Libby Purves

Down in the @JSTheatre basement they are reaching beyond the limitless skies. Theatrecat.com in a baffled way found beauty in AETHER. Review up now, y'welcome.

Forget the Cotswolds and Norfolk, enjoy holiday dacha hell in old Russia. SUMMERFOLK @NationalTheatre has much to entertain. Theatrecat.com only gave the three hours three mice, though, despite some bravura performances. Rvw up.

And my favourite takedownof Hollywood in its glory - CLOSE UP. Wickedly funny.

@Elainebks @Arya_898 Yes, thought prob dodgy BUT WORTH saying that, always, because it is a sad truth about children, teenagers and art! So did....

@lib_thinks @Arya_898 If you google what she says this is, it turns up twice on FB under different names.

My 11-year-old nephew made this chicken drawing using only messy circles. I didn’t expect it to actually look like a chicken! Be honest… what do you think? 😊

@arthistorynews The film is stunning!

Delighted you enjoyed it Mike. And yes, if you haven't been, get there by hook or by crook.

@archer_rs @guardian Funny how a sudden dread of "reputational" damage freaks even the smuggest...

Hearing that @Guardian editor Katharine Viner has been overwhelmed with complaints (many from her friends) about Jonathan Liew’s abhorrent column justifying smashing up a branch of Gail’s because it had a Jewish founder. Insiders say she is beyond angry and heads will roll.

"Banksy lacks most of the characteristics of a serious artist: originality, complexity, universality, ambiguity, depth and insight into human nature and the world generally... The essential problem is not that Banksy holds unexamined prejudices or that he is mediocre as an artist; it is that he is lazy. He never truly challenges us because we can predict his positions on all topics. It is symbolic of a lack of public critical thinking that Banksy has grown so famous" Extract from "Artivism" (Imprint Academic, 2022)

Normally hate Oscars stuff but this is classy. As was Redford.

Latest theatrecat.com reviews: Broken Glass, Yentl and The Holy Rosenbergs. All up, no paywall

Blimey look at this...Sometimes perhaps the very existence of tne Guardian comment page feels like a heavy handed act of aggression if you're Jewish...

Me too

Well, I went there. But it’s probably a totally unfair comparison. If so, I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise to Nazis everywhere. #IranMassacre‌

Ah he is my hero, top gossip. Once drove all the way to Brighton to see Roy Dotrice play Brief Lives for second time...happy 400ths, will re read..

The father of English biography, John Aubrey was 400 yesterday and we celebrated from the top of the Sheldonian, a room where most of us had never been before, looking down on his Oxford world. Thanks to ⁦Kate Bennett.

RIP. Brilliant , and fun to meet, generous to interview. Daughter of Ipswich. Like Trevor Nunn, Ralph Fiennes...Jo Carrick. Something in the Suffolk air...

@jennyeclair Anteater

Please help identify this - I say aardvark?

@RafHM What? And fill a chamber with nepo babies? Talent and virtue are not always hereditary!

As a former editor at Burke's Peerage, I offer a possible silver lining to this abominable dark cloud Hereditary peers are an endangered species Now they've lost their legislative role, The King could create new hereditary titles for rare deserving individuals Only 27 Dukes , 34 Marquesses, 191 Earls and 112 Viscounts remain There was a long-standing convention that we can no longer create non-royal dukes given such an individual would need to have the wealth and land to match such status. Arguably that would apply to Marquesses, too - although not necessarily. But creations of Earl and Viscount could continue anew (we have enough barons) - and Marquesses, too. I see no reason why hereditary creations can't return. Belgium, Spain, Liechtenstein and Monaco maintain the constitutional right to create such titles. Indeed, the King of the Belgians and previous King of Spain created many such titles in recent decades. Our King, as fons honorum (fount of honour) retains this constitutional right, too. However granting hereditary titles would need to be extremely rare and reserved for 2 situations: 1. For truly exceptional individuals of outstanding national or international renown. Margaret Thatcher was certainly deserving of such an honour. Sir Tim Berners-Lee is another. Not many others spring to mind - the point is that these should be exceedingly rare. 2. Regranting of titles (including dukedoms) that have recently gone extinct to the closest genealogical heir. And regranting of titles which are about to go extinct. [In this case, a regrant would be an alternative to granting a special remainder to the title with a new letters patent. It would require the holder to surrender his existing title]. To be clear: Given our lamentable political and social climate, I am not optimistic that we shall see such a move by the Palace. In fact, I think it highly unlikely. I merely offer it as a flicker of hope to counter Labour's appalling act of constitutional vandalism. #NeverSayNever

Perfect UK employment law Catch 22. If your worker goes off sick with anxiety and asks not to be contacted, and you comply with that wish, you have to pay out. But if you do contact them, you also have to pay out.

@holland_tom But wont it feel as if cars are screaming at them all the time?

Tremendous news for hedgehogs! Top scientists are going to blast them with ultrasound waves so they don’t get killed by traffic. thetimes.com/article/e9a9aa…

@JohnRentoul Sadlyit may be Eat out to Help Out. But maybe better would be " never was u kind or rude , did his best,stayed on to found a charity wih own money"

Two years on and it is still not obvious for what Rishi Sunak will be remembered