Michael Billington
The death of Theatre Criticism
The great critics always began before they were forty. Who are their equivalents today?
“Between you and me…”
Our theatre gossip columnist spills the beans on his fellow actors
Most Read
American strategy in Iran is wiser than it seems
President Trump’s intervention will leave the world safer than it was
The lonely death of Henry Nowak
We must draw lessons from a horrendous and disgraceful case
Rewatching the English
English identity has become too surreal and discomfiting to define
Saint Nicola
Nicola Sturgeon wants sympathy for her husband’s crimes—but after years spent avoiding awkward questions, her latest reinvention may be the hardest sell yet.
A failed war on fags
The black market has taken over the tobacco trade Down Under
Jorge Luis Borges
A giant of Spanish letters who was forged by childhood exposure to his father’s vast English library
Offence archaeology and the future of elections
We have to ignore the cheap and disingenuous politics of offence archaeology
Saint Sánchez?
How the Spanish Left uses the Right to hold power
Amazing Grace? Meh, it was OK
If there is a reason to see this play, it is Ralph Fiennes
An anti-gambling bonanza
Don’t expect a lot of objective and thorough research from a new “gambling harms” organisation
When imitation is more then just flattery
An informative and entertaining history of plagiarism in its many forms
Mass hysteria
Sancta, Flanders Opera, Antwerp
An unpleasant man, and a genius
The most interesting people are not necessarily the most attractive
We need to make a better case against Magic Monetary Theory
Simplistic rebuttals help MMT endure. We need better arguments
Signs of life
Wales finally offered proof they aren’t destined to decline
Asset-stripping on campus?
Selling universities to private companies risks destroying their charitable purpose