Theatre
Shades of Gray
Never underestimate the mysterious yet powerful Sue Gray
The Old Vic under siege
The King’s favourite Shakespearean need hardly trouble himself with such dreary details
On cockroaches and cancellation (w/ James Dreyfus)
How ideology is spoiling the arts
Tom Stoppard’s Hampstead drama
Best not try to memorise this deceptive Connect Four of relationships — just get into the flow
Butchering La bohème
Opera is “relatable” already
A rollicking, great Kiss Me Kate
Musical and artistic brio can transcend the “problematic”
The intimacy of thoughts
An excess of technology burdens a cerebral adaptation
Don’t judge a play by its label
The instinct towards appeasing “sensitivity” would stifle the creative impulse
Sein oder Nichtsein
What a pairing Hüller and Fiennes would make
Alan Bennett at 90
From the small screen to the stage, Alan Bennett has been the poet of awkwardness and isolation
The Bezos behemoth
Behind the logistics miracle are some troubling stories
Pandæmonium
Better to reign in hell than serve in government
Ozi the Orangutan is no Winnie-the-Pooh
A misguided attack on palm oil production is enough to make you facepalm
How should we teach about the Holocaust?
Keir Starmer’s social engineering aims seem ill-conceived
Autumn Reeves
It was a grim budget — but was it a necessary one?
Is cricket growing up and leaving home?
In many ways the sport is thriving, but there is danger ahead
Against autumn
Throw away your Pumpkin Spice Lattes
More than just noise
Berg, Schoenberg, Webern: Piano works (Warner)
Allyship on easy mode
The inclusive message of Will & Harper obscures the harder questions of the “gender wars”
Cardinal win
Conclave is a political drama and a closed-room mystery rolled into one
Lawless and disordered
British police and courts increasingly struggle to maintain public order
