Government blocks sale of rare Wedgwood vase December 15, 2016 The culture minister has blocked a rare Josiah Wedgwood vase from leaving the country. The “Basaltes” vase was sold in July to an unnamed bidder for almost half a million pounds. However, it is hoped that an alternative buyer from the UK can raise an equivalent amount of £482,500 (plus £16,500 VAT) in order to [...]
Dreamgirls review: Glee star Amber Riley yells the house down in the first Dreamgirls production to come to London December 15, 2016 This is the first time Dreamgirls has been performed in the West End, and it’s a production that’s sure to echo down the years, purely for the diabolical racket it kicks up. The mics might have been turned up to 11 – not necessary in the tiny Savoy Theatre – but the primary source is [...]
Lingerie brand Bluebella secures £1m through crowdfunding for US expansion December 14, 2016 The British brand which created the official Fifty Shades of Grey lingerie has raised £1m – double its original target – in a crowdfunding campaign. Bluebella turned to its fans for help funding an expansion to the US, and reached a grand total of £1,088,700 by the time the campaign ended. Founder Emily Bendell said: [...]
Love at the National Theatre: an important play about welfare in Britain that’s appropriately unenjoyable December 14, 2016 Love, at the National Theatre, is not the poverty porn that so often clutters the London stage, but a powerful indictment of the shocking state of social housing, social care, and social welfare in Britain today. Writer-director Alexander Zeldin presents a group of disparate people forced to live side-by-side in emergency housing, and the grinding [...]
Hedda Gabler at the National Theatre review: Ruth Wilson is deliciously neurotic in this stylish retelling of Ibsen’s classic play December 14, 2016 It’s astonishing to think this painfully raw, searingly relevant play was first performed 125 years ago. There are moments in this symbolism-heavy production directed by Ivo van Hove that could have crawled from the mind of that enfant terrible of the 1990s Sarah Kane. The world gets older; Ibsen stays the same age. It’s one [...]
Here’s when and where the best 2016 Christmas TV programmes are being shown December 14, 2016 Gathering around the television with the family is now one of the great Christmas traditions. It's the perfect time of year to snuggle up with a mince pie or four and indulge in some of the best British TV. Use our list to plan your viewing. Our top picks: The Great British Bake-Off BBC1: Christmas [...]
Working Lunch: Think you know what Venetian food is? Educate and treat yourself at the same time at Veneta in St James’ Market December 13, 2016 Veneta St James’ Market, SW1Y WHAT? Everyone knows what Italian food is about, but could you name a distinctly Venetian dish? If you can’t, educate and treat yourself at the same time with a visit to Veneta. Stuffed full of regional delicacies like bigoli (fat spaghetti) and spice trade seasonings (plenty of saffron and cardamom), [...]
A Monster Calls is a moving tale of loss that doesn’t pretend to have any of the answers December 13, 2016 From Harry Potter to the Secret Garden, children’s literature is chock full of orphans. Yet theirs is a rare form of bereavement, usually the result of a tragic accident that happened without warning at an age they barely remember. In A Monster Calls, 12-year-old protagonist Conor O’Malley faces up to a more common, brutal reality; [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on the hidden potential of the humble sprout December 13, 2016 Sprouts have something of a bad reputation. They’re a huge part of the Christmas roast, yet all too often they’re inadequately prepared and cooked with no love. But the humble brussels sprout has got untold potential in the right hands. For a start, don’t fall for the Christmas marketing scam of buying them on the [...]
The Last Guardian review: 10 years in the making, Fumito Ueda’s new game is a flawed work of genius December 13, 2016 Playing The Last Guardian is like booting up a fondly half-remembered game from your childhood. Almost 10 years in the making, Japanese designer Fumito Ueda’s follow-up to his elegiac PS2 titles Ico and Shadow of the Colossus comes with a monumental weight of expectation; its protracted development – only snippets of which were glimpsed over the years [...]