CD: Tove Lo - Sunshine Kitty

★★★★ CD: TOVE LO - SUNSHINE KITTY Forthright relationship-centred lyricism

Forthright relationship-centred lyricism combined with elegant electronic pop to winning effect

Swedish singer Tove Lo appeared at a time when female physical sexuality was being used as a raw, blunt weapon in pop, when porno chic reached an apex in music videos. Half a decade ago was the time of Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” and Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball”, thus Lo’s overt displays of sexual bravado seemed part of the same and she had big hits with songs such as “Habits (Stay High)” and “Talking Body”.  Her output since, however, has proved her sensual agenda to be more than a passing foible.

Don Jo, Grimeborn review - conceptual style over musical substance

Queer take on Mozart shines interesting light on the story, but casts music in the shade

Described as a "performer-led re-devising’"of Mozart’s 1787 opera Don Giovanni - a tale of an arrogant and ruthless lothario who seduced countess women - Don Jo certainly played around with many of the norms we encounter in both sexual relationships and in the operatic genre.

Fleabag, Wyndham's Theatre review - superb swansong for modern classic

★★★★★ FLEABAG, WYNDHAM'S Final outing for Phoebe Waller-Bridge as her iconic creation

Final outing for Phoebe Waller-Bridge as her iconic creation

We're saying goodbye to a much treasured friend. Fleabag will live on, of course – other actresses have and will inhabit the role – but Phoebe Waller-Bridge, its creator, has said this short run at Wyndham's Theatre is the last time she will perform the character on stage.

The Collection: Nina Leger trans. Laura Francis - daring, direct and richly imagined

Challenging the language of desire to construct a playfully original female gaze

Jeanne – employment, age and appearance unknown, motives unknowable – is building a collection of penises. In street after street, she feigns dizziness; on the inevitable approach of a man eager to lend his help, she leads him to a hotel room. After the encounter, she does not retain any recollection of this man’s face, body or name; in the intricate interior of her memory palace, only the textured details of the penis, the "shape, the form, the particular warmth, the density, the smell", are carefully preserved.

Euphoria, Sky Atlantic review - teenage nervous breakdown

★★★★ EUPHORIA, SKY ATLANTIC Gen-Z drama pushes the envelope of sex, drugs and emotional turmoil

Gen-Z drama pushes the envelope of sex, drugs and emotional turmoil

Being a teenager used to be fun, allegedly, but for the young cast of HBO’s controversial new hit series Euphoria it looks more like a nightmare ride through a theme park of bad trips.

Ewa Banaszkiewicz and Mateusz Dymek: 'Is our film porny?'

EWA BANASZKIEWICZ AND MATEUSZ DYMEK: 'IS OUR FILM PORNY?' Directors of My Friend the Polish Girl respond to claims they've set the female cause back two decades

Directors of My Friend the Polish Girl respond to claims they've set the female cause back two decades

Spoiler alert: About sixty-four minutes into our debut feature film, one of the main female characters undresses for the camera. Alicja is being filmed by the other protagonist, a young American documentarian named Katie. As the sexually charged long take progresses, it becomes apparent that what started out as an erotic provocation (catering to Katie’s palpable attraction to her) gradually descends into Alicja’s traumatic memory of sexual abuse.

Don Giovanni, Longborough Festival Opera review - Mozart in the urinal

★★ DON GIOVANNI, LONGBOROUGH Coarsened, disembowelled and only quite well sung

Coarsened, disembowelled and only quite well sung

One of the features of the converted barn that forms the theatre at Longborough is a trio of statues that tops the front pediment of the building: Wagner, flanked by Verdi on the right and Mozart on the left. No one could question Wagner: Longborough has done him proud.

Support the Girls review - working class dramedy misses edge

★★ SUPPORT THE GIRLS Andrew Bujalski's working class dramedy misses edge

Great performances from an ensemble cast can't quite save this low-key sports bar drama

A rambling portrait of 24 hours in the life of Double Whammies, an American sports bar where the waitresses entertain their TV-watching patrons by dressing in skimpy tops and tiny shorts. Apparently this is categorised as a ‘breastaurant’ (my spell-checker reels at this portmanteau, but there are several well-established chains in the US).