Steve TimmsIf we think about 1980’s comedy, we think of revolution. The alternative crowd burnt the rule book, and the likes of Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall, Jennifer Saunders and Ben Elton barged their way to the front of the television queue. But some...
Portraying a beloved public figure is a risk for any actor but when it comes to Princess Diana, it seems like a poisoned chalice. There have been several soapy TV versions of her sadly short life, featuring actresses looking coy, and cocking their...
Don De Lillo’s mid-80’s novel ‘White Noise’ featured a married couple who were as happy as two people can be. Yet both had a distressing secret neither felt brave enough to share with the other; they were terrified of death. Super Duper...
It’s not all about you, Michael – Thriller Live is a fast-paced jukebox affair, bursting with hit after hit. One of the most difficult dilemmas of modern life revolves around the revelation of the ‘dark star’: that is, the discovery that an artist...
There’s a moment in Under the Silver Lake – the third film from director David Robert Mitchell, after the hit horror It Follows – where Sam, the aimless slacker at the heart of this delirious, Los Angeles neo-noir, beats up a pair of teenagers who...
Esteemed Canadian physician, Gabor Mate has studied the causes of addiction for decades, and written numerous books on the subject. His conclusions can possibly be distilled into one simple statement: in most cases, the root of addiction is nearly...
The trouble with zeitgeist drama is it goes out of date rather quickly. Right now, David Hare is probably in the middle of an earnest drama about the fallout of Brexit – but is that what people want from a night at the theatre? Given the current...
Hard to believe, but Sheffield based provocateurs Forced Entertainment have been pushing at the boundaries of the theatrical form for almost 35 years now. No band has lasted this long, at least not without splits, reformations and changing line-ups...
‘I’ve never known anyone in my life who was so easily wounded’, wrote novelist Doris Lessing about Playwright and occasional actor John Osborne. Like a 1950’s version of Morrissey, Osborne was bitter, resentful and had a tendency to nurse grudges...
Less of a drama and more an exercise in pop culture storytelling, Rick Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran is, in the words of writer/performer Javaad Alipoor, partly about ‘rich people acting like dicks.’ But these aren’t ordinary rich...