Reaction Contributor
Friday, 5 July 2019
Part of poetry’s magic lies in it being a time capsule, with simple lines on a page, “a fragile chariot” according …
Continue reading "Dead Poets Live: Poetry should be read aloud"
By Alex Colville
Saturday, 29 June 2019
London theatre is currently working out how best to portray Trump and Brexit. The approach varies. Some productions are top-down, …
Continue reading "Europe at the Donmar – the best play about Brexit is from 1994"
By Alex Colville
Friday, 21 June 2019
In 1974, Lee Krasner, an outstanding force in abstract expressionism, but generally known as “Mrs Jackson Pollock”, began tearing up …
Continue reading "How to be modern – Lee Krasner at the Barbican"
By Alex Colville
Friday, 14 June 2019
You may be forgiven if JR Ackerley doesn’t ring many bells. He was literary editor of The Listener, the great …
Continue reading "Lost Classic: My Father and Myself, by J.R. Ackerley"
By Alex Colville
Friday, 31 May 2019
If you believe in first impressions, the Barbican’s AI: More Than Human is disappointing. Start with MakrShakr, the robot bartender …
Continue reading "Can robots create great art?"
By Alex Colville
Friday, 24 May 2019
The Queen sat in the dark staring at an ultra-violet crucifix, the air awash with the incense of a Soho …
Continue reading "The Queen at rest"
By Alex Colville
Friday, 17 May 2019
Scandinavia is internationally renowned for its literary heritage. Ibsen and Strindberg are well-known to the popular imagination, as are Kierkegaard …
Continue reading "Whatever happened to Scandinavian art?"
By Alex Colville
Friday, 10 May 2019
In the popular imagination, the 18th century is when Britain began being great. After emerging, battered and bruised, from the …
Continue reading "European immigrants made 18th century London the capital of the world"
By Alex Colville
