Richard hennessy review

The Queen is dead; Charles is about to take over. The Labour party is in power; Prince Harry is romping with a Doc Martened republican art student. Mike Bartlett's new play King Charles III begins with provocation. It continues as a lark. And develops into something rich and unsettling. Each member of the Firm is instantly recognisable: graphically and economically projected. Oliver Chris, one hand in his pocket, seems to shrug himself into being Prince William; Lydia Wilson's Kate twists a finger in her shiny curls, and moves with whip-sharp decision. As Harry (oh God, Bartlett has got even this republican critic calling them by their first names), Richard Goulding is comically accurate: sometimes touchingly eager, but often looking like a hunted fox. His most joyful discovery, while with his commoner girlfriend, is a place called Sainsbury's. And a delicacy known as A Scotch Egg. What is offered is more than imitation. Bartlett takes a punt on what all these figures might be … [Read more...] about King Charles III; Birdland; A Small Family Business – review

Lasting barely one intense hour, Bluebeard’s Castle (1918) drills deep into that tight, dark space that is the human soul. There’s nothing stereotypical about Béla Bartók’s only opera. Its vocal line and rhythms are steeped in the language of his native Hungarian (which, with 14 vowels, has no easy equivalence when translated into English). It requires a huge orchestra, with a small army of additional brass, yet has only two characters and no chorus. Words to describe it typically occupy a dark palette: chilling, disturbing, terrifying, threatening, menacing. Opera North’s concert performance in Leeds town hall last weekend, conducted by Sian Edwards and sung in the original language, added another: compassionate. This was thanks in part to a fierce, generous performance by the Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill, who wore the role of Judith as if it were her own skin, flayed by the revelations of her new husband as each of the seven doors opens to … [Read more...] about Bluebeard’s Castle; András Schiff, Budapest Festival Orchestra/Fischer; Manchester Collective – review

When an acquaintance revealed recently that he'd married a woman he met by chance on a train, I said, "Very David Nicholls", to which he replied: "Yes, very. It wasn't until three years after that meeting that we actually got together." The 47-year-old Nicholls has become one of the few authors whose name serves as conversational shorthand: in his case, for the ambushes of romance. In One Day, which is among the biggest-selling British novels of recent times, one-night lovers spend 20 years finding and losing each other, while in the TV two‑parter The 7:39 a male and female commuter argue on a train and almost destroy two relationships. Us, for which readers and booksellers have waited with growing impatience in the five years since One Day, puts another couple to the test. One night, Douglas Petersen, a 54-year-old industrial biochemist, is woken by his art gallerist wife of almost a quarter of a century, Connie, and informed … [Read more...] about Us review – David Nicholls’s poignant tale of a marriage in crisis

BT Broadband: ‘Ryan Reynolds’ (starts at 00:04) - UK Green Lantern’s Ryan Reynolds demonstrates his flair for comedy as he becomes the latest star to appear in BT Broadband’s ‘Behind the Scenes’ campaign. Playing a version of himself written by the pretend creative team, he describes how he needs an internet provider able to keep up with his fast-lane lifestyle before his flow is interrupted by a twist written by the actual creative team!Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDODirector: Nick Jasenovec Sky Fibre: ‘X-Men’ (starts at 00:37) - UK Evan Peters (X-Men: Apocalypse) reprises his role as Quicksilver in this impressively crafted commercial for Sky Fibre broadband which was directed by Brian Smrz – the second unit director of the popular superhero franchise. As you’d expect, there’s some nifty special effects for fans of these films to savour.Agency: WCRSDirector: Brian Smrz Foster’s: ‘Dry Cleaners’ … [Read more...] about Watch X-Men’s Evan Peters and Green Lantern’s Ryan Reynolds star in TV ads

With the honour of being asked to be Wisden's literary reviewer for its 150th edition also comes the pleasure. The pleasure of getting to read every cricket publication that has crossed the cricket almanack's desk during the past year. While each tells its own particular story; collectively they document the state of cricket publishing. This year, roughly 70 books and pamphlets came my way. Most were (fairly) mainstream books from mainstream publishers, some were distinctly minority interest – The Statistics of the Minor Counties in 1906 – from not-so-mainstream publishers, and a few were self-published. For a sport and an industry sometimes held to be in decline, I'd say this was indication enough of good health. But what of the quality? It's often said that cricket writing had its heyday with Neville Cardus, RC Robertson-Glasgow and CLR James, and that no one has come close to matching them in the past 50 years or so. In fairness, they were … [Read more...] about John Crace surveys the past year’s cricket books for Wisden