At the music hall with actor-turned-artist Walter Sickert
At the close of the 19th century, Britain went wild for music halls. In 1888, Parliament recorded 473 in London alone. Comic ditties were their bread and…
What has the National Lottery ever done for the arts?
Visitors to the Tetley contemporary art gallery in an old brewery in Leeds may not know it, but they’re benefiting from a scratchcard you bought last week….
Is this a low-budget Jean-Michel Jarre gig which I see before me?
There is much to commend in director Amy Leach’s new production of Macbeth for Leeds Playhouse. In Jessica Baglow, it boasts a Lady Macbeth who is by…
Graeme Garden on Barry Cryer: ‘I will miss his laugh hugely. Won’t we all?’
There again. when you had a voice as great as Barry’s, why not use the phone? He’d call up to ask how I was doing. Every call…
Have you heard the one about the couple and the Archbishop…? Barry Cryer bows out with one final joke
It was a fitting way for Barry Cryer to bow out: telling the perfect joke. The veteran comedy writer and star of Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I…
Barry Cryer had a gag for every occasion – even his death
It was that modesty – allied to his enormous talent – which meant he was a joy to work with. Never once, in five years at our…
‘The intellectual working class scares a lot of people’: the unlikely rise of post-punks Yard Act
Their music has a political edge. Asked how he would describe the United Kingdom in 2022 for a prospective American audience, Smith says that the country “is…