The Brightening Air: Unbearably tense and brilliantly acted April 29, 2025 After seeing The Brightening Air at the Old Vic, I left the theatre with the overwhelming urge to seize control of my own destiny. It follows an extended family as they prepare to meet after a long time apart. The occasion: the birthday of the blind ex-clergyman Father Pierre. It is a play in which [...]
Why dining alone is the last taboo April 12, 2025 During a recent solo trip to a new wine and oyster bar, I was directed to a dim corner of the restaurant far away from other diners. It was as if the patrons needed to be protected from the sad, friendless clown doing a sudoku and enjoying an alcohol free beer. As the waiter came [...]
The future of London’s art scene depends on locals, not just tourists April 12, 2025 To secure the future of London's arts scene we need locals, not just tourists, at our exhibitions. Businesses can help make this happen.
Paradise Under the Stars review: Forget your troubles and do the conga April 11, 2025 Bringing famous Cuban nightclub El Tropicana to London, Paradise Under the Stars is fun-filled for those willing to get up and dance.
How the modern world is changing grave stone design forever April 10, 2025 Death is the only thing surer than taxes. But how we’re remembered is a strange and sometimes controversial business. Ralph Jones meets the people rewriting the rules, one grave stone at a time Stonemason Neil Luxton once agreed to use comic sans on a grave. Once was enough – he has refused ever since. Luxton, [...]
What does Raoul Moat play Manhunt say about men in 2025? April 9, 2025 Angry, isolated and dangerous men are very much in the cultural zeitgeist and, in Raoul Moat, visionary writer-director Robert Icke has chosen one of the angriest, most isolated and demonstrably dangerous men in recent memory as the subject of his new play. Manhunt – very loosely based on the 2016 true crime book You Could [...]
The City Break: holiday like a royal in the New Forest April 8, 2025 For this week’s City Break, Justine Gosling goes to the most-loved national park in the south Once a royal hunting ground for William the Conqueror, the New Forest National Park is the UK’s most visited, and among the smallest and most accessible of the UK’s national parks. Stretching over 380 km sq across Hampshire and [...]
The White Lotus Season 3 finale sucked: Here’s why April 8, 2025 The White Lotus Season 3 is over. In this spoiler-heavy take, Steve Dinneen laments an ending that went awry. The final episode of The White Lotus Season 3 pulled off the dubious trick of ending with both a bang and a whimper. It’s been a rollercoaster: the season opened to a fairly tepid reaction – [...]
Naked Wines picks: three delicious bottles for World Earth Day April 8, 2025 In Libby’s Naked Wines diary this week, it’s the top picks for World Earth Day On 22 April we celebrate Earth Day so I have sought out some wines that are going above and beyond to make this world a better place – and are tasty drops, too. Naked Wines bottles of the week Silverhand [...]
The Last Supper: Gordon Warnecke on the perfect jerk chicken April 7, 2025 Star of 1980s movie My Beautiful Laundrette, Gordon Warnecke tells us what he would eat for his last meal on earth My mum wasn’t a very good cook. My first memories of food are of her making quite traditional British stuff. She came over from Guyana in South America, where she was the youngest of five siblings – [...]