Entertainment

They say one of the things that inspires a nation's folk-law and fairy tales is the composition of its forests. Germany's Black Forest, known for inspiring Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty, has a slightly dark and sinister feel to them which is reflected in stories by the Brothers Grimm, whereas British forests, which have a mythical feel, inspire tales such as the Chronicles of Narnia, the Lord of the Rings and Robin Hood. The parallel came to mind listening to Jim...

A controversial play about a notorious child killer has been axed - following an emotional appeal from the victims' families. Evil Raymond Leslie Morris, dubbed the 'Monster of Cannock Chase', raped and murdered a seven-year-old girl and was suspected of strangling two others in the 1960s. Evil Morris was caged for life after he snatched schoolgirl Christine Darby, seven, off a street and strangled her before dumping her body on Cannock Chase, Staffs., in 1967. He was also prime suspect...

Forget what you know about Swan Lake. Forget ballet, forget Tchaikovsky, forget magic and romance. Michael Keegan-Dolan's critically acclaimed contemporary take is like nothing you will have ever seen before, yet it is as devastatingly powerful as any adaption you are likely to see. After its sell-out success last year, Swan Lake/Loch na hEala returned to Sadler's Wells this week for a three day run. Performed by a company of 13 world-class performers including actor Mikel Murfi, the contemporary adaption is interwoven with...

Hello, please, introduce yourself and tell us a little about your show  We are Peter and Bambi Heaven Australia’s best magical entertainers and we’ve come all the way from Queensland to spray you guys with a little bit of Gold Coast Sunshine. We’re a new couple, Bambi’s only been doing magic for a few weeks but she’s made the jump from Cage-Dancer to Magicians-Assistant seamlessly. I’ve been doing this shit for thirty five years mate, so when I tell you...

Samantha Baines: the woman of many talents. Tell us a little about that you do. Haha, thank you. Well, I like to keep myself busy and keep challenging myself so I work in a few different areas, people are constantly mentioning my fingers to do with pies! I am a stand up comedian (award winning don't ya know) and I talk about science in my comedy as I find it utterly fascinating. I like to work facts into my jokes...

You might think you are making your own choices in life, but you’re not. You are, in fact, a robot, merely doing the bidding of the genetic ‘instructions’ hardwired into your brain. So says author and free will expert Paul Kwatz in this thought-provoking piece of popular science, which presents fascinating philosophical arguments in a concise, clearly-worded and engaging fashion. With a background in medicine, Kwatz writes under a pen name, and presents his readers with some hard-to-swallow facts about...

Bristol duo Meadowlark are out on tour and about to roll through the capital! Since the release of Postcards back in June, Meadowlark have had a busy summer of UK festivals and are currently gliding across the UK on a gentle wave of melodic pop. Dan and Kate took the time to say hello to TLE ahead of their show in London on Saturday (the Islington, be there). We talk their whirlwind of a debut, hair-raising live reception and the...

Is there a more “2017” opening to an album than “the world is dying, shit is getting serious”? It’s hard to think of one, but then given that this is the second album in as many months that prophesises the crumbling of civilisation perhaps this is the new normal. With vast sections of the World at loggerheads with each other, the media stoking fear and mass surveillance being rationalised by increasingly sporadic acts of terrorism it’s increasingly looking as though...

One of the magical things about Oasis was the way Liam's rough-and-ready rock blended with Noel's harmonic roll to make one of the most eminent and timeless bands of the 21st century. Like the Lennon–McCartney duo most people side with one or the other, but few would disagree that both the Beatles and Oasis would be half a band if you removed either party. Which is what makes the recent release of new records from the respective Gallagher brothers so fascinating....