Amadeus, National Theatre at Home review – wild dance at the edges of sanity

★★★★★ AMADEUS, NATIONAL THEATRE AT HOME Wild dance at the edges of sanity

As Mozart, Adam Gillen erupts onto the stage as a Tourette’s tornado

It is 41 years since Peter Shaffer ripped off Mozart’s respectable façade to reveal a foul-mouthed verbally incontinent child-man with no more ability to control his behaviour than his genius. Inspired by a short story by Alexander Pushkin that put forward the theory that Salieri murdered Mozart, he fleshed out bare biographical bones with virtuoso obscenity as part of an extraordinary study of obsession, cut-throat professional rivalry and malignant jealousy.

Theatre Unlocked 1: George Floyd remembered, a classic transformed, and a call to action re climate change

THEATRE UNLOCKED A Broadway legend in concert lends musical buoyancy to this week's ever wide-ranging theatrical array

A Broadway legend in concert lends musical buoyancy to this week's ever wide-ranging theatrical array

We're easing out of lockdown, haircuts are being had, and the theatre continually shape-shifts to accommodate these changing times. All credit to the 14 writers who have conjoined forces in urgency and haste to create 846, a collection of audio plays responding to the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Blu-ray: Hagazussa

★★★★ HAGAZUSSA A woman dubbed a witch yields to psychosis in a superior folk horror movie

A woman dubbed a witch yields to psychosis in a superior folk horror movie

Was witchhood a vocation in the Middle Ages or, as seems more likely, a charge levelled at sick or troublesome women by superstitious neighbours anxious to be rid of them? One of the merits of the gravely beautiful folk horror film Hagazussa is the way it shows a young Alpine woman of the 15th century committing unspeakable acts not because occult practices run in her family, as the locals believe, but because she is psychotic.

10 Questions for Irina Nalis

10 QUESTIONS FOR IRINA NALIS Multidisciplinary thinking at a time of crisis

Multidisciplinary thinking at a multidisciplinary festival in a time of crisis

Normally we'd put a descriptor - "cellist", "film maker", "techno producer" for example - in the title of this interview, but for Irina Nalis there isn't space. Like, "10 Questions for psychologist, ministerial adviser, festival founder, architectural consultant, digital humanism activist and techno veteran Irina Nalis" wouldn't fit across the page. But that's the multidisciplinary world for you.

Beethoven: 1808 Reconstructed, Aimard, Philharmonia, Salonen, RFH review - a feast in fading light

★★★★★ BEETHOVEN: 1808 RECONSTRUCTED An epic reconstruction of a historic concert

In dark times, an epic reconstruction of a historic concert

Like it or not, we live – as Beethoven did – in interesting times. In place of the revolutions, wars and occupations that convulsed the cities he knew, we now confront a silent, invisible foe that breeds an equal terror. Hence the empty seats in the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday: a small proportion of the whole, but still noticeable.

Downhill review - American remake wanders off-piste

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell on a skiing break: it's an uphill struggle

It’s hard to believe that Jesse Armstrong (Succession, Veep) co-wrote the screenplay for this feeble American remake of Swedish director Ruben Ostlund’s Force Majeure (2014). Where Force Majeure is subtle, dark and original (never have electric toothbrushes seemed so significant) Downhill is an unfunny flop in spite of comedy stars Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (she’s also a co-producer) as leads.

Leopoldstadt, Wyndham's Theatre review - Stoppard at once personal and accessible

★★★★ LEOPOLDSTADT, WYNDHAM'S THEATRE Stoppard at once personal and accessible

Director Patrick Marber knits Tom Stoppard's putative swan song into a compelling whole

It’s not uncommon for playwrights to begin their careers by writing what they know, to co-opt a frequently quoted precept about authorial inspiration. So it’s among the many fascinations of Leopoldstadt that Tom Stoppard, at the age of 82, should have written his most personal play and also, very possibly (and sadly), his last.

Denis Kozhukhin, QEH review - lyric mastery and subtle elegance

★★★★ DENIS KOZHUKHIN, QEH Lyric mastery and subtle elegance in Schubert and Grieg

Iridescent song in Schubert and Grieg, compelling lines in Beethoven and Ravel

In Beethoven anniversary year, there will probably be many more "Moonlight"s, meaning the Sonata, than the real thing (though we've been lucky to see the crescent in close conjunction with Venus these past two nights). Not many pianists would dare to place it at the beginning of a programme.

A Hidden Life review - Nazism stoically refused

★★★★★ A HIDDEN LIFE Terrence Malick's raptures find solid ground in a forgotten stand against fascism

Terrence Malick's raptures find solid ground in a forgotten stand against fascism

Terrence Malick returns to his former greatness following three features of unscripted, all-star poesy, with this sombre biopic of sainted Austrian conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl).