Created deep in the fens of East Anglia, Murmurations is a new drama about conservation in the age of extinctionIt’s not been a great year for playwriting. In March 2020 I was deep in casting for a revival of my plays on climate change, The Contingency…
Colin Bateman: ‘I don’t usually get emotional while writing but this is hugely personal’
The author of dark comic novels such as Divorcing Jack has written a play, Nutcase, drawing on his relationship with his teenage sonAfter writing 34 books (including comedy crime novels such as Divorcing Jack and Driving Big Davie) and numerous movies …
Handsome review – meandering Down’s syndrome road trip
The world travels of a pair of brothers, one with Down’s, start to look like a middling gap-year projectOn the rare occasions the cinema has engaged with Down’s syndrome – 1996’s The Eighth Day and 2019’s The Peanut Butter Falcon are the main ones to s…
Clickbait review – silly Netflix thriller series isn’t worth clicking on
The eight-part drama entices with a whodunnit of the anonymous internet but diverts to a feather-thin saga of red herrings that is more irksome than interestingClickbait, an eight-part Netflix thriller series, is at least well-named. The Australian-Ame…
Skyfall, Sicario and sheep: Roger Deakins on Bond and beyond – in pictures
The Oscar-winning cinematographer has collaborated with the Coen brothers and Sam Mendes – but a new book shows off his skills as a still photographer Continue reading…
More Than I Love My Life by David Grossman review – the personal is political
An Israeli family’s journey to Croatia throws up secrets that illuminate their pain in a beautiful exploration of the lingering power of historyDavid Grossman’s follow-up to the International Booker-winning A Horse Walks Into a Bar is a Russian doll of…
TV tonight: David Morrissey returns in Jez Butterworth’s Britannia
Morrissey and Mackenzie Crook continue to fight it out three years after the Roman invasion. Plus: Paralympics Opening Ceremony Live. Here’s what to watch this eveningA third series for Jez Butterworth’s daft but engaging semi-historical drama. Three y…
An electric Faust outfit and a pair of kinky boots in V&A’s ‘major refresh’
Most items in the museum’s new theatre and performing arts galleries going on display for the first timeA fabulous red dress and thigh-high leather boots worn by Lola the drag queen in the musical Kinky Boots are to go on display near to what many woul…
Poem of the week: The Red Poppy by Louise Glück
This poem by the Nobel laureate is a fierce short parable about environmental devastationThe Red PoppyThe great thingis not havinga mind. Feelings:oh, I have those; theygovern me. I havea lord in heavencalled the sun, and openfor him, showing himthe fi…
Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon review – a magical tale with a sense of adventure
Despite its frantic antics, this family animation from Peru is told from the welcome perspective of indigenous charactersHere is a family animation from Peru that spins a magical tale in the Amazon with a cast of mythological creatures from rainforest …