I saw a boxset review of The Lakes recently – the 1990s Jimmy McGovern drama set in The Lake District. Anyway, it announced John Simm as a major acting talent, which reminded me that I saw him play Hamlet at The Crucible in Sheffield not so long ago. “If any comparisons with...

There’s yet another Damon Albarn project out this month – Kinshasa One Two is a record made in Democratic Republic of Congo for Oxfam in five days. Really enjoying it so far – have a listen underneath. DRC Music – Kinshasa One Two (see http://drcmusic.org ) by DRC...

Saw the trailer for Anonymous the other day, the Roland Emmerich film which recasts the age-old debate about whether Shakespeare actually wrote his famous plays into a political thriller. What’s not in doubt, though, is that despite a million more distractions, the plays remain timeless...

The deadline just passed for Manchester’s Bruntwood Playwriting Prize. But the hopefuls will have to go some to match a previous winner, Mogadishu, by drama teacher, Vivienne Franzmann. “The clever writing helps, but huge praise has to go to this young, energetic cast. Just five...