David Benedict
@eggsbened.bsky.social
Cultural talk and typing. And singing.
Biographer of Stephen Sondheim.
Variety, London theatre critic.
The Stage, Associate writer.
Tristram Hawkshaw in The Archers.
Somewhat gay.
Biographer of Stephen Sondheim.
Variety, London theatre critic.
The Stage, Associate writer.
Tristram Hawkshaw in The Archers.
Somewhat gay.
You can do anything in theatre: just don’t bore the paying audience.
Bad news: Cynthia Erivo’s Dracula is an interval-free, 115-minute bore. She narrates tonelessly, is dwarfed by multiple big screen pre-records of herself, and is sunk by dramatically pointless tech.
No tension, no horror, no point.
Bad news: Cynthia Erivo’s Dracula is an interval-free, 115-minute bore. She narrates tonelessly, is dwarfed by multiple big screen pre-records of herself, and is sunk by dramatically pointless tech.
No tension, no horror, no point.
February 18, 2026 at 7:16 AM
You can do anything in theatre: just don’t bore the paying audience.
Bad news: Cynthia Erivo’s Dracula is an interval-free, 115-minute bore. She narrates tonelessly, is dwarfed by multiple big screen pre-records of herself, and is sunk by dramatically pointless tech.
No tension, no horror, no point.
Bad news: Cynthia Erivo’s Dracula is an interval-free, 115-minute bore. She narrates tonelessly, is dwarfed by multiple big screen pre-records of herself, and is sunk by dramatically pointless tech.
No tension, no horror, no point.
Reposted by David Benedict
“And I shall be as dirty as I please. I like to be dirty. And I will be… dirty.”
Cliff Richard’s Heathcliife, from the musical of that name, is everything:
2’ 55” of The Full Brontë.
EMERALD FENNELL, EAT YOUR HEART OUT.
Please thank Maisie and @sbrackenborough.bsky.social for bringing this to us.
Cliff Richard’s Heathcliife, from the musical of that name, is everything:
2’ 55” of The Full Brontë.
EMERALD FENNELL, EAT YOUR HEART OUT.
Please thank Maisie and @sbrackenborough.bsky.social for bringing this to us.
February 17, 2026 at 1:32 AM
“And I shall be as dirty as I please. I like to be dirty. And I will be… dirty.”
Cliff Richard’s Heathcliife, from the musical of that name, is everything:
2’ 55” of The Full Brontë.
EMERALD FENNELL, EAT YOUR HEART OUT.
Please thank Maisie and @sbrackenborough.bsky.social for bringing this to us.
Cliff Richard’s Heathcliife, from the musical of that name, is everything:
2’ 55” of The Full Brontë.
EMERALD FENNELL, EAT YOUR HEART OUT.
Please thank Maisie and @sbrackenborough.bsky.social for bringing this to us.
“And I shall be as dirty as I please. I like to be dirty. And I will be… dirty.”
Cliff Richard’s Heathcliife, from the musical of that name, is everything:
2’ 55” of The Full Brontë.
EMERALD FENNELL, EAT YOUR HEART OUT.
Please thank Maisie and @sbrackenborough.bsky.social for bringing this to us.
Cliff Richard’s Heathcliife, from the musical of that name, is everything:
2’ 55” of The Full Brontë.
EMERALD FENNELL, EAT YOUR HEART OUT.
Please thank Maisie and @sbrackenborough.bsky.social for bringing this to us.
February 17, 2026 at 1:32 AM
“And I shall be as dirty as I please. I like to be dirty. And I will be… dirty.”
Cliff Richard’s Heathcliife, from the musical of that name, is everything:
2’ 55” of The Full Brontë.
EMERALD FENNELL, EAT YOUR HEART OUT.
Please thank Maisie and @sbrackenborough.bsky.social for bringing this to us.
Cliff Richard’s Heathcliife, from the musical of that name, is everything:
2’ 55” of The Full Brontë.
EMERALD FENNELL, EAT YOUR HEART OUT.
Please thank Maisie and @sbrackenborough.bsky.social for bringing this to us.
Interesting
variety.com/2022/tv/news...
variety.com/2022/tv/news...
Kevin Spacey Ordered to Pay $31 Million to ‘House of Cards’ Producer for Alleged Sexual Misconduct
Kevin Spacey has been ordered to pay 'House of Cards' production company MRC about $31 million for his alleged sexual misconduct.
variety.com
February 16, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Interesting
variety.com/2022/tv/news...
variety.com/2022/tv/news...
