John Nathan

Latest from John Nathan

Unicorn review: ‘Stephen Mangan, Nicola Walker and Erin Doherty in threesome’

Having explored a gay couple being attracted to a straight relationship in the play Cock, Mike Bartlett now turns to a heterosexual relationship where a spouse wants a same-sex affair

1 min read

Throuple therapy: Erin Doherty (Kate), Nicola Walker (Polly) and Stephen Mangan (Nick) in Unicorn Photo: Marc Brenner

Harrowing scenes: Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Jeremy Neumark Jones in The World Will Tremble Photo: Ivan Vatsov

‘My film finally tells the story of the first escape from a Nazi death camp’

4 min read

This Menuhin show is all about the words, not the music

5 min read

Matriarch: Fernanda Torres as Eunice, the mother of the Paiva family

I’m Still Here review: ‘it feels timely’

1 min read

Richard II review: ‘has lessons for Trump’

The American President, not known for his appreciation of Shakespeare, won’t watch this, but he should

1 min read

February 18, 2025 18:15

Right royal: Jonathan Bailey as King Richard Photo: Manuel Harlan

Bridget Jones: ‘perfect for Valentine’s Day’

This is the moving comedy we all need to watch on 14 February

1 min read

February 13, 2025 17:13

Love is all around: Renée Zellweger and Leo Woodall as Bridget and Roxter

Elektra review: ‘Oh. Is that it?’

Is this a must-see production of the classical work? As Elektra puts it (throughout): no

2 min read

February 11, 2025 17:44

Just say yes: Stockard Channing as Clytemnestra Photo: Helen Murray

As Long As We Are Breathing review: ‘poignant but not enough punch’

The message that it is possible to replace trauma with inner peace is reassuring, but it is prioritised over the drama of Holocaust survivor Miriam Freedman’s story

1 min read

February 6, 2025 13:37

Hidden treasures: Caroline Gruber as Miriam Freedman in her eighties Photo: Arcola Theatre

September 5 review: ‘superbly constructed account of the 1972 atrocity’

Palestinian activists in New York are calling for a boycott of this film, but any movie houses that cave it will be doing viewers a disservice

2 min read

February 5, 2025 12:26

Reading the room: most of the film takes place in the electric twilight of the control room

Oliver! review: ‘has the audience begging for more’

Simon Lipkin’s Fagin is the best but not only reason to buy a ticket for this sublime revivial of the masterpiece

2 min read

January 29, 2025 14:22

Picking pockets: Simon Lipkin as Fagin in the Gielgud Theatre production Photo: Johan Persson

The Brutalist review: ‘so what if the Holocaust survivor at its centre is fictional?’

The complainants have got it all wrong. This Oscar-nominated movie is not about Adrien Brody’s Hungarian-Jewish architect, it’s an argument for culture

1 min read

January 29, 2025 13:37

Design matters: Adrien Brody (centre) as the fictional Bauhaus school architect László Toth

Kyoto review: Do we need to know this character is Jewish?

Instead of dismantling tropes and stereotypes about Jews, the writers and directors of this play could be said to perpetuate them

2 min read

January 28, 2025 13:47

Climate denier: Stephen Kunken as real-life American lawyer Don Pearlman Photo: Manuel Harlan

Flight Risk review: ‘more plot holes than a sieve’

Mel Gibson’s thriller is set almost entirely in the cabin of a plane as it flies over the bleak Alaskan mountains, and that is the best thing about it

1 min read

January 28, 2025 13:25

Hot air: Michelle Dockery as Madolyn and Mark Wahlberg as Daryl

The playwright who puts his Jewishness centre stage

Nick Cassenbaum’s Jewish revenge fantasy about Corbyn has been seen as ‘too Jewish’ by theatres, but he continues to do his shtick

5 min read

January 16, 2025 17:56

Gemma Barnett and Dylan Corbett-Bader in Revenge: After the Levoyah Photo: Alex Brenner

A Complete Unknown review: ‘Timothée Chalamet does Bob Dylan justice’

As its title promises, the film perpetuates a messianic-like mystery about the troubadour, but if you want to see an actor at the top of his game you are in for a treat

2 min read

January 16, 2025 12:14