Tilda Swinton
Rose Bowl Recipient 2025
The Critics Circle
Protecting and promoting cultural criticism since 1913
The Critics’ Circle believes impartial, professional criticism of the arts is an essential ingredient of a healthy society. The Circle today has 503 members shared between Theatre (117), Music (91), Film (208), Dance (57), Visual Arts (47) and Books (40). Admission to the Circle is by invitation from the Council.
Each year since 1988, the Circle has presented the Rosebowl for Distinguished Service to the Arts to an artist of conspicuous achievement. In 2019 the members voted for David Hockney, in 2020 for Dame Janet Baker and in 2021 for Daniel Barenboim.
The sections make their own awards in ceremonies which are significant social occasions, and hold periodic meetings and lunches to discuss their awards, propose new members, debate current issues and meet artists.
President: Corinne Julius (2026)
Vice-President: Graham Watts (2026)
Hon. General Secretary: Jim Cooke jc.secgen.cc[@]gmail.com (2028)
Hon. Treasurer: Cindy Marcolina (2028)
Trustees: Peter Cargin (2030), Kate Maltby (2030), Karen Krizanovich (2030)
Drama Officers: Chair Mark Lawson, Secretary Tom Wicker, Ordinary Julia Rank (2026)
Music Officers: Chair Claudia Pritchard, Secretary Guy Rickards, Ordinary Jessica Duchen (2026)
Film Officers: Chair Jane Crowther, Secretary Linda Marric, Ordinary Guy Lodge (2026)
Dance Officers: Chair Graham Watts, Secretary Deborah Weiss, Ordinary Maggie Foyer (2026)
Visual Arts Officers: Chair Corinne Julius, Secretary Clare Finn, Ordinary Maev Kennedy (2026)
Books Officers: Chair Suzi Feay, Secretary Lucy Popescu, Ordinary Chris Schuler (2026)
News & reviews
Hrůša excels in the new RBO Parsifal
by Colin Clarke
| October 3, 2026
| Music, Uncategorized
by Colin Clarke
October 3, 2026
Director Evgeny Titov makes his Covent Garden debut with this new Parsifal, a vision made visceral via Etienne Pluss’ sets and D. M. Wood’s lighting. ‘Dystopian’ seems the mot juste for Titov’s take on Wagner’s Bühnenweihfestspiel. Acts One and Three take place in what the programme describes as ‘evoking a monumental space between a bunker, […]
August ART AND ARCHITECTURE ARTICLES AND MORE FROM MEMBERS OF THE CRITICS’ CIRCLE
by Tabish Khan
Articles and other media coverage by the Critics’ Circle members on art and architecture during August 2026.
RBO’s Alcina works a charm
by Claudia Pritchard
Lisette Oropesa in the title role and Emily d’Angelo as Ruggiero in Alcina/ Photo: Ian Hippolyte Royal Opera/David Bates Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 15 September 2026 Like the Venus flytrap in her greenhouse, the eponymous enchantress Alcina snaps up the