The year’s most spectacular theatrical extravaganza July 28, 2013 THEATRE THE DROWNED MAN Temple Studios | By Steve Dinneen Five Stars Punchdrunk theatre company has been flying the flag for immersive theatre for over a decade, joining the likes of Shunt and Secret Cinema in dragging the genre from niche installations in trendy basements to marquee productions that charge £50 a ticket. Unlike some [...]
Where to Drink July 28, 2013 TOAST the arrival of the Royal Baby at one of London’s new bars and clubs. Ascend to the rarefied heights of Aqua Shard, where it’s claimed a generous amount of space for its standalone lounge bar. Situated in a three storey atrium with immense windows bathing the room in light, it’s the perfect place to [...]
Review: Richard Rogers Inside Out July 18, 2013 ART RICHARD ROGERS INSIDE OUT Royal Academy | By Alex Dymoke Four Stars THE new Richard Rogers exhibition at the Royal Academy includes his 1958 report from the Architectural Association School. It reads: “Rogers has a genuine interest in and a feeling for architecture, but sorely lacks the intellectual equipment to translate these [...]
Review: A Season In The Congo July 18, 2013 THEATRE A SEASON IN THE CONGO Young Vic | By Xenobe Purvis Four Stars THE Young Vic stage is transformed into a busy Congolese bar at the opening of A Season in the Congo, Aimé Césaire’s play about the African country’s first Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba. Out of the muddle emerges a beer salesman – [...]
Review: Breathe in July 18, 2013 FILM BREATHE IN Cert 15 | By Steve Dinneen Four Stars BREATHE In is an almost unbearably tense drama about first, lost and forbidden love that will drag memories of every bad thing you’ve done in a relationship from the pit of your stomach. Guy Pierce plays Keith, a high school teacher in [...]
Review: Timber! July 18, 2013 THEATRE TIMBER! Southbank Centre | By Alex Dymoke Three Stars CIRQUE Alfonse isn’t afraid to eschew the conventions of family entertainment. Its new show Timber! features Michael Jackson-style baby dangling, worryingly inept axe juggling and lots and lots of drinking. The bottles may not contain real booze, but the show is as much [...]
Review: The World’s End July 18, 2013 FILM THE WORLD’S END Cert 12a | By Alex Dymoke Three Stars MORRISON’S car parks, Kit Kats, national rail services from Leicester to Coventry – it’s easy to hate the banal rubbishness of small-town Britain. But as a spate of offbeat British comedies have shown, it’s easy to love it too. Hot Fuzz, [...]
Review: Mama February 26, 2013 FILM MAMA Cert 15 *** AFTER producing the deliciously terrifying The Orphanage and directing the superb horror fantasy Pan’s Labyrinth, you would bet your house on Guillermo del Toro nailing what is essentially a stripped down, monster-in-the-house horror movie. This is why I’m not a gambling man. It starts off convincingly enough. The plot – [...]
Review: Money The Game Show February 26, 2013 In Clare Duffy’s new play, Money The Game Show, two ex-bankers, Queenie and Casino (Lucy Ellinson and Brian Ferguson), explain the financial crisis through a series of audience participation games. Two halves of the audience face each other and in the centre is a platform, complete with cartoon noises and colourful flashing lights that combine [...]
It’s a pop hit February 22, 2013 ART LICHTENSTEIN: A RETROSPECTIVE By Alex Dymoke | Tate Modern **** IS HE the worst artist in the US?” asked Life magazine about Roy Lichtenstein in 1964. The primary colours and thick, innocent lines are too much – or too little – for many. However, his paintings are some of the most familiar images of [...]