Review: Asking For It

Richard Lutz watches a searing account of sexual violence and a descent into hell.

Sir Howard asks: Quo vadimus, baby?

Sir Howard Elston, our sanitaryware editor, demands answers about the burning questions of the day.

Review: Orchestre National de Lille

Richard Lutz takes his pew for a classic performance at Symphony Hall.

Flights of fancy

Sheilagh Matheson, our avian correspondent, reports on a village plagued by….. peacocks.

Mayan Tales: The windows to a heart

Stephen Cooke continues his amble through Mexico.

50 shades of you know what

Richard Lutz tours the geometry of a grey Evenlode valley.

The long and winding road to Xtampak

Stephen Cooke, in Mexico, runs into a dubious policeman, a jungle and a lost city.

This cup of land

Richard Lutz explores 2,000 years of history in the Cotswolds.

Sir Howard: Right royal mess, Harry’s next move

Sir Howie Elston, our House of Windsor correspondent, reports from outside the gates of somewhere very posh on the Harry/Megan decision.

Books: First class writer in the third class carriage

Richard Lutz points to the books he enjoyed in 2019. And the ones he’d rather forget. 

Review: Last Night of the Christmas Proms

Richard Lutz take his pew for a fanfare of classics.

2020 and the snap of the plastic flags

Richard Lutz witnesses change and immutability as 2020 approaches.

Panto review: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

Richard Lutz takes his pew for Christmas technicolor mayhem at Birmingham Hippodrome.

Labour and the election: no Big Idea, no shared future, no narrative

Will Mapplebeck, a Tyneside political commentator, reports on the outflow from the election.

Review: Dweezil Zappa plays Hot Rats

Richard Lutz chews his pew over Hot Rats at Birmingham Town Hall.

Voting and the long poisonous shadow of the referendum

Richard Lutz braces himself for an election that will stop the country cold in its winter tracks.

Two weeks, two walks, two winter days

Richard Lutz treks through the changes of winter.

Review: The Boy in The Dress

Richard Lutz takes his pew for a feel.good musical about change and friendship.

Review: Jools Holland at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall

Richard Lutz survives a full assault of Jools Holland.

From Everest to Embleton, it’s a mountain of plastic, paper and polystyrene

Sheilagh Matheson walks on an award-winning beach but has to pick her way through a wasteland of rubbish. 

Screengrab: The Irishman

Richard Lutz takes in a long eulogy to the Mafia life.

The fingerprints of man on the edge of winter

Richard Lutz roams through another week.

RSC Review: A Museum in Baghdad

Richard Lutz watches two plays on the same Stratford stage. But does it work?

Review: Carlos Acosta, Birmingham Hippodrome

Richard Lutz takes a pew for a Cuban spectacle.

Of haws, herons and hawks

Richard Lutz takes in the autumn. 

Opera Review: The Cunning Little Vixen

Richard Lutz takes his pew at the Birmingham Hippodrome.

Advocate for an Advocaat

Sheilagh Matheson raises a glass or two.

Bonkers brexit bonanza ballot

Richard Lutz checks into Hotel Ballotbox.

RSC review: Shakespeare swaps genders in the swinging sixties

Richard Lutz takes his pew for King John at Stratford’s Swan Theatre.

The town that doesn’t see itself

Sheilagh Matheson works in an African community so poor it can’t afford mirrors.