How the world was turned upside down by revelation of aerial perspectives
‘To look at ourselves from afar,’ Julian Barnes wrote in Levels of Life, ‘to make the subjective suddenly objective: this…
Why has the National given over its largest stage to one of the nation’s smallest talents?
The National has made its largest stage available to one of the nation’s smallest talents. If Brian Friel had been…
A full-on Freudian Oklahoma! at Grange Park Opera
Oh, what a beautiful morning! In Jo Davies’s production of Oklahoma! the audience spends the overture staring at the side…
Longborough continues to be a refuge for British Wagnerians fleeing idiotic productions
Longborough Festival Opera, refuge for British Wagnerians fleeing unidiomatic musical performances and idiotically irrelevant and insulting productions, has rounded off…
Exhilaratingly original, C4’s Flowers is much more than just a ‘dark comedy’
On Wednesday, BBC Four made an unexpectedly strong case that the human body is a bit rubbish. Our ill-designed spines,…
Women can now make dull formulaic franchise films too! Hurrah! Ocean’s 8 reviewed
Ocean’s 8 is the all-female spin-off of the all-male Ocean’s trilogy and it’s a sop, with a third act that…
Rod Liddle is wrong: if anything we still hear too much from male presenters on Radio 4
I don’t know which day Rod Liddle travelled down from the northeast and found nothing but women’s voices cluttering up…
The best and most extensive exhibition on Napoleon in three decades
The Musée de l’Armée at Les Invalides in Paris has a new exhibition that I believe to be the best…
I don’t get why people worship Bach
I don’t get Johann Sebastian Bach. I mean, I get that he was good — no Mozart, sure, but definitely…
Here’s why not to go to the Hamptons
New York The summertime exodus is upon us. The Hamptons are overflowing with mouth-frothing groupies looking for celebrities, and the…
Donald Hankey: a remarkable – and neglected – English voice
Last year the BBC radio drama department received 3,797 scripts from hopeful authors, of which just 33 were recommended to…
It’s war in my neighbourhood – and this time it’s gloves off
After sanding floorboards for two days I became even more demented than usual. The hand sander was the exact right…
Bridge
I’ve just come back from Ostend, where I spent four perfect days. No, not sun, sea and sand — eight…
Viktor the Terrible
Viktor Korchnoi is the subject of a poignant new book from the distinguished pen of the Dutch grandmaster and former Soviet…
no. 510
Black to play. This position is from Korchnoi–-Karpov, World Championship game 17, Baguio 1978. Can you spot Karpov’s dramatic finish?…
A sonnet on it
In Competition No. 3052 you were invited to supply a sonnet inspired by a well-known contemporary figure’s characteristic feature. There…
2363: Case ending
Four of the unclued entries make up a ten-word Shakespearean quotation, including an apostrophe. The other three (two of two…
to 2360: Diplomatic
THE AMBASSADORS (1D) by HANS HOLBEIN (15 16) includes, as a MEMENTO MORI (17 27), an ANAMORPHIC (11) depiction of…
Paying women for housework? Here’s a feminist proposal I actually like
According to a new study published by some feminist academics at the Australian National University, women risk damaging their health…
As our World Cup hopes grow, let’s not fret about the brilliant Belgians
Here’s a question: name some famous Belgians. Well there’s Kevin De Bruyne, Vincent Kompany, and Eden Hazard. And if that’s…
Dear Mary: What is the correct form when you find someone hiding from you in a cupboard?
Q. Is there a tactful way to ask people with whom you’ve been interacting on an almost daily basis over…
A Soho House restaurant in Television Centre is as ghastly as it sounds: The Allis reviewed
The Allis is a restaurant inside the new Soho House at White City — it is called White City House…
When ‘activist’ used to mean ‘Nazi supporter’
Rudolf Eucken had a beard and a way of tucking the ends of his bow tie under his collar that…
Whip out 18C
Another week, and another slap in the face from a major university to the hard-working taxpayers of mainstream Australia –…
