iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

According to Google AI, Philomena Cunk will not feature in the new Marvel series, VisionQuest. So now you know in case you were wondering.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

The updated production of Manfred Karge’s Man To Man (Jacke wie Hose) at the Royal Court is an unforgettable piece of theatre. A masterful mesmerising performance by Tilda Swinton. 📸 Tristram Kenton

Tilda Swinton in red underpants and a dirty white vest on stage in Man To Man with 1960s- or 1970s-style furnishings on a white background splattered with red.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Twenty years on, revisiting (an updated) Avenue Q — still fun, still a little bit racist.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Danes zvečer gledal sem film Fantasy iz Slovenije in Severne Makedonije v kinu v Barbicanu v Londonu. Film je posnela režiserka Kukla. Je dober, lep in zanimiv, igralke so odlične. Saw Kukla’s new Slovenian-North Macedonian film Fantasy at the Barbican tonight. It was great and so were the cast.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I was delighted to see her pop up last year in Only Murders in the Building.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

BREAKING: Julie and the Phantoms will no longer be opening for Ed Sheeran

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Farewell The Glitch… Hello “LowMAC” — the newly renamed café-bar-theatre from Vault Creative Arts in Waterloo

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Matt Tedford is phenomenal in Margaret Thatcher Queen of Hollywood, a satire about misogyny in Hollywood and Thatcher’s anti-feminism — an entertaining follow-up to the savage Queen of Soho tackling Section 28. It’s at Assembly George Square Gardens at Edinburgh Fringe to 30 Aug. #edfringe

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

It’s that time of year again. What to see at Edinburgh Fringe…? #edfringe

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

New musical Pride at the National Theatre is a powerful show, at times funny, at times moving, demonstrating how solidarity and community can bring hope and solace when times are dark and divisive.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Ralph Fiennes gives a masterful performance as actor-manager Henry Irving in David Hare’s Grace Pervades at Theatre Royal Haymarket. A fascinating play for a theatre history geek like me — Jordan Metcalfe’s Edward Gordon Craig is a particular joy.

Miranda Raison as Ellen Terry and Ralph Fiennes as Henry Irving in Grace Pervades. Photo by Marc Brenner

Jordan Metcalfe as Edward Gordon Craig in Grace Pervades. Photo by Marc Brenner

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Čas za še eno knjigo Gorana Vojnovića… fortunately translated into English by Noah Charney and published by London’s Istros Books - with a useful map.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Three episodes into Two Weeks in August on BBC iPlayer and loving it. Catherine Shepherd’s writing is spot on, and the cast is superb — especially Jessica Raine whose character, Zoe, feels a bit too close to home. #TwoWeeksInAugust

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

Maybe it’s because I’m an 80s kid but I loved new Netflix series The Boroughs. Amazing cast, finely crafted storytelling and a great mix of thrills, wit and heart, playing with ideas around ageism and ageing. #TheBoroughs

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

A fascinating Q&A today with Slovenian writer & director Miha Mazzini after a screening of his powerful award-winning 2018 film Erased (Izbrisana) at the lovely ActOne Cinema in Acton in London at the start of a UK tour to mark the publication of the English translation of Erased the novel.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Še en dan, še en slovenski roman… Looking forward to reading Slovenian writer Ana Schnabl’s novel, “Flood Tide” (tj. Plima), newly published in English translation by Divided Publishing, after a super book launch and Q&A at London’s Brick Lane Bookshop this evening.

Ana Schnabl on the right sat with Katharina in a bookshop talking

Piles of Ana Schnabl’s book, Flood Tide, in Brick Lane Bookshop

An A-board outside Brick Lane Bookshop promoting the book launch for Ana Schnabl’s Flood Tide

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Rosie Holt is at her brilliant best in the sharply satirical, painfully topical and very funny Churchill’s Urinal at the King’s Head Theatre, giving us a Rachel Reeves in glorious meltdown. @kingsheadtheatre.bsky.social #LondonTheatre

The entrance to the King’s Head Theatre with a large poster for Churchill’s Urinal featuring Rosie Holt holding a Chancellor of the Exchequer red box

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Enjoyed Kiran Deol’s funny and thought-provoking show, Assault on Comedy, at Soho Theatre tonight, turning her experience of a violent assault into darkly comic storytelling.

