Theatre
Wanted: A Keynesian Vision for the Arts
The Arts Council started with a tiny budget and a mandate to lift the postwar gloom. Now this meddlesome quango has lost its way and its chair, Liz Forgan, must go
A Prince Among Hamlets
By making Elsinore a modern surveillance state, Hytner’s production has added menace
Playing the Great Game
A new National Theatre play avoids cliché to portray US involvement in Afghanistan
Saturnine Sons of the Terror
A 19th-century play about an 18th-century revolution may be baffling. But it’s worth it
Terrible Home Truths
Arthur Miller’s All My Sons has renewed resonance. The Apollo’s production is unrivalled
Taking Liberties
Sexual and political intrigue have always been part and parcel of the ruling elite’s life
Old-Stagers Resurrected
Five plays that have stood the test of time get a new airing on the London stage
Jerusalem the Golden
Jerusalem, a play rich in historical resonance, is dominated by an extraordinary individual performance
Champagne Moments
Once in a while, you see something on stage that takes your breath away
The Art of Bad Habits
Alan Bennett’s play about Auden and Britten works. Timberlake Wertenbaker’s about Degas doesn’t
Tolerating the intolerant
“For those who thought that a global pandemic would sound the death knell for identity politics, think again”
How to prevent the next pandemic
‘I have been reporting as a science journalist for years that the world is at increasing risk of pandemics like this; that this was predicted; that we know what we need to do to prepare and we simply haven’t done it; and that more and worse pandemics are coming so we need to do that, now’
D’où parles-tu? The post-truth world
Power, illusion and the open society: how postmodernism undermines our foundational concepts