Finn Pollard
@heresfinn.bsky.social
Head of Academic Quality. Associate Prof (US History). Pollard's US Politics Thread (Fridays). Arts Reviewer. Lib Dem/Remainer. Views my own not UoL.
NT Some Woman has not got quite so unconvincing a plot as NT Catarina but it certainly tries. As with so much contemporary theatre it was desperate to make a point but I’m afraid it failed to make me care about it. 1h45 without interval and it certainly feels its length.
Greetings Friends! Welcome to the US Politics Thread for w/e 30th Oct 2026, or, The Approaching Election Eve Edition…
ROH 4:48 Psychosis. Revealing how much of the text is spoken. Some striking musical ideas but I didn’t think enough to sustain 90mins. Certain power to it tho I think some of it is purely a result of subject matter. V well performed. Don’t think I’d need to hear it again.
There’s a lot to like about Almeida Golden Boy but I really think it’s inexcusable to be miking actors in a space that size. If the soundscape is the problem then dial it down.
Hi there and hello! Welcome to the US Politics Thread for w/e 23rd Oct, or, The She’s A Witch, She’s A Witch...No Really Kansas Edition…
Was momentarily tempted by the Grange Park Opera Sweeney Todd & then I saw who the director was.
To say "online homes for several BBC programmes" were "inaccessible" is rather an understatement. As far as I can see all radio listing pgs (the much more readable outside Sounds versions) and all individual radio programme pages are down. A fairly comprehensive outage: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Websites taken down as critical PHP cyber-security update issued
Two critical vulnerabilities have been identified with PHP, a programming language which is widely used across the internet.
bbc.co.uk
My thoughts & questions following the Radio 4 Extra closure announcement: www.wheresrunnicles.com/2026/10/anot...
Another BBC Closure Without A Clear Plan
wheresrunnicles.com
Radio 4 Extra is a jewel in the BBC's crown and provides access to a huge range of programmes from the rich spoken word archive. It doesn't need to be a linear service but the BBC should guarantee if closing that service that it will continue to make available an equivalent amount of programmes.
I‘d thought I was going to miss Kimberly Akimbo at Hampstead as had run out of free Saturdays but fortunately spotted this afternoon that it’s been extended into Nov.
Donmar Ilford Boy: Best new play I’ve seen for ages. Started off thinking it was going over old ground and by the end had tears in my eyes. Superb debut from Leo Whitfield Harris.
Greetings Friends! Welcome to the US Politics Thread for w/e 16th Oct 2026, or, The We’re in the Middle of Trump’s Midterm Blitz (The Press Secretary Says So, So It Must Be True) Edition…
My thoughts on the ROH Parsifal: www.wheresrunnicles.com/2026/10/pars...
Parsifal at the Royal Opera, or, That The Light Was a Lie Was A Matter of Indifference To Me
Director Evgeny Titov and his Set Designer Etienne Pluss locate the work in a dark and dreary castle - symbolised by a number of moveable pillars. I feel I've seen a lot of shows in the last few years set in similar kinds of environments and I'm getting a bit weary of it. As with the recent Glyndebourne production there is not much attempt to differentiate Klingsor's castle in Act 2 from the Grail Knights castle of Acts 1 and 3. The Grail Castle as a set in itself is mostly inoffensive, but it doesn't have enough grandeur for the more processional elements of the score (the moveable pillars reminded me of an old video game). The bigger problem is D.M. Wood's lighting which means that in the Amphi it is rarely possible to make out faces, and Otto Pichler's movement which as with the same element at Glyndebourne too often fails to last out the music. Titov also clearly thinks that Gurnemanz is a bore and adds a lot of dumb show in two of his monologues (the Act 1 explanation of how we got here, and the Act 3 Good Friday description). The Act 1 scene is at least coherent, though I thought unnecessary, the Act 3 scene is part of the bigger problems with Titov's conception of that Act which we'll come back to.
wheresrunnicles.com
Two acts into ROH Parsifal & I’m so far baffled as to why it seems to have moved/enraged. Strong musically but apart from one idea in the Act One ceremony (wch is not unproblematic) I can’t so far see that it is finding anything fresh to say & nobody is moving me emotionally as Relyea did at Glynde.
Hi there and hello! Welcome to the US Politics Thread for w/e 9th Oct 2026, or, The GOP Continued to Look In Difficulties Edition..
It's nearly fallen off BBC Sounds but I thought this 5 part adaptation of R F Delderfield's To Serve Them All My Days from 2006 was BBC Radio drama at its best. Played in that way that makes you feel like they're telling the story just to you: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...
BBC Radio 4 Extra - To Serve Them All My Days by RF Delderfield, 5. The Fight to be Headmaster
Davy draws daggers with the headmaster. One of them will have to go.
bbc.co.uk
Always said it was a mistake to drop the George Fenton PM intro (reinstated to mark the composer’s death): www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - PM, Over 250,000 protesting across France
Police fire tear gas at crowds as hundreds of thousands join school demonstrations.
bbc.co.uk
In other news concerned by the reports that Radio 4 Extra is once again under threat. The BBC has a unique audio archive & rediscovered stuff is regularly being broadcast. It doesn't need to be tied to a schedule but the corporation must provide a reliable route for this material to be heard.
Greetings Friends! Welcome to the slightly belated US Politics Thread for w/e 4th October 2026, or The Trying to Work Out What Might Be Going On In Some Strongly GOP States Edition…
Note for our regular readers owing to work commitments the US Politics Thread will be out on Sunday this week.
Beyond me at the interval why Donmar Month in the Country has been apparently so well reviewed. Confused set mirroring a failure to correctly balance the tone. Voice overs a mistake.
Hi there and hello! Welcome to the US Politics Thread for w/e 25th Sept 2026, or, The Signs of GOP Anxiety Were Becoming More Conspicuous Edition...
My thoughts (rather a lot of them) on Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists at the NT: www.wheresrunnicles.com/2026/09/cata...
Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists at the National, or, I'm Sorry But the Premise Just Gets More and More Unbelievable
Note: This is a review of the only preview on Saturday 19th September 2026. The Press Night took tonight (Monday 21st September 2026).
wheresrunnicles.com
ROH Alcina: A mixed afternoon for me. Best production of their recent Handels but for me didn't quite accommodate range of emotion in the work. David Bates on the podium didn't to my ear find the full dramatic & emotional range of truly great Handel. Singing solid but diction an issue for several.
NT Caterina & the Beauty of Killing Fascists: premise is ludicrous, the arguments badly one sided & thus increasingly interminable even with the cheat of the last half hour when I was sorely tempted to take my headphones and book out. A show that thinks it’s much cleverer than it is.To be avoided.
Greetings Friends! Welcome to the US Politics Thread for w/e 18th Sept 2026, or, The Some Suggestive Signals from the Heartland on the GOP Situation Edition…
NT Elektra/Persona: Elektra (50m) has points of interest. Persona (1h10) is gimmicky and increasingly tedious (& several times made me laugh at rather than with it). Not worth queueing for returns.
Proms 2026: I've never managed to get on with Mahler 9 and tonight wasn't an exception. Sometimes sparked into life but mostly felt a bit shapeless and didn't sufficiently hold my attention.
Hi there and hello! Welcome to the US Politics Thread for w/e 11th Sept 2026, or The Supreme Court Debates Whether To Disenfranchise Voters Edition…