Calling Out Sexism and Sexual Harassment in the Music Industry
It's a well documented fact that the music industry is traditionally a white male dominated business, where women fill few of the real power positions and often don't achieve salaries on a par with...
View ArticleWhy the Arts Should Embrace Dementia-Friendly Initiatives
Right from Hollywood blockbusters and British television shows to theatre productions and works of art, dementia seems to be attracting more and more interest from people in the arts world. It was a...
View ArticleThe Royal Court Is Making Women Nouns Not Adjectives - Get Used to It
I bet my Year 10 English teacher had no bloody idea what he'd just done when he introduced me to Caryl Churchill. Not personally, I've never met her, but I have walked past her a few times and had...
View ArticleForget the Kardashians, Is Amber Rose Kanye's Most Toxic Relationship Yet?
Did Amber Rose just take revenge porn to the next level as she hit back at Kanye West? Fair enough she hasn't shared explicit photos, but she's shared the most searingly vivid image of her explicit sex...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Helen Dunmore Interview: Secrets, Love and the Cold War
As a depressed and lonely 15-year-old, I bought a copy of Cosmopolitan, and attached to the cover was a novel: Burning Bright, by Helen Dunmore. Except for school set texts, I had never read literary...
View ArticleWe Can Be Heroes
Remember David Bowie but Mark Perryman argues with a purpose A cultural icon passes away and the routine of acres of newsprint, pullout supplements and memorial keepsakes follow in a mediated moment....
View ArticleMonth In Music, JAN16 - Bowie Reigns Supreme
The best album, the best SU bangers and my current jams - time to update yourself in all things music. The start of 2016 was a busy one, sadly it was one filled with mourning. Fresh out of a December...
View ArticleSir Terry Wogan: A Radio Legend and Why
There will be many more personal and articulate tributes written to Sir Terry Wogan than this I am sure. But as a lover of radio, it seems right to explore what made Sir Terry so outstanding as a...
View ArticleMy Night At the CBB Live Eviction
Dreams don't often come true. Last night however, one did; though it was numbed and greyed in the process of actualisation. Last night I attended the Celebrity Big Brother live eviction. A friend had...
View ArticleSpotlight on the Year Ahead in Cinema
How does cinema follow a year like 2015? A year when three of the top 10 biggest films of all time in the UK were released, including two of the top three. It was a year that also saw the release of...
View Article'Yen' at the Royal Court - Why Are We So Squeamish About Britain's Underclass...
Why do we freak out about class so much in this country? Yen, by Anna Jordan, is an utterly extraordinary, fearless, funny and disturbing play about life in poverty in 21st Century Britain. It tells...
View ArticleJennifer Lawrence Made Me Cry
If you're a woman (or man for that matter) in business for yourself, or scrap that, a human on a mission to achieve and improve, then you've got to go and watch Joy at the cinema. Robert De Niro and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Are There So Few Ethnic Minorities Going Into the Film and Arts? And How...
This is a question that has been instigated by the recent furore over the dearth of black representation at the 2016 Oscars with the absence of a single nomination in any category. But this crisis is...
View Article30 Life Lessons From Friends
It has been almost 22 years since Friends came into our lives, and as they prepare for a reunion special (not in the format fans want however), let's lake a look at what we learnt from the most famous...
View ArticleReview: Jane Eyre at Bristol Old Vic/Theatre Royal
It seemed an act of abominable cruelty when, in 1996, an otherwise reputable school in the West of Hertfordshire forced a class of 15 year old boys not only to read, but repeatedly feign enthusiasm for...
View ArticleWalk-In Sessions
I had the first walk-in session last week at the Arts Theatre and it was a hit - if a walk-in session can be a hit. People came in in all sizes; young, old, straight, gay, all nations represented. It's...
View ArticleWar and Peace and Penis
There was a penis on War and Peace this week, and apparently this was a big deal. Before you faint in horror and disgust, let me stress that the penis was neither 'ready to rock & roll' nor in a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
#Sampled at Sadlers Wells. A Diverse Spectacle of the Dance World Buffet
Like so many little girls I was sent to weekend and evening dance classes. Not cos my middle class parents thought it was the norm, but because as the 10-year-old latch-key, only-child of divorced...
View ArticleThe Louis CK Way
No announcement, no campaign, just a note to his email subscribers. That's how Louis CK dropped the premiere of his new web-series, 'Horace and Pete'. Louis CK's mailing list works well for two...
View ArticleWho Wants to Live Forever?
Since my fathers passing I have been blessed to have been shown unending support and compassion from those around me. Not only my friends and family, but complete strangers have taken the time to stop...
View Article