A cultural 'click fix' for the cognoscenti - from theatre to fine art, architecture to literature
Ernest Hemingway - home and museum - Florida
Ernest Hemingway seems to haunt every part of laid-back Key West. Here, at the literal end of the road, everyone has a story about him. Even the descendents of his own polydactyl cat.
Netherlands City of Delft
Delft is an hour's train ride southwest of Amsterdam. I chose the trip because I wanted to see more of the Netherlands countryside as well as learn more about Delft's famous blue and white pottery.
Best of the Best - Art Galleries
In any city in the world that you choose to visit, you will be sure to find at least one art gallery. However, some of them are so well-known, that people will literally travel the world to find them. These most famous galleries house the great masterpieces of the world.
Talking the talk - Spanish style
Normally, on a long-distance bus or coach ride, I go to sleep. But, on this one, heading for the Gredos mountains, in western Spain, I couldn't. 'Talk to the Spaniards' was the order of the day, and I was going to spend ten hours a day, for the next five days, doing just that.
In Praise of Saint Sara
"Vive Sainte Sara. Vive Sainte Sara. Priez pour nous (Pray for us)" they chant in sing-song unison as they march behind a tiny statue surrounded by cowboys riding white horses. In between the chants, they sing sacred songs as they make their way through crowded narrow streets to the sea.
A Christmas Carol | Theatre review
Sherman Cymru, CardiffThe Sherman's festive shows are always a treat, but Gary Owen's new version of A Christmas Carol is an impressive adaptation for our times. Best of all, the modern touches – references to MPs' expenses, hedge funds and the war in Afghanistan – are subtly done in a production that streamlines and updates the original for a younger audience while keeping its moral core intact.This is a rousing family show, with belly laughs and cheering songs, yet it also presents the dark side of Dickens's tale with tremendous boldness. The depiction of Christmas Future, in which feral children terrorise a house-bound Scrooge, is bleak enough to make us all want to mend our ways.Owen doesn't linger over evidence of Scrooge's miserly, wicked behaviour, opting instead to focus on what brutalised him. The workhouse, a terrifying black mill in Patrick Burnier's stark design, is always quite literally in the background. Director Amy Hodge has, in Mark Frost, opted for a younger Scrooge and this works: he is portrayed as a single-minded, workaholic entrepreneur, the kind who makes the decisions on Dragons' Den.The ghosts are a mix of spectral forms and beasts, from sci-fi nightmares to Simon Nehan's majestically camp performance as Christmas Present, who was played somewhere between an annoying Big Brother contestant and a drag version of Gavin and Stacey's Nessa. There are lots of contemporary references and echoes – the interval is playfully handled like the dramatic hook at the end of a soap opera – but the production, which is boisterous and thoughtful in equal measure, retains a Victorian sternness. Some adaptations ditch this, and others are hemmed in by it; this hugely likable show is confident enough to work with that, and meld it with our world.Rating: 4/5TheatreCharles DickensChristmasElisabeth Mahoneyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Win tickets to a Soulmates screening
Win tickets to a Soulmates (500) Days of Summer screening
And that's a wrap...
The Guardian Unlimited Music team is home or on its way home. For a round-up of the weekend, visit our Glastonbury special report. For all the reviews from this weekend - the Who and the Kaiser Chiefs have been added, with more to come - click here. And for all the music blog posts - new ones by Jack Penate and the Rakes have been added - visit the music blog.Oh, and here's editor Alan Rusbridger's Flickr set of the National Youth Orchestra. Everyone pitches in during Glastonbury here.GlastonburyGlastonbury 2007Festivalsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Mark Ronson: awesome
So saith Betty Clarke in her review.GlastonburyGlastonbury 2007Festivalsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Sherman Cymru, CardiffThe Sherman's festive shows are always a treat, but Gary Owen's new version of A Christmas Carol is an impressive adaptation for our times. Best of all, the modern touches – references to MPs' expenses, hedge funds and the war in Afghanistan – are subtly done in a production that streamlines and updates the original for a younger audience while keeping its moral core intact.This is a rousing family show, with belly laughs and cheering songs, yet it also presents the dark side of Dickens's tale with tremendous boldness. The depiction of Christmas Future, in which feral children terrorise a house-bound Scrooge, is bleak enough to make us all want to mend our ways.Owen doesn't linger over evidence of Scrooge's miserly, wicked behaviour, opting instead to focus on what brutalised him. The workhouse, a terrifying black mill in Patrick Burnier's stark design, is always quite literally in the background. Director Amy Hodge has, in Mark Frost, opted for a younger Scrooge and this works: he is portrayed as a single-minded, workaholic entrepreneur, the kind who makes the decisions on Dragons' Den.The ghosts are a mix of spectral forms and beasts, from sci-fi nightmares to Simon Nehan's majestically camp performance as Christmas Present, who was played somewhere between an annoying Big Brother contestant and a drag version of Gavin and Stacey's Nessa. There are lots of contemporary references and echoes – the interval is playfully handled like the dramatic hook at the end of a soap opera – but the production, which is boisterous and thoughtful in equal measure, retains a Victorian sternness. Some adaptations ditch this, and others are hemmed in by it; this hugely likable show is confident enough to work with that, and meld it with our world.Rating: 4/5TheatreCharles DickensChristmasElisabeth Mahoneyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Win tickets to a Soulmates screening
Win tickets to a Soulmates (500) Days of Summer screening
And that's a wrap...
The Guardian Unlimited Music team is home or on its way home. For a round-up of the weekend, visit our Glastonbury special report. For all the reviews from this weekend - the Who and the Kaiser Chiefs have been added, with more to come - click here. And for all the music blog posts - new ones by Jack Penate and the Rakes have been added - visit the music blog.Oh, and here's editor Alan Rusbridger's Flickr set of the National Youth Orchestra. Everyone pitches in during Glastonbury here.GlastonburyGlastonbury 2007Festivalsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Mark Ronson: awesome
So saith Betty Clarke in her review.GlastonburyGlastonbury 2007Festivalsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
