THEATRE REVIEW Oh Mary! starring Jinx Monsoon at Trafalgar Theatre

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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.

  • Read on for reasons including how you won’t ever have laughed so often in its 80 short fun-filled minutes
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THEATRE REVIEW Golden Boy starring Josh O’Connor at Almeida Theatre

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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?

  • Read on for reasons including how to see this on NT Live if not at the sold-out Almeida
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THEATRE REVIEW: TRU starring Jesse Tyler Ferguson at the Menier Chocolate Factory

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 19 September, opens 27 September and runs through 14 November 2026 RUNTIME: 85 minutes (no interval)

You join us in the New York apartment belonging to writer Truman Capote at Christmas in 1975 as Manhattan socialites who were once his confidants turn their backs on him when they recognise thinly-veiled versions of themselves in an excerpt of his new novel published in Esquire magazine.

  • Read on for reasons including how TRU boasts a commanding central performance of 1 of history’s more colourful if perhaps occasionally loathed characters
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GIG REVIEW Saint Etienne at Camden Roundhouse

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Friday 18 September, tour runs through 1 December 2026

Setlist: Tonight; Like A Motorway; Spring; Glad; You’re In A Bad Way; Shower Scene; Who Do You Think You Are?; Heart Failed (In The Back Of A Taxi); Pale Movie; Brand New Me; Mario’s Cafe; Take Me To The Pilot; Only Love Can Break Your Heart; DJ; Stormtrooper In Drag; He’s On The Phone/7 Ways To Love; Nothing Can Stop Us; The Last Time

Never has a band understood its fans better and reflected it back.

  • Read on for reasons including why this should be au revoir to Saint Etienne not adieu
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GIG REVIEW Family Stereo & Kathi Deakin at The Lexington, London

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Thursday 17 September, tour runs through 24 September 2026

Setlist: Remedy; Waiting On Nina; Fault Lines; The Thread; I Don’t Need Light; From Here To Nowhere; Three Moon Trail; Removed; Matter; Early Promise; DLR

Family Stereo ‘folkish rockery’ frontman Blake Watt is reflecting on this, his band’s 1st sell-out London show, and tells an amusing story about ‘survivors’ guilt’.

  • Read on for reasons including how to see Family Stereo next on tour
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FILM OF THE MONTH: Pressure starring Andrew Scott & Brendan Fraser (September 2026)

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

Andrew Scott (All Of Us Strangers) plays meteorologist James Stagg appointed by Churchill to advise Fraser’s Eisenhower when best to launch the Normandy landings to ensure success during World War Two.

  • Read on for reasons including how Pressure is a crowdpleaser despite its controversy and Scott’s reputation as 1 of this country’s hottest young acting talents remains undimmed
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PREVIEW: 9 reasons why we can’t wait for October 2026 starring Keira Knightley & Luke Thompson

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  1. Keira Knightley in The Lives Of Others

Knightley performs in the West End for the 1st time since 2011 opposite Bridgerton‘s Luke Thompson (A Little Life, Harold Pinter Theatre) in this story of a writer and actor under surveillance in 1984 at the Adelphi Theatre. Written, adapted and directed by Robert Icke (Romeo and Juliet, Harold Pinter Theatre) Runs 14 October through 9 January 2027. Tickets

  • Read on for reasons including Kristin Scott Thomas, Tilda Swinton and Michelle Dockery in the new Ava Pickett
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ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Live! by Pulp (week beginning Wednesday 9 September 2026)

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

Tracklist: Spike Island; Slow Jam; Sorted For Es And Whizz; Disco 2000; Help The Aged; Farmers’ Market; This Is Hardcore; Sunrise; Something’s Changed; Grown Ups; O.U.; Do You Remember The First Time?; Mis-Shapes; Got To Have Love; Babies; Common People; A Sunset

Actress Kelly Macdonald, arguably best known for 1996’s iconic Trainspotting, welcomes this encore performance and bids the audience farewell with a charming: ‘Goodnight and safe travels – and remember, take care of each other.’

  • Read on for reasons including how this is the story of pop’s greatest resurrection of recent years
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AWARDS LONGLIST: MONSTAS: Best Theatre, Music, TV, Film & Podcasts of 2026 so far (Part 2 of 2)

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You, dear reader, are given the chance to vote in 17 categories from October this year to tell us your favourite theatre, music, TV, film and podcast of 2026.

  • Read on for reasons including 8 of 17 categories of our Best Theatre, Music, TV, Film and Podcasts of 2026 so far
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