A rip-roaring adaptation of a Scandinavian classic October 6, 2013 THEATRE GHOSTS Almeida Theatre | By Alex Dymoke Four Stars THE PUBLICATION of Ibsen’s Ghosts in 1881 was met with total silence. The play was so at odds with the conventional morality that Norwegian critics dared not even raise their voices to condemn it. The British press were not so shy. A column in a [...]
Fringe production of Vietnam play is a moderate success October 6, 2013 THEATRE PVT WARS The Space | By Daniel O’Mahony Three Stars STAGED IN a cleverly converted church on the Isle of Dogs, this production from The Barebones Project is about Vietnam veterans; at least, you’re assured it is. Adorning the walls of the theatre are pictures from the conflict, and over the PA plays Hendrix’s [...]
Another striking play in The Shed at The National October 6, 2013 THEATRE THE WORLD OF EXTREME HAPPINESS The Shed | By Xenobe Purvis Three Stars A MAN describes the taste of pigeon excrement, his wife gives birth, praying with every eye-popping push that her child will be a son, and a newly-born daughter is thrown to the slop bucket, all within the space of ten minutes. [...]
Filthy, dirty and great fun October 3, 2013 FILM FILTH Cert 18 | By Steve Dinneen Three Stars Adaptations of Irvine Welsh novels, like Irvine Welsh novels, have gone downhill since Trainspotting. The Acid House (1998) had a flawed, lunatic charm but Ecstasy (2011) was little more than an anemic homage to Danny Boyle’s more famous Edinburgh romp. Filth – based on a [...]
Where to Drink: A new opening from the owners of Bodo’s and a slice of Indian chic in the middle of Mayfair October 3, 2013 SEPTEMBER witnessed a number of high-end clubs and bars launching across London and the Westbury Hotel has bragging rights to one such venue. No 41 is nestled underneath the newly Michelin-awarded Brasserie Chavot and accessed through a street-side entrance. The nightclub is a plush amalgam of self-aware opulence, with a design scheme replete with grand [...]
A bleak, brutal and smart crime thriller September 26, 2013 FILM PRISONERS Cert 15 | By Alex Dymoke Four Stars PRISONERS is essentially a three-way acting competition between Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Jake Gyllenhaal’s hair. Seriously, Jake Gyllenhaal looks really cool in this movie. Far too cool for a real cop, what with all those tattoos and his shirt done up to the top. [...]
Review: Blue Jasmine September 26, 2013 FILM BLUE JASMINE Cert 12A | By Steve Dinneen Three Stars Every new Woody Allen movie – and they arrive with disquieting regularity – is greeted with the same question: is it a return to form or another of his onanistic “wilderness” projects? The general rule of thumb is that further he strays from his [...]
Brilliant performance art poorly presented September 26, 2013 ART ANA MENDIETA: TRACES Hayward Gallery | By Joseph Funnell Three Stars I REMEMBER the first time I saw a work by Ana Mendieta. It was a film of the performance Chicken Piece, where the artist stood naked holding a recently decapitated chicken that violently flapped as life drained from its wings. It was shocking. [...]
Also out this week September 26, 2013 FILM: AUSTENLAND (Cert 12a) Twilight author Stephanie Meyer’s first foray into film production is sweet but witless. ART: VAN GOGH IN PARIS (Eykyn Maclean Gallery) Van Gogh’s Paris paintings are brighter than most of his more famous works. ART: PHILIP-LORCA DICORCIA (David Zwirner) Photographer DiCorcia examines the unease that accompanied the end of the Bush [...]
A fun but shallow spectacle September 22, 2013 THEATRE A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Noël Coward Theatre | By Xenobe Purvis Three Stars THE Michael Grandage Company turns to Shakespeare with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the fourth in a series of productions. The play, which has suffered a history of hackneyed interpretations, is given a contemporary twist in Grandage’s hands, set in the hedonistic [...]