WORTH A LOOK? ****
Southampton 5-piece Welly approach their difficult 2nd album – or is it technically their 3rd? – without fear on this 145-second tale of being rebuffed romantically that feels more New Order than their previous Britpop-inspired efforts.
It’s been quite the year, it’s almost Christmas and what would the festive season be without some recognition of the best of 2026? Over the next 3 months we’ll shortlist five nominees in each of 17 categories for our Oscars, or monstas if you will, of 2026.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
Tracklist: Elusive; Danceteria; The Space Inside; Times Square; Two Of A Kind; The Rainbow Room; In Heaven (When I Dance With You); Decadence Is Hard Work; Crackland; What Is Your Morality?; Losing Yourself; After Hours; Wave To America; Out Come The Freaks
Keyboardist Dave Ball died last October shortly after finishing work on Soft Cell’s final album which sees them perfecting some of the best work of their career while lyrically returning to early 80s New York, a pivotal time for the duo.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHEN?: Wednesday 30 September, opens 8 October and runs through 27 March 2027 RUNTIME: 175 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
Matarazzo from Netflix’s Stranger Things is cast perfectly as Mark the filmmaker chronicling the lives of bohemian friends in the late 80s/early 90s in New York’s East Village in this classic musical revival.
By Carron Stacey, A Humdrum Mum
WHEN?: Saturday 26 September 2026
Ally Pally, we swore we’d never return due to the walk and public transport … obviously we did, because, well PBS!
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHEN?: Monday 28 September, opens 5 October and runs through 21 November 2026 RUNTIME: 135 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
The most interesting thing about the new play Schnapp from Netflix’s Stranger Things has chosen for his stage debut is the dramatic rug pull it executes at the beginning of its 2nd act transforming the audience’s perspective.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: Saturday 26 September, opens 30 September and runs through 19 December 2026 RUNTIME: 210 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
Gillian Anderson gave us the definitive Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Young Vic on a revolving stage a decade ago and here performs a similar trick as Martha.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHEN?: Wednesday 23 September, opens 29 September and runs through 12 December 2026 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
This is the story of John Maynard Keynes, considered one of the most influential economists of the 20th century, who turned his back on a life of homosexuality as part of the Bloomsbury Group and married a Russian ballerina.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: Monday 21 September, runs through 2 January 2027 Lolly Adefope plays Mary from 28 September 2026 RUNTIME: 80 minutes without interval
Monsoon (End Of The Rainbow, Soho Theatre Walthamstow) reprises her Broadway turn in this comic delight and reminds how twistedly funny she can be so rush to see her in this West End hit because her run comes to an end in it all too soon.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
WHEN?: Saturday 19 September (matinee), runs through 31 October 2026 RUNTIME: 145 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
Boxing or playing the violin?
