The Critics
Wagner, restless provocateur
Wagner’s sexual ambiguity spoke to Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley and Thomas Mann, says Norman Lebrecht
Latex memories
Spitting Image (BritBox)
Who will be the next National Treasure?
After Dame Judi Dench’s resignation as a “national treasure”, Romeo Coates considers the runners and riders for the role
Why I “took the knee”
Following a brief loss of balance in a London watering hole I ‘took the knee’ – but that doesn’t detract from the symbolism
Waiting for – anything
Krapp’s last tape might these days be a collection of WhatsApps and stored Instagram images, muses Anne McElvoy
A trauma that never ends
Adam LeBor commends the BBC’s latest documentary on the Iraq war
Commoner with the divine touch
Raphael, as dedicated a lover as he was a painter, died at 37 at the height of his powers and fame, illustrates Michael Prodger
Rats desert a thriving ship
The space for criticism to exist grows smaller and the archways that sustained its presence crumble away, laments Sarah Ditum
Women directors screened out
Christopher Silvester on Mark Cousins’s latest documentary
A grim chorus of philistines
Rishi’s £1.57 Billion handout to the arts sector is the last good news it’ll ever hear, says Robert Thicknesse