Anne-Marie Sophie’s clever work The Ballerina is finally on at VAULT Festival, prompting us to question our perceptions and our moral compass. The Ballerina The coming together of writing, direction and acting in Khaos Theatre’s The Ballerina, on until 5 February at VAULT Festival, is truly something to behold. Anne-Marie Sophie is a multi-talented individual […]
A survey of four female painters working in Germany at the start of the last century, Making Modernism leaves me pondering the dilemma of female artists then and now. Making Modernism A few days on from seeing this exhibition at the Royal Academy, I have yet to unpick my thoughts and decide what to make […]
An innovative approach to rethinking Hamlet presents its own challenges for the ensemble cast of the Lazarus Theatre Company. Hamlet, Lazarus Theatre Company Style The last time I saw Hamlet I was saying how I’m at a stage where I’m looking for productions that are a bit different. Hamlet is often a star vehicle, with […]
Australian art-chitects Atelier Sisu bring light and levity to London on Blue Monday with their installation Evanescent at the Leadenhall Building. Evanescent Blue Monday. You’ve heard of it? Apparently the most depressing day of the year – the third Monday in January when we are all back at work, the nights are long, and we […]
A review of Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope. Part of the Tate’s exploration of female artists who pushed the boundaries of sculpture, Abakanowicz’s works were so genre-defying a new word had to be invented to describe them. Magdalena Abakanowicz The additional exhibition spaces Tate Modern has thanks to its Blavatnik Building extension […]
A review of Soheila Sokhanvari: Rebel Rebel at the Barbican in London. This small exhibition in the Barbican’s Curve space is a shrine to the women of pre-Revolutionary Iran. Soheila Sokhanvari I enjoy the Barbican’s Curve space as an opportunity to discover new artists. The long, sleek, one room exhibitions are often provocative. And so […]
A review of On The Ropes, a dramatised true story co-written by former boxer Vernon Vanriel. Over twelve rounds in the ring we chart heady highs, personal lows, and a case study in the inhumanity of the ‘hostile environment’. Vernon ‘The Entertainer’ Vanriel You may have seen renewed press coverage this week of Vernon Vanriel’s […]
The British Museum’s exhibition Hieroglyphs focuses on the Rosetta Stone in order to tell the story of the decipherment of the language of Ancient Egypt. A Little Pre-Reading I wrote once several years ago about an exhibition at the British Museum which left me with a feeling of disappointment: what I thought was quite an […]
A commission at the London Mithraeum’s Bloomberg SPACE sees artist Mariana Castillo Deball responding to the often discarded, lost or unwanted objects that become archaeological finds. Roman Rubbish, in other words. A Return To The Mithraeum It has been quite a while since I visited London’s Mithraeum. I walked past on a Roman London walk […]
Will I ever run out of versions of A Christmas Carol to see at Christmastime? It doesn’t look like it so far! This year it’s Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol and A Dickensian Christmas, both at the Southbank Centre. A Christmas Relapse I tried quite hard to avoid overdosing on A Christmas Carol this […]
