The region around Vietnam’s UNESCO heritage city of Hoi An is home to tourist sites worthy of Lara Croft herself March 9, 2018 The narrow stone passageway opened into a small stone altar featuring the carved statue of a goddess. Was this a place of worship, I wondered, or sacrifice? At this stage it was hard to tell, but I was enjoying scaring myself. The shadowy passageway curved around again, this time leading to a set of steps [...]
Macbeth at the National Theatre: Rufus Norris’ stars fail to shine in this cautious production March 9, 2018 Rufus Norris, the artistic director at the National Theatre, isn’t having a great time right now. While his predecessor Nicholas Hytner is having a ball at the helm of the new Bridge Theatre down the riverbank, Norris has suffered a string of flops in the Olivier, from a sand-blasted Salome to the bafflingly coarse Common. [...]
Property of the Week: This converted water tower in Kennington is now worth £3.6m March 9, 2018 There are plenty of industrial landmarks in London that have been given a new lease of life, from Battersea Power Station to the Tate Modern. But rarely is there the opportunity to live in one. The Water Tower, Kennington, £3.6m This former water tower that’s moments away from Kennington underground station is the ideal mix [...]
Summer and Smoke at the Almeida: Tennessee Williams’ complex play is brought to heart-rending life in this fantastic production March 9, 2018 Tennessee Williams’ Summer and Smoke is about opposing forces: the microscopic and the infinite, the physical and the spiritual, anarchy and order, sanity and madness, and the thankless task we humans have trying to work out where exactly we fit into all this. It tackles these swooping metaphysical questions through the prism of unrequited [...]
Picasso 1932: Love, Fame, Tragedy at the Tate Modern: Exhibition focusing on a single year in the life of the great artist shows the sheer audacity of genius March 9, 2018 By the age of 50, Picasso’s days as a starving artist were long behind him. His paintings sold for fortunes despite the gathering economic gloom; he and his former-ballerina wife were courted by politicians and socialites; he was preparing to be celebrated by a major Paris retrospective, a rarity then for a living artist. [...]
Where’s the beef? Meat substitutes are suddenly big business: we try the UK’s first plant-based ‘bleeding burger’ and ask if meat will one day be a thing of the past March 8, 2018 In the mockumentary Carnage, Simon Amstel imagines a future in which eating meat is as socially unacceptable as cannibalism. Groups of elderly people sit in therapy sessions trying to come to terms with the atrocities they committed against the animal kingdom, with the narrator quipping “‘Meat-free Monday’ now sounds about as appealing as ‘ethnic cleansing-free [...]
Roux at Parliament Square review: A recent makeover brings the decor back in alignment with a sophisticated lunch menu March 6, 2018 Named after its patron Michel Roux Jr, this formerly fusty French fine-dining stalwart in Westminster was given a makeover last year to reflect the shiny fame of its current head chef, Steve Groves. After jaunts at a string of Michelin-starred restaurants, Groves joined the staff after winning Masterchef: The Professionals in 2009 and then graduated [...]
Off-piste in Fieberbrunn, the little known freeride resort of the Austrian Alps March 5, 2018 Fieberbrunn is at one end of the elaborately named Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn, an area of Salzburg dedicated to winter sports, and one in dire need of a rebranding agency. Fieberbrunn itself is named after the fever (“fieber”) quelling properties of its waters, which are said to have cured such dignitaries as Claudia de [...]
Holiday Homes: Get away from the chaos of Chamonix and find a quieter ski retreat in Le Grand-Bornand February 23, 2018 The Alpine towns of Courchevel and Val d’Isere, are as well known for their nightlife as their pistes, but if you’re more interested in skiing than apré-ski it’s worth checking out the quieter French resorts. Le Roc des Tours, France, from €195,833 One hidden gem is Le Grand-Bornand, a picture-postcard area in the Haute-Savoie region, [...]
Mercedes-Benz SL R107: The best classic Merc you can buy February 19, 2018 All cars eventually become classics, but not all classics are created equal. The ‘R107’ Mercedes-Benz SL is a case in point. This luxurious grand tourer – we’ll stop short of calling it a sports car – was a cut above the automotive norm when new, and remains so today. Indeed, it’s one of the best [...]
