Dawn French, Vaudeville Theatre
DAWN FRENCH, VAUDEVILLE THEATRE Tears as well as laughter in a well-oiled stage memoir Tears as well as laughter in a well-oiled stage memoir When is a comedian not funny? Dawn French has spent so much...
View ArticleJeepers Creepers, Leicester Square Theatre
JEEPERS CREEPERS, LEICESTER SQUARE THEATRE Tedious bio-play about Marty FeldmanTedious bio-play about Marty FeldmanYou might think that the combination of a play about one of the funniest comics of the...
View ArticleWho was St Clair Bayfield?
WHO WAS ST CLAIR BAYFIELD? Florence Foster Jenkins's biographer tells the true story of her common-law husband, played by Hugh Grant in Stephen Frears's new filmFlorence Foster Jenkins's biographer...
View ArticleSunday Book: Ruth Franklin - Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life
SHIRLEY JACKSON: A RATHER HAUNTED LIFE New biography explores a darkly domestic geniusOn the centenary of her birth, a new biography explores a darkly domestic geniusWhen asked about her most famous...
View ArticleTo Walk Invisible, BBC One
TO WALK INVISIBLE Subtle but brilliant depiction of the Brontë sistersSubtle but brilliant depiction of the Brontë sistersYorkshire-born screenwriter Sally Wainwright has carved a distinguished niche...
View ArticleSunday Book: Yiyun Li - Dear Friend, From My Life I Write to You in Your Life
SUNDAY BOOK: YIYUN LI'S MEMOIR 'Dear Friend, From My Life I Write to You in Your Life': deep, or pretentious?A brave meditation on depression and the consolations of literatureYiyun Li’s fiction comes...
View ArticleThe Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger review - voyages round a...
★★★★ THE SEASONS IN QUINCY: FOUR PORTRAITS OF JOHN BERGER Four very different films create an intimate portrait of an influential manFour very different films create an intimate portrait of an...
View ArticleBrenda Maddox: Reading the Rocks review - revelations of geology
★★★★ BRENDA MADDOX: READING THE ROCKS Unearthing the fundamental: the engrossing story of a 19th-century phenomenonUnearthing the fundamental: the engrossing story of a 19th-century phenomenonReading...
View ArticleIt's So Easy and Other Lies, Sky Arts review - uneven rock bio outstays its...
Duff McKagan's excellent memoir is poorly rendered for TVDuff McKagan is a survivor. He’s a bass player too, from the fledgling Seattle punk/proto-grunge outfit 10 Minute Warning to the stadium-filling...
View ArticleJames Hamilton: Gainsborough - A Portrait review - an artistic life told with...
★★★★★ JAMES HAMILTON: GAINSBOROUGH - A PORTRAIT An original, chatty but scholarly biography of the great English artistAn original, chatty but scholarly biography of the great English artistJames...
View ArticlePrism, Hampstead Theatre review - a life through the lens
PRISM, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE Terry Johnson and Robert Lindsay inside the mind of cinematographer Jack CardiffPlaywright Terry Johnson gets inside the mind of cinematographer Jack CardiffJack Cardiff was...
View ArticleClaire Tomalin: A Life of My Own review - the biographer on herself
★★★★★ CLAIRE TOMALIN: A LIFE OF MY OWN A life in literature, literature in life - a story of blessings as well as sadnessA life in literature, literature in life - a story of blessings as well as...
View ArticleHan Kang: The White Book review - between what is, what was, what might have...
★★★★ HANG KANG: THE WHITE BOOK Meditative semi-autobiography is precise on painMeditative semi-autobiography is precise on pain A woman gives birth alone two months early in a frost-bound village in...
View ArticleEverybody's Talking About Jamie, Apollo Theatre review - inclusive and...
★★★★ EVERYBODY'S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE Inclusive and utterly joyfulIt's a triumphant West End transfer for this big-hearted British musical Everybody’s been talking about Everybody’s Talking About Jamie...
View ArticleJenny Uglow: Mr Lear - A Life of Art and Nonsense review - a lonely Victorian...
Emotional truths and visual virtuosity in a new biography of the 'dirty landscape-painter who hated his nose'Jenny Uglow’s biography of Edward Lear (1812-1888) is a meander, almost day by day, through...
View ArticleDave Eggers: The Monk of Mokha review - how to become a grand master of coffee
★★★ DAVE EGGERS: THE MONK OF MOKHA How to become a grand master of coffeeThe true story of a young Yemeni-American and his American dreamA macchiato may never taste the same again. If you’ve ever...
View ArticleTo Walk Invisible, BBC One
TO WALK INVISIBLE Subtle but brilliant depiction of the Brontë sistersSubtle but brilliant depiction of the Brontë sistersYorkshire-born screenwriter Sally Wainwright has carved a distinguished niche...
View ArticleSunday Book: Yiyun Li - Dear Friend, From My Life I Write to You in Your Life
SUNDAY BOOK: YIYUN LI'S MEMOIR 'Dear Friend, From My Life I Write to You in Your Life': deep, or pretentious?A brave meditation on depression and the consolations of literatureYiyun Li’s fiction comes...
View ArticleThe Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger review - voyages round a...
★★★★ THE SEASONS IN QUINCY: FOUR PORTRAITS OF JOHN BERGER Four very different films create an intimate portrait of an influential manFour very different films create an intimate portrait of an...
View ArticleBrenda Maddox: Reading the Rocks review - revelations of geology
★★★★ BRENDA MADDOX: READING THE ROCKS Unearthing the fundamental: the engrossing story of a 19th-century phenomenonUnearthing the fundamental: the engrossing story of a 19th-century phenomenonReading...
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