Sadly, it’s now farewell to Robert Duvall, unforgettable in his 1962 debut appearance playing Boo Radley in To Kill A Mockingbird.
How marvellous that both Robert Duvall (Boo Radley) and Mary Badham (Scout) are still with us… and that Duvall is 95 today. How much do I love this film? Let us count the ways.
February 16, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Sadly, it’s now farewell to Robert Duvall, unforgettable in his 1962 debut appearance playing Boo Radley in To Kill A Mockingbird.
Reposted by David Benedict
You want to sue someone, sue the arsehole government that boosted infection rates with schemes like Maybe The Virus Will Go Away For Christmas and Let's Infect Some Waiting Staff (not to mention Let's Pretend The ScotGov Updates Are A Party Political Broadcast And Undermine Them).
February 16, 2026 at 12:53 PM
You want to sue someone, sue the arsehole government that boosted infection rates with schemes like Maybe The Virus Will Go Away For Christmas and Let's Infect Some Waiting Staff (not to mention Let's Pretend The ScotGov Updates Are A Party Political Broadcast And Undermine Them).
The internet, obviously, is terrible, fomenting and fermenting lies and unhappiness. But I recently asked for advice here on where to find decent Earl Grey tea. And many good people sent enthusiastic tips.
This delivery just arrived from someone I’ve messaged but never met.
There’s kindness here.
This delivery just arrived from someone I’ve messaged but never met.
There’s kindness here.
February 15, 2026 at 2:27 PM
The internet, obviously, is terrible, fomenting and fermenting lies and unhappiness. But I recently asked for advice here on where to find decent Earl Grey tea. And many good people sent enthusiastic tips.
This delivery just arrived from someone I’ve messaged but never met.
There’s kindness here.
This delivery just arrived from someone I’ve messaged but never met.
There’s kindness here.
Reposted by David Benedict
My brother Garry has dementia and is currently lost somewhere in the Chester area. If anyone should spot him please call the police on 999. We'd appreciate reposts. @shitchester.bsky.social
February 14, 2026 at 8:00 PM
My brother Garry has dementia and is currently lost somewhere in the Chester area. If anyone should spot him please call the police on 999. We'd appreciate reposts. @shitchester.bsky.social
A tiny handful of actors create roles so indelibly that it’s impossible to imagine anyone else ever having got near being cast. Thelma Ritter did it time and again. She’s glorious as Doris Day’s hard-drinking housekeeper in Pillow Talk but at her best here.
Happy Birthday!
youtu.be/GZdJ-DOn2ss?...
Happy Birthday!
youtu.be/GZdJ-DOn2ss?...
Rear Window (1954) - “An Intelligent Way To Approach Marriage…” - Film Scene
YouTube video by Connor Nathan Hough
youtu.be
February 14, 2026 at 7:52 PM
A tiny handful of actors create roles so indelibly that it’s impossible to imagine anyone else ever having got near being cast. Thelma Ritter did it time and again. She’s glorious as Doris Day’s hard-drinking housekeeper in Pillow Talk but at her best here.
Happy Birthday!
youtu.be/GZdJ-DOn2ss?...
Happy Birthday!
youtu.be/GZdJ-DOn2ss?...
February 14, 2026 at 3:57 PM
My colleague Dominic Cavendish took this shot of a rainy night in the West End’s theatreland and I rather love it.
February 14, 2026 at 8:44 AM
My colleague Dominic Cavendish took this shot of a rainy night in the West End’s theatreland and I rather love it.
A question for my American friends especially @bcdreyer.social:
Without coming over all Mildred Natwick - although, why not - may I discuss pestles? I just read a recipe in the NY Times which suggested using a mortar and pestle.
In the UK we always refer them as a pestle and mortar. Discuss.
Without coming over all Mildred Natwick - although, why not - may I discuss pestles? I just read a recipe in the NY Times which suggested using a mortar and pestle.
In the UK we always refer them as a pestle and mortar. Discuss.
February 14, 2026 at 1:17 AM
A question for my American friends especially @bcdreyer.social:
Without coming over all Mildred Natwick - although, why not - may I discuss pestles? I just read a recipe in the NY Times which suggested using a mortar and pestle.
In the UK we always refer them as a pestle and mortar. Discuss.
Without coming over all Mildred Natwick - although, why not - may I discuss pestles? I just read a recipe in the NY Times which suggested using a mortar and pestle.
In the UK we always refer them as a pestle and mortar. Discuss.
