Saturday Review - Raphael, My Cousin Rachel, Common, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Riviera

Raphael, My Cousin Rachel, Common, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Riviera

Download Raphael, My Cousin Rachel, Common, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Riviera

My Cousin Rachel is an atmospheric adaptation for the big screen of Daphne Du Maurier's novel starring Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin and directed by Notting Hill director Roger Michell. Like her most famous novel "Rebecca" the narrative revolves around a large private estate in Cornwall and a powerful woman whose life is an enigma.

Arundhati Roy was the first Indian woman writer to win the Booker Prize, which she won in 1997 for her novel The God of Small Things, and which sold over 8 million copies world wide. A political activist and writer, it has taken her 20 years to publish her ambitious second novel, The Ministry of Untold Happiness.

Raphael: The Drawings at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford includes 120 drawings by the celebrated Renaissance artist, including 50 from the Ashmolean's own collection which is the largest and most important in the world. The drawings are taken from across Raphael's brief but brilliant career, taking visitors from his early career in Umbria through his radically creative years in Florence to the period where he was at the height of his powers in Rome, working on major projects such as the Vatican frescoes.

Common, a world premiere by DC Moore, and directed by Headlong's Artistic Director Jeremy Herrin opens at the National's Olivier Theatre. An epic new history play co-produced by the National Theatre and Headlong, it is set in the early days of the Industrial Revolution when the common land of England is under threat. Common stars Anne-Marie Duff.

Set against an awe-inspiring backdrop of the Riviera in the South of France, Riviera is a new ten part television series from Sky, and stars Julia Stiles as Georgina Clios, the smart and resourceful second wife of a billionaire banker who dies in a yacht explosion. This catastrophe sets in motion a dramatic chain of events that exposes the darker side of the Riviera's glitz and glamour and the global art market. Conceived by Neil Jordan, who co-wrote the first episode with John Banville, the series also stars Adrian Lester.


Published on Saturday, 10th June 2017.

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