Kiran Deol in a hospital gown in a publicity shot for her show

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Bil sem v cirkuški šoli. Nisem bil dober. Padel sem iz trapeza.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Looking forward to reading Slovenian writer Katarina Gomboc Čeh’s novel, Nobody Knows Anybody (Nihče nikogar ne spozna) after last night’s launch event for the new English translation from Printim Editions at Brick Lane Bookshop in London.

Katarina Gomboc Čeh with her novel, Nobody Knows Anybody

Katarina Gomboc Čeh’s novel, Nobody Knows Anybody, on display next to Ana Schnabl’s Flood Tide

Piles of Katarina Gomboc Čeh’s novel, Nobody Knows Anybody

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

There’s a new Belgian detective in town using his little grey cells to solve a murder in a country house in 1930s England — and it’s René Magritte… Starting in on watching surreal cosy crime series This Is Not a Murder Mystery on U. #ThisIsNotAMurderMystery

Donna Banya as DC Mary Quant with a notepad, Pierre Gervais as Magritte with a pipe and Stephen Tompkinson as DCI Thistletwaite with a magnifying glass

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

At The Stage’s #FutureOfTheatre, The Devil Wears Prada’s Vanessa Williams, producer Jamie Wilson, writer Ryan Calais Cameron & director Luke Sheppard are about to tell us how to create a West End hit!

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Excellent panel on sound design at @thestage.co.uk’s #FutureOfTheatre conference including calls for industry-wide standards on technology for accessibility for people with impaired hearing — and factoring in sound design, vocal coaching and accessibility as early as possible when staging a show.

Six people on an industry panel on stage on a laptop screen

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Obviously a lot of love for A.C. (Alli) Smith’s Big Idea of a Playwrights’ Library, presented at @thestage.co.uk’s #FutureOfTheatre conference. Let’s do it! playwrightslibrary.com

Laptop screen saying “A home for writers by playwrights for playwrights”

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

A powerful, insightful start to @thestage.co.uk’s #FutureOfTheatre conference: Daniel Evans, Tamara Harvey & Andrew Leveson of the RSC on the importance of theatre to society, from social cohesion to wellbeing, and the many challenges ahead.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Ready to join The Stage’s Future of Theatre conference at Soho Theatre Walthamstow (from my desk)

Welcome screen on a laptop for The Stage Future of Theatre event

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

As a journalist (and one-time NUJ deputy father of chapel), I found Robert Khan & Tom Salinsky’s play, In The Print, at the King’s Head Theatre a fascinating and compelling account of the 1980s Wapping dispute. Claudia Jolly stands out as the tough and tenacious Brenda Dean.

Claudia Jolly as Brenda Dean in In The Print. Photo by Charlie Flint Photography.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Sat in a near-empty Edward Hopper-like coffee shop in London at Easter finishing off Olivia Laing’s excellent book about social isolation and loneliness, The Lonely City.

Paperback of Olivia Laing’s The Lonely City on a counter next to a black coffee in a coffee shop

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Looking forward to reading Goran Vojnović’s latest book in English translation — Yugoslavia, My Fatherland — from Istros Books. Žal ne morem brati knjige v slovenščini, ker ne razumem jezika dovolj dobro. #slovensko #knjige

Paperback copies of Goran Vojnović’s books, The Fig Tree and Yugoslavia, My Fatherland, in English from Istros Books

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Amazon Prime Video’s new thriller, Pretty Lethal, is bloody and ludicrous but wonderfully camp and action-packed. A great cast including Uma Thurman and Lydia Leonard. Never mess with a balle-****ing-rina. #PrettyLethal

Iris Apatow, Lana Condor, Millicent Simmonds, Avantika and Maddie Ziegler in blood-spattered white ballet costumes standing on a staircase with Uma Thurman in Pretty Lethal

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Remembering the brilliant Harper’s Island from 2009(!) as I prepare to watch a new horror series about a wedding that presumably ends in bloodshed… #SomethingVeryBadIsGoingToHappen

Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen on Netflix

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

As someone who once worked in bookshops, I find WH Smith’s haphazard approach to alphabetisation extremely discombobulating. I resisted the urge to put them in order. Well, mostly… (I didn’t buy anything.)

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Amazing to be notified by Spotify that, a few days short of his 110th birthday, bandleader Harry James is going on tour!

