Why Cocaine Bear is exactly as good as it sounds February 24, 2023 You know the kind of movie Cocaine Bear is. It’s what made films like Snakes On A Plane, Sharknado, and last years The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent headline news. Director Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect 2, Charlie’s Angels) has the task of making it more than a one line joke. Based loosely on real events [...]
Rhinegold at the London Coliseum is a delicious Wagnerian success February 24, 2023 Richard Jones’s tacky and triumphant Rhinegold is the most recent addition to the English National Opera’s Ring Cycle. After a mixed and shadowy Valkyrie, Jones has reembraced his familiar droll kitschiness with a glorious slice of dramatic and comedic gold, complete with delicious Wagnerian weirdness. Wagner’s opera follows the story of the Nibelung Alberich, who [...]
Inside the City of London’s first residential properties in 10 years February 23, 2023 There’s no need to take the Tube home, a bout of new properties are opening in the City of London To the uninitiated the City of London is unfairly thought of as an endless stream of glass-fronted office blocks from which chaotic workers stream, headlessly going between meetings, their only reward being the Tube journey [...]
Cirque Berserk founder: Great circus involves real jeopardy – and the audience needs to feel it February 23, 2023 In our interview series The Lowdown, we ask performers and directors how they’re feeling ahead of their London show openings. Here, we sit down with Cirque Berserk founder Martin ‘Zippo’ Burton, a legend of the circus scene who’s been performing for 49 years HOW DOES IT FEEL TO CELEBRATE 10 YEARS OF CIRQUE BERSERK? 10 [...]
Romeo and Julie is the perfect romcom for the National Theatre crowd February 23, 2023 Romeo and Julie is the tale of two star crossed lovers from Splott, Cardiff, whose forbidden love threatens to tear apart two houses not particularly alike in dignity. We first meet the tragic hero elbowdeep in a soiled nappy. This Romeo is a working class, 18-year-old single dad struggling to raise the baby he couldn’t [...]
Mike Nelson: Extinction Beckons at the Hayward Gallery is a new high bar for installation art February 23, 2023 The Hayward Gallery has emerged as London’s foremost destination for large-scale installation art since it reopened in 2018, from the bio-technological horror of Lee Bul’s pink tentacles to the jaw-dropping scale of a Finnish spruce in Among the Trees. But even against this backdrop, Mike Nelson’s Extinction Beckons sets a mind-boggling new standard for transforming [...]
My Son’s A Queer (But What Can You Do?) review: A joyous outsider tale is a must-see February 22, 2023 My Son’s A Queer review and star rating: ★★★★★ There wasn’t a dry eye in the room: Rob Madge’s autobiographical show about his life growing up as a queer outsider is intensely joyous, and required viewing for queers and their allies. (And most importantly, required viewing for the people who wouldn’t think to book a [...]
Florian Zeller interview: The Son director on fighting the shame of mental illness February 22, 2023 Who among us hasn’t dreamed of a meeting that forever changes the direction of their life? This is exactly what happened to French author, playwright and director Florian Zeller. The meeting in question came about after Zeller had adapted a screenplay from his harrowing 2012 portrait of dementia The Father, in which he tailored the [...]
Piers Morgan speaks out over Roald Dahl books being edited February 22, 2023 Piers Morgan has spoken out about how the Roald Dahl books have been edited to bring the language in line with the modern day. Characters like Augustus Gloop have been referred to as “enormous” rather than “fat” in new editions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Matilda and The Twits have also been edited [...]
Will Smith shocks by making joke about Chris Rock Oscars slap February 22, 2023 Will Smith has taken to social media to make a joke absolutely no one expected. Last year Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock around the face after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, the actor Jada Pinkett-Smith. And now Smith has responded to a TikTok post where the TikToker asked what inanimate objects thought about [...]