writing

THEATRE REVIEW: A Month In The Country starring Sophie Okonedo at Donmar Warehouse

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN? Monday 24 August, opens 2 September and runs through 3 October 2026 RUNTIME: 140 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Sophie Okonedo (Medea, @SohoPlace) is the beating heart of this revival of Brian Friel’s (Dancing At Lughnasa, National) take on this very Chekhovian tale of an 1840s Russian landowner’s wife’s infatuation with her son’s young tutor.

  • Read on for reasons including how Okonedo relishes the opportunity to be the emotional focus
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ALBUM OF THE WEEK: The Thread by Family Stereo (week beginning 21 August 2026)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

Tracklist: Remedy; Waiting On Nina; Sea Change; Fault Lines; The Thread; Removed; Collapsing; DLR; Silhouette On The Hill; Three Moon Trail; Tunnels

Rather than a brat summer, this season has been more Confessions II or Pride summer for us but this understated debut album has grown in stature thanks to repeated play.

  • Read on for reasons including where to see Family Stereo on tour later this year
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SONG OF THE MONTH: Love Sensation by Madonna and Kylie Minogue (August 2026)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

Madonna’s latest album Confessions II stakes a claim to be the best LP of the year so far and this is a remix of 1 of its many singles with a guest duet vocal with another of the world’s biggest gay icons.

  • Read on for reasons including how to watch the lyric video of this new single
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THEATRE REVIEW: Death Note The Musical at Barbican Centre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN? Saturday 1 August, opens 11 August and runs through 12 September 2026.

It feels like musical theatre has never been more popular and yet we can’t help but also think that not everything’s ripe to see its characters burst into song.

  • Read on for reasons including how this should have stuck to its Post-Its rather than its musical notes
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THEATRE REVIEW: I’m Every Woman: The Chaka Khan Musical starring Alexandra Burke at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

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

WHEN? Sunday 2 August (matinee), opens 4 August and runs through 27 September 2026 RUNTIME: 160 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

X Factor winner Burke (Chicago, Phoenix Theatre) is Chaka Khan and encores with a mash-up of her biggest hits – I Feel For You, Ain’t Nobody and I’m Every Woman – and it’s a joyous end to the story of a complicated woman born ahead of her time in the surprise hit show of the summer.

  • Read on for reasons including how we were expecting to see Burke’s understudy
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GIG REVIEW: Suede, Garbage & Pixies at Cruilla Festival, Barcelona

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

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

WHEN? Thursday 9 July, runs through Saturday 11 July 2026

Festival organisers are giving away free sombreros as temperatures surpass 40 degrees – the highest recorded for 112 years – and Suede compliment this vast crowd on their enthusiastic singing along.

  • Read on for reasons including our 1st time seeing both Garbage and Pixies live
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GIG REVIEW: Sigrid at Cruilla Festival, Barcelona

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN? Wednesday 8 July, festival runs through 11 July and Sigrid tours through 5 September 2026

SETLIST: I’ll Always Be Your Girl; Burning Bridges; Plot Twist; Sucker Punch; Jellyfish; High Five; Head On Fire; Mirror; Don’t Feel Like Crying; Do It Again; Have You Heard This Song Before?; Home To You; Dynamite; It Gets Dark; Fort Knox; Don’t Kill My Vibe; Strangers

It’s over 30 degrees in Barcelona’s Parc del Fòrum by the sea as Sigrid takes to the stage as 1 of the opening acts of this 4-day festival which means ‘crossroads’ in Catalan.

  • Read on for reasons including how Cruilla is the perfect soundtrack to both England and Spain progressing to next week’s World Cup semis
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PREVIEW: 9 reasons why we can’t wait for August 2026 starring Cate Blanchett

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

  1. Cate Blanchett in Electra/Persona

Blanchett (The Seagull, Barbican) stars opposite Nina Hoss (The Cherry Orchard, Donmar) in Benedict Andrews’ (Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Apollo Theatre) production fusing ancient myth and modern psychology at the Lyttelton at the National 19 August through 10 October 2026. Tickets Our review

  • Read on for reasons including Abigail’s Party, Kimberley Akimbo and Letitia Wright in The Story
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Confessions II by Madonna (July 2026)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

Tracklist: I Feel So Free; Good For The Soul; One Step Away; Bring Your Love; Danceteria; Read My Lips; Everything; Love Sensation; Love Without Words; Bizarre; School; Fragile; My Sins Are My Saviour; Betrayal; The Test; L.E.S Girl

Confessions II is the mostly misleading title for this album which isn’t Madonna’s best album for the 21 years since Confessions On A Dancefloor but her best … ever.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is the best album of 2026 so far
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SONG OF THE MONTH: Danceteria by Soft Cell (July 2026)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

Danceteria is the name of the New York nightclub where Soft Cell‘s young Marc Almond and Dave Ball would party until the small hours after recording sessions for their 1981 debut LP Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.

  • Read on for reasons including Almond’s thoughts on the upcoming final album and its Madonna link
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