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Kimberly Akimbo review – hilarious musical about a sexagenarian teen is one for the ages

Hampstead theatre, London Maria Friedman plays a 15-year-old with a rare ageing condition in a heartfelt and funny show that manages to sustain its sweetness It’s a bizarre concept for a musical: a girl with a rare condition that causes her to age four times faster than her peers, in a family so dysfunctional that she’s the normal one. Meanwhile, the musical highlights are songs about cheque fraud and scurvy. And yet, somehow, through all this artifice and elaborate setup comes a show so sincerely heartfelt, one that is genuine, hilarious and utterly endearing. Kimberly Akimbo started out as a play, in 2001, by Pulitzer prize-winner David Lindsay-Abaire, adapted into a musical with composer Jeanine Tesori (Shrek, Fun Home, Caroline, or Change) in 2021. It was lauded on Broadway, where audiences fell for its feels and kooky charm and it won five Tony awards . Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Lyndsey Winship10 Sept

Alex Winter: ‘Michael Winner was the most erudite sociopath I’ve ever met’

The Bill & Ted actor answers your questions about working with Keanu Reeves, whether there will be a fourth instalment and nights out in Brixton with the Death Wish director You were born in London but grew up in America . When do you feel most British? DonarudoToranpu The UK is still my second home. I’ve worked there a lot as an adult. When I’m back in London, I like walking on Hampstead Heath, so I would say that’s where I feel most at home. Having played Marko in The Lost Boys and then John Polidori in Haunted Summer , have you been tempted to take on another vampire-related role? And was getting staked to death while you were sleeping a bit of a disappointing end for Marko – what would have been your preferred way of going out in style? Death by stereo, perhaps? Finbarre and MoreorLesPaul I’d love to do another vampire movie. I love those characters. They’re interesting and great fun to play. There are some really good vampire movies – I’m grateful I was in one that has, for some reason that none of us can figure out, really stood the test of time. And I love Marko’s death. As an actor, the first time you get staked is the most memorable. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•As told to Rich Pelley10 Sept

Nick Mohammed takes Claudia Winkleman’s role in stage version of The Traitors

Finalist in 2025’s inaugural celebrity iteration will be the host of several variants, which will see different characters banished, murdered and victorious In another twist for the intrigue-cloaked world of The Traitors, Nick Mohammed is to star in the new West End play based on the ridiculously gripping TV series. Mohammed, a finalist in the BBC’s first series of The Celebrity Traitors last year, will now play the host of the show, effectively taking over the role of Claudia Winkleman for the stage version. There are several different variants of the play, written by John Finnemore and directed by Robert Hastie, so audiences over the course of its run will see different outcomes as characters are banished, “murdered” and exposed as faithful or treacherous in the fierce competition to win a cash prize. The Traitors – Acts of Betrayal begins performances at the Gillian Lynne theatre in London in May. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Chris Wiegand Stage editor10 Sept

for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf review – ‘choreopoem’ of sisterhood

Yard theatre, London Starkly staged panorama of Black female experience rushes through its scenes but is delivered with feeling by terrific cast It has been 50 years since this “choreopoem” by Ntozake Shange premiered on Broadway and brought the emotions and experiences of Black women to the stage. And yet, until now – in this production directed by Diane Page for the Yard theatre’s reopening – it has never received a major London run. Collectively, the poems form a rich panorama: tales of domestic abuse bound up in a threatening marriage proposal; infidelity that brings a devastating HIV diagnosis; and an eight-year-old girl who is inspired by the Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture. In so many ways, they could have been written yesterday. Journeying between US cities including Chicago, St Louis, New York and San Francisco, seven brightly coloured “Ladies” – played by five actors here – cry out their stories, ready to be heard. Shange’s lyrical writing mixes their pain with surges of joy, as each woman takes her turn in the spotlight while the others watch on in witness and support. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Anya Ryan10 Sept

Glencore’s former head of oil pleads not guilty to bribery charges

Billionaire Alex Beard and his former deputy appear in London court over alleged payments to African officials Glencore’s billionaire former head of oil trading has pleaded ⁠not guilty ⁠to ​two bribery charges after allegedly facilitating payments to west African officials in order to advance the Swiss commodity group’s operations ⁠in the continent. Alex Beard, 59, denied two counts of conspiracy to make ⁠corrupt payments at Southwark crown court in London on Thursday, in a case brought by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Simon Goodley10 Sept

