Theatre review: The Picture of Dorian Gray August 22, 2013 THEATRE THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY thealchemicorder.com | By Steve Dinneen Two Stars The location of The Alchemic Order’s production of The Picture of Dorian Gray is so secret I almost couldn’t find it. Eventually, on ringing the bell of an unassuming Greenwich townhouse, I was greeted by a moustachioed man in Victorian butler’s attire, [...]
Where to drink August 22, 2013 If the Notting Hill Carnival isn’t your cup of tea, there are plenty of interesting venues across London at which to drink away the bank holiday. In Fitzrovia, for instance, the perennially popular Sanderson is keeping its courtyard terrace fresh with an especially a la mode pop-up. Named Sanderson Green, it’s serving laid-back, haute fast [...]
An era-spanning masterpiece August 15, 2013 THEATRE THE PRIDE Trafalgar Studios | By Xenobe Purvis Four Stars ALEXI Kaye Campbell’s award-winning The Pride gets a powerful revival as part of Jamie Lloyd’s Trafalgar Transformed season at Trafalgar Studios. The play’s protagonists Oliver, Philip and Sylvia exist in two time periods, the 1950s and now, and respond to the social pressures encountered [...]
Where to Drink: King’s Cross: London’s new cocktail capital August 15, 2013 WHETHER it’s down to the two hour shuttle to Paris or the imminent Google HQ arrival, the costly regeneration of King’s Cross means it is quickly becoming a terminus for more than just passengers, especially with its glut of new cocktail joints. Following on from Booking Station, Gilbert Scott Bar, VOC and Shrimpy’s, it boasts [...]
Review: Only God Forgives August 1, 2013 FILM ONLY GOD FORGIVES Cert 18 | By Steve Dinneen Three stars SO, ONLY God Forgives… Owwwwkaaaaaaay… Nicholas Winding Refn’s blood-soaked Bangkok revenge movie makes his previous film, Drive, look like a kids movie about a plucky stuntman. It’s essentially a collection of stylish, exquisitely orchestrated but disjointed scenes portraying a level of graphic violence [...]
Bankers as trapeze artists, central planners and markets July 30, 2013 THERE are three ways we can organise banking. The first, which I don’t recommend, is to adopt the pre-2008 model; the second is the current approach, which seeks to micro-manage everything and which will also fail; and the third would be to allow genuine market discipline to be reinstated. Under the first approach, there [...]
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: 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 [...]