David Winskill

A review praises Alastair Whatley’s demanding solo performance in Micheál Mac Liammóir’s The Importance of Being Oscar, now running at London’s Park Theatre after a successful Jermyn Street Theatre engagement. The play chronicles Oscar Wilde’s life, career, relationships, imprisonment and exile, incorporating extracts from several major works. The production is commended for its pace, precision, minimalist design and near-perfect performance, though its mediation of Mac Liammóir’s affection for Wilde occasionally creates emotional distance.

The successful Crouch End Festival demonstrated Hornsey Town Hall’s potential as a major cultural and economic asset, attracting thousands of visitors and benefiting local businesses. However, the building remains underused, with unfinished or missing facilities and limited events beyond the festival. David Winskill argues that its private ownership makes the promised cultural programme difficult to sustain and calls on Haringey Council leader Mark Blake and the 2027 Borough of Culture directors to pursue a long-term, non-commercial anchor tenant able to run the heritage building and access grant funding.