The High Table, Bush Theatre review - party on in Lagos and London

★★★★ THE HIGH TABLE, BUSH THEATRE Party on in Lagos and London

New debut play is a heartfelt account of the black lesbian experience

Queer people of colour face a double discrimination: racism and homophobia. Against this sickness of negation and stupidity one of the best antidotes is a culture of celebration. And in this theatre can play its part.

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 L Word: Generation Q, Sky Atlantic review - is the new Word as good as the old Word?

★★★ THE L WORD: GENERATION Q, SKY ATLANTIC Is the new Word as good as the old Word?

Despite new themes and fresh characters, it's still soap

The L Word originally ran for six seasons between 2004 and 2009, and its then-revolutionary depiction of the lives of a group of lesbians in Los Angeles won it both a fanatical audience and acclaim for its game-changing content, exploring such topics as same-sex marriage, gay adoption and female sexuality which weren't being seen elsewhere on TV.

Tomasz Jedrowski: Swimming in the Dark review – of hypocrisy, both personal and systemic

Political parable on the collapse of communism in Poland turns on nostalgia for an illicit first love

Conjuring up nostalgia for a past readers never had is, perhaps, the litmus test for any good coming-of-age story. Writers have the hard task of making the general particular – because growing up, in one way or another, is universal whereas how and when and where we do is not. They also have the equally, if not harder, task of making the particular general – blurring that focus enough for the rest of us to share in their vision. A bit like using a state-of-the-art camera to take an early photograph; a twenty-first century Stieglitz.

DVD: The Cakemaker

★★★★ DVD: THE CAKEMAKER  Israeli debut is a sensitive study of grief - and the joy of culinary creation

Israeli debut is a sensitive study of grief - and the joy of culinary creation

The Cakemaker is Ofir Raul Graizer’s debut feature, and the film must somehow reflect the parabola of the Israeli-born director's life: it’s set between Berlin and Jerusalem, the two cities apparently closest to him, and one of its main subjects – alongside weightier themes such as grief and loss – is food, especially the r

DVD/Blu-ray: Buddies

★★★★ DVD/BLU-RAY: BUDDIES The first feature to address evolving AIDS pandemic retains real laconic power

The first feature to address evolving AIDS pandemic retains real laconic power

The acclaim of being the first to represent the mid-1980s AIDS pandemic in cultural form was a plaudit that none of those concerned would ever have wished for. With New York as its epicentre, and almost nothing known about the disease that was hitting at the heart of the city’s gay community, such early attempts were tentative, the boundaries between personal and political still rough.

CD: Renée Zellweger - Judy

The film star does a fine job interpreting a host of Garland classics

Renée Zellweger already has strong musical cinema form, Her role as Roxie Hart in Chicago garnered her second Oscar nomination. However, playing and singing Judy Garland is a whole different ball game.

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.

Torch Song, Turbine Theatre review - impressive return for Harvey Fierstein's seminal gay drama

★★★★ TORCH SONG, TURBINE THEATRE Impressive return for Harvey Fierstein's seminal gay drama

Matthew Needham in lithe drag queen form opens new London venue

London’s latest theatre opening brings a stirring revival of Harvey Fierstein’s vital gay drama, which premiered as Torch Song Trilogy in New York at the beginning of the 1980s, the playwright himself unforgettable in the lead, before it opened in London in 1985 with Antony Sher.

The Shiny Shrimps review - worth the plunge

★★★★ THE SHINY SHRIMPS Gay water polo comedy fishes some surprisingly deep waters

Gay water polo comedy fishes some surprisingly deep waters

Whoever thought of crossing the social conscience of Pride with the sporting acumen of Dodgeball? Out of this unlikely union comes The Shiny Shrimps, a joyous dive into the world of gay water polo.