Latitude Festival 2025 review: Fatboy Slim, Nick Robinson and gleaming WCs
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Graziadaily
2 hours ago
- Graziadaily
Rachel Zegler's West End Debut Is Summer's Hottest Ticket
Along the busy lanes of Argyll Street, Londoners and tourists weave past each other in a graceful chaos, lured into restaurants and trendy bars that charge double for the ambience. It's all a bit much. Unless of course, the sun is shining. In that case, the city shifts magically: tables spill onto pavements, spritzes sparkle in the light, and 10 pm sunsets cast an endless golden-hour spell. Lately, however, the street's charm seems to have increased tenfold. The reason? Rachel Zegler's musical interlude courtesy of Jamie Lloyd's production of Evita at The London Palladium. You've likely come across the scene that has London's theatre scene buzzing on social media already. Every night, Zegler's Eva Perón exits the stage at the The London Palladium and performs the show's biggest number 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina' to the Argyll Street audience, while the showgoers inside watch on a livestream. Much has been said and written about this fourth wall break: Why give the show's biggest number away for free? Is it a gimmick? What about the ticket holders inside the theatre? But at its core, it's a stroke of genius from Lloyd. Zegler, who shot to fame in West Side Story , has recently weathered much backlash for Disney's Snow White , while Lloyd has faced critique of his over-reliance on an A-list cast (he's responsible for Tom Holland in Romeo and Juliet and Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell in Much Ado About Nothing) and overly minimalist sets. So, it makes poetic sense that the two have joined forces for this tale that's centered on the court of public opinion. Far from Madonna's take on the Argentinian first lady, Zegler's Eva packs a contemporary bravado in her bra top, hot pants and boots as her charismatic star power lights up the brutalist stage setting. She plays the role with a dazzling shrewdness that's sexy and almost dangerous. There's something intriguing about watching a woman unapologetically own her ambition, especially when it's backed by Zegler's raw star power. Zegler's star power isn't the only thing pulling Evita to the top of our summer wishlist. There's Diego Andres Rodriguez's Che, who narrates with an interrogative flair, while James Olivas' Juan Perón is a magnetic and calculating presence. The choreography is a riot of resistance and revelry. Imbued with a certain rock and roll energy, Jamie Lloyd's Evita revival is a spectacle where the narrative is messy and the politics are performative. Its timely anti-fascist sentiment makes it an apt mirror for our times. 1. Evita It's influence-culture and modern-day politics distilled into a dazzling performance and wrapped in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's greatest score. Sure, if it's gowns and operatic grandeur you're after, Jamie Lloyd's Evita may not be for you. However, there's a certain thrill to watching theatre reinvent itself, on stage and in public. As radical as the story itself, Evita at The London Palladiumis an experience that deserves to be felt in person. With Zegler's full-blown ascent into superstar status both inside and out, this is absolutely the unmissable event of the summer. If you're keen on seeing Zegler take centre stage inside The London Palladium, head to LW Theatres to book tickets to Zegler's electrifying West End debut now.
Metro
13 hours ago
- Metro
What do Banksy's art pieces across London mean? We take a look
Last year, Banksy fans were left gripped after a series of animal-themed murals mysteriously appeared across London over a number of days. The graffiti artworks – depicting the likes of a goat precariously balancing on a pillar with rocks falling below it, two elephants are poking their heads out of blocked windows and three monkeys swinging on a bridge – first cropped up on August 5. The goat, which appeared on a building in Kew Road, west London, was the first piece to be created. Over the following eight days, a wolf, pelicans, a big cat, a rhino, piranhas and a gorilla were all stenciled on buildings in the capital. While some have since been removed, some of the pieces still remain in the city. But what was the reason behind the elusive Banksy's spurt of creative talent? Earlier this year, the covert street artist also added two new pieces to the capital's streets. One was a lighthouse, with the words 'I want to be what you saw in me' written across it. Another was a little girl holding gold balloons in Clerkenwell Green, Farringdon, painted on top of boarded-up toilets. Paul Gough is an expert on Banksy and is a professor and vice chancellor at the Arts University Bournemouth. He previously told Metro that the mysterious artist's stretch of artworks could be pointing towards something significant. What the significance was, however, has yet to be revealed. 