Comedy Against Living Miserably, Dave review - standups tread the boards for CALM charity

COMEDY AGAINST LIVING MISERABLY, DAVE Standups tread the boards for CALM charity

Comedians become standup therapists to confront mental health issues

This was the third collaboration between Dave and the mental health charity CALM (Comedy Against Living Miserably), hosted at EartH in Dalston by Joel Dommett. Its non-standard format comprised chunks of performances by the featured standup comics, intercut with the performers discussing what their material says about mental health.

Feel Good, Channel 4 and Netflix review - a fresh, bingeable comedy that digs deep but feels mild

★★★ FEEL GOOD A fresh, bingeable comedy that digs deep but feels mild

Mae Martin’s dramedy about addiction is honest and enjoyable — but is it that funny?

“I am not intense.” That declaration arrives early in Feel Good, the new Channel 4 and Netflix romantic comedy fronted by comedian Mae Martin, who plays a fictionalised version of herself. Over Mae’s shoulder, we see a literal trash fire. She’s lit up the evidence of a past drug addiction. It smoulders in the background while she smoulders in the front.

Sex Education, Series 2, Netflix review - the teen sex show we deserved

★★★★ SEX EDUCATION, SERIES 2, NETFLIX The teen sex show we deserved

Happy Valentines: this humdrum holiday is the perfect occasion to stream the most affirming sex comedy in years

Netflix’s Sex Education has returned to our screens and streams. The show made waves last year for its refreshing take on the teen comedy-drama. It took on abortion, consent and female pleasure — subjects strikingly absent from our actual high school educations.

The Sunset Limited, Boulevard Theatre review - all talk, no theatre

★★ THE SUNSET LIMITED, BOULEVARD THEATRE All talk, no theatre

Cormac McCarthy two-hander tries an audience's patience

Cormac McCarthy’s two-hander, premiered at Chicago's mighty Steppenwolf Theatre in 2006, has by this point been everything short of an ice ballet: a self-described “novel in dramatic form”, as one might expect from the American author of such titles as All the Pretty Horses and The Road, followed by a film made for TV directed by, and starring, Tommy Lee Jones, opposite Samuel L Jackson.

You Stupid Darkness!, Southwark Playhouse review - an intriguing muddle

★★★ YOU STUPID DARKNESS!, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE An intriguing muddle

Overlong Sam Steiner play needs clarity to go with its compassion

Armageddon would appear to be at the gates in Sam Steiner’s intriguing if ramshackle play, a co-production between Paines Plough and Theatre Royal, Plymouth, that has reached London while still seeming a draft or so away from achieving its full potential. Inside a Samaritans-like call centre called Brightline, pregnant work supremo Frances (Jenni Maitland, chipper to a fault) is trying to keep the mood light.

Elizabeth Is Missing, BBC One review - a tender but tough-minded drama about ageing and loss

BAFTA TV 2020 - ELIZABETH IS MISSING Tender but tough-minded drama about ageing & loss

Glenda Jackson makes a welcome comeback in this psychological thriller-lite

In films, as in life, unreliable narrators are not hard to find. But there is something remarkable about the unreliable narrator of Elizabeth is Missing, BBC One’s newest feature-length drama. Its protagonist, Maud (Glenda Jackson), is unreliable in the extreme – confused, forgetful and emotionally wounded. Yet unlike most unreliable narrators, we never fear that Maud is trying to sell us a false story. She is so clearly fighting to understand the truth.

The Party's Just Beginning review - a formidable debut

★★★★ THE PARTY'S JUST BEGINNING Karen Gillan reveals hidden talents as she pulls triple duty

Karen Gillan reveals hidden talents as she pulls triple duty

For an actor, there are few bigger risks than writing and directing your own film. Securing funding is pretty easy if you’re a household name, like Karen Gillan is, but that doesn’t mean your script is any good or your vision holds water. At their worst, these films can be vain and embarrassing affairs. At their best, you’re left wondering if there’s anything their star can’t do. The Party’s Just Beginning puts Gillan very firmly in the latter camp.

Dear Evan Hansen, Noël Coward Theatre review - this social outcast will steal your heart

★★★★ DEAR EVAN HANSEN, NOËL COWARD THEATRE This social outcast will still your heart

A stirring new musical tackles missed connections in the internet age

Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen is an institution in the States, running on Broadway since 2016 and currently on its second year of a national tour.

Joker review – a phenomenal Joaquin Phoenix on the mean streets of Gotham

BAFTA FILM AWARDS 2020 Joaquin Phoenix takes Leading Actor for 'Joker'

Forget the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this is comic book movie-making that is terrifyingly grounded in the everyday

When Joker won the Golden Lion in Venice in September, it was an unprecedented achievement, the first time a comic book-related film had won such a prestigious prize. But then, isn’t your typical comic book film. Starring a phenomenal Joaquin Phoenix, it’s seriously themed, brilliantly executed and quite extraordinary. 

Phoenix review - Norwegian family tragedy with an autobiographical slant

Mesmerising child performers but Camilla Strøm Henriksen's debut doesn't quite deliver

“You’re so meticulous,” says Astrid (Maria Bonnevie) to her teenage daughter Jill (impressive newcomer Yvla Bjørkaas Thedin) as they create a batik artwork together at the kitchen table. Little son Bo (Casper Falck-Løvås) looks on as he munches a jam sandwich. A happy domestic scene? Anything but. “Meticulous” isn’t even really a compliment, coming from this chaotic, mentally fragile mother.