Gresham Palace: The Grandest Budapest Hotel
It is night in Budapest. Wrapped in my bathrobe I gaze out over the Danube…
Author Tom Garton
King Charles III
Occasionally, in my idler moments, I’m inclined to lament the state of British literature. Playwriting,…
Other Desert Cities
As anyone who has watched their fair share of the saccharine muck that Hollywood churns…
Think Outside the Box: Northern Ireland
Belfast and Derry are not famed as tourist hotspots. Yet both offer as much culture, history and beauty as you can find in any of those cities, if not more.
Spymonkey’s Cooped
It was 10.25 on a Wednesday evening in the Leicester Square theatre, when three men…
In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play
“Sex sells – which is presumably why Channel 4 commissioners and London theatre producers are serving up countless salacious offerings for our wanton delectation.”
Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage
“Nunn’s new production of Scenes from a Marriage packs a punch. A really hard punch. So hard was the punch that it packed, I had to have a stiff drink afterwards just to calm my nerves.”
A Slow Summer in Gstaad
“I’m on a stiflingly muggy tube in mid-July. Ever the contrarian I am heading for Gstaad in the Swiss Alps…” Tom Garton seeks solace in Switzerland…
Chimerica
“The standing ovation at the Harold Pinter Theatre on Friday night said it all. Lucy Kirkwood’s new play…is phenomenal.” Tom Garton reviews Chimerica…
The Same Deep Water as Me
‘It’s definitely not Shakespeare’. That was how one audience member summed up Nick Payne’s new play during the interval on Wednesday night. But what did they mean?
Twelfth Night at Hampstead Theatre
“For some, the “comedy” in Shakespeare’s comedies often seems arcane. Either it’s wrapped up in linguistic mystery or it relies too heavily on puerility.”
Death in Venice at the ENO
“The current revival of Death in Venice at the ENO is a beautiful portrayal of this haunting opera. Deborah Warner’s direction is particularly stunning.”