Superforecasting: How seemingly ordinary people can predict everything from world events to election results May 27, 2016 The President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was having a stressful time in 2013. A rebel militia had just taken control of Goma, a large province with a population of about a million people, and regional powers were putting pressure on him to wrest it back by force. Little did he know that [...]
Jekyll and Hyde at the Old Vic review: Toe-tappin’ fun, if a little shallow May 26, 2016 The Old Vic | ★★★☆☆ Much is unfamiliar in this dance adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde – the lurid suits, the jazzy score, the fact that Jekyll is reimagined as a doctor of botany. That there’s little tying the production to RL Stevenson’s source material is testament to the enduring power of Dr Jekyll, a character [...]
Romeo and Juliet at The Garrick Review: Richard Madden and Lily James love it up in this Mafioso-themed production May 26, 2016 Perennial favourite Romeo and Juliet is undoubtedly a great play, but it’s not always a good production. We all know the story – dumb rich kids making stupid choices – but for jaded modern audiences, it can be a struggle to care. Cynicism has encouraged a gimmicky approach in recent productions, with increasingly elaborate re-imaginings [...]
Blue/Orange at the Young Vic review: This 16 year old snapshot of a malfunctioning NHS still feels all too relevant May 26, 2016 Joe Penhall’s Blue/Orange was first performed at the National Theatre way back in 2000, roughly four hundred years ago now, but its depiction of an inter-bickering and resource-deprived NHS remains painfully relevant. Today it’s about pay. Back then it was all about beds. How many we’ve got, how many we need, and how many sick [...]
Blood, guts and dead foxes abound in bio-disaster horror Human Animals May 26, 2016 Who doesn’t love foxes? Those pointy orange chaperones of the night. Those bushy tailed wardens of the bins. Not quite a dog, but not quite a cat either, so-called scientists have yet to explain away their alluring vulpine mysteries. In dystopian horror Human Animals, the foxes (along with the pigeons and the mice and every [...]
Why drinking isn’t really as much fun as you think: It’s more about the socialising than the boozing May 26, 2016 Scientists have finally put a number on just how much better drinking can make a given situation — and it looks like people are right when they say you don't need alcohol to have a good time. People were asked to rate their happiness on a scale of one to 100 at various points throughout the day for [...]
This Is Living is a David Nicholls-style weepie starring This Is England’s Michael Socha May 20, 2016 This is Living | Trafalgar Studios | ★★★★☆ This is Living is a weepy in the David Nicholls mould, effectively and sometimes shamelessly pressing the audience’s emotional buttons; at least a third of the people there on opening night were openly sobbing. The two-man play begins with Michael (Michael Socha, This Is England) standing over [...]
X-Men: Apocalypse review: James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender can’t salvage this incoherent X-jumble May 19, 2016 X-Men: Apocalypse takes the franchise’s hard-won chips and bets them all on tumbling pyramids and slo-mo explosions. It sells the X-Mansion for a bag of CGI beans. It’s an incoherent jumble, lacking any kind of authoritative vision; a collection of disparate elements that rub uncomfortably against each other, more closely resembling a fan-made super-cut than [...]
A Hologram For The King starring Tom Hanks is a feel-good frolic for those who admire easy charm May 19, 2016 A Hologram For The King | ★★★☆☆ Tom Hanks is enjoying something of a renaissance, courting Oscar once again with both Captain Phillips and last year’s Spielberg reunion Bridge of Spies. His new film, based on the 2012 Dave Eggers novel, sees him playing a charismatic American businessman looking to seal a tech deal in a [...]
The Rose and the Ring at The Charterhouse: How to enjoy country opera within the Square Mile May 19, 2016 The Rose and The Ringw | The Charterhouse | ★★★★★ Country-house opera is a peculiar experience. You dress up, park your car on a rich Englishman’s estate, drink champagne and have a picnic, all the while being immersed in the operatic experience. The Charterhouse hosted a City-based version last week with a riotous production of [...]