Review

Mark Zuckerberg has already spent $20bn on his new virtual reality project, and it’s boring, empty and clunky

Lukas Dhont’s Close is an ecstatic, tear-jerking tale of adolescent friendship

If we’d been allowed to judge it on own terms, Rachel O’Riordan’s production works perfectly well as a slice-of-life drama

This is an atmospheric drama set during the second world war in a claustrophobic boarding house not far from Cardiff Docks

This musical set on an estate in Sheffield charts the changing times of these islands

Sylvia fails to live up to its billing as the serious rival to Hamilton it was originally intended to be

A gripping work of literary fiction – soon to be a Netflix series – sheds light on the Sámi’s plight

How a book of ancient Chinese and Indian texts influenced the work of one of Spain’s greatest modern artists

A revelatory exhibition unveils the workings of a genius

With its central theme of doomed, forbidden love, it is also a pretty odd play to put on around the time of Valentine’s Day

This play is a joyous celebration not just of great writing and acting, but also of the art of theatricality

He was a quiet man who serially painted humble, dusty objects. So what makes Giorgio Morandi one of Italy's greatest arists?

Two big names can't mask the fact that Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons is ponderous, pretentious piffle

Rob Madge's moving story of their relationship with their father is a reminder of Kenneth Williams

What a new collection by some of France’s greatest writers tells us about the art of the short story

A new exhibition shows how cross-cultural fertilisation was a characteristic of the Iberian peninsula from its early history

A comedy which seemed fresh and inventive many years ago now seems limp and hackneyed

A musical inspired by George Takei's early life has a tremendous emotional charge

An exhibition explores the life of the sculptor before and during her years in Cornwall

Two late works shed light on his four-decade link with a remarkable scientific institution

No one knows more about touring than Bill Kenwright and his production of The Shawshank Redemption is a typically accomplished affair

This production of Lillian Hellman’s play once again makes the point that the Donmar Warehouse is a centre of theatrical excellence

A new book tells the story of two of Britain’s most famous mystics

The work of four female artists in the Royal Academy’s Making Modernism show speaks volumes about their troubled lives

This play seems to want to challenge stereotypes, but inadvertently and ridiculously reinforces them

Sri Lankan ghosts, queer love and a fictional nation all made for riveting reading this year

There isn’t a member of the cast who isn’t firing on all cylinders but, at two-and-a-half-hours, this portrayal of telesales women feels much too long

The play divides critics, but this production will convert any punters

A Storm for Christmas fails to deliver more than the usual festive tropes… but perhaps it doesn’t need to

A searing music memoir, goshawks and John Donne all featured in 2022’s best non-fiction

Unveiling Vienna-bound Gustav Klimt’s pan-European inspirations

The National's Christmas folie de grandeur is simply unforgivable