I once found myself at lunch with Kim Novak’s ex-husband, Richard Johnson. “Ruined by the studio,” he said. And this superb 1997 interview with her proves his point. But she’s having the last laugh because she’s 93 today.
Now watch her in Bell, Book and Candle.
www.independent.co.uk/voices/inter...
Now watch her in Bell, Book and Candle.
www.independent.co.uk/voices/inter...
February 13, 2026 at 4:50 PM
I once found myself at lunch with Kim Novak’s ex-husband, Richard Johnson. “Ruined by the studio,” he said. And this superb 1997 interview with her proves his point. But she’s having the last laugh because she’s 93 today.
Now watch her in Bell, Book and Candle.
www.independent.co.uk/voices/inter...
Now watch her in Bell, Book and Candle.
www.independent.co.uk/voices/inter...
Beautiful. How is it possible to feel so nostalgic for something that has only just been made? Bravo.
Mackenzie Crook’s rural dreamscape #Detectorists published by #PenguinBooks (and its offshoots) down the years. 🧵
1/
1/
February 10, 2026 at 10:55 PM
Beautiful. How is it possible to feel so nostalgic for something that has only just been made? Bravo.
Now that Emerald Fennell’s much-marketed “Wuthering Heights” has at last been released can we all please go back to the original famously starring 56-year-old Cliff Richard. What’s that you say… there was a novel too!?
How I wish I had seen this.
www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
How I wish I had seen this.
www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
February 10, 2026 at 12:38 PM
Now that Emerald Fennell’s much-marketed “Wuthering Heights” has at last been released can we all please go back to the original famously starring 56-year-old Cliff Richard. What’s that you say… there was a novel too!?
How I wish I had seen this.
www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
How I wish I had seen this.
www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
Brexit is indirectly responsible for the hatred of this Govt: a simple vote changed every almost overnight. Now an impatient electorate expects improvement equally fast. They don’t want tax rises but are furious Starmer hasn’t transformed our lives in 18 months after 14 YEARS of austerity and greed.
February 9, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Brexit is indirectly responsible for the hatred of this Govt: a simple vote changed every almost overnight. Now an impatient electorate expects improvement equally fast. They don’t want tax rises but are furious Starmer hasn’t transformed our lives in 18 months after 14 YEARS of austerity and greed.
So the fall-out from the wretched Mandelson scandal has led Scotland’s Labour leader to call for Keir Starmer to resign.
Meanwhile, last year…
There is always a tweet.
Meanwhile, last year…
There is always a tweet.
February 9, 2026 at 3:02 PM
So the fall-out from the wretched Mandelson scandal has led Scotland’s Labour leader to call for Keir Starmer to resign.
Meanwhile, last year…
There is always a tweet.
Meanwhile, last year…
There is always a tweet.
Nothing succeeds like excess:
You may not be conversant with the full majesty of birthday girl Carmen Miranda. Her film biography was entitled “Bananas is my business” and here, deliriously, is why.
The first 40 secs are “Excuse me?” Then increasing derangement begins.
youtu.be/HqgsZVOSlak?...
You may not be conversant with the full majesty of birthday girl Carmen Miranda. Her film biography was entitled “Bananas is my business” and here, deliriously, is why.
The first 40 secs are “Excuse me?” Then increasing derangement begins.
youtu.be/HqgsZVOSlak?...
Carmen Miranda in THE GANG'S ALL HERE | TCM
YouTube video by Turner Classic Movies
youtu.be
February 9, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Nothing succeeds like excess:
You may not be conversant with the full majesty of birthday girl Carmen Miranda. Her film biography was entitled “Bananas is my business” and here, deliriously, is why.
The first 40 secs are “Excuse me?” Then increasing derangement begins.
youtu.be/HqgsZVOSlak?...
You may not be conversant with the full majesty of birthday girl Carmen Miranda. Her film biography was entitled “Bananas is my business” and here, deliriously, is why.
The first 40 secs are “Excuse me?” Then increasing derangement begins.
youtu.be/HqgsZVOSlak?...
You may know my dear chum Annalisa Barbieri as the Independent’s former fashion editor and fishing correspondent - I’m not joking - or The Observer’s chocolate correspondent or The Guardian’s problem page guru. She’s also a wonderful cook.
This is DELICIOUS.
paneamoreechachacha.com?s=Leek+butte...
This is DELICIOUS.
paneamoreechachacha.com?s=Leek+butte...
