From Field Day to the Chelsea Fringe, the best of summertime in London June 4, 2015 The summer season is finally upon us! This means music festivals, rooftop drinking and lounging around in the park. Don’t wait for the weather to arrive, take advantage of all the adventures you can have outdoors this weekend Field Day Saturday and Sunday, Victoria Park, fielddayfestivals.com This may have been Field Day’s [...]
Fifty scents: Richard E Grant on being led by his nose, speaking to peacocks and watching his neighbours ‘at it’ June 4, 2015 When Richard E Grant suggested we meet at Fulham’s exclusive Hurlingham members’ club, it seemed to make perfect sense. He lives just up the road in Richmond and it’s exactly the kind of place I can imagine him hanging out, especially after having watched him star in Downton Abbey. I had visions of wood-panelled walls, winchester sofas, views over the croquet [...]
Theatre review: Temple tells the Occupy protest story for the Netflix generation May 29, 2015 Donmar Warehouse | ★★★★★ Temple, Simon Russell Beale’s new Protestants vs protesters play about the decision to evict the Occupy squatters from St Paul’s is nuanced and satisfying theatre for the Netflix generation. At its peak, in October and November of 2011, the anti-capitalist protest camp surrounding St Paul’s dominated the news, leading [...]
Bold Tendencies: Richard Wentworth May 29, 2015 Peckham Multi-Storey Car Park | ★★★★☆ Sure, the days are getting longer and the weather is hotting up, but nothing signals the beginning of summer in south London like the opening of Frank’s Cafe in Peckham multi-storey car park. While most come for the booze and the views, influential young curator Hannah Barry has turned [...]
Film review: San Andreas May 29, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★☆☆☆ KABOOM. Was that the sound of tectonic plates ripping, or was it a giant penny dropping in the mind of a Hollywood producer: destroy some buildings, throw Dwayne Johnson into the wreckage and voila, no need to shell out for a screenwriter. Who needs a script, seems to be [...]
Film review: In Danny Collins Al Pacino learns how to grow old gracefully May 29, 2015 Cert 15 | ★★★★☆ Watching Al Pacino and Robert De Niro slog it out in 2008’s Righteous Kill, you’d be forgiven for thinking Pacino was finished. Gone. Destined to live out his days impotently raging at the dying of the light, playing wrinkled, rattly-boned versions of the live-wires he once infused with febrile intensity. [...]
Theatre review: Merry hijinks lacking passion in The Beaux’ Stratagem May 28, 2015 Olivier Theatre | ★★★☆☆ George Farquhar’s The Beaux’ Stratagem is not quite your typical Restoration comedy. While his contemporary William Congreve took the genre to a new level of metropolitan licentiousness, Farquhar headed to the provinces. Though still based around amorous adventures, his later works check their horseplay with a tragicomic seriousness. The Beaux’ Stratagem [...]
Something for the weekend May 28, 2015 DANCE! BENJI B Internationally renowned DJ Benji B continues his residency at XOYO. If you’ve ever tuned in to his Radio 1 show – and if you haven’t, you should – you’ll recognise the eclectic mix of the best electronic sounds. Saturday, £13.50, visit xoyo.co.uk. SHOP! CLERKENWELL VINTAGE FAIR Need to revamp your wardrobe in [...]
Film review: Poltergeist reboot is bereft of inspiration May 22, 2015 Cert 12a | ★☆☆☆☆ Since its release in 1982, countless films have borrowed from Poltergeist’s slow-burning scares. Who knew that carefully stacked kitchen furniture could be so frightening? Or television static? In this Sam Raimi produced reboot, the franchise seeks to redress the balance by appropriating imagery from every horror movie between then and [...]
Theatre review: World Factory May 22, 2015 Young Vic | ★★★★☆ If you’re wary of audience interactivity in theatre, cast your doubts aside for World Factory, an innovative and thoroughly well-researched exploration of the global textile industry, which remains not only comprehensive and coherent, but genuinely enthralling from start to finish. We take our seats around communal tables, upon [...]
