Mucus, alien gristle, a tentacle-bearing penis and, of course, the pregnancy of the title are all borne with deadpan calmness in this underplayed comedy
Elsinore is in contention for 12 Bifas, including for Scott’s highly praised performance, while Clio Barnard’s I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning, Ashley Walters’ Animol and Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care are also recognised Elsinore, the drama in which Andrew Scott plays the actor Ian Charleson as he takes on Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the last months of his life, before he died of Aids in 1990, has emerged as the leading contender for the British independent film awards (Bifas). The film, which is directed by Simon Stone and co-stars Olivia Colman, Billie Piper and Johnny Flynn, received 12 n
The significance of the poet and playwright’s homosexuality was repressed in Spain for decades – but a spate of recent work, including the film La Bola Negra, is redressing the balance for a new generation Patricia Langa parades on to an invisible stage in a basement room of Instituto Cervantes in central London, locked into the character of Conchita, a professional mourner loosely based on the sorrowful heroines of Federico García Lorca’s 1936 play, The House of Bernarda Alba. “His voice was too loud, too queer, too alive for those around him, filled with jealousy and hatred,” she tells her i
The Detroit techno pioneer, who has died aged 64, blended funk and electronics with information-age philosophy to create music of huge power and influence Juan Atkins, the originator of techno who died on 31 October, spent his lifetime translating a fascination with the future into sound. He was the oldest of the founding fathers of techno known as the “Belleville Three”, along with his junior high school friends Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May. He was the first of the trio to buy a Korg MS-10 synthesiser, and also taught the others how to DJ on turntables. His work in the duo Cybotron alongs
Katharine Round’s documentary puts cameras in taxis where drivers and fares reflect on the disaster’s impact and talk of crowds of spectres and disappearing passengers In a manner similar to Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car, in which journeying lulls passengers into greater intimacy, this nocturnal taxi odyssey through the tsunami-hit city of Kamaishi on Japan’s east coast clears the road for the subconscious to manifest. Conversations between the drivers and their customers drift back towards the cataclysm of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami with an undertow of grief, loss and absence. But at
Playwright Richard Nelson’s acclaimed Rhinebeck Panorama series returns for another timely look at the fictional Apple family living in a divided America Richard Nelson learned a great lesson, cliched as it is, late in his writing career: the thing you toss off without overthinking can end up being some of your life’s greatest work. In the program notes for We’ll See, the latest in what has become a 12-play series, he admits he used to view the plays as “disposable, because of their being tied to a given time and place”. Every November from 2010–2013, Nelson checked in on the fictional Apple f
From children struggling with their mental health to adults worried about AI, many of us feel neglected and ignored by politicians. How would Keir Starmer’s former director of policy fix that?
Bodybuilding slang referring to making someone else look inferior beat entries concerning AI and climate crisis Mogging – meaning to outperform or outshine someone or something – has been named Collins’s word of the year 2026. Announcing the winner in an article for Collins, the copywriter Rachel Quin said the term describes making someone or something look inferior in terms of appearance, confidence or status. Friendslop A term adopted by gamers to describe low-budget, multiplayer indie titles focused on social fun over high-end graphics. Fricy A portmanteau of “fruity” and “spicy”, reflectin
This year’s festive special looks forward to the time when chatbots reign supreme and humans prepare to be stamped out for ever. What a treat! John Lewis Christmas ad stars Kristin Scott Thomas as glamorous granny on a gift hunt The John Lewis Christmas advert no longer lands with the same thud as old. Once it prompted full media saturation and performative crying contests on social media. Now, more often than not, it’s the thing you skip before watching cat videos on YouTube. Nevertheless, its release is still an event, and so here we are again. This year, either by fluke or by design, John L