Category Archives: Theatre
Filth, fury and the funny way Britain feels about Joe Orton
You never forget your first time. I was 19 years old. I descended into a dark, cramped basement where student actors brought to life a weird, twisted sexual triangle. Going to student drama productions in odd spaces around the University … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Crime and Justice, Culture, Film, Media, Radio, Theatre, TV, Uncategorized
Tagged 60s, crime, culture, dr emma parker, elitism, film, joe orton, john lahr, kenneth halliwell, Kenneth Williams, Leicester, leonie orton, literature, London, prick up your ears, satire, sheila hancock, soft touch arts, tv
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The poison that is destroying civility and how to fight it
âHow did you get into first class? You donât deserve to be in first class. âYou should be in common class. In fact, you shouldnât be in this country at all. âYou donât deserve to be here. âšBloody foreigners. Where … Continue reading
Posted in Crime and Justice, Culture, journalism, Media, Politics, Theatre
Tagged alexander mackinnon, BIG ISSUE, faisal islam, gina miller, jo cox, john bercow, John Major, monday club, Racism, sanaa shahid, this house
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How to win the coming culture war in 2017
A version of this article first appeared in The Big Issue magazine in January 2017. Journalism worth paying for. Available weekly from street vendors or subscriptions here. History rarely falls into neat numerical decades. I would assert the 1980s (yuppies, … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Comics/graphic novels, Culture, Film, Media, Music, Politics, Radio, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Theatre, TV, Uncategorized
Tagged ali smith, BIG ISSUE, books, cinema, culture, culture war, Disney, dr quinn medicine woman, dreamgirls, everbody's talking about jamie, feminism, film, FTW, henry krieger, Hollywood, jane seymour, jon musker, media, moana, pauline boty, politics, rogue one, ron clements, susan faludi, tv, tyrus wong, unforgotten, Wonder Woman
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We’ll get the President we deserve: Suzan Lori Parks on Hillary Clinton & America’s woman problem
“You’ve consumed too much of the Kool-Aid that the man has been serving you.” Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Susan Lori Parks came into the Front Row studio last week to talk about When Father Came Home From The Wars opening at … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Culture, History, Media, Politics, Radio, Theatre, Uncategorized, War
Tagged American Civil War, culture, feminism, Hillary Clinton, media, politics, Suzan Lori Parks, Theatre Royal Stratford, US politics, war
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Inside the world of Angels: the secret history of film & TV costumes
The chill hits me and a slight tang ofâŠmeat. Iâve entered the Fur store room at Angels Costumiers. We stand in silence. There are racks of fur coats â like a multiverse of Narnia entry points. Fox stoles are piled … Continue reading
Posted in Business/Economics, Culture, Design, Film, History, Media, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Theatre, TV, Uncategorized
Tagged angels costumiers, BBC, cinema, culture, film, Hollywood, Theatre Royal Stratford, tim angel, tv
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Not about “Us”: What the Oscars whitewash reveals about some viewers
This column first appeared in the Big Issue magazine – Journalism worth paying for It was one of the most exciting and original nights out Iâve had at the theatre in years â Moliereâs 17th century French satire, Tartuffe, about … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Film, Media, Theatre, Uncategorized
Tagged a wolf in snakeskin shoes, creed, marcus gardley, oscars, rocky, ryan coogler, sylvester stallone
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Is there a transphobic equivalent to blacking up?
I wrote a piece for the BBC News website today, originally commissioned about the idea of white actors playing black roles, but I wanted to explore further issues Juliet Jacques had touched on when she came on Front Row recently … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Film, History, Media, Theatre, TV, Uncategorized
Tagged blacking up, culture, film, Hollywood, indians, juliet jacques, literature, media, race, Theatre Royal Stratford, trans, tv, zoolander 2
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Shylock: A Traveller in Time
The film producer Davina Belling once said of Jonathan Pryce that she always uses him as a lesson for actors ânot to count their lines when theyâre offered a role. He had 20 lines in the whole film [Breaking Glass] … Continue reading
Posted in Comedy, Culture, Film, History, Media, Theatre, Uncategorized
Tagged anti semitism, breaking glass, bullingdon club, carry on matron, Germany, jonathan pryce, judaism, kenneth cope, Nazism, shakespeare, Shakespeare's Globe, shylock
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Body swap Muslims & playing “The Jew”
Had a great discussion with David Baddiel and David Schneider on Front Row this week about why Britain was hosting its first Jewish comedy festival. It made me revisit this 2009 news film I made on location at the shoot … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Comedy, Culture, Film, Media, Politics, Religion, Theatre
Tagged Allah Made Me Funny, culture, David Baddiel, David Schneider, fagin, film, Jewish comedy, media, Obama, oliver!, Omid Djalili, politics
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