Culture

"Empty time lent shape by the weekly rites Of chiselling the stubble away"

Recalling the first time I read Grief, on a thankfully empty train, I’m very glad no one was present to witness what must have been a harrowing and confusing parade of expressions as I progressed. It’s a few hours I will never regret.

Hamnet — Maggie O’Farrell The subtle majesty of Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell’s eighth novel,would have been welcome in any year, but it was a particular blessing...

"Find us together: tiptoeing across the fanning pages of a calendar."

"Under the bent thumb streetlight, umbrella domes burst forth, splashing rich nightfall onto their neighbours."

Our film team have put together a list of the years best, from the stylish and disorientating, Waves, to Charlie Kaufman's mind-bending masterpiece, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, and the slow-burning romance of A Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

'Godard gives us a film that shows the white knight as the charlatan we always knew him to be and offers us the anti-hero instead. And after decades of excessively moralistic cinema, this breath of fresh air was thoroughly needed.'

'Scream me into the void. I would like to be screamed into the void. Please.'

Disclaimer: before I massacre the entirety of its script, Love Actually is one of my favourite films. I watch it every year without fail....

"the table is rotting, and the house is rotting, and we are rotting too."

"a difficult balancing act, between thoughtfulness and practicality, and between social responsibility and reception"

Several regional theatres have struggled to cope in the pandemic, due to persistent negligence and underfunding for decades, both by regional funding bodies and the government themselves.

"The whole crew behind this production are worthy of praise for their resourcefulness, having produced a piece which works with, rather than against, its unusual circumstances".

After a year in which curtains have hardly left stage floors, The Prom gives theatre fans a much needed dose of gliz, glamour and cheese. Katie Kirkpatrick reviews.

"Sit back and relax by the fireplace with a mince pie in one hand and a glass of mulled wine in the other, and let Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’ soothe your soul."

'bricolage applause as spoken word verses raining down like stardust'

The effect of light is upon the unconscious, unacknowledged unless you are thinking about it, but it’s influencing you all the same.

‘In the disbelief I can’t face reinvention. I haven’t met the new me yet.’ So sings Taylor Swift in her ninth and most recent...

'snippets of shared secrets, tied to a half forgotten memory'

"I won't have to close my eyes to remember your smile."