Trainspotting the Musical: A bad, bad trip down memory lane Life&Style Trainspotting the Musical | Theatre Royal Haymarket | ★☆☆☆☆ I was 13 when Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting adaptation was released – I’d never seen anything like it and it became a seminal text of my teenage years. Two decades later, I luxuriated in the condensed hit of nostalgia of the 2017 sequel. I’ve read the books: [...]
Is ABBA Voyage suitable for children? You bet it is! Life&Style It’s one of those questions that follows a person for a lifetime: what was your first gig? The Spice Girls at Wembley, since you asked – a fact at which I cringed during my goth phase but of which I am now proud. A young person’s first experience of live music is a defining moment [...]
Why Guildhall Art Gallery and Roman Amphitheatre deserves a Toast Award Toast the City What major London gallery contains the second largest oil painting in the country, pre-Raphaelite masterpieces, mystery paintings, biting political art and an ancient Roman building in the basement? This is The Guildhall Art Gallery, the City’s hidden gem, designed to be “a Collection of Art Treasures worthy of the capital city” when it was built [...]
Glengarry Glen Ross at the Old Vic fails to close June 22, 2026 Glengarry Glen Ross | Old Vic | ★★☆☆☆ David Mamet’s transformation from perhaps the most original and insightful American playwright of the late 20th century to a flag-waving, MAGA-supporting, anti-woke motormouth is… troubling. As a Mamet-head, this must be what it’s like for Trump supporters trying to enjoy 90 per cent of popular culture. It’s [...]
Bowls Club is the City’s most eccentric (and brilliant) pop-up June 17, 2026 The Bowls Club in Finsbury Square is the City’s eccentric pop up that makes you feel like you’re anywhere but London. If you love it, why not nominate it for our Toast the City awards – find out how here! Two formidably dressed judges – some poshos from the King’s Road – are engaging in [...]
War Horse gallops triumphantly back to the National Theatre June 3, 2026 War Horse | National Theatre (Olivier) | ★★★★☆ This month has seen the revival of two classic equine plays, one about a young lad who is in love with a horse in a good way (War Horse) and one about a young lad who is in love with a horse in a very, very bad [...]
Krapp’s Last Tape sees Gary Oldman at his most captivating May 14, 2026 Krapp’s Last Tape | ★★★★★ | Royal Court As you watch Gary Oldman’s ageing Krapp slowly, methodically eat a banana, and then slowly, methodically eat a second banana, the silence – or rather the lack of silence – is deafening. Every sound in the theatre is amplified: audience members shifting in the Royal Court’s leather [...]
Tracey Emin at the Tate Modern review – raw, real and radical February 25, 2026 Tracey Emin: A Second Life | Tate Modern | ★★★★☆ When Damien Hirst’s major retrospective rolled into the Tate Modern all the way back in 2012, it came with a sense of celebration. The multi-millionnaire artist who put British art back on the map had returned with a willy-waving exhibition of his greatest hits. The [...]
Chiharu Shiota and Yin Xiuzhen at the Hayward Gallery February 18, 2026 As you walk into one gallery in this new exhibition, a thick weave of string forms a kind of nightmare spiders’ web around a dozen institutional-looking beds. Once a month, these will be occupied by volunteers, bringing an element of performance to Chiharu Shiota’s installation. There’s a sense of child-like wonder as you navigate narrow [...]