Arts
House rules
Every year, tens of thousands of visitors flock to the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut, in order to see…
Occupational hazards
Roberto Rossellini shot his neorealist landmark Rome, Open City while the war still raged and rubble littered the freshly liberated…
Act of Faith
Paloma Faith has forced herself to become confident, she tells Matthew Stadlen,but sometimes she still has to put on a brave face
The torture of earworms
Earworm: what a wonderful word. It describes, as nothing else quite can, the effect a really invasive melody can have…
Raiders and traders
Exhibitions are made for two main reasons: education and entertainment. Although I recognise the importance of education I am, by…
Musical feasts
I wasn’t going to write about Handel’s Rodelinda, wasn’t even intending to go, but thanks to the kindness of the…
Freak factory
Interesting times at Soho Theatre. One of its outstanding shows of last year, Fleabag, was an offbeat Gothic love story…
For your eyes only
The Grand Budapest Hotel is the latest Wes Anderson film and it is beautiful to look at, scrumptious, luscious, such…
Winning formula
I’ve got this brilliant idea for a major new cop series. It’s called Chalk and Cheese and, though you won’t…
Edge of darkness
It doesn’t take long for an international event of historic importance to fall off the news agenda. Ukraine is still…
Blast from the past
If Margaret Thatcher is remembered by many more as a caricature than as her actual self, then blame Spitting Image.…
Blast from the past
If Margaret Thatcher is remembered by many more as a caricature than as her actual self, then blame Spitting Image.…
Blast from the past
If Margaret Thatcher is remembered by many more as a caricature than as her actual self, then blame Spitting Image.…
The torture of earworms
Earworm: what a wonderful word. It describes, as nothing else quite can, the effect a really invasive melody can have…
The torture of earworms
Earworm: what a wonderful word. It describes, as nothing else quite can, the effect a really invasive melody can have…
Universal records
Andrew Lambirth talks to Mark Shields, an artist whose work transcends the specific
Scabrous wit
I suspect I am not alone in finding it surprising to encounter at the close of this exhibition an unexpected…
A feast for the eyes
Tourists are attracted to queues, art lovers to quietude. So while the mass of Monet fans visiting Paris line up…
Dreams of space and light
Curtain walls, dreaming spires, crockets, finials, cantilevers, bush-hammered concrete, vermiculated rustication, heroic steel and delicate Cosmati work are all diverse…
Making history
In a crowded storeroom at Ikon, Birmingham’s contemporary art gallery, its director Jonathan Watkins is unwrapping the pictures for his…
Austerity measures
The difference between lovable, likable and admirable is perhaps more significant in the operatic world than in other artistic spheres…
Keep on running
The Book Thief is based on Markus Zusak’s novel of the same name which, although written for young adults, appears…
Bring on the young
One of the unlooked-for side effects of the financial crisis has been what might be called the desocialising of music…
Sweet talk
Tracy Letts, of the Chicago company Steppenwolf, has written one of the best plays of the past ten years. August:…
In pursuit of the Prince
What if Bonnie Prince Charlie, as he swept down from Scotland towards London to lay claim to the throne, hadn’t…
