David Lister
A founder member of The Independent David Lister joined the paper in 1986 as Assistant Home Editor. He became the paper's arts correspondent in 1988 and is now Arts Editor and writes a column each Saturday. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
David Lister: Keep our museums and galleries free
Free admission to national museums and art galleries is a jolly good thing and people who get in free are very happy with the situation.
Recently by David Lister
David Lister: Theatres should give women a break
Saturday, 27 June 2009
What was the biggest event in theatre this week? It was all set to be Nicholas Hytner's excellent initiative in beaming Helen Mirren's performance in Phèdre to cinemas around the world. But the National Theatre's artistic director has been upstaged by the arts minister, Barbara Follett.
David Lister: The man who created modern pop's template
Friday, 26 June 2009
Back in the eighties and nineties there was a saying in the music business: "There's showbiz, there's rock 'n' roll, and there's Michael Jackson."
David Lister: There's no need to make a song and dance about arts in the North
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Well, it sounded good. An opera house for the North. A good old anti-elitist, anti-London gesture to bring some of the best of the Royal Opera House's London performances to Manchester, and produce some work there too. It sounded good, but it was never properly thought out.
David Lister: Deep in thought over the thinker in residence
Saturday, 20 June 2009
An intriguing appointment has been made, I hear, at London’s South Bank Centre, or Southbank Centre, as they annoyingly insist on being called. The country’s biggest arts centre, boasting among its venues the Royal Festival Hall and Hayward Gallery, has appointed a “thinker in residence”.
David Lister: Artists shouldn't have to explain themselves
Saturday, 13 June 2009
In the midst of the Venice Biennale opening celebrations, an odd exchange took place. Steve McQueen, Britain's representative, was giving a press conference about his artwork, a short film depicting the setting of the Biennale after the glamorous art world had left.
David Lister: The Sky's the limit for 3D drama
Saturday, 6 June 2009
Rupert Murdoch, patron of the arts. It still has a most unlikely ring to it. But it has to be said that the investment of Sky television in culture is proving quite impressive. It now has four arts channels (OK, two are HD versions of the first two), but even just having two arts channels counts for something at a time when ITV is axing The South Bank Show and the BBC has insufficient arts strands.
David Lister: Beyoncé's transport blues
Saturday, 30 May 2009
The workings, or non-workings, of the London Underground system at weekends are discussed far too seldom. If, like me, you live in outer London, then there are numerous Saturdays and Sundays when you can't get into the capital by public transport. So I'm grateful to Beyoncé, pictured, that this state of affairs has been noticed at last. Her gig at the O2 last Monday was a success in the arena but a nightmare outside. Thousands of her fans were left with transport difficulties, as it was a bank holiday and the Jubilee line was closed for engineering work.
David Lister: You can't copyright a hero
Saturday, 23 May 2009
I have a vision. And I'm guessing I can say that without being sued. Were I to say "I have a dream" then I might need to seek legal advice.
David Lister: Can't stand the heat? Lower the price
Saturday, 16 May 2009
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group has admitted that people are having to walk out of Oliver! at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, because it is "insufferably hot" in the balcony.
David Lister: Dylan and McCartney don't mix
Saturday, 9 May 2009
It emerged this week that Bob Dylan was keen to form a songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney. McCartney's people were delighted and an artistic collaboration between two legends may well go ahead. I'm not sure if the coming together of two songwriters from different cultures, and with different artistic approaches will work. I wonder how they would go about it. Perhaps they would write alternate lines:
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