Precious is a new-style weepie but one that is much more bracing than depressing
Precious
Theatre
Ian McKellen is captivating throughout. He delights in the play’s gallows humour, yet is also maudlin and poignant
Waiting for Godot
Theatre
Slight quibbles notwithstanding, this will set the West End’s stock riding high
Enron
Utterly, utterly brilliant. You really are in for a treat
Though 'Trilogy' has won rave reviews, I personally found myself exasperated after about an hour
We went on a quiet sunday evening and the food was excellent, but the experience let down by the service and ambiance
London,




Description: Interactive display charting the ascendant artist's development.
Phone: 0207930 3647
Website: www.ica.org.uk
Trains: Tube: Charing Cross
Child’s play: Children actively encouraged to talk to adult strangers at the exhibition
The ICA Gallery has been turned into a playground. Primary school pupils in yellow school jerseys are chasing each other, playing games, and generally making a bit of a racket.
And, if they're not making a racket, then they can be seen hugging the walls in clusters to appear indifferently cool in the face of being living exhibits. Good on them.
Confronted with all these exuberant children, I, too, can be found hugging a wall. But then I am forced to 'interact' when two little girls come up to me. A prepared statement, in which the exhibition is named 'a success', is given by one. Ah well, this firmly puts critics in their place, I guess.
This is the third and last instalment of Tino Sehgal's interactive 'displays' at the ICA and the meagre star rating should in no way reflect the faultless participation of the children, who are just being themselves, more or less.
Furthermore, one kind of gets where Sehgal may be coming from - where else, after all, are children actively encouraged to talk to adult strangers?
But as an act of 'subversion' surely it's all a bit lame. Certainly, the typical ICA crowd this will attract are just too art savvy to think this a genuinely thought-provoking piece. For where once the pushing of boundaries in art gave the ICA its purpose, that very concept now appears extremely tired.
Until Mar 4, ICA Galleries, The Mall SW1, daily noon to 7.30pm, Mon to Fri £2, £1.50 concs, Sat and Sun £3, £2 concs. Tel: 020 7930 3647. www.ica.org.uk Tube: Charing Cross/Piccadilly Circus
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.