In 1991, the artist, Cornelia Parker enlisted the help of the British army to blow up a garden shed. She and her team then collected the scorched and twisted fragments of the shed and its contents (purposefully curated to echo the horticultural and...
Ellen Kent has been touring operas for donkey’s years (32 years, to be precise), and I’ve been watching them throughout that time. There are certain things you can bank on with this company. If you start out fearing opera is pretentious, an Ellen...
Joyous, informative, inspiring. This is a show not just for mothers and daughters, but for fathers and sons (who also, of course, need to know about fantastically great women). Kate Pankhurst’s book, adapted for the stage by Chris Bush, is threaded...
Seeta Patel is surely the UK’s prime proponent of Bharatanatyam, the classical south Asian dance form. Whilst it is still the case that this form is less well known in this country than Kathak, that is in the process of changing, due in large part...
One reviewer described this show as ‘brilliantly bonkers.’ I shall strive to be similarly generous, but I give you fair warning: I expect to fall some way short. To begin at the beginning… We are gathered to witness the birth of Diktat, a strongman...
In case you’re so pressure-cooker busy you don’t have time to read the rest of this review (cue scream-face emoji), I’ll come straight to the point: This Opera North production of Verdi’s “Falstaff” is simply splendid. Shakespeare’s Sir John...
English National Ballet’s production of Akram Khan’s reimagining of Giselle constructs a wonderful evening of performance art at its most integrated and rewarding. The bare bones of it: Act 1: Rich boy (Albrecht) disguised as poor boy, falls for...
According to dramaturg, Lolita Chakrabarti’s programme note, Message in a Bottle, (the Sadler’s Wells dance show, based on the music of Sting) tells the story of one family, living in ‘a village in a country far away’ whose lives are torn apart by...
“Are you a fan of Ben UFO?” a friendly young woman asks as we walk into New Century Hall. I confess I’m not and make it worse by adding, “I have heard of him.” This is true (I think) but makes me about as cool as my dad would have been if he’d told...
“The purpose of the Sama is to create the conditions in which the human soul can experience divine love. Transcendental and ecstatic, the music produces in the listener an intense love for God.” (Barbican website on Sufi music). There’s an...
Martin Thomasson