Oklahoma review: Sexy, edgy production has highs and lows May 7, 2022 It’s hardly the world’s best-kept secret that the musicals of Rodgers & Hammerstein, such as South Pacific and The Sound of Music, are crusty as hell. Written over 75 years ago, musical naysayers would call them sexist and perhaps even say their writing is banal – but many have retained a level of fame and [...]
Middle theatre review: A bleakly comic but overlong relationship drama May 7, 2022 When things are going well in a relationship you might hear three little words, when they’re going badly you might hear four: we need to talk. David Eldridge’s new play Middle is about that talk, picking apart the remnants of a marriage that’s already “smashed on the rocks, bleeding to death”. We meet middle-aged couple [...]
Casablanca Beats is a hip hop story with soul to spare May 6, 2022 There’s often an extra dimension to films that are inspired by the director’s own life. Nabil Ayouch (2015 drama Much Loved) draws on his own life in this story of a Anas (Anas Basbousi), a former rapper living in the Sidi Moumen suburb of Casablanca who takes a job teaching young people his craft at [...]
Downton: A New Era is nostalgic, predictable fun May 6, 2022 Familiarity is king when it comes to cinema at the moment. Superheroes, video games, and even the Jackass crew have all found success prodding at our nostalgia over the last few months. It’s the perfect time for the return of Downton Abbey, the cosy TV drama which led to an even cosier 2019 film. The [...]
Age of Rage review: Ivo van Hove sprawling Greek epic is a hot mess May 6, 2022 You wait a lifetime for a play retelling the fall of Troy through the medium of interpretive dance and then two come along at once. Following hot on the heels of Punchdrunk’s immersive The Burnt City comes Age of Rage, the first post-pandemic work By Dutch auteur Ivo van Hove (The Network, Hedda Gabler). From [...]
House of Ife review: Effective balance of grief with levity May 5, 2022 You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family, goes the old saying. House of Ife is a damning case for why we feel this way. We’re presented with a split of explosively divisive personalities in the Ife family, showing how far removed we can be from the people we’re birthed by, or [...]
UK’s first queer museum founder: ‘It’s not just another bar, you know?’ May 5, 2022 Queer Britain, the UK’s first ever queer museum opens its doors today, taking over the grand old industrial building in King’s Cross’s Granary Square that was once home to the House of Illustration. The intimate space is the first iteration of Queer Britain, with director and co-founder Joseph Galliano hoping to gain funding for a [...]
The A-Z of wine: F is for… Furmint, the wine variety of tomorrow May 5, 2022 What’s this then? Furmit is an Eastern European grape variety, most commonly associated with Hungary but also grown widely in neighbouring Slovenia (where Napoleon’s army gave it the ‘c’est bon’ seal of approval that evolved into the grape’s alternate name, Sipon). If you’ve ever drunk the iconic sweet wines from the Tokaj region of Hungary [...]
Angelina is an Italo-Japanese delight with some fine wines to die for May 4, 2022 A place this special was worth the cross-London travel. Strikingly stylish in black and white and hung with Japanese paper lanterns, the warmth of the welcome and the buzz of the open kitchen makes Dalston’s Angelina instantly inviting. Seated along the marble topped bar above the main restaurant floor, we got a perfect view of [...]
Sink the pink: How to make the most of Great British Rosé Week May 4, 2022 Sunshine and spring blossoms are thankfully becoming a more regular occurrence, heralding that crowd-pleaser, Rosé Season. You could be a fan of the pale pink of Provence or the juicy Garnacha of Spain, but English rosés are increasingly coming to the award-winning fore and right now we are in the middle of Great British Rosé [...]