Dorian Lynskey

Review of the Week: The Standard of Living at Theatre Royal Haymarket

Uniquely talented at turning political history into lively drama, the playwright James Graham’s soulful, timely portrait of economist John Maynard Keynes explores what it means to lead ‘a good life’, writes Dorian Lynskey

Reviews

‘I’m surprised we came through it so well’: Salman Rushdie and Rachel Eliza Griffiths on surviving assassination

As a new documentary remembers the three-decade fatwa against the novelist that led to his near-fatal knife attack in 2022, he and his wife discuss hope, history and how his life was saved by the courage of strangers

Culture

Review of the Week: Golden Boy at the Almeida theatre

A dazzling production, and Josh O’Connor’s star turn as a boxer grappling his way to the top, drag what could have been a faded period piece to the brink of greatness, writes Nerve theatre critic Dorian Lynskey

Reviews

Parlour games and real-life pain: the enduring, subversive power of Agatha Christie

As a season of Christie TV, theatre, books and events kicks off, Dorian Lynskey sees the author’s everlasting play The Mousetrap for the first time – and finds it far from what he was expecting

Culture

Jon Ronson: ‘The worst moments of my life are when I’m between stories’

As his new book The Castle is published, the author and journalist talks to Dorian Lynskey about male midlife crises, country life and why he’s written about his former friend Graham Linehan

Q&A

Review of the Week: Game of Thrones: The Mad King at the RSC

The stage version of George RR Martin’s blood-and-thunder saga is spectacular, serious, surprisingly empathetic – and could turn out to be a blockbuster, writes Nerve theatre critic Dorian Lynskey

Reviews

Review of the Week: Tao of Glass at Soho Place

Phelim McDermott’s passion-project tribute to, and collaboration with, the composer Philip Glass may not be for everyone, but its audacity and originality shine through, writes Nerve theatre critic Dorian Lynskey

Reviews

Review of the Week: Glengarry Glen Ross at the Old Vic

Patrick Marber’s daring female reimagining of Mamet’s testosterone-soaked classic shows that capitalism can make a desperado of anyone, writes Dorian Lynskey

Reviews

Review of the Week: Mass at the Donmar

Fran Kranz’s play, about two families’ long-delayed reckoning in the wake of a school shooting, is moving and superbly acted but not to be entered lightly, writes Nerve theatre critic Dorian Lynskey

Reviews

Review of the Week: Romeo and Juliet / Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Two inventive, high-profile openings pay striking testament to the dangerous power of love, writes Dorian Lynskey

Reviews

Orwell, Trump and the persistence of fascism: ‘He was giving us a warning’

Raoul Peck, director of a new film about the author, tells Dorian Lynskey that the dystopia of Nineteen Eighty-Four was drawn from lived experience, not prophecy

Culture

In a world of war, abuse and rising fascism, ‘woke’ was never the enemy

Mainstream conservatives and even centrists rounded on progressive culture as though it were a threat to society. Now they see where the real threat lay, writes Dorian Lynskey

Politics

Review of the Week: Summerfolk at the National theatre

Maxim Gorky’s pre-revolutionary play about wealthy Russians on the brink of chaos is reborn in a five star, distinctly relevant revival, writes Nerve theatre critic Dorian Lynskey

Reviews

Review of the Week: Dracula at the Noel Coward theatre

Cynthia Erivo is a remarkable presence playing every character in this multimedia gothic revival – even if it feels more like watching an arena concert than a play, writes Nerve theatre critic Dorian Lynskey

Reviews

'There has to be a way to actively oppose these thugs without losing ourselves': novelist George Saunders on life in America now

The Booker prize-winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo, whose new novel imagines the last hours of an oil tycoon, talks to Dorian Lynskey about Trump, truth and how to reconcile empathy with political opposition

Culture

Review of the Week: Oh, Mary! at Trafalgar theatre

A huge hit on Broadway, Cole Escola’s history-busting comedy about Mary Todd Lincoln - Abraham’s wife - is wild, subversively queer and riotously funny, writes Dorian Lynskey

Reviews

Review of the Week: All My Sons

Ten years after his first triumph with an Arthur Miller play, director Ivo Van Hove has returned to the American dramatist and produced another masterpiece that feels startlingly current, writes Dorian Lynskey

Reviews

The BBC is the biggest prize in the information war – and the right may be about to destroy it

The corporation is always under attack. But this time it has been sabotaged by conservative ideologues deep within its heart. Is it time for the culture secretary to step in? By Dorian Lynskey

Culture

Review of the week: The Line of Beauty at the Almeida theatre

This adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst’s subtle Booker winner is broader than the novel, but still achieves an explosive payoff, writes Dorian Lynskey

Reviews