Category : Culture

Torrey Peters: ‘My book’s about dealing with the adult realities of being trans’

The acclaimed author of Detransition, Baby talks about the novel’s breakthrough success and how she was moved by the support of contemporariesFaces of 2021: Billie Eilish on her extraordinary yearTorrey Peters’s Detransition, Baby is the story of Ree...

Spell Songs II: Let the Light In review – a magical return to nature

(Thirty Tigers)In this captivating follow-up, the stellar folk collective give voice to more magical meditations on nature from Robert Macfarlane and Jackie MorrisFormed to give musical voice to The Lost Words, Robert Macfarlane’s bestselling meditat...

Robert Holman, ‘extraordinary and influential’ playwright, dies aged 69

Tributes paid to British dramatist acclaimed for works including German Skerries, Across Oka and A Breakfast of EelsRobert Holman, the playwright’s playwright who was revered for his finely crafted, hugely insightful and humane dramas, has died at th...

C’mon C’mon review – Joaquin Phoenix and young co-star are extraordinary in road-trip drama

An uncle and nephew bond in Mike Mills’s brilliantly acted drama that quietly draws you inSome movies grab the audience; strap it down, force it to gorge, like a multiplex theatre full of foie gras geese. The oeuvre of Mike Mills is not like that. Wa...

On my radar: Adjoa Andoh’s cultural highlights

The actor on her hopes for Brixton’s new theatre, an offbeat western and the sophistication of African artAdjoa Andoh was born in Bristol in 1963 and grew up in Wickwar, Gloucestershire. A veteran stage actor, she starred in His Dark Materials at the...

Louis Theroux: ‘I’ve always found anxiety in the most unlikely places’

The broadcaster, 51, talks about his first memories, last meal, lockdown resets and his brainier older brotherI always felt like the second fiddle to my older brother Marcel, who I thought was impossibly brilliant and mature and seemed to be reading...

Little Simz review – an introvert on full beam

O2 Academy GlasgowShowcasing one of the year’s best albums, the star of mic and screen is on impassioned form in a set that opens up from rapid-fire grime to lush funk and soulIn a black tracksuit and retro shades, her dreadlocks swept back in a whit...

Billie Eilish: ‘I’ve gotten a lot more proud of who I am’

The pop superstar on her extraordinary year – the Bond theme, that Vogue cover, the success of her second album – and hosting Saturday Night LiveIt’s a measure of what Billie Eilish’s life has been like in 2021 that she woke up one morning last month...

Mark Padmore and Jonathan Biss review – Schumann’s agony and ecstasy laid bare

Milton Court, LondonThe British tenor and the American pianist are true equals in the service of the composer’s humanity and fragilityIn A Pianist Under the Influence, his short, probing ebook about Robert Schumann (1810-1856), the American pianist J...

Classical home listening: Philippe Jaroussky and Thibaut Garcia, Attacca Quartet and more

The countertenor makes a guitar album, while the Brooklyn foursome mix madrigals and minimalism in lockdown• In their first joint album, À sa guitare (Erato), the French duo of star countertenor Philippe Jaroussky and classical guitarist Thibaut Garc...

Jodie Whittaker on saying goodbye to Doctor Who: ‘I thought, what if I’ve ruined this for actresses?’

As she gears up for her final outings as the first female Doctor, the actor reflects on how her life has changed, being the subject of fan fiction – and what happens when a Weeping Angel comes to lifeJodie Whittaker made history in 2017 when she took...

Mel Brooks on losing the loves of his life: ‘People know how good Carl Reiner was, but not how great’

From best friend Carl Reiner to wife Anne Bancroft, the great comic has had to face great loss. But even in the middle of a pandemic, the 95-year-old is still finding ways to laughIn February 2020, I joined Mel Brooks at the Beverly Hills home of his...

Chucky review – the murderous doll is back (and may be behind you right now)

Is anyone safe from the knife-wielding puppet in this rebooted 80s horror classic? Certainly not people who shop at New Jersey yard salesMy editor was not born when Child’s Play came out in 1988 and so looked at me blankly when I begged and pleaded w...

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice review – lively tale lacks hocus-focus

Northern Stage, NewcastleA lovable orphan at a low-rent Hogwarts makes her impostor syndrome disappear in a lively reimagining with fun theatrical illusionsThe Sorcerer’s Apprentice is one of those familiar-sounding stories that exists as an idea mor...

Antony Sher on acting: ‘You have simply got to be honest’

Antony Sher was not only a superb performer but also an insightful observer on the craft of acting and the theatre – as shown in these extractsAntony Sher, celebrated actor, dies aged 72Consummate Shakespearean and a man of staggering versatilityWhat...