Ailsa Cox | Precipitation | Reviewed by Paul Anthony Knowles.
Domestic Gothic stories where the sinister behind the everyday is centre stage. Ailsa Cox | Precipitation | Confingo: £6:00 plus postage and packaging. Reviewed by Paul Knowles. Cox’s Precipitation is a masterclass in capturing the unsettling eeriness that sits behind the mundanity of the domestic. All three stories in Cox’s collection explore the hidden secrets […]
David Wheldon | The Viaduct | Reviewed by Dylan Stewart
It is an imagination, and a world, that I quite liked inhabiting. In some ways it seemed notably British, made up of well-meaning but somewhat sinister parochial towns, cities with draconian laws, a legion of nearly identical coppers to enforce them, and superstitious drifters who seem sick of the whole set-up but have no power […]
Blue Now, Aviva Studios, reviewed by Clare Patterson
A moving live staging of Derek Jarman’s intimate final work Blue Now | Aviva Studios | 8th December 2024Reviewed by Clare Patterson Over three decades after the original release of Derek Jarman’s Blue (1993), director Neil Bartlett brings a live stage performance of Jarman’s visionary final film to Aviva Studios. Sitting down in the theatre, […]
Stella Wong, Stem, reviewed by Ian Pople
An energetic and resonant collection of lyric poems and dramatic monologues Stella Wong | Stem | Princeton University Press: £14.99Reviewed by Ian Pople In her second collection, Stem, Wong offers a series of poems entitled, ‘Dramatic Monologue…’, followed by the names of several forgotten female composers. These forgotten female composers have tended to specialise in […]
Twelfth Night, Royal Shakespeare Theatre (Stratford-upon-Avon), Reviewed by Paul Knowles and Edith Powell
A darkly delicious Christmas retelling of Shakespeare’s raucous gender-swapping comedy. Twelfth Night | Royal Shakespeare Theatre (Stratford-upon-Avon) | 7th of December Reviewed by Paul Knowles and Edith Powell Undoubtedly, this is one of the most confident, raucous, and dazzling productions of Shakespeare that we have watched over the last few years. The costumes, […]
Rachel Kushner, Creation Lake, reviewed by Georgina Parfitt
An unreliable narrator’s cry for help Rachel Kushner| Creation Lake | Jonathan Cape: £18.99 Reviewed by Georgina Parfitt My friend and I happened to be reading Creation Lake at the same time without knowing it. I mentioned it one day, withholding my thoughts, and my friend got excited: Oh, you too?, We hesitated. There are […]
John Ironmonger, The Wager and the Bear, reviewed by Paul Knowles and Samantha Cassells
A Cornish Ecothriller: two adversaries thrown together by a deadly climate wager John Ironmonger | The Wager and the Bear | Fly on the Wall Press: £11:99 Reviewed by Paul Knowles and Samantha Cassells John Ironmonger’s The Wager and the Bear is a hugely ambitious novel: mixing philosophy, politics and climate change together in an […]
David Hockney – Bigger and Closer (not smaller and further away) | Factory International @ Aviva Studios | Reviewed by Liam Starkey
People may think Hockney is a little obvious or populist, but I realise Hockney is a quality artist. David Hockney – Bigger and Closer (not smaller and further away) | Factory International @ Aviva Studios 10 December 2024 – 25 January 2025 | Reviewed by Liam Starkey Getting into the exhibition is a little disorientating. […]
Design for Planet Festival 2024, Manchester School of Art, reviewed by Rowanna Lacey Ewings
An event that truly allowed the free flow of radical thought and provided a place for powerful discussions around making sustainable change. Design for Planet Festival 2024 | Manchester School of Art (Manchester Metropolitan University) | Reviewed by Rowanna Lacey Ewings The sustainability spotlight was shining down on Manchester for the Design for Planet Festival […]
Samantha Harvey, Orbital, reviewed by Paul Knowles and Edith Powell
A dizzying, stark, haunting reflection on humanity’s hubris from outer space. Samantha Harvey| Orbital| Jonthan Cape: £9.99Reviewed by Paul Knowles and Edith Powell Orbital by English writer Samantha Harvey is a lyrical reflection on what makes us human: our hopes, beliefs and fragilities. The narrative follows six astronauts from across the globe (Russia, Japan, Ireland, […]
Yael van der Wouden, The Safekeep, Reviewed by Alexandria Mowrey
Lost and found are two sides of the same coin in this stirring tale of desire Yael van der Wouden | The Safekeep | Viking: £16:99 Reviewed by Alexandria Mowrey ‘They are not for touching. They are for keeping.’ These are the first words spoken by Isabel in Yael van der Wouden’s Booker-shortlisted (and debut) […]
Percival Everett, James, reviewed by Joseph Hunter