The Tubs: Hard Life review | Alexis Petridis's album of the week

(Merge) Britain’s best indie-rockers hold fast to their defiantly old-school sound, slipping wry sideways looks at despair in among hooky melodies that always sound like a good time On a track called Heaven or London from the Tubs’ third album, the quartet’s frontman, Owen Williams, offers a blunt self-assessment. He is, he suggests, “the singer of a rip-off band”, engaged in “wanking himself into an early grave”. It’s a strange thing to say given that the Tubs have recently become a critical cause célèbre. Their last album, Cotton Crown , was a regular fixture in best of 2025 lists. They have been unexpectedly clasped to the bosom of the heritage rock press and had a profile in the New Yorker, which called them a “British jangle-rock band, with a cheeky dirtbag edge”. That they’ve achieved this not by pandering to the dictates of musical fashion but by ploughing their own furrow makes it even more impressive. Much has been made of Williams’s vocal resemblance to folk-rock legend Richard Thompson, and you can understand why. But what the Tubs really sound like is old-school, pre-Madchester indie rock. Distorted guitars do battle with trebly acoustic or 12-string guitar, the punky heft and wistful melodies evocative of Hüsker Dü or the Replacements in their poppier, post-hardcore years. You could also throw pre-stadium REM into the mix: the most plangent of the lead guitar lines on Hard Life have a ring of Peter Buck about them, such as the lovely figures that spin around If You Don’t Love Me, and the arpeggio that drives In Your Place along for five and half minutes. The album comes liberally decorated with violin, which recalls Amanda Brown’s contributions to the Go-Betweens’ late-80s albums. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Alexis Petridis10 Sept

Todd Rundgren review – try-anything veteran doesn’t let his freak flag fully fly

Cadogan Hall, London The 78-year-old has astonishing range but gets bogged down in middling rock, though later delivers some gorgeous acoustic songs – and a slinky Marvin Gaye cover Todd Rundgren is a confusing man. After his tune-packed 1972 album Something/Anything? drew comparisons to Carole King and Brian Wilson, he took a pharmacopoeia of psychedelics and made a vexing masterpiece, A Wizard, a True Star, with no singles at all. He’s produced classic albums by Meat Loaf and the New York Dolls but he’s also released a record of nothing but vocals (A Cappella) and the world’s first interactive album (No World Order). Counting only the artists who appeared on his last two albums, his fans include Trent Reznor, Robyn and the Lemon Twigs. He called his memoir The Individualist. Rundgren certainly looks the part. With his Addams Family hair, tinted goggles and limber dance moves, he could be a goth raver. Everything he says sounds teasingly sarcastic, even when he’s thanking the audience for spending their “discretionary income” on a ticket. He says the curfew means he can’t tell stories about the songs but it would have been worth sacrificing a couple of his two-hour show’s stodgier numbers to hear them. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Dorian Lynskey10 Sept

‘That’s how it started’: Dambrauskas’ journey from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire to Champions League

Valdas Dambrauskas takes Sabah to Manchester United after journeying from Lithuania and a game show win, via London pub work Valdas Dambrauskas can reel off the questions and answers without a moment’s pause. Who won the first Academy Award for best actor in 1929? It was Emil Jannings, even if someone else might have been tempted to go with Charlie Chaplin. Which country publishes the highest number of daily newspapers? India was the clear winner. Can you name the nation that produces the most electricity per capita in the world? His family, watching back home, clasped heads in hands but he was right: back then, in 2002, the answer was his native Lithuania. It was enough to win Dambrauskas about £725 in his appearance on Six Zeros – A Million, the Lithuanian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? “At that time it was quite big money,” he says. “I could have bought a flat in my home town; it was a very difficult period there and they were almost free. But my plan was to go to England and follow my dream to become a coach, and that’s how it started.” Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Nick Ames10 Sept

Football Daily | Troy Parrott enjoys a big week after taking the scenic route to success

