Soul at Hackney Empire review: This play about the life of Marvin Gaye fails to hit any high notes June 17, 2016 Soul | Hackney Empire | ★☆☆☆☆ On April Fools Day, 1984, Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father in the house they shared. Gaye’s was a life ripe for drama, and Roy Williams’ new play explores it, seeking to answer the questions essential to understanding the man. Who was Marvin Gaye? Why [...]
A bank is close to replacing Waitrose as the main sponsor of English cricket June 17, 2016 Waitrose is set to be replaced as the main sponsor of English cricket by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) offshoot Natwest, reports have suggested. The supermarket announced in February that 2016 will be its last year as the main partner of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Today Sky News reported RBS was in advanced [...]
Where You’re Meant to Be Film review: Arab Strap singer Aiden Moffat meditates on life, death, rivalry and the cultural importance of music June 17, 2016 Where You're Meant To Be | Dir. Paul Fegan | ★★★★☆ This wistful documentary about a folk-music tour by former Arab Strap singer Aiden Moffat starts out as a road trip but becomes a meditation on life, death, rivalry and the cultural importance of music. The voice-over, delivered in Moffat’s distinctive dry prose, is [...]
Long Way North film review: Beautiful animation hides an age-old story June 17, 2016 Long Way North | Dir. Rémi Chayé | ★★☆☆☆ Long Way North is at its best when nothing’s happening. The French-Danish animation, set in St Petersburg and voiced in English, unfurls languidly, idling over shots of the sun setting over the Winter Palace, or seagulls slowly circling a ship adrift in a blue ocean. The [...]
Late Night at the Barbican review: a surreal mesh of dance, sorrow and economic woe June 17, 2016 Late Night | Barbican | ★★★★☆ Three couples sit in the wreckage of a music hall. A song comes on and they start to dance, expressionless, waltzing in neat circles around each other. Every so often one breaks ranks to stand before a microphone and deliver opaque lines of dialogue. Europe has fallen. War and [...]
US Open 2016 prize money: $1.8m earnings boost on offer for Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Bubba Watson and Rory McIlroy June 17, 2016 A cheque of $1.8m is the lucrative monetary reward for the winner of this year’s US Open at Oakmont. The second Major of the year boasts a $10m prize money purse, making it the joint second-most generous tournament on the PGA Tour alongside the three other Majors and just behind the Players’ Championship. Prize money [...]
Ukraine 0, Northern Ireland 2: Kings of Lyon Northern Ireland prove their point and make history June 16, 2016 Northern Ireland defender Gareth McAuley refused to hide his satisfaction at proving his side’s doubters wrong after Michael O’Neill’s minnows boosted their hopes of a place in the last-16 with victory over Ukraine in Lyon. McAuley became the first Northern Ireland player to score at a major tournament since 1986 when he powered home a [...]
England 2, Wales 1: Sturridge and Vardy late show gets England’s Euro 2016 back on track as manager’s gamble pays off June 16, 2016 Relieved England boss Roy Hodgson revelled in the depth of his squad after his game-changing substitutions conjured a pivotal last-gasp victory over Wales in Lens. Hodgson gambled with England looking increasingly bereft of inspiration and losing 1-0 at half-time, courtesy of Gareth Bale’s free-kick and a Joe Hart howler, and unleashed strikers Daniel Sturridge and Jamie [...]
Credit to Roy Hodgson for saving the day – and his job – with the boldest decisions of his England reign June 16, 2016 Roy Hodgson cut a worried figure during the first half. His team were made to scrap by Wales; it was not going well. He rubbed his brow and knew that, as things stood, he probably only had 45 minutes left as England manager. Defeat to Wales would surely have meant he was out of a job [...]
Aladdin at the Prince Edward Theatre review: A gloriously magical and hilarious production that hits all the right nostalgic notes June 16, 2016 Prince Edward Theatre | ★★★★☆ Musicals inspired by Disney films have a chequered track record. Luckily, Aladdin joins The Lion King and Mary Poppins in the halls of success, leaving Tarzan and The Little Mermaid in the doldrums where they belong. While there were some children in the audience, most appeared to have been dragged along [...]