I know what you are thinking. Monica, why are you dragging us to a conference about Leonardo da Vinci’s old papers? Because, my darlings, this is not a dusty lecture. This is a detective story. A digital heist. And it happened right under the nose of Casa Italia next to Buckingham Palace.
Yesterday I slipped into the new Italian embassy in London, a stunning building overlooking the Royal…
I am Italian. So when I saw that the Fireside Folktales Festival in Barnes was staging a piece by Dario Fo, Nobel Prize winner, genius satirist, and the only playwright who can make politics feel like a carnival, I felt truly excited. Fo wrote Dedalus and Icarus with his wife and creative partner Franca Rame, an actress and activist whose name should be shouted from every rooftop. Together, they…
I sat through The Devil Wears Prada 2 with a glass of something robust and a heart full of hope. Two hours later, the glass was empty and the hope was dead. This film is a disaster. A beautifully dressed, star-studded, expensive looking disaster.
And nobody is saying it out loud. Because the first one was fine. It was original enough, fun enough, quotable enough. But this sequel? It has…
Some friendships feel written in the stars long before you’ve even met. My dear friend Christiana and I share a birthday and I don’t just mean the same date. We were born on exactly the same day, the same month, the same year, at almost the very same time. We both moved to London in the same year, our children are the same age, we got married in the same year, and every time we compare…
On Monday 1st of June London Mums Magazine sent a group of teenagers to review the Masters of The Universe below is what they thought of it:
Masters of the Universe is a film that balances adventure, action, and comedy in a way that makes it accessible to a wide audience. Based on the classic franchise He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, which gained popularity through the 1980s animated…
I walked intoMoss & Freudexpecting glossy fashion nonsense. A supermodel. A grumpy old painter. A million?pound portrait. What could possibly go wrong?
Everything. And nothing. And that is the problem.
This film is not bad in the way The Devil Wears Prada 2 is bad. It is not boring in the way most sequels are boring. No, Moss & Freud is something far more interesting.
I will admit something. Italian author and journalist Enrico Franceschini is a friend. And yes, I have read every single one of his books. Because when a proper journalist decides to write thrillers, I am first in the queue. From the days of Le notti di Mosca to the Romagna trilogy (Bassa Marea, Ferragosto and Un’estate a Borgomarina), and now this new one Arrivederci Londra, not to mention…
I have a confession. I am a massive fan of Richard III. Not the Shakespearean villain who murders children and shouts for a horse. The real man. The warrior king who introduced bail, translated laws into English so ordinary people could understand them, and basically laid the groundwork for our entire legal system. He was a genius and a pioneer. He protected the poor and the vulnerable. He walked…
The landscape of family entertainment has transformed dramatically in recent years, with digital media becoming an integral part of daily life for parents and children alike. From educational streaming content to interactive learning apps and creative video platforms, families today have access to an unprecedented variety of entertainment options that can enrich their lives when approached…
I have seen a lot of fringe theatre. Some of it is lovely. Some of it is trying very hard. And some of it makes you sit up and think: why is this woman not on my television screen right now? That is exactly how I felt after watching Baker Street Ladies at the Fireside Folktales Fringe Festival in Barnes on 24 May.
The play is a one woman show written and performed by Lexi Wolfe. She…