Organisers of Seret international film festival say it has been a challenging few months but ‘we are not going to cave’The organisers of an Israeli film festival that is due to open in the UK on Thursday have pledged to push ahead with the event despite pro-Palestinian artists urging venues to boycott it.The Seret international film festival, now in...

The Ontario-born writer turned the ‘classic New Yorker-style short story’ into the highest form of literature, by taking an obsessively detailed interest in the people who lived in her small Canadian townAlice Munro, Nobel winner and titan of the short story, dies aged 92Margaret Atwood reads Dance of the Happy Shades by Alice Munro – audioBack in 2006,...

Trafalgar theatre, London The Olivier award-winner returns to her role as an actor in rehab in Duncan Macmillan’s brutally powerful playDuncan Macmillan’s 2015 play about addiction is a tricksy and unnerving thing, even for those who know what’s coming. This reprise of the original National Theatre and Headlong production reunites some of its main players...

Birmingham Rep A strong cast and a magical set make this more or less word-for-word stage transfer of the cult hit an entertaining tribute pieceIn 1988, I worked on a listings magazine’s competition page. One week, the prize was tickets to a new film called Withnail and I. There were also soundtrack albums and posters designed by Ralph Steadman. The...

Cutting the Tightrope: The Divorce of Politics from Art, at the Arcola in London, tackles freedom of expression – with particular focus on GazaArts Council England unleashed fury in February when an update to its policies warned arts companies, and those who work for them, against making “overtly political or activist” statements. Here was confirmation...

Ure played role in ITV children’s series of character who had superhuman strength and agilityGudrun Ure, the actor who played Super Gran in the popular 1980s ITV children’s series, has died at the age of 98.According to her niece, Kate McNeill, she died at her home in London. Continue reading...