The critics

Albums of the week: the Rolling Stones, Jack White, Kelela, Bruno Berle

Mick Jagger is as effervescent as ever on the Stones’s thrilling, thuggish 25th album. Plus, one to watch Daisy*

Saturday, 11 July 2026

I puritani – flashes of wit and vocal fireworks light up Bellini’s bel canto

The RBO’s new staging of the English Civil War opera boasts a commanding performance from Lisette Oropesa. Plus, a singularly seaworthy Billy Budd

Saturday, 4 July 2026

Albums of the week: Akusmi, Mary in the Junkyard, Sienna Spiro, Alden Hellmuth

Akusmi returns with a kaleidoscope of sounds from India, Senegal and beyond. Plus, one to watch Naïka

Saturday, 4 July 2026

CBSO/Yamada – a fanfare for 250 years of American independence

Marking the occasion with bursts of brass-fuelled patriotism, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s concert raised questions about classical music in the age of Trump

Saturday, 11 July 2026

Has Love Island finally given us the ick?

Low ratings, careerist contestants and influencer overload have done nothing to boost the show’s appeal, and yet it remains as watchable as ever. Plus, fire-breathers return in House of the Dragon

Friday, 26 June 2026

The Green Table feels more urgent than ever

Kurt Jooss’s 1932 pacifist masterpiece speaks directly to the present moment in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s powerful revival

Saturday, 27 June 2026

In Cambridge, it’s town v gown over rival plans for a college library

Designs for the new Christ’s College building have enraged a residents’ group, but far from being overbearing, the proposed design is thoughtful and imaginative

Sunday, 5 July 2026

Albums of the week: SML, Beth Orton, Alewya, Various Artists

LA quintet SML’s live album of spontaneously generated original material features two long jazz-informed cuts. Plus one to watch Dead Pioneers

Saturday, 27 June 2026

How to make a movie musical

Matthew Warchus’s new stage adaptation of his 2014 film Pride is a theatrical triumph, proving that some stories are better told through song

Saturday, 4 July 2026

The Surge celebrates the unconventional life of Sinéad O’Connor

Performed by a cast with a combined age of more than 500 years, Sonya Tayeh’s bold work pays tribute to the singer’s defiant spirit

Saturday, 4 July 2026

Home listening: Wait Till the Clouds Roll By

Butter Quartet release a vivid collection of works by Haydn and Caroline Shaw. Plus, the pioneering work of Fela Sowande

Sunday, 5 July 2026

The RSC’s Cyrano de Bergerac is a hooter

Adrian Lester is luminous as the big-nosed, silver-tongued protagonist in a staging that could hardly be better expressed

Friday, 10 July 2026

Waldmüller at the National Gallery – the rebel of the great outdoors

A small but charming show captures the adventurous streak the Austrian artist brought to his sunstruck landscapes – but not everyone indulged his freedom to roam

Sunday, 5 July 2026

The Misanthrope for an age of female rage

Sandra Oh is a fiery presence as the hateful hypocrite of Martin Crimp’s gender-swap Molière

Friday, 26 June 2026

Rosebush Pruning is vacant, voguish – and not very thorny

A starry cast can’t make us care about the dysfunctional family in this black comedy from Karim Aïnouz

Friday, 10 July 2026

Tour de France 2026 is not just for cyclists

Part racing simulation, part cycling holiday, this game is designed for glorious escapism

Saturday, 27 June 2026

Wendy Ide’s pick of other films: Supergirl, The Last Viking, The Furious and more

Milly Alcock’s messy heroine is let down by an even messier script in the latest DC universe instalment

Friday, 26 June 2026

Frida: The Making of an Icon sells a great artist short

Complete with knick-nacks, shrines, and bad tribute acts, what is missing from Tate Modern’s woeful show is Kahlo’s own work

Wednesday, 24 June 2026

The Burnham blueprint: is the Manchester model all it’s talked up to be?

As mayor of a regenerated city of skyscrapers, Andy Burnham has been caught between winning outside investment and providing for local communities. What does his ‘place first’ motto signal for Britain?

Thursday, 9 July 2026

Elle – the jury’s out on the Legally Blonde prequel

This peppy series about the making of an icon is a perfectly functional, nostalgia-heavy IP grab. Plus, The Bear hangs up its apron

Friday, 3 July 2026

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