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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com
@theartsdesk.bsky.social
2.8K followers 97 following 1.3K posts
theartsdesk.com - a daily serving of incisive, well-informed arts coverage. Enjoy criticism at its best. Sign up for our newsletter: bit.ly/guVVH9
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kierontyler.bsky.social
Kieron Tyler @kierontyler.bsky.social · 1d
Over 1982 & 1983, Marc Almond took time out from Soft Cell with Marc and the Mambas. The great Three Black Nights Of Little Black Bites documents this parallel path at the Duke Of York's Theatre in April 1983. I’ve looked at it today for @theartsdesk.bsky.social: www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/mu...
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 9h
'A beaten-up, dilapidated nation that’s a long way from the promised postwar utopia' ★★★★★ THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT - Ealing Studios' prescient black comedy, as sharp as ever - and Burnley looks like Berlin, says @grahamrickson.bsky.social - now on @studiocanal.co.uk blu-Ray
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 20h
★★★★ Soulwax’s ‘All Systems Are Lying’ lays down some tasty yet gritty electro-pop says Guy Oddy theartsdesk.com/new-music/so...
Soulwax’s 'All Systems Are Lying' lays down some tasty yet gritty electro-pop
It’s seven years since the Belgian brothers Dewaele unleashed their fine, largely instrumental and foot-stomping Essential album on the world, but they’ve given short shrift to any ideas of sitting on...
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 20h
★★★★★ Shining constellations: London Piano Festival curators and illustrious friends entertain and enlighten at a spectacular Two-Piano Gala, Kings Place @davidnice.bsky.social reviews theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
Two-Piano Gala, Kings Place review - shining constellations
Never mind the permutations (anything up to eight hands on the two pianos); feel the unwavering quality of the eight pianists and the 13 works, each perfect in their proper place across two and a half...
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 20h
Music Reissues Weekly: Marc and the Mambas - Three Black Nights Of Little Black Bites @kierontyler.bsky.social writes about Marc Almond's time out from Soft Cell www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/mu...
Music Reissues Weekly: Marc and the Mambas - Three Black Nights Of Little Black Bites
A month after Soft Cell’s "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" single peaked at number three in the UK charts, Marc Almond issued a single credited to Marc and the Mambas. March 1982’s "Sleaze (Take it, Shake it...
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 20h
★★★ Scandi noir meets Agatha Christie on a superyacht: Keira Knightley and Guy Pearce star in fizzy mystery cocktail The Woman in Cabin 10, Justine Elias reviews theartsdesk.com/film/woman-c...
The Woman in Cabin 10 review - Scandi noir meets Agatha Christie on a superyacht
A fizzy mystery cocktail with a twist and a splash, The Woman in Cabin 10, based on Ruth Ware’s bestseller, sails along like the sleek superyacht that provides its deadly setting.
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 2d
★★★★ A solid tribute to a legendary history: Mobb Deep are gracing our sound systems once again with unreleased vocals and brand new music writes Ibi Keita on new album Infinite theartsdesk.com/new-music/al...
Album: Mobb Deep - Infinite
Eight years after Prodigy’s untimely passing, Mobb Deep are gracing our sound systems once again with unreleased vocals and brand new music. With production from both Havoc, Mobb Deep’s second half, a...
theartsdesk.com
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 2d
★★★★ A solid tribute to a legendary history: Mobb Deep are gracing our sound systems once again with unreleased vocals and brand new music writes Ibi Keita on new album Infinite theartsdesk.com/new-music/al...
Album: Mobb Deep - Infinite
Eight years after Prodigy’s untimely passing, Mobb Deep are gracing our sound systems once again with unreleased vocals and brand new music. With production from both Havoc, Mobb Deep’s second half, a...
theartsdesk.com
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 3d
★ 'The tone veers about vertiginously': raucous and carnivalesque, but also ugly and incomprehensible - @garynaylor85.bsky.social delivers a damning verdict on Troilus and Cressida, Globe Theatre - a 'problem play' with added problems he writes theartsdesk.com/theatre/troi...