February 8, 2026 at 1:53 PM
You may know my dear chum Annalisa Barbieri as the Independent’s former fashion editor and fishing correspondent - I’m not joking - or The Observer’s chocolate correspondent or The Guardian’s problem page guru. She’s also a wonderful cook.
This is DELICIOUS.
paneamoreechachacha.com?s=Leek+butte...
This is DELICIOUS.
paneamoreechachacha.com?s=Leek+butte...
It being the 138th birthday of Edith Evans it would be entirely understandable to revel once again in her indomitable Lady Bracknell but instead I urge you to watch her in the utterly splendid Tom Jones which rightly won Best Picture at the 1964 Oscars. She is unshakeably magnificent in every frame.
February 8, 2026 at 8:59 AM
It being the 138th birthday of Edith Evans it would be entirely understandable to revel once again in her indomitable Lady Bracknell but instead I urge you to watch her in the utterly splendid Tom Jones which rightly won Best Picture at the 1964 Oscars. She is unshakeably magnificent in every frame.
After the rain, colours - en route to Lidl.
#reasonstolovelondon
#reasonstolovelondon
February 7, 2026 at 11:47 PM
After the rain, colours - en route to Lidl.
#reasonstolovelondon
#reasonstolovelondon
No idea why today’s earworm is all about political corruption but musical theatre has the answer to most things so try this on for size:
Jerry Bock & Sheldon Harnick’s spry little number about financial chicanery from their Pulitzer-winning Fiorello. John Wilson conducts.
youtu.be/hayIxnLyQ6s?...
Jerry Bock & Sheldon Harnick’s spry little number about financial chicanery from their Pulitzer-winning Fiorello. John Wilson conducts.
youtu.be/hayIxnLyQ6s?...
Nigel Richards - BBC Proms "Little Tin Box"
YouTube video by Farouq Taj
youtu.be
February 7, 2026 at 6:20 PM
No idea why today’s earworm is all about political corruption but musical theatre has the answer to most things so try this on for size:
Jerry Bock & Sheldon Harnick’s spry little number about financial chicanery from their Pulitzer-winning Fiorello. John Wilson conducts.
youtu.be/hayIxnLyQ6s?...
Jerry Bock & Sheldon Harnick’s spry little number about financial chicanery from their Pulitzer-winning Fiorello. John Wilson conducts.
youtu.be/hayIxnLyQ6s?...
Reposted by David Benedict
BREAKING: Gordon Brown defends Keir Starmer
"I can look in his eyes and see he is a man of integrity.
"He wants to do the right things. Perhaps he has been too slow to do the right things. But he must do the right things now.
"Lets judge what he does"
"I can look in his eyes and see he is a man of integrity.
"He wants to do the right things. Perhaps he has been too slow to do the right things. But he must do the right things now.
"Lets judge what he does"
February 7, 2026 at 9:08 AM
BREAKING: Gordon Brown defends Keir Starmer
"I can look in his eyes and see he is a man of integrity.
"He wants to do the right things. Perhaps he has been too slow to do the right things. But he must do the right things now.
"Lets judge what he does"
"I can look in his eyes and see he is a man of integrity.
"He wants to do the right things. Perhaps he has been too slow to do the right things. But he must do the right things now.
"Lets judge what he does"
Training the 10-man curling team for the 17-day Winter Olympics costs the taxpayer £6.3m.
Royal Scottish National Orchestra play to audiences year round: 66 full-time musicians costs us £4.2m
It’s not about one or the other, but why the vast disparity? www.thetimes.com/article/6c3e...
Royal Scottish National Orchestra play to audiences year round: 66 full-time musicians costs us £4.2m
It’s not about one or the other, but why the vast disparity? www.thetimes.com/article/6c3e...
February 6, 2026 at 6:53 PM
Training the 10-man curling team for the 17-day Winter Olympics costs the taxpayer £6.3m.
Royal Scottish National Orchestra play to audiences year round: 66 full-time musicians costs us £4.2m
It’s not about one or the other, but why the vast disparity? www.thetimes.com/article/6c3e...
Royal Scottish National Orchestra play to audiences year round: 66 full-time musicians costs us £4.2m
It’s not about one or the other, but why the vast disparity? www.thetimes.com/article/6c3e...
No reason for this, other than that I love it.
Song, by Wendy Cope.
Song, by Wendy Cope.
February 6, 2026 at 7:47 AM
No reason for this, other than that I love it.
Song, by Wendy Cope.
Song, by Wendy Cope.