific, with more than 30 stage plays, almost as many screenplays and dozens of works of prose and poetry to his name. But while revered masterpieces such as The Birthday Party, No Man’s Land and Betrayal are regularly staged, there are fewer opportunities to see his equally brilliant shorter works. Director Jamie [...]
Tania Bruguera in the Tate Modern Turbine Hall continues a downward trend for the once great exhibition space October 5, 2018 The Turbine Hall is the toughest gig in contemporary art. While it must feel like a dream commission, it often proves to be a poisoned chalice. Filling the largest public exhibition space in the world requires massive art and super-massive ideas. It needs to be engaging, without descending into a crowd-pleasing fairground attraction. And while [...]