TheatreObituaryJohn Gunter obituarySet designer behind the look of many memorable theatre and opera productionsJohn Gunter, who has died aged 77, nine years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, was responsible for the look of some of the most memorable shows in postwar British theatre: Edward Bond’s stark, poetic and brutal Saved (1965) at the Royal Court, the DH Lawrence trilogy at the same theatre in 1968, Richard Eyre’s glorious 1982 revival of Guys and Dolls at the National Theatre (the stage was a riot of neon-lit Broadway billboards and adverts), and Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell (1989), starring Peter O’Toole, at the Apollo in the West End.
The ObserverRaceIn order for true diversity to flourish, we need to first become unswervingly anti-racist. That means doing more than watching a few documentaries or reading some books, says Nova Reid. Consciously ‘unlearning’ racism is the crucial first stepI felt overwhelmed: 40,000 hits to my website – 50 times more than the average month – plus 2,000 emails, people tagging me in social media posts to let their followers know they had signed up to my online anti-racism course – but not always actually signing up.
Loony toons: SpongeBob SquarePants, Invader Zim, Ren and Stimpy, Doug and Rocko’s Modern Life. Composite: Alamy, Nickelodeon & Rex FeaturesLoony toons: SpongeBob SquarePants, Invader Zim, Ren and Stimpy, Doug and Rocko’s Modern Life. Composite: Alamy, Nickelodeon & Rex FeaturesAnimation on TVThis month sees the 25th anniversary of Nicktoons, an offshoot of Nickelodeon that delivered kids’ TV and changed the way we think about animation itself
Nickelodeon broke a lot of ground: it was the first offering of its kind on television, it attracted (and maintains) a huge audience of children, and since the late 1980s it’s been a hive of high-concept game shows, unusual animation and clever visual gags.
New South Wales This article is more than 4 months oldWife-killer Chris Dawson sentenced to three years in jail over unlawful sex with studentThis article is more than 4 months oldFresh prison term comes on top of 24-year sentence Dawson received in 2022 for murdering wife Lynette Dawson in 1982
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Former teacher and convicted wife-killer Christopher Dawson has received a three-year sentence for having unlawful sexual activity with one of his students four decades ago.
Mad Men: notes from the break roomMad MenMad Men: season four, episode 10Joan and Roger have something to 'deal with', while Don's past comes into question yet againSPOILER ALERT: This blog is for those who are watching season four of Mad Men on BBC4. Don't read on if you haven't seen episode 10 – and if you've seen more of the series, please be aware that many UK viewers will not have done so…
Mainz 05Mainz offer midfielder new deal straight after career-threatening injury Elkin Soto was due to be out of contract at end of season
Club offer veteran player new deal to cover recuperation
German Bundesliga weekend highlights – videoThe Mainz midfielder Elkin Soto, who was due to be out of contract at the end of the season, suffered an horrific knee injury during his side’s 2-1 defeat to Hamburg on Sunday and was immediately offered a new contract by the club in order to cover his recuperation period.
Readers recommendMusicHopes, dreams and plans … can they be hardened into action? Whether they stay as fantasy or become reality, suggest songs that capture what we want to become
“Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine,” said Elvis Presley, whose motor roared into action with as much thrust as any famous figure in music’s history. But once on the road, ambitions can change, and where the King was concerned, this came around 1960 when, until his incredible ’68 comeback concert, he spent most of the decade making 27 fairly rubbish films instead of fulfilling his original dream of musical greatness.
The Patience StoneReviewA woman in a ruined warzone speaks her mind to her vegetative husband in this powerfully absorbing dramaThat remarkable 82-year-old veteran of the cinema Jean-Claude Carrière has written a trenchant and vivid screenplay for an absorbing drama set ambiguously in Afghanistan, or in some other country in the endgame of a grim and soul-destroying war. Carrière has collaborated with the director, Atiq Rahimi, who wrote the original novel; their movie is by turns mysterious, moving, shocking and explicit – and very different from the kind of opaque and quietist cinema we might expect.
High time: a grownup's guide to the cannabis revolutionCannabisDabbing, consuming a cannabis concentrate using a vaporizing device, has moved into the mainstream as companies produce high-THC concentrates
Concentrates, a rapidly growing segment of the legal marijuana market, reduce the plant to its chemical essence. The point is to get as high as possible. And it works.
Manufacturing concentrates involves using solvents like alcohol, carbon dioxide and other chemicals to strip away the plant’s leaves and then processing the potent remains.
The age of extinctionEnvironmentElephants that dropped dead in Zimbabwe were victims of an obscure bacteria combined with extreme heat. Scientists fear more elephants – and other species – could suffer the same fate
The first elephant to die was an eight-year-old male. It was found on 24 August 2020 on the southern border of Panda Masuie forest reserve, Zimbabwe, collapsed on its side like a grey marquee in the reddish dirt.