Culture to cheer you up during the second lockdown: part two

Following yesterday’s roundup of music, games, books, TV, dance and visual art, our critics continue their picks of culture to lift the spirits during tough timesCulture to cheer you up: part oneBringing Up Baby (1938) Here is the classic screwball com…

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Choirs and comedians among recipients of £76m Covid arts aid

Almost 600 cultural groups across England to benefit from latest funding roundComedy clubs, circuses, choirs and theatres across England are in line to receive a share of £76m of government funding for the cultural sector.The Military Wives Choirs, Som…

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‘We have £52 left’: the dire future for England’s small arts organisations

This week, the UK government announced £257m in emergency arts funding – we hear from some of those who missed out, complaining of baffling applications and a lack of guidanceOf course it was disappointing not to be successful in this round of the cult…

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Rage, white supremacy and roses: the art that sums up the Trump era

CocoRosie’s call to arms, a mauling from Michelle Wolf, Arthur Jafa’s white supremacy montage and Melania Trump’s gardening … Guardian writers pick the moments that encapsulate Trump’s reign Since he’s a former real-estate tycoon, it seems fitting that…

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This week’s best culture, from Beckett to Scottish Ballet

The Observer’s critics recommend the best new arts in galleries, on air and onlineBeckett double billTrevor Nunn’s sell-out productions of Krapp’s Last Tape, starring James Hayes, and The Old Tune, with Niall Buggy and David Threlfall, opened in Januar…

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From Acorn Antiques to Funny Girl: the most hilarious songs for women

Vikki Stone and Natasha Barnes’s new show celebrates comic songs for actresses – here are their favourites from musicalsFrom Sweeney Todd by Stephen SondheimMrs Lovett is the sort of role that every actress (including me) hopes they’ll play one day. Th…

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From Acorn Antiques to Funny Girl: the most hilarious songs for women

Vikki Stone and Natasha Barnes’s new show celebrates comic songs for actresses – here are their favourites from musicalsFrom Sweeney Todd by Stephen SondheimMrs Lovett is the sort of role that every actress (including me) hopes they’ll play one day. Th…

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Fight a pigeon for your seat! Unforgettable theatre encounters

Susan Wokoma recalls plays backed by birdsong, Tallulah Brown found a fairytale in the reeds and Gregory Doran takes a trip back to LancasterRead the rest of our series on the theatres that made us Tallulah Brown’s play When the Birds Come was at the E…

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Edinburgh festival fringe sets stage for summer of online shows

Organisers prepare for ‘weird’ visitor-free season including weekly variety performanceEdinburgh festival fringe is preparing for a “weird” visitor-free summer with a package of online initiatives including variety shows streamed every Friday.The world…

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Tim Minchin: ‘Closest brush with the law? Nude run, 1996’

The Australian comedian and musician on social media, the anxiety of love and Abba hitsBorn in Western Australia, Tim Minchin, 44, began his career as a comedian, winning the 2005 Perrier best newcomer award at the Edinburgh festival fringe. In 2009, t…

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