Contemporary opera Sirena purports to retell the myth of the sirens from a contemporary feminist perspective. Whether or not that aim is fully realised, this is a suitably enchanting work. Sirena It’s not just in Edinburgh that you can find experimental and interesting fringe performances this time of year. In fact, now that VAULT Festival […]
In 21Soho’s Green Room, Avocado Improv ditch prompts and gimmicks for a looser, funnier approach to improvised theatre. An Improvised Play Walking into 21Soho I had the sense it was going to be a good evening. The upstairs cocktail bar is stylish. The Green Room downstairs is compact and informal, with its own bar and […]
Artistic inspiration takes form in Kiefer / Van Gogh, exploring how the places, subjects and intentions in Van Gogh’s work have inspired Anselm Kiefer over the years. Why Kiefer / Van Gogh? The latest exhibition at the Royal Academy (aside, of course, from the Summer Exhibition) sees an interesting pairing of artists take over the […]
Lubaina Himid and fellow Black and Asian women artists continue a project decades in the making in Connecting Thin Black Lines 1985-2025. A Return Trip to the ICA With London’s cultural scene as vast and vibrant as it is, there are most definitely a few venues I don’t visit often enough. Not through lack of […]
Tate Modern’s Leigh Bowery! offers a vivid, if restrained, look at one of performance art’s most unruly icons. Leigh Bowery! Before you say anything, I know I’m at the point in the exhibition cycle again where I’m not leaving you much time to see things. My apologies. In my defense it’s a constantly busy museum […]
A sculpture of William S. Burroughs becomes an unlikely confidant in Lost Watches, a playful and chaotic absurdist comedy at Park Theatre. Lost Watches Right, let’s get one thing out of the way: I know very little about the Beat Generation. One of whom is central to today’s play, Lost Watches. But theatre’s as good […]
Static Lives, by Two Parachutes, is a sharp, intimate two-hander about friendship, numbness, and how we try to stay human in the digital age. Content Warning: mentions of violence and suicide. Static Lives Today marks the fifth work I’ve seen as part of this year’s Camden Fringe, and the third at Etcetera Theatre. It’s also […]
Rooted in Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, Shedwood is a short, striking piece of physical theatre that explores transformation in raw, bodily terms. Shedwood I found myself thinking about some very eclectic comparisons as I watched Shedwood, a new work written and directed by Yuchen Zhou, with set and costume designed with Kailin Xu, who also […]
I like the idea behind the Barbican’s Feel the Sound, perhaps a little more than the actual experience of visiting. Feel the Sound The Barbican bill their current exhibition Feel the Sound as an “exhibition experience on a different frequency.” This is a clever play on words, but also mostly true. Feel the Sound takes […]
Two performers, a bare stage, and a tabletop of household objects combine to deliver a truly inventive work of physical theatre in A.I.M [An Invisible Mission]. A.I.M [An Invisible Mission] The best kind of fringe theatre tends to do one thing very well, and A.I.M [An Invisible Mission] knows exactly what it’s doing. ICA Theatre […]
