RUTH AYLETT recommends two anthologies: one that bears witness to refugee and immigrant experiences, and the other to our political relationship to water
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JAMES WALSH takes the temperature of a middle-aged comedy format
SETH SANDRONSKY appreciates a fresh take on a 100-year-old novel that helps to contextualise the current moment of conspicuous wealth, waste and climate chaos
A no-nonsense ex-Garda female cop, Scandi-noir’s newest flawed hero, the lure of Aussie gold, and unexpected decency in Silicon valley
JAN WOOLF doubts that soft-core musical is the best way to transmit an important story of heroism and resistance
Reviews of Ella Fitzgerald, My Morning Jacket, and Toria Wooff
GORDON PARSONS admires a version of Marlowe’s grim tragedy that strips it down to its gay essentials
When Cassy’s father fails to connect with his daughter — and misses out on
an evening in the Bitter End — a stranger’s self-mocking charm brings seething resentment.
Paul Merton and Suki Webster’s Improv Show
Comedy Store, London
THE Comedy Store is showing its age. The logo is very ’80s, as are much of its regular clientele. Most are here to see Paul Merton, him off the telly, who has been doing improv for longer than your correspondent can literally remember.
But here, on a Wednesday, Merton is branching out without (Richard) Vranch and co, and is performing alongside fellow improv legend Suki Webster and a revolving cast of younger improvisation specialists, who have millions of TikTok views but not as many homes in Suffolk.
This feels like Webster’s show. She hosts and comperes, while Merton lurks amiably in the background during the changeovers. The show is in the short form “game” format, one considered a bit basic bitch by long-form aficionados, but perfect for a Wednesday early evening crowd who are already on their second bottle of wine.
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ANGUS REID applauds the inventive stagecraft with which the Lyceum serve up Stevenson’s classic, but misses the deeper themes