A Doll’s House Part 2 at the Donmar is a welcome sequel to Ibsen’s classic June 24, 2022 A visit to A Doll’s House Part 2 prompts a question – why can’t we leave Nora alone? Lucas Hnath’s play at the Donmar Warehouse is just the latest in a long line of spinoffs based on Ibsen’s quintessential feminist text. The original A Doll’s House famously ends with Nora leaving her husband, Torvald, and, more [...]
Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis is a joyous celebration of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll June 24, 2022 The life and times of Elvis Presley have been dramatised often over the years, from TV biopics to surreal fictional accounts such as 2002’s Bubba Ho-Tep. But a big budget biopic of one of the 20th century’s most famous figures has never been attempted until now. Directed by Baz Luhrmann with an eye-catching cast, Elvis [...]
That Is Not Who I Am at the Royal Court is weird and brilliant June 24, 2022 All is not what it seems in the Royal Court’s That Is Not Who I Am, an “internet thriller” directed by security industry veteran Dave Davidson. For a start, that isn’t really the name of the play – it’s called Rapture – and Dave Davidson doesn’t exist. It’s a bold gambit. From the outset the [...]
Jurassic Park’s sound designer reveals the secret sounds of the dinosaurs June 17, 2022 For sound designer Al Nelson, jobs don’t come much bigger than Jurassic Park. When the technician started out in the industry in the late nineties, one of his first big jobs was The Lost World, Steven Spielberg’s follow-up to Jurassic Park, the film which birthed the seismic dinosaur franchise. In the 25 years since, Nelson [...]
My Fair Lady review: Polished production lacks energy June 17, 2022 “Wouldn’t it be loverly,” Eliza Doolittle wonders in My Fair Lady, dreaming of a life of chocolate, heat and warm feet. Let me put it to Eliza: wouldn’t it also be ‘loverly’ if more musicals had the audacity to radically rethink their tired misogynistic plots like this version of My Fair Lady does? Musicals have [...]
Jitney review: Atmospheric and quietly revolutionary, but lacks plot June 17, 2022 August Wilson, who The New York Times described as “theater’s poet of Black America”, is having a moment. Fresh off the success of recent Oscarwinning film adaptations of his plays Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, we are now seeing a return to the London stage for Jitney, Wilson’s workplace drama, which won the Olivier [...]
George Michael: Freedom Uncut review: Singer personally sets record straight June 17, 2022 It’s clear that the real George Michael is quite different from the caricature created by the tabloids during his life. Just over five years on from his death, Freedom Uncut, the late singer’s final work, offers a personal perspective on his legacy. Featuring heavy involvement from Michael himself (who is credited as a director), George [...]
Good Luck to you, Leo Grande review: Suave and sexy June 17, 2022 Sex and cinema haven’t historically been good bedfellows. The sight of two people getting it on often has censors clutching for their pearls, but thankfully, this new comedy-drama gets permission to be a bit more grown up. Emma Thompson plays Nancy, a retired RE teacher who hires handsome young escort Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack) for [...]
Lightyear review: Enjoyably nostalgic flight from the past June 17, 2022 Just when you thought Hollywood couldn’t find a new way to rehash old material, here comes a new category of film entirely. Lightyear is a spin-off of Toy Story, but one that imagines Buzz Lightyear as a real person. As the film explains in its opening moments, this is the movie that the toy was [...]
Eurovision ‘to begin discussions with BBC’ as UK set to host next year’s contest due to Ukraine war June 17, 2022 The United Kingdom will likely host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) because of the ongoing war in Ukraine, it has been announced. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) issued a statement this morning saying it will “begin discussions with the BBC” about broadcasting the event from the UK, as this year’s runner up to the [...]