'What's different is that Banksy usually leaves it a bit of time, keeps people guessing whether a piece of work is authentically his,' Gough said. While Banksy hosted a month-long residency in New York City in 2013, in which he produced one street art piece in a different part of the city each day in October, this was advertised beforehand. The difference with the artworks in London is that Banksy confirmed he had created them almost immediately after Londoners spotted them. The artist, whose identity has never been officially confirmed, usually waits several weeks or months to confirm that he has created certain pieces, leading to speculation and mock Banksys to appear. The mountain goat artwork was removed in early 2025, leaving local residents 'heartbroken', while owners of the building described it as 'essential'. The second piece showed two elephants poking their heads out of blocked-out windows on Esther Terrace, Chelsea, west London and the third showed three monkeys swinging along a bridge on Brick Lane in east London, which were then removed in February of this year. A lone wolf appeared on Rye Lane in Peckham, south east London, the day after, before being stolen just an hour later. A fifth appeared in Walthamstow, showing two pelicans eating fish above Bonners Fish Bar on Northcote Road. Then a cat on a dilapidated billboard, overgrown with leaves, popped up on Edgware Road in Cricklewood, northwest London, the following day. In a break from silhouettes, Banksy then decorated the windows of a City of London Police box with a swimming school of piranhas on Ludgate Hill. The City of London Corporation removed the box for safekeeping. It has yet to decide on a permanent home for the artwork. The following week saw the arrival of a rhinoceros mounting a parked car on Westmoor Street in Charlton, south east London. That one didn't last long – someone was filmed in a balaclava spray painting over it days after it was created. Then a painting of a gorilla freeing animals at London Zoo appeared, the final piece of the puzzle. As was the case every day in early August last year, Banksy confirmed the artwork's legitimacy on his official Instagram just after 1pm each day. Gaugon added: 'A pattern emerged underneath all this. Banksy certainly has used animals in his work in the past, but the difference is these have often been creatures like rats or chimps. 'The animals used so far seem rather benign, quite innocent to the world bar the wolf, certainly a change from his previous work.' Desperate for an explanation, at least one person has speculated the artworks may be a commentary on immigration and refugees. Another claimed it was about Brexit, pointing to the cat painted on a billboard, because billboards carried the '£350million for the NHS promise during the Brexit campaign'. Writing under Banksy's Instagram post of the piece, they said: 'The cat out of the bag meaning the truth about Brexit. The cats symbolised the scratching of a billboard that's gone to wrack and ruin, with the messages on it long gone.' Sadly, just days after it was put up, the stretching cat piece was removed. Its whereabouts are unknown. Gaugon told Metro he believes Banksy was inspired to create the animal series because of the state of the world. He said: 'Although there is so much going on, it is hard to pinpoint what he is specifically referring to at the moment.' However, people may be overthinking the meaning, Banksy's support organisation, Pest Control Office, suggested. Instead, Banksy's aim might be to cheer people up with 'unexpected amusement' amid bleak news headlines, The Observer reported. It doesn't seem that Banksy chose these specific locations for a reason, but then again, we just don't know. More Trending Banksy has been known to create other art series and campaigns in August in specific geographical areas of the UK in the past. One of the most famous was his Spraycation series across areas on the east coast of England in August 2021. But it took Banksy a while to officially verify these ten pieces of work across towns including Cromer, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft and Oulton Broad. 'One thing is certain, Banksy works by his own rules and we are all dancing to his tune,' Gaugon said. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: From a 'Surveillance society' to a 'papers please' society, readers discuss the Online Safety Act MORE: England defeat to India shows finishing touches are missing ahead of the Ashes MORE: The Metro daily cartoon by Guy Venables
Time Out
2 days ago
- Time Out
The legendary Italian gelato shop that has just opened its first UK outpost in London
During summer in London, there's one thing on everyone's mind: how to stay cool. Where air-con fails, there's no better way to ward off the heat than a good old-fashioned ice cream. Lucky for Londoners, a brand new gelateria has just opened up in the capital. Don Nino is a popular ice cream chain in Rome and Florence, and now it's made its way to the UK. The store popped up on Paddington Square in early July, and has been serving proper Italian gelato to the capital since. The café is the brainchild of Francesco Mastroianni, a man so good at making ice cream he's won multiple awards for it and been dubbed 'Gelato Ambassador of the World' by his fans. Clearly, he knows what he's doing. Each of Don Nino's 24 flavours has been carefully crafted by Francesco and his team, covering everything you might want from chocolate to lemon to pistachio. If ice cream isn't your thing, fear not. Francesco is also an expert patisserie chef, so Don Nino is also stocked up with authentic cannoli and pastries. Some are savoury – filled with meat or cheese – and others are sweet treats like brioches and macarons. There's also the eponymous Don Nino bite, a nutty, chocolatey delight. Getting hungry yet? The manager of the London shop, Benito Megna, has expressed his excitement about the opening, saying: 'We're thrilled to introduce Londoners to our authentic Italian gelato and freshly baked pastries and Sicilian cannoli in our first UK store. 'We look forward to sharing la dolce vita with our customers - the best way to enjoy summer in London is with a Don Nino gelato.' Being right outside Paddington station the café is very easy to get to, so you've got no excuse not to go and try some gelato goodness the next time we get a sunny day. Buon appetito! Don Nino 1 Paddington Sq, W2 1DL.
