Marys Seacole: a challenging, time-bending introduction to the other Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale is the name that immediately pops up when most people think of pioneering nurses. But it’s the less well known but no less dedicated Jamaican-born…
Aaron Sorkin’s revelatory adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird blazingly captures the zeitgeist
Put simply, we may be rooting for him, but, in fact, he too is in the dock. What value is a noble-minded faith in “the system”, if…
Ruth Wilson deserves better than this voyeuristic portrait of a woman on the verge
What, you can’t help but wonder about half way through what is an extremely slow 70 minutes, made Ruth Wilson agree to star in this oddly unpleasant…
Cock, review: Mike Bartlett’s sexuality-crisis drama still just about measures up
Some of the most heart-stopping moments in the Elton John biopic Rocketman, the stratospheric hit which made a Golden Globe-winning star of Welsh actor Taron Egerton (of…
The New York Times should give ‘reckless’ Britain a break
As much as I loathe lockdowns and masks, I did see the point of them. But now that we have returned to normal, I find that I…
London’s newest luxury penthouse suite opens at the Nobu Hotel Portman Square
Apart from the size and scale of the suite itself, touches exclusive to the Penthouse include a turntable and stack of records (Saturday Night Fever, Amy Winehouse,…
The West End is at breaking point – Nadine Dorries needs to start playing her role
But so far, this December, instead of there being a full shutdown, the Government seems to be crossing its fingers and assuming that recreational activity such as…
Habeas Corpus, review: a mischievous rebuff to the grim reaper of censorship
The merrily unhinged tone is set by Ria Jones, a musicals stalwart making her “straight” debut. She bustles on with a hoover in the prattling charlady character…
Cabaret, review: Eddie Redmayne dazzles in the kill-for-a-ticket theatrical triumph of 2021
Where Cumming was brazenly sexual, there’s something abstract and parodic about Redmayne’s nonetheless consummately physical characterisation, as if conjured from a nightmare. He keeps pivoting during that…
Lazy, soulless architecture is ruining our high streets – Historic England must act
Around the country, even more historic high streets are undergoing attack. As a letter to the Telegraph on Wednesday pointed out, a “1960s retro horror” is being…
Love the panto? Thanks to Covid rules, brace for a nightmare before Christmas
The big beasts, which have been taking booking galore – such as Moulin Rouge and Cabaret, clearly intended as long-runners – should be able to weather the…
Stephen Sondheim making ‘virile, surreal and inventive’ show at time of death
Stephen Sondheim, musical theatre’s most influential composer-lyricist of the last half-century, was working on his most “virile and inventive” work yet at the time of his death…
The Wiz, Hope Mill Theatre, review: if ever a wonderful show there was…
In 1974 came the premiere, in Baltimore, Maryland, of The Wiz, a new stage musical based upon L Frank Baum’s beloved children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of…
The Drifters Girl, review: Beverley Knight raises the roof
“A formidable businesswoman,” is how one obituary summed up Faye Treadwell in 2011. Given her success and staying power, managing the long-lived R&B/soul vocal group The Drifters…