Sir Terry Pratchett died today ( Read more... )

Scotland has stepped back from the brink.

Thank you.

On Thursday, Scotland voted to put their faith in the union of our countries. I don't care what it costs or how much resistance the Labour party has for a change which will disadvantage it electorally, we must not betray this trust ( Read more... )

Today is the big day. The biggest day ( Read more... )

Just recently there's been a storm in the press about Martin Freeman's Richard III, currently playing in the West End. Specifically Martin Freeman fans have been accused of ruining the West End production for the rest of the audience with their relentless clapping and cheering every time he limps on with hump and withered limb ( Read more... )

I've just come back from seeing Titus Andronicus at Shakespeare's Globe theatre. There was a lot of stabbing. And blood. And a rather unpleasant pie. We had at least two confirmed fainters and several other groundlings had to be helped out by kind people.

If anyone in Ancient Rome is still alive, please raise your hand...

I had a lovely Easter weekend. The one thing that cast a pall was listening to the Classic FM Hall of Fame 2014 - for the non-classical-music-inclined, the Hall of Fame is a countdown of the top 300 classical music works of the year, as voted for by Classic FM listeners. It is broadcast over the four days of the Easter weekend, 12 hours a day, ( Read more... )

Right. 450 bumps. If the past four centuries weren't enough to kill Shakespeare, perhaps these might ( Read more... )

I spent yesterday reading the final Diana Wynne Jones book. Published posthumously and completed seamlessly by Ursula Jones, Diana's sister, The Islands of Chaldea is a mystical tale of a young girl in training to become a wise woman who has to rescue a kidnapped High Prince from behind a seemingly impenetrable barrier, uniting a disparate band of ( Read more... )

I visited the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse for the first time last night. It's the new Jacobean-style theatre, build at Shakespeare's Globe in London, and will mainly be used for concerts and Restoration plays ( Read more... )

Is it just me, or does every single event in the Winter Olympics involve sliding? Sliding down things, up things, along things. The only thing that seems to differ between them all is the outfit ( Read more... )