Antigone review: Sophocles is dragged into modern London September 16, 2022 While Sophocles may have written his great Athenian tragedy Antigone way back in 441BC, its core themes are enduring, something playwright Inua Ellams makes abundantly clear in this sharp and moving adaptation. Transposed to modern-day London, Ellams’ eponymous heroine is a young British-Pakistani Muslim. We meet her, along with her three siblings, at their local [...]
The Snail House: Richard Eyre makes debut aged 79 September 16, 2022 During the Covid pandemic, one of the positive effects of people being locked in their homes was the release of pent-up creativity. For most this began and ended with attempts to make sourdough bread, but others were considerably more productive. For instance Richard Eyre, the former director of the National Theatre, returned to writing, and [...]
Pinocchio gets the live action treatment in time for Disney+ Day September 16, 2022 Disney’s 1940 animation Pinocchio may not have the affection of some of its modern peers, but few can argue its place in cinema history. One of the most acclaimed animated films of all time, its magic and sentiment set the tone for the studio’s reputation. If you watch a Disney animated film, or visit one [...]
Ollie Phillips: The Premiership is by far the best league in the world September 16, 2022 Last week’s Premiership action further convinced me that the English Premiership is the best league in the world. Other than Worcester Warriors’ loss at London Irish, where the troubled away side were understandably rusty, I really couldn’t have called which way the other matches would go. How Gloucester turned around a 21-point deficit was astonishing, [...]
Worcester face suspension from league at 12 noon over financial woes September 15, 2022 Worcester Warriors have been handed a deadline of noon today by the Rugby Football Union to prove they have sufficient funds to stage matches safely – or face suspension from all men’s and women’s competitions. The troubled Premiership club could be thrown out of the English top flight and other competitions as a result of [...]
Roger Federer announces retirement from tennis after Laver Cup in London this month September 15, 2022 Roger Federer, perhaps the greatest men’s tennis player of all time, has announced that he will retire from the sport after this month’s Laver Cup in London. The 41-year-old, who won 20 Grand Slams including a record eight men’s singles titles at Wimbledon, said it was “time to end my competitive career”. Federer had a [...]
Charles III: Why he Britain’s King of Style September 15, 2022 The man we had known for decades as Prince Charles is a stalwart of “best dressed” lists. Now King Charles III, he has played a strong sartorial game in this solemn week, from the dress uniform of a field marshal to his immaculate (but venerable) morning dress. The new monarch has needed an outfit for [...]
The Clinic at the Almeida: A disjointed play that asks the Big Questions September 15, 2022 The Clinic has all the right ingredients to be a solid state of the nation play. Dipo Baruwa-Etti’s new work is probing, well acted, dramatically staged. But somehow the pieces just don’t fit together, the souffle doesn’t rise, and the result is frustratingly disjointed. It’s a play that asks Big Questions about the modern black [...]
David Dein interview: On Arsenal, Premier League, Kroenke, Wenger and Usmanov September 15, 2022 Fifteen years on from an unceremonious ousting from Arsenal that also cost him a host of other high-powered roles in football, David Dein is still feeling bruised. The club’s former vice-chairman, who rose to the same role at the Football Association, was one of the architects of the Premier League and became president of leading [...]
Mike Leigh: ‘The Queen dying is emotional but King Charles? That’s another matter’ September 15, 2022 For a man seven-times Oscar nominated for films about so-called ‘ordinary’ people, Mike Leigh certainly plays the part. We meet outside the newly opened Garden Cinema, but there’s no blacked-out car to deliver perhaps Britain’s most famous living director. Instead, Leigh appears from around a street corner, alone, clasping a folded chair under arm. If [...]