Stylish facsimile of Carol Reed’s film: Oliver!, at the Gielgud Theatre, reviewed
Oliver! directed by Matthew Bourne is billed as a ‘fully reconceived’ version of Lionel Bart’s musical. Very little seems to…
Kemi finally has a good PMQs
Genuinely, a historic day at PMQs. The plates are shifting. Labour whips spotted that Nigel Farage’s name was on the…
An excellent sixth-form drama project: Santi & Naz, at Soho Theatre, reviewed
Santi & Naz is a drama set in the Punjab in 1947 that uses an ancient and thrilling storyline about…
Starmer can’t keep blaming the Tories
Great stuff from Kemi Badenoch at PMQs. She was entertaining, tricky, probing, unpredictable. If she keeps this up she may…
The Traitors finale was a cruel spectacle
Blame Covid. That’s the origin of the BBC’s hit game-show, The Traitors. Workplaces are still deserted as people sit in…
Pious bilge: Kyoto, at @sohoplace, reviewed
The West End’s new political show, Kyoto, can’t be classed as a drama. A drama involves a main character engaged…
Cheerless and fussy: The Tempest, at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, reviewed
The Tempest is Shakespeare’s farewell, his final masterpiece or, if you’re being cynical, the play that made him jack it…
Keir can thank God for Kemi
Robots will never replace Sir Keir Starmer. No need. Silicon Valley is already using him as the template for an…
Exquisite: Tom Stoppard’s The Invention of Love, at Hampstead Theatre, reviewed
The Invention of Love opens with death. Tom Stoppard’s play about A.E. Housman starts on the banks of the Styx,…
The issue of rape gangs will not go away
Finally, we heard it. At PMQs today, the Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, dropped the euphemism ‘grooming’ and said ‘rape gangs’…
Brutal and brilliant portrait of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford
The Last Days of Liz Truss? is a one-woman show about the brief interregnum between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.…
Is Kemi Badenoch too nice to be Tory leader?
Kemi Badenoch got tough with Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs. Not tough enough, but at least she led on a…
Sumptuous but musically unmemorable: Elton John’s The Devil Wears Prada musical reviewed
The Devil Wears Prada is a fairy tale about an aspiring female novelist, Andy, who receives a job offer from…
Don’t blame this man for interrupting David Tennant
The curse of Macbeth strikes again. David Tennant’s turn as the Scottish psychopath was interrupted this week by a kerfuffle…
Kemi Badenoch is bad at PMQs
Flunked it again, unfortunately. Kemi Badenoch chose poor tactics at PMQs. She made flabby speeches instead of hitting the PM…
This Muslim playwright believes Yorkshire is headed for civil war
Expendable, at the Royal Court, is an urgent bulletin from the front line of the grooming gang scandal in the…
Kemi let Starmer off the hook again
Labour thinks it can win on immigration. Their new strategy was road-tested today at PMQs as backbencher Olivia Bailey opened…
Wonderful comedy of manners: Kiln Theatre’s The Purists reviewed
A slice of the ghetto arrives at the Kiln Theatre in Kilburn. The Purists is set on the stoop of…
Kemi Badenoch must get better at PMQs
Third time lucky for Kemi Badenoch. The Tory leader’s first two attempts to crush Keir Starmer at PMQs failed. Today…
The uncomfortable truth about boozing
‘Good for you. Amazing. I should do the same.’ ‘You must feel great. Lucky you.’ This is what I hear…
Heart-warming but safe biographical drama: Going for Gold, at Park90, reviewed
Going for Gold is a biographical drama about a forgotten star of the 1970s. Frankie Lucas was a middleweight boxing…
Angela Rayner has lost her edge
It was deputies’ day at PMQs. Sir Keir Starmer is busy flying around the world yet again. This time he’s…
Why the farmers’ protest probably won’t work
Cold drizzle falling on tweed. That was the abiding image of today’s protest in Westminster which filled Whitehall with tens…
A flop: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, at Ambassadors Theatre, reviewed
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button carries a strap-line, ‘an unordinary musical’. Perhaps the word ‘extraordinary’ is simply too banal…
PMQs has become as bland as a Bible study class
PMQs under Sir Keir’s premiership is less entertaining and volatile than before. Blame the landslide. A huge government majority fills…