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! There are, you suspect, quite a few folk with links to the London postcode of N17 who would be thoroughly grateful if Troy Parrott could stop popping up to score winning goals for a bit. The Republic of Ireland striker has barely unpacked his bags at Real Betis, yet he’s already ruined the afternoon of his former manager at Tottenham, pouncing to sink José Mourinho’s Real Madrid . Four days later? He made headlines again on his Bigger Cup debut at Lille . Two games, two goals, two match-winners. Not entirely shabby for a lad who was once given the classic Mourinho treatment and declared “not ready”. Mourinho, as ever, remains a central character in this particular soap opera. It was the Special One who handed a teenage Parrott his Premier League debut in December 2019, throwing him on during a 5-0 win over Burnley . It was also Mourinho who promptly decided the youngster needed a fair bit longer in the oven. Re: Ken Muir’s letter ( yesterday’s Football Daily letters ) and mention of Arbroath’s famous 36-0 victory over Bon Accord in 1885. On the same day, in the same competition and just 18 miles away, Dundee Harp defeated Aberdeen Rovers 35-0. Arbroath and Harp were rivals and after the final whistle, officials from Harp sent a telegram to Arbroath simply containing the result of their match and then retired to a pub to celebrate their world record. Later that evening, a reply was received which read ‘Arbroath 36-0 Bon Accord’. Both sides thought the other was winding them up. The results were not a surprise. Rovers and Bon Accord were both playing only their third official fixtures. Bon Accord arrived for their match with nine players and no goalkeeper, so played an outfield player in goal and two spectators made up their XI. The Aberdeen Weekly News reported that Arbroath’s keeper ‘neither touched the ball with hand or foot … but remained under the friendly shelter of an umbrella the whole time’. Arbroath also had seven goals disallowed. Unsurprisingly, the qualification rules for the Scottish Cup were changed for the following season” – Jamie Gaukroger. Call me one of those bluffers and chancers with ‘ fantastic theories and philosophies ’ if you will but, after sitting through the chaotic mess that was Real Madrid v Inter in Bigger Cup, two things spring to mind. Firstly, if Madrid has had an obvious gap of no central midfielder who can control the momentum and flow of the game for over two seasons, since Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, why ignore it yet again but spend £115m on yet another left-sided attacker ? Secondly, even if you don’t have one, never mind two of those types of players, once you go 2-0 up in the 23rd minute against a team at home, can’t you just kick the ball five-10 yards to a teammate consistently, keep possession and tire the opposition out? As the late, great Johan Cruyff used to say: ‘As long as we’ve got the ball, they’re never going to score’” – Noble Francis. OK, Mike Wilner (Monday’s letters), I’ll bite. ‘What isn’t what it is?’ Football Daily is not a humorous teatime newsletter. ‘What has a club not won what it won?’ Senegal did not win Afcon. ‘When does a team not lose what it’s lost?’ USA USA USA ... did not lose Folarin Balogun against Belgium in the GWC. Is there a plausible weeklong riff here? Oh, yes. Yes there is. There most certainly is” – Chi. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Yara El-Shaboury9 Sept

Football Daily | Troy Parrott enjoys a big week after taking the scenic route to success

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! There are, you suspect, quite a few folk with links to the London postcode of N17 who would be thoroughly grateful if Troy Parrott could stop popping up to score winning goals for a bit. The Republic of Ireland striker has barely unpacked his bags at Real Betis, yet he’s already ruined the afternoon of his former manager at Tottenham, pouncing to sink José Mourinho’s Real Madrid . Four days later? He made headlines again on his Bigger Cup debut at Lille . Two games, two goals, two match-winners. Not entirely shabby for a lad who was once given the classic Mourinho treatment and declared “not ready”. Mourinho, as ever, remains a central character in this particular soap opera. It was the Special One who handed a teenage Parrott his Premier League debut in December 2019, throwing him on during a 5-0 win over Burnley . It was also Mourinho who promptly decided the youngster needed a fair bit longer in the oven. Re: Ken Muir’s letter ( yesterday’s Football Daily letters ) and mention of Arbroath’s famous 36-0 victory over Bon Accord in 1885. On the same day, in the same competition and just 18 miles away, Dundee Harp defeated Aberdeen Rovers 35-0. Arbroath and Harp were rivals and after the final whistle, officials from Harp sent a telegram to Arbroath simply containing the result of their match and then retired to a pub to celebrate their world record. Later that evening, a reply was received which read ‘Arbroath 36-0 Bon Accord’. Both sides thought the other was winding them up. The results were not a surprise. Rovers and Bon Accord were both playing only their third official fixtures. Bon Accord arrived for their match with nine players and no goalkeeper, so played an outfield player in goal and two spectators made up their XI. The Aberdeen Weekly News reported that Arbroath’s keeper ‘neither touched the ball with hand or foot … but remained under the friendly shelter of an umbrella the whole time’. Arbroath also had seven goals disallowed. Unsurprisingly, the qualification rules for the Scottish Cup were changed for the following season” – Jamie Gaukroger. Call me one of those bluffers and chancers with ‘ fantastic theories and philosophies ’ if you will but, after sitting through the chaotic mess that was Real Madrid v Inter in Bigger Cup, two things spring to mind. Firstly, if Madrid has had an obvious gap of no central midfielder who can control the momentum and flow of the game for over two seasons, since Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, why ignore it yet again but spend £115m on yet another left-sided attacker ? Secondly, even if you don’t have one, never mind two of those types of players, once you go 2-0 up in the 23rd minute against a team at home, can’t you just kick the ball five-10 yards to a teammate consistently, keep possession and tire the opposition out? As the late, great Johan Cruyff used to say: ‘As long as we’ve got the ball, they’re never going to score’” – Noble Francis. OK, Mike Wilner (Monday’s letters), I’ll bite. ‘What isn’t what it is?’ Football Daily is not a humorous teatime newsletter. ‘What has a club not won what it won?’ Senegal did not win Afcon. ‘When does a team not lose what it’s lost?’ USA USA USA ... did not lose Folarin Balogun against Belgium in the GWC. Is there a plausible weeklong riff here? Oh, yes. Yes there is. There most certainly is” – Chi. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Yara El-Shaboury9 Sept

