Birmingham Repertory theatreThe 18th-century novel and Welsh crooner meet on 1960s Carnaby Street in a spirited jukebox musicalThis is a madcap mashup of a musical. Its basic premise is, bizarrely, a meeting of two Tom Joneses: the foundling and rakish…
Mental health charity declines donation from Jamie Lynn Spears
Britney Spears’s younger sister has had her offer to give proceeds from her forthcoming book to the non-profit organisation This Is My Brave turned downJamie Lynn Spears’s offer to donate some of the proceeds from her forthcoming memoir to a mental hea…
Silverview by John le Carré review – the last complete masterwork?
The great spy novelist’s final full-length book is a precision-tooled cat and mouse chase from a bookshop in East Anglia to the old eastern blocWhile it’s perhaps true that the posthumous publications of the recently deceased have a tendency to be more…
Should we work less?
A shorter working week could benefit society, the environment – even the economy. Is it time to reassess our relationship with our jobs? For the last year and a half, most people have fallen into one of three categories: the unemployed, whose jobs disa…
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci review – eat, drink, swoon
With a side order of charm and anecdotes, the actor and gourmand makes our reviewer crave a plate of his zeppoleZeppole are deep-fried balls of a dough made with flour and, sometimes, mashed potatoes. The sweet version, dusted with sugar, are often fil…
Watch out! Contemporary artists take on the Beano – in pictures
“It’s strange,” says Andy Holden, curator of new Somerset House exhibition, Beano: The Art of Breaking the Rules, “that a formula from 1938 still resonates today. That it survived the birth of children’s TV, computer games and a changing world.” The co…
Bobby Gillespie: ‘For the first 10 years of my life, I lived in a Glasgow tenement: that stuff stays with you’
On the eve of the publication of his memoir, the Primal Scream frontman talks to friend and author Irvine Welsh about his working-class upbringing, beating drugs and losing creative partners. Barbara Ellen listens inBobby Gillespie’s memoir, Tenement K…
Manifesto: On Never Giving Up by Bernardine Evaristo review – voyage of discovery
The first black woman to win the Booker recounts her lengthy journey from grotty London flats to an audience with the Queen in her eventful hymn to perseveranceBernardine Evaristo always fancied winning the Booker prize. When Lara, her semi-autobiograp…
Succession star Brian Cox: ‘I’m enjoying this. It’s like confession…’
In a lively and wide-ranging conversation, one of the most revered actors of his generation talks Hollywood rivalries, Scottish independence – and the future of the hit TV showOver the years, I have crossed paths several times with the Dundonian actor …
Nadifa Mohamed: ‘Modern-day Britain is intense’
The Somali-born writer talks about her Booker-shortlisted novel, the story of a victim of a miscarriage of justice in 1950s Cardiff, ‘broken hearts syndrome’ and her love of John DonneRecently shortlisted for the 2021 Booker prize, Nadifa Mohamed’s thi…