Troilus and Cressida, Globe Theatre review - a 'problem play' with added problems
The Globe’s authenticity is its USP, so don’t expect the air-conditioning, the plush seats and the expectant hush of the National Theatre some 20 minutes walk away along the Thames. There’s not quite ...
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 3d
★★★★ Smooth and soulful standards from an old pro: Boz Scaggs' latest album Detour is exemplary writes Mark Kidel theartsdesk.com/new-music/al...
Album: Boz Scaggs - Detour
Boz Scaggs rarely does a less than wonderful album. His latest is an exemplary collection of smooth and soulful standard and a few other choice items including a song he wrote for his first album Boz ...
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 3d
★★★★ Taking stock of Tourette’s: John Davidson's story gets a pointed and affecting treatment in Kirk Jones's film I Swear finds James Saynor theartsdesk.com/film/i-swear...
I Swear review - taking stock of Tourette's
People sometimes go to the movies for the violence and maybe even for the sex. Until recently they didn’t particularly buy a ticket for the bad language, but lately, British cinema has been making thi...
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 3d
London Film Festival 2025: Daniel Craig investigates, Jodie Foster speaks French and Colin Farrell has a gambling habit in a jamboree of crime, punishment, pop stars and shrinks, Adam Sweeting reviews theartsdesk.com/film/london-...
London Film Festival 2025 - crime, punishment, pop stars and shrinks
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 3d
★★ Netflix star, Joe Locke, is the selling point of a production that needs one writes @garynaylor85.bsky.social on Clarkston, Trafalgar Theatre, featuring two lads on a road to nowhere theartsdesk.com/theatre/clar...
Clarkston, Trafalgar Theatre review - two lads on a road to nowhere
If you’re a Gen Zer, you’ve probably heard of Heartstopper’s Joe Locke. I’m pretty sure ATG’s Gen Xers in the back office had also heard of him, as tickets are priced up to and beyond £100 for a 100 m...
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 4d
★★★ Hopes for Niamh O’Sullivan only partly fulfilled, though much good singing throughout finds @davidnice.bsky.social reviewing Carmen, English National Opera www.theartsdesk.com/opera/carmen...
Carmen, English National Opera review - not quite dangerous
“Safe” is a word used far too often in ENO’s bizarre new version of a programme, full of uncredited articles, at least two of which look as if they’re AI generated. Everything intimacy director Haruko...
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 4d
★★★ Spirited staging but short on scares: Ghost Stories, Peacock Theatre is let down by its unsuitable venue finds @garynaylor85.bsky.social theartsdesk.com/theatre/ghos...
Ghost Stories, Peacock Theatre review - spirited staging but short on scares
In the framing device, a professor (Jonathan Guy Lewis) stands at a lectern and asks if anyone has had a supernatural experience. Somewhat to my suprise, up went my hand. In the cold winter of 1981/82...
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 4d
★★★ Emily A. Sprague realises a Japanese dream on 'Cloud Time': @joemuggs.bsky.social reviews a set of live improvisations that drift in and out of real beauty theartsdesk.com/new-music/em...
Emily A. Sprague realises a Japanese dream on 'Cloud Time'
The history of experimental musicians from Europe and North America adopting Japanese aesthetics is … patchy. It got especially dodgy in the 1990s when every other electronica dork started flinging ra...
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 6d
#HollieCook SHY GIRL - Tropical-tinted downtempo pop that's likeable if uneventful - it isn't heavyweight, but it has a summery reggae lilt, says Thomas H Green theartsdesk.com/new-music/ho...
Hollie Cook's 'Shy Girl' isn't heavyweight but has a summery reggae lilt
Hollie Cook was in the final line-up of post-punk groundbreakers The Slits. When singer Ari Up died in 2010 and the group ended, there was a flurry of interest in Cook for a while. She supported The S...
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 5d
'Much more fun than a Classical biopera might sound' ★★★★ GIUSTINO #LinburyTheatre @royaloperahouse.bsky.social - Gods, mortals and monsters do battle in #Handel's charming drama - @alexandracoghlan.bsky.social enjoys a stylish account of a slight opera theartsdesk.com/opera/giusti...
