John Nathan

Latest from John Nathan

Film

Venom review: ‘it’s not Marvel-lous’

This is the Last Dance of his three-deal franchise and I suspect Tom Hardy is feeling rather relieved

2 min read

Slip of the tongue: an oleaginous alien in Venom

War room: Steve Coogan (centre) in Dr Strangelove Credit: Manuel Harlan

Dr Strangelove review: ‘Coogan is bang on the button’

1 min read

Rise of a hustler: Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump and Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump

The Apprentice review: ‘What would Melania Trump say?’

1 min read

Mansplaining: Billy Howle and Ellora Torchia in Look Back in Anger Photo: Marc Brenner

Almeida Theatre 1950s double bill: ‘An angry return to the kitchen sink’

2 min read

What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank review: ‘a play as Jewish as they come’

This quintessentially Jewish work tackles the inherited trauma of the Holocaust and is also a really smart and funny comedy

2 min read

October 22, 2024 16:00

Frenemies: (left to right) Caroline Catz, Joshua Malina, Simon Yadoo and Dorothea Myer-Bennett Photo: Mark Senior

Small town life and casual racism in 1960s Israel

A study in the differences between Indian and Moroccan Israeli communities set against the ochre colours of the Negev desert

1 min read

October 10, 2024 13:11

Sisters in arms: Liraz Charhi as Sara and (right) Netta Garti as Nicole

Giant review: ‘Dahl is called to account’

The author’s own words are deployed to chilling effect in this measured and gripping play

3 min read

October 8, 2024 15:05

Giant review: ‘Dahl is called to account’

Waiting for Godot review: ‘I defy anyone not to see themselves on this stage’

Superb acting carries this re-staging of the mind-bending classic by Samuel Beckett

1 min read

September 26, 2024 15:52

The cast of Waiting for Godot, now showing at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, star in this re-staging of the classic Samuel Beckett play. (Photo: Marc Brenner)

A Good Jewish Boy review: ‘elegiac paean to a fading community’

This first feature by director and co-writer Noé Debré could so easily have ended up as a kosher kitchen sink drama. Instead, it’s a gem

1 min read

September 20, 2024 12:12

He's kosher: Michael Zindel as Ruben Bellisha in A Good Jewish Boy Credit: Simon Birman, Moonshaker Films

Why Am I So Single review: ‘a work in progress’

Love lives that turn out to be little less interesting for a show of two and a half hours

1 min read

September 19, 2024 17:06

The cast of Why Am I So Single in rehearsal Credit: Danny Kaan

‘Why I tackled Roald Dahl’s antisemitism in my Royal Court play’

Mark Rosenblatt’s work about the children’s author and self-confessed antisemite opens this week

6 min read

September 19, 2024 10:40

Giant playwright: Mark Rosenblatt Photo: Manuel Harlan

The Real Thing review: ‘Stoppard at very top of his game’

This slick revival of his 1982 play combines comedy and cleverness in a way that would come across as intellectual show-boating in the hands of a lesser writer

1 min read

September 13, 2024 16:29

The Critic review: ‘acidic revenge plot in 1930s London’

Ian McKellen’s stone-faced critic is a delicious embodiment of cruelty and wit

1 min read

September 11, 2024 17:37

Bribes and blackmail: Ian McKellen as Jimmy Erskine and Gemma Arterton as Nina Lan Credit: Bk Studios

Wiesenthal review: ‘Inside the mind of a Nazi hunter’

This play shows the humanity and humility of a man devoted to bringing Nazis to justice and sets the record straight about what the word ‘genocide’ means

1 min read

September 11, 2024 16:29