Kashmiri protest music, Nick Kroll and Night, Mother

The Independent’s entertainment newsletter [View in browser]( [The Independent]( November 06, 2021 [The Independent]( Written by Alexandra Pollard The IndyArts Newsletter Hi! Welcome to this week's IndyArts newsletter. What did you think of the new John Lewis Christmas advert? Did Lola Young's cover of "Together In Electric Dreams" leave you teary-eyed or nauseated? Did you find it sweet or schmaltzy? My colleague Annabel Nugent wasn't a fan. In her [two-star review](, she wrote that after last year, "the safety of this year’s track feels slightly regrettable. Especially given the obvious talent of Young, which feels wasted on this minimalist take on one of the era’s most unabashedly maximalist hits." I went to see 'Night, Mother at Hampstead Theatre last night. A questionable choice of play to bring your own mum too, as it turns out, but I was impressed and moved by it. [My colleague Isobel Lewis had mixed feelings about it]( – but I think we both agree it's worth a visit. Meanwhile, I was glad we were able to publish [this piece on the new wave of Kashmiri protest music](, which highlights an emerging group of artists who are attempting to draw attention to the reality of people caught between two nations. Meet the Kashmiri musicians who are giving voice to their reality (The Independent) We've run lots of brilliant features this week. Adam White [interviewed Kill List and Utopia star Neil Maskell,]( who chatted about his new revenge thriller Bull, how America is destroying British film, and why he’s grateful for getting a start in a snobbish, incestuous industry. I also loved Kevin E G Perry's [converstion with Big Mouth's Nick Kroll](, and Helen Brown's [five-star review]( of the new ABBA album. [The Saturday Interview – Gregory Porter]( [Oscars image]( ‘I didn’t have structured mentors, but you sing in church for 20 years and before you know it, you have some advice’ (Erik Umphery) For The Saturday Interview this week, Elizabeth Aubrey spoke to Gregory Porter. The Grammy-winning singer opened up about his scarring experiences with racism as a child, losing his brother to Covid-19, and his mother's parting words on her deathbed [Oscars image]( US singer Gregory Porter performs on stage during the Nice's Jazz Festival (Valery Hache/Getty Images) Read an extract from our Saturday Interview below… “I was trying to assure my mother when she was sick that I would be as normal and regular as possible,” Porter recalls. He was 21 and a college student at the time. “I told her I’d always wear brown shoes to work, and not to worry, but she was like, ‘No! Wait a minute – don’t forget about those flowery slippers that you have!’” It was her metaphor for his creative ambitions. “She said to me: ‘Your singing voice is the best thing you have, so don’t forget it.’ I was trying to assure her that she did a good job, that she raised a stand-up, regular guy and she was like, ‘No! Be risky!’ And so I took that.” Two days later, she died from cancer. The pain of it is still written on his face. “I was risky for a long time,” he continues. Having spent years struggling to balance a job as a full-time chef alongside his singing, he was nearly 40 by the time he got his first big break. A guest spot on a track by famous flautist Hubert Laws led to a role in a musical, It Ain’t Nothing but the Blues, which in turn led to a record deal. His Grammy-nominated debut soon followed, and two years later, he signed with the famed jazz label Blue Note. “I knew I could sing in my twenties, I just didn’t know what to sing,” he says with a smile. “Now, I know what to sing, I know who I am as a man, and I know what I want to say. With those years of not having success, the struggling and the failing, it made me who I am today. I am the ultimate underdog story.” [Read the full interview here]( What to binge this week [Oscars image]( [Pen15]( Written by and starring Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, who play lightly fictionalised versions of their 13-year-old selves, this strange, insightful, poignant comedy [is both painful and cathartic if you've ever been 13 years old](. Especially so if you've ever been a 13-year-old girl. The trailer for the Covid-delayed second half of the second season dropped this week, and if you haven't watched the show yet, you have a month to catch up before the new episodes are released. Out and about [Night, Mother at Hampstead Theatre]( Starring Rebecca Night and Grease's Stockard Channing as a bickering mother and daughter, the latter of whom throws a grenade on their strained but loving relationship by announcing that she's going to kill herself tonight, this engaging two-hander is flawed but affecting. Book tickets [here](. [The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Duke of York's]( "The beauty of Neil Gaiman’s 2013 best-selling fantasy novel, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, is its vastness," writes Independent critic Anya Ryan. "His story is brought to life in Joel Horwood’s thunderous adaptation, which finds wonder even in the most unremarkable of moments." Book tickets [here](. [Pride and Prejudice (Sort Of), Criterion Theatre]( In her four-star review of Isobel McArthur’s raucous take on Jane Austen’s novel, our critic Alice Saville wrote: "Austen is a master of understatement and carefully shaded little ironies. This production drags her subtext kicking and screaming into the daylight." Book tickets [here](. Essential reading [Nazir Afzal to lead review of London Fire Brigade culture after firefighter suicide]( [Nazir Afzal to lead review of London Fire Brigade culture after firefighter suicide]( [Indian film star Puneeth Rajkumar dies after heart attack at the gym]( [Indian film star Puneeth Rajkumar dies after heart attack at the gym]( [Indian jury rejected film as Oscar entry for projecting ‘hatred towards British’]( [Indian jury rejected film as Oscar entry for projecting ‘hatred towards British’]( If you can spare a minute we’d love your [feedback]( on our newsletters. [The Independent]( Join the conversation or follow us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( Please do not reply directly to this email You are currently registered to receive The Independent's entertainment newsletter. Add us to your safe list of senders. 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