Giustino, Linbury Theatre review - a stylish account of a slight opera
It’s a good year to be Handel-lover. No sooner have summer runs of Rodelinda (Garsington) and Saul (Glyndebourne) finished than we’re into autumn and Opera North’s Susanna, Giustino at the Royal Opera...
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 6d
★★★★ R:EVOLUTON #EnglishNationalBallet @sadlerswells.bsky.social - #ENB set the bar high with this mixed bill, but they meet its challenges thrillingly - Jenny Gilbert relishes a vibrant survey of ballet in four acts theartsdesk.com/dance/revolu...
R:Evolution, English National Ballet, Sadler's Wells review - a vibrant survey of ballet in four acts
As the new season opens, confidence is high at ENB, just as it should be given the roaring success of recent programmes featuring the latest work of iconoclast William Forsythe. His classical steps se...
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 6d
'This was magic beyond belief, beyond words' ★★★★★ TRIO DA KALI #MiltonCourt @barbicancentre.bsky.social - With #Mali masters making the ancient new, three master musicians from Bamako in transcendent mood, says Mark Kidel theartsdesk.com/new-music/tr...
Trio da Kali, Milton Court review - Mali masters make the ancient new
Trio da Kali are griots, and their traditional role in West Africa is to connect: to evoke the glories of the past and to bring communities together through mediation and spiritual admonition. Their r...
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 6d
'Bigelow is a consummate action director, and loves the hardware and martial professionalism' ★★★★ A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE - #KathrynBigelow's cautionary tale sets the nuclear clock ticking again - review by Nick Hasted theartsdesk.com/film/house-d...
A House of Dynamite review - the final countdown
Armageddon is here again, as Kathryn Bigelow’s first film in eight years examines the minutes before a nuclear missile hits Chicago from multiple perspectives, finding no hope anywhere.
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 6d
Q&A: #IdrisElba on playing a US President faced with a missile crisis in A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE - The star talks about Presidential decision-making when millions of lives are imperilled, interview with Pamela Jahn @netflix.com theartsdesk.com/film/thearts...
theartsdesk Q&A: Idris Elba on playing a US President faced with a missile crisis in 'A House of Dynamite'
Idris Elba has only just appeared as the British Prime Minister in the action comedy Heads of State (2025) – now he's portraying the American President in Kathryn Bigelow's tense political thriller A ...
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theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 6d
★★★★ #EchoVocalEnsemble #SarahLatto @unionchapeluk.bsky.social - An eclectic choral programme garlanded with dance, with beautiful singing at the heart of an imaginative and stylistically varied concert - review @bernardhughes.bsky.social theartsdesk.com/classical-mu...
Echo Vocal Ensemble, Latto, Union Chapel review - eclectic choral programme garlanded with dance
Echo Vocal Ensemble have their genesis in Genesis. Sarah Latto’s group were initially formed by a cohort of the Genesis Sixteen young artists’ programme – and she has turned them into one of the most ...
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 6d
#HollieCook SHY GIRL - Tropical-tinted downtempo pop that's likeable if uneventful - it isn't heavyweight, but it has a summery reggae lilt, says Thomas H Green theartsdesk.com/new-music/ho...
Hollie Cook's 'Shy Girl' isn't heavyweight but has a summery reggae lilt
Hollie Cook was in the final line-up of post-punk groundbreakers The Slits. When singer Ari Up died in 2010 and the group ended, there was a flurry of interest in Cook for a while. She supported The S...
theartsdesk.com
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theartsdesk.bsky.social
theartsdesk.com @theartsdesk.bsky.social · 6d
★★★★ R:EVOLUTON #EnglishNationalBallet @sadlerswells.bsky.social - #ENB set the bar high with this mixed bill, but they meet its challenges thrillingly - Jenny Gilbert relishes a vibrant survey of ballet in four acts theartsdesk.com/dance/revolu...
R:Evolution, English National Ballet, Sadler's Wells review - a vibrant survey of ballet in four acts
As the new season opens, confidence is high at ENB, just as it should be given the roaring success of recent programmes featuring the latest work of iconoclast William Forsythe. His classical steps se...
theartsdesk.com
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