Strange, barbed, inverted retelling of an American classic by a contemporary American giant Percival Everett | James | Pan Macmillan: £9.99Reviewed by Joseph Hunter I don’t know what to make of this novel. It’s hard to assess it. It’s hard for two reasons. 1) Percival Everett is a superb, distinguished, and significant writer. 2) This […]
Charlotte Wood, Stone Yard Devotional, Reviewed by Stuti Dhar Chowdhury
A narrative of life, death and the intrigue encompassing both. Charlotte Wood | Stone Yard Devotional | Sceptre: £16.99 Reviewed by: Stuti Dhar Chowdhury A novel which pulls you right in, and yet keeps you at a distance; Charlotte Wood’s Stone Yard Devotional is a true delight to read, which explains its nomination for the […]
A Midsummer Night’s Dream | The Lowry, Salford | Reviewed by Paul Knowles
Opera North’s spellbinding production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream captures the ethereal beauty of Britten’s music whilst putting the fun back into Shakespeare. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Benjamin Britten) | The Lowry, Salfrod | 13th of November 2024Reviewed by Paul Knowles The moment the ethereal humming of the synth starts to reverberate around the […]
The Magic Flute | The Lowry, Salford | Reviewed by Joseph Hunter
Opera North’s production of Mozart’s opera sings and soars The Magic Flute | The Lowry, Salford | 16th November 2024Reviewed by Joseph Hunter Audiences can get oversized ideas about their own importance. Yes, we are the ‘reason’ for what we are seeing. Without us, there is no show. The performers respond to our energy – we […]
Duets: Stories | Scratch Books | reviewed by Paul Knowles
A new anthology produces bold, stunning, and innovative short fiction Duets: Stories | Scratch Books: £11.99Reviewed by Paul Knowles Tom Conaghan (the publisher of Scratch Books) has commissioned and released another daring and innovative anthology of short fiction: Duets. Duets follows in the wake of Scratch Book’s Reverse Engineering series. The Reverse Engineering series focused […]
Anne Michaels, Held, reviewed by Sam Lamplugh
An immaculate but disquieting narrative across time Anne Michaels | Held | Bloomsbury: £9.99Reviewed by Sam Lamplugh Novels – good ones at least – utterly submerge the reader in their concerns, their perspectives and their characters for the entire length of their span. This is because, as John Berger noted, “the story’s voice makes everything its own.” Held, […]
Othello | Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon | Reviewed by Paul Knowles and Sam Cassells
A powerhouse production that reframes the action of Othello away from male jealousy and towards the horrific realities of the violence enacted on the female leads Othello | Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon | 24th October 2024Reviewed by Paul Knowles and Sam Cassells In its opening minutes, the new RSC production of Othello offers a traditional […]
FitkinWall, Harpland | Sale Waterside Theatre | Reviewed by Joseph Hunter
Versatile harpist and composer duo present migrant-themed folk music, reimagined. , FitkinWall, Harpland | Sale Waterside Theatre | 17th OctoberReviewed by Joseph Hunter The café at the Sale Waterside theatre was making me feel insecure. It wasn’t the café’s fault, it was mine. The café – and the theatre itself – is gorgeous. Pristine, white-rendered […]
New Dawn Fades, Royal Northern College of Music, reviewed by Peter Wild
A brave if uneven adaption of the Joy Division Story New Dawn Fades | Royal Northern College of Music | 18th and 19th of October 2024Reviewed by Peter Wild The story of Joy Division, at this point in the history of the world, is something of a well-trodden path. There have been documentaries, books and […]
Modern Gothic | Fly On The Wall Press | Reviewed by Lindz McLeod
Six contemporary writers and their fresh takes on the typical themes of gothic fiction Modern Gothic | Fly On The Wall Press: £11.99Reviewed by Lindz McLeod An oft-touted facet of Gothic fiction is the narrative framing device of a tale within a tale, shown to advantage here in Michael Bird’s opener ‘A Glass House for […]
Bastille presents “&” (Ampersand) | Candlelight Sessions at Manchester Cathedral | Reviewed by Alexandria Mowrey
A tapestry of stories: old, new, & everything in between Bastille presents “&” (Ampersand) | Candlelight Sessions at Manchester Cathedral | October 16th, 2024Reviewed by Alexandria Mowrey A large group of Bastille fans and I queued up in the rain outside of Manchester Cathedral. The evening marked the final stop on Bastille front man, Dan […]
Camille Ralphs, After You Were, I Am, reviewed by Andrew McCulloch
‘In the beginning was the Word’: Camille Ralphs casts a spell. Camille Ralphs | After You Were, I Am | Faber & Faber: £12.99Reviewed by Andrew McCulloch The epigraph of Camille Ralphs’ debut collection is from the Coptic Gospel of Thomas. Discovered in Egypt in 1946, this consists of 114 logia attributed to Jesus, some […]
