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Review: ‘Starter for Ten’ at the Bristol Old Vic – ‘enormous amounts of talent [but] needs tightening up’
This review contains spoilers for Starter for Ten. Thumbing through the student newspaper one afternoon in the lounge of my university’s 1960s arts library, I was caught by a sidebar. Five general knowledge questions. They were inscrutable. At the bottom there was a message: ‘If you’ve answered more than three of these questions correctly, consider…
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Review: ‘Groundhog Day’ at the Old Vic – ‘brilliantly realised’
Like an idiot, I missed Groundhog Day when it initially premiered at the Old Vic in 2016. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, it had won several Olivier awards, left London, and transferred to Broadway – where it was nominated for seven Tonys but inexplicably didn’t win any before closing in 2017.…
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A few years out: was university the right decision?
I realised this year I’ve been out of university as long as I was a student. It’s also the final year I’ll be living ten minutes’ walk from my alma mater, an accident which I mostly don’t give much thought to, aside from in late September, when clumps of eighteen-year-olds appear out of nowhere, clutching…
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Review: ‘Moulin Rouge’ at the Piccadilly Theatre – ‘vibrant and bonkers’
Even way up in the dress circle, the set of Moulin Rouge looks amazing before the show even starts. Drapes, lights, and chandeliers extend out into the theatre. It sets up a show that never fades in its one thousand per cent commitment to absolute earnest, opulent batshittery, supported by high production values and an…
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Waiting to be crowned: ‘The Crown’ Season Five
The Crown series five is nearly upon us. The tabloids are already stoking pre-outrage by sharing onset pictures of the cast filming scenes of Princess Diana’s fatal Paris car crash – conveniently ignoring their own historic role in creating and perpetuating paparazzi culture, both around Diana and current celebrities of course – and airing the…
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Review: Community Zoom Reunion Table Read
Community, as every fan of the show will be aware, has a long and torrid history of clinging to life. The roots of the show’s power was two-fold; a brilliant ensemble cast, headed up by Joel McHale as disgraced former lawyer Jeff Winger, and surreal, sharp writing, held together by the backdrop of the barely-functioning…
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‘Have I Got News For You’: Why have there really been so few female politician hosts?
Have I Got News for You is known for digesting and satirising the news, but last week it made the news itself, when Ian Hislop put his foot in it while promoting the new series. Many comedians, actors – and last week, Jeremy Paxman – have hosted the show, but in twenty-eight years only eleven…
crunchy, minty fresh writing