John le Carré was once a grasp of the undercover agent novel – now not by way of glamorising espionage, however by way of stripping it of phantasm. His tales deserted the trope of the artful, heartless agent in favour of morally complicated characters navigating the shadowy ethics of Chilly Warfare intelligence. Gritty, ambiguous and deeply human, his thrillers increased the undercover agent style to literary artwork.
A lot of that authenticity got here from le Carré’s personal enjoy in British counterintelligence with MI5. However as a brand new exhibition at Oxford’s Bodleian libraries finds, his luck was once simply as rooted in painstaking analysis, interviews and constant modifying.
John le Carré: Tradecraft gives a unprecedented glance into the inventive procedure in the back of 9 of his novels. On show are early persona sketches, box notes, images, handwritten drafts and private correspondence – many proven publicly for the primary time.
Regardless that some critics accused le Carré of turning into too political in his later years, the exhibition means that sense of right and wrong was once at all times central to his paintings. He constantly interrogated the worldwide programs that permit corruption, praise self-interest and erode the freedoms promised by way of democratic societies.
John le Carré: Tradecraft is open at The Bodleian Libraries in Oxford till April 6 2026.
A lot maligned girls
At London’s Nationwide Theatre, newly appointed director Indhu Rubasingham launches her tenure with a bold manufacturing: Nima Taleghani’s radical reimagining of Euripides’s Bacchae.
The traditional tragedy centres on King Pentheus of Thebes, who’s punished by way of his cousin Dionysus (god of wine, ritual insanity and theatre) for denying his divine standing. In vengeance, Dionysus drives the ladies of Thebes, together with Pentheus’s personal mom, into ecstatic insanity. They flee to the mountains to enroll in Dionysus’s fans, the Bacchae, and chaos unfolds as Pentheus makes an attempt to carry them again.
As appearing arts critic Will Shüler observes, Greek tragedies have at all times been a reflect in their occasions – and this adaptation isn’t any exception. Taleghani weaves in issues of decolonisation, feminism, race, LGBTQ+ id and battle, giving this historical fable a contemporary political pulse. Whilst every so often heavy passed, it’s a daring, imaginative and thought-provoking debut for Rubasingham’s directorship.
Bacchae is on the Nationwide Theatre till November 1 2025.
Few historic figures have turn into so synonymous with Dionysian opulence and extra moderately like France’s closing queen, Marie Antoinette. Branded “Madame Déficit” and vilified for her extravagant way of life, she met a violent finish right through the French Revolution.
But fashionable analysis has printed that a lot of this recognition was once unfairly earned. Nonetheless, the parable endures.
A brand new exhibition on the V&A South Kensington, Marie Antoinette Taste, objectives to unpack that legacy – reframing the queen now not as a frivolous spendthrift, however as a posh cultural icon with a prepared eye for artwork and type.
“The exhibition confidently places Marie Antoinette not as an exuberant and frivolous monarch, as she is so often seen, but as an intentional, frequently playful, and decidedly modern patron of the arts,” writes reviewer and type historian Serena Dyer.
With maximum of her cloth wardrobe destroyed by way of revolutionaries, the exhibition turns to inventive approach: showcasing attire, furniture, and glassware impressed by way of her affect. A couple of uncommon private pieces do stay – a gentle shoe, fragments of a torn get dressed – providing glimpses of the delicate style in the back of the legend.
Marie Antoinette Taste is on on the V&A South Kensington in London till March 2 2026.
Punk and political artwork
In Edinburgh’s Inverleigh Space within the Royal Botanic Lawn you’ll catch the primary retrospective of the trailblazing artist, Linder. Spanning 50 years, Threat Got here Smiling connects with its location because it dives into her fascination with vegetation.
The photomontages on display remix pictures from pop culture, starting from early pin-up images to deal with vegetation, to ask onlookers to problem societal norms round gender and sexuality. This can be a colourful and transgressive display this is without delay comfortable and punk, in true Linder taste.
Threat Got here Smiling is on at Inverleigh Space, the Royal Botanic Lawn, Edinburgh, till October 19, after which transfers to the Glynn Vivian Artwork Gallery, Swansea, in November 2025.
With rain and gale-force winds sweeping throughout a lot of the United Kingdom this weekend, staying in could be your very best wager. Why now not spend it exploring probably the most maximum iconic presidential appearances and opening monologues in American late-night TV historical past?
The new cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel Are living! — following debatable remarks by way of Kimmel that reportedly dissatisfied the president — has sparked renewed debate round loose speech, state interference and censorship in america. It’s additionally drawn world consideration to the uniquely American custom of late-night tv.
Mocking presidents has lengthy been a trademark of the style. On this piece, media professional Faye Davies strains the evolution of the outlet monologue as a platform for social remark and political satire. Many unforgettable moments are to be had on YouTube – from Richard Nixon’s look on The This night Display Starring Johnny Carson to Invoice Clinton’s saxophone solo on The Arsenio Corridor Display, making an attempt exhausting to promote his cool issue and win votes.
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