C.D. Rose, Walter Benjamin Stares at the Sea, reviewed by Livi Michael
Reflections on presence and absence form the emotional core of this moving collection C.D. Rose | Walter Benjamin Stares at the Sea | Melville House Publishing: £17.99 Reviewed by Livi Michael At the end of the fourth story in this collection, the main character reflects on ‘echoes and repetitions and endless form most beautiful’, which […]
Monday’s Child & Treske Quartet | The International Anthony Burgess Foundation | Reviewed by Thomas D. Lee
A New Music Double Bill presents innovative and spellbinding contemporary classical music Monday’s Child & Treske Quartet | The International Anthony Burgess Foundation | 15th October 2024Reviewed by Thomas Lee The familiar, cozy redbrick confines of the Anthony Burgess Foundation on a cold evening of October. The thrum of chatter, laughter, polite conversation. Somebody mentions […]
Michael Palin | Winding Wheel Theatre, Chesterfield | Reviewed by Joseph Hunter
Genial, funny, and historic memories from the best-loved Python Michael Palin | Winding Wheel Theatre, Chesterfield | 13th October 2024There and Back: Diaries 1999-2009 (Weidenfield & Nicolson, 2024): £30 In 1988 I turned two years old, and Michael Palin travelled around the world in 80 days. I first watched the series several years later with […]
A.C. Bevan | Poundlandia | Reviewed by Andrew McCulloch
‘Selling England by the Pound’: A.C. Bevan finds a way to halt the slide A.C. Bevan | Poundlandia| Mica Press: £10Reviewed by Andrew McCulloch A.C. Bevan has found the perfect title for his well-plotted and immensely readable first collection – a critical, compassionate look at a cut-price world of unconvincing simulations and cheap substitutes, epic […]
Carl Phillips, Scattered Snows, To The North, reviewed by Ian Pople
Carl Phillips | Scattered Snows, To The North | Carcanet: £11.99Reviewed by Ian Pople Relatively hot on the heels of Carl Phillips’ Pulitzer Prize-winning volume, And Then the War, comes his new volume, Scattered Snows, To The North. Phillips’ new collection has just been shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot prize in the UK. The volume’s […]
Steph Huang: ‘There is nothing old under the sun’, esea contemporary, reviewed by Joseph Hunter
Fine, industrial-looking sculptures that burn with a cold beauty Steph Huang | There is nothing old under the sun | esea contemporaryReviewed by Joseph Hunter To betray any sense of geographical inferiority is, for a resident of the north of the UK, taboo. Even if you reject the neoliberal, Tory-constructed notion of the Northern Powerhouse, […]
Alan Moore | The Great When: A Long London Novel | Reviewed by Sam Lamplugh
Fantastical, genre-defying psychedelia delivered in exuberant prose Alan Moore | The Great When: A Long London Novel | Bloomsbury: £14Reviewed by Sam Lamplugh What is genre? For Alan Moore, ‘widely regarded as the best and most influential writer in the history of comics’ if dust-jacket biographies are to be believed, the answer to this question […]
The Substance (dir. Coralie Fargeat) | HOME | Reviewed by Clare Patterson
French New Extremity and Feminist Satire collide in blood-soaked body horror The Substance (dir. Coralie Fargeat) | HOME | Reviewed by Clare Patterson I’m delighted that Coralie Fargeat’s film The Substance is being distributed by MUBI. The chic streaming service, production company and film distributor emerged in the last ten years with slow, thoughtful pictures […]
Apocalyptica plays Metallica Vol.2 | Albert Hall | Reviewed by Paul Anthony Knowles
Strings ablaze in Apocalyptica’s European Tour, ushering new life into the heavy metal anthems of Metallica. APOCALYPTICA plays Metallica Vol. 2 Tour | Albert Hall, Manchester | 29th September 2024Reviewed by Paul Anthony Knowles On a wet night in Manchester, I found myself in the gothic grandeur of the Albert Hall (a converted Grade 2 […]
Hanna Nordenhök, Caesaria, reviewed by Daniel Pope
The beautiful and grotesque Gothic tale of a young girl’s subjectivity under the medicalizing male gaze Hanna Nordenhök (trans. Saskia Vogel) | Caesaria | Héloïse Press: £10.95Reviewed by Daniel Pope In 19th-century Sweden, Caesaria, the first child born successfully from a c-section performed by Doctor Eldh, is kept in a mansion in the countryside as […]
Romeo and Juliet | Shakespeare North Playhouse | Reviewed by Joseph Hunter
This Diverse Cast Gives Shakespeare’s Love-Tragedy a Vibrant, Funny Retelling Romeo and Juliet | Shakespeare North Playhouse | September 16th – October 5thReviewed by Joseph Hunter A group of extras gather in a waiting room, to be summoned by an impersonal, dystopian PA system when it’s time for them to deliver a single line to […]