Jane Eyre: A Musical review – more Disney romance than Victorian gothic

Southwark Playhouse Elephant, London This production has a talented cast and looks the part, but the characterisation is thin and the songs are often cloying Much like Emerald Fennell’s film of Wuthering Heights , this musical version of another Brontë sister’s literary masterpiece is lovely to look at. Designer Morgan Large’s monochrome palette fashions the women in black corseted dresses with attractive ruffles and delicate mesh detailing. Behind them on a screen, a mist appears to roll over sketches of moorland, graves and barren trees. It’s winningly atmospheric. But also like Fennell’s film, there’s too little beneath the frills in an adaptation (music and lyrics by Paul Gordon, book and additional lyrics by John Caird) that struggles to tap into the substance of Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel. Though smart-mouthed and bolshie as a child (played commendably on press night by Emily-Rose Samuel), there’s scant sense of a strong-willed, independent thinker in Charlie Burn’s adult Jane, who under Caird and Megan McGinnis’s direction is as pure and polite as a fairytale princess. Nor is there anything dark or dangerous about Ashley Gilmour’s courteous, too-charming Rochester. At Southwark Playhouse Elephant, London , until 24 October Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Holly O'Mahony9 Sept

The Gate theatre’s creative daring gave a tiny stage international scope | Michael Billington

For five decades, this enterprising venue – which is now shutting up shop – broadened the horizons of British theatre London’s Gate theatre, not to be confused with its Dublin namesake, is no more . A combination of factors, including rising costs, declining funding and its move in 2022 from its original home in Notting Hill Gate, means that it will cease trading next month. But it is worth celebrating its achievement over five decades. It has been an astonishing nursery of talent and has always stood for a defiant internationalism. “I sometimes think,” I once wrote, “that one learns more about world drama at the Gate than at any other London theatre.” That was the dream of its founder, Lou Stein, who in 1979 took a tiny room over the Prince Albert pub and turned it into a 56-seat theatre that kicked off with Flann O’Brien’s At Swim-Two-Birds. You climbed the pub’s well-worn stairs and found yourself in a space that embraced the world. Not only that. In 1982 Stein launched an offshoot above another pub, the Latchmere in Battersea, where I still recall Susannah York as the Amazonian protagonist of Kleist’s Penthesilea. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Michael Billington9 Sept

You’re So Special review – painfully funny tragedy of a stardom seeker

Soho theatre, London A dance teacher for toddlers dreams of bigger things in Julia Grogan’s frantic one-woman show The mind of a performer, hungry for her big break, is cracked open in Julia Grogan’s one-woman follow-up to her drama Playfight. At first, her dream is in motion: Miss June (played by Grogan) is on a chat show, giving breezy answers about her Oscar nominations and being recognised by monks in Holland & Barrett. And then, with one question from the audience – “Any advice for people who want to be something?” – the stage warps back to reality. Actually, Miss June is a baby ballet teacher, with a class of toddlers ready to be taught turnouts and pliés. But all her lusting after Daisy Edgar-Jones’s life may have paid off. Miss June has been offered a spot on a TV show, and you can bet she’s told everyone in the town she grew up in – where she still lives – about her good fortune. At Soho theatre, London , until 26 September Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Anya Ryan9 Sept

UK airport disruption: what are your rights if you have been affected?

The software failure that affected the air traffic control system on Tuesday has been resolved, but disruption continues into Wednesday Nats boss summoned by UK transport secretary as flight chaos enters second day How have you been affected by UK air traffic disruption? Airports across the UK including Manchester, Birmingham and all those in London were thrown into chaos by a technical failure in the air traffic control system on Tuesday. Although the air traffic control provider Nats fixed the problem within hours, the fallout continued to cause flight delays and cancellations on Wednesday. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Zoe Wood and Rupert Jones9 Sept