Black and white photo of Harry James with a trumpet, with the message, You're one of Harry James's top fans, so we just had to let you know: they just dropped tour dates - and yep, they're headed your way. You already know it's going to be huge.
Don't miss your chance to see your fave live.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

My brain is brimming from all the ideas and insights in Stoppard’s Arcadia, brilliantly staged in Carrie Cracknell’s enthralling new production at the Old Vic. I can’t pretend to understand all the maths and science but, as Stoppard wrote, “It's the wanting to know that makes us matter.”

Photo by Manuel Harlan showing members of the cast on stage.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Always intriguing to see job ads on LinkedIn where it clearly instructs applicants to apply only via the recruiter’s email address but still it shows many people have applied via EasyApply on #LinkedIn.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

I thought Mackenzie Crook’s Small Prophets on BBC2/iPlayer was a perfectly formed strange and magical gem but apparently there’s going to be more…. #SmallProphets

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Such a tragedy. I first remember Eric Dane from Charmed over 20 years ago. He looks so young in it now.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

I can’t resist a spooky tale so jumped right in with Australian series Playing Gracie Darling on Netflix and it turns out to co-star Dame Harriet Walter!

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Mackenzie Crook’s new BBC Two comedy, Small Prophets, on BBC iPlayer is utterly enchanting. A wonderful and strange story with an excellent cast led by the brilliant Pearce Quigley.

With a bushy greying beard and shaggy hair, Pearce Quigley stands on a path on a garden holding two large glass jars.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Finn Anderson’s new musical, Ballad Lines, at Southwark Playhouse Elephant is glorious. Beautiful & heartfelt, with haunting, spirited folksy tunes and stunning performances including Frances McNamee, Kirsty Findlay & Rebecca Trehearn. Now listening to the cast recording!

Seven women and a man singing in Ballad Lines

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Did I need to see yet another production of Sondheim’s Into the Woods? Probably not but I enjoyed Jordan Fein’s at Bridge Theatre, with some great performances including Jo Foster as Jack, Jamie Parker as the Baker and Chumisa Dornford-May as Cinderella. 📸 Johan Persson #Sondheim

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Into the Woods and through the trees…

Bridge Theatre in London behind a bare winter tree

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Looking forward to seeing the Gesualdo Six & Bill Barclay’s new show, Death of Gesualdo, at St Martin-in-the-Fields tonight — about the early-modern composer, Carlo Gesualdo, who wrote incredible music but also got away with murdering his wife. Music, dance, theatre and puppets are promised.

A puppet of a Renaissance man holding a red rose from Death of Gesualdo

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

A reminder from physicist and science communicator Abigail James that despite all the chat about “AI”, we don’t actually have AI (yet). www.instagram.com/reel/DTgEbPd...

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Chris Chibnall’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s thriller, The Seven Dials Mystery, on Netflix is a proper ripping yarn, with some lovely performances. I’m not sure what Christie would think but I’d be up for a new adventure with Mia McKenna-Bruce’s plucky Lady Eileen. #SevenDials

Mia McKenna-Bruce as Lady Eileen holding an alarm clock in a garden

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

Settling down to read what must be the last-ever weekly issue of The Stage before it goes monthly. End of an era: I remember picking it up from newsagents in the West End when I first starting coming into London to go to the theatre in the 1980s. #londontheatre #theatre #journalism

A copy of The Stage weekly newspaper on a wooden table in a cafe next to a flat white in a black cup and saucer.

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Olivier Py’s new production of Jerry Herman’s La Cage aux Folles at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris is magnifique, with a superb cast led by Laurent Lafitte as Albin/Zaza. Go see it if you can. On ne vit qu’une fois… It’s in French but with English surtitles. #paris #lacageauxfolles #jerryherman

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

I may have forgotten much of my Latin but I can’t help wondering if this plural ending for “alumnus” is deliberately gender-switched or just wrong. It’s about performers with a mix of genders. (I’m all for anglicising plurals like “stadiums” but “alumnuses” doesn’t work.)

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Mark Ludmon @markludmon.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

A bit of a surprise in my top tracks of 2025 on Spotify but guitarist Alexandra Whittingham’s beautiful recordings are my go-to whenever I need to relax. #SpotifyWrapped

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