The Kael Report in Conversation with … Alan Hollinghurst, 21 December 2025, London, NW3
For over four decades, Alan Hollinghurst’s writing has been a commanding presence on the literary landscape. He arrived on the scene in 1988 with The Swimming Pool Library — a dazzling début that struck like a lightning bolt.
All Up in My Mind: The Renaissance of Beyoncé
It became clear that the Cowboy Carter experience was intentionally designed to make us think — that the music and visual world she created were meant to serve as portals into these conversations, rooted in what I see as her ongoing self-exploration through art.
From the Archives
Death Becomes Her, Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York, June 2025: Living for the Dead
One of the qualities that makes Death Becomes Her such a triumph is the sheer joy emanating from the stage. This, combined with creative confidence and immense skill, lifts the show into the stratosphere — and the pleasures are multitudinous.
The Kael Report in Conversation with … Adam Feldman, 2 June 2025
One reason this is such a strong season is that we’re seeing a lot of original work. Compared with some recent years, there were fewer adaptations of intellectual property grabs, and fewer jukebox-musicals.
Maybe Happy Ending, Belasco Theatre, New York, May 2025; Smash, Imperial Theatre, New York, May 2025; Dead Outlaw, Longacre Theatre, New York, June 2025: Does Size Matter?
For all its originality, Maybe Happy Ending is built on foundations designed to play it safe — a paradox for a show so rich in visual and directorial invention.
Gypsy, Majestic Theatre, New York, May 2025: American Dream, Part II: Everything Old is New Again
One of the hallmarks of this production is how much it made me think — and how challenging, even uncomfortable, many of those thoughts were.
Purpose, Helen Hayes Theater, New York, May, 2025: Black, Live, and in Colour
Jacobs-Jenkins began working on Purpose in 2019, when Donald Trump was in his first term as president and Covid-19 was beginning to disrupt the world as we knew it. The shadow of both crises permeates the play, though neither is mentioned by name.
Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Phoenix Theatre, London, February 2024; Marquis Theatre, New York, April 2025: The Genius Myth, or How Not to Jump a Shark
I have not seen a single episode of the Netflix series Stranger Things, and after enduring the play, that will not change.
Sunset Blvd., Savoy Theatre, London, February 2023; St James Theatre, New York, October 2024: Everybody wants to go to Hollywood
Sunset Blvd. could have been a stronger production with a bit more conceptual focus, a rigorous examination of its many ideas, and some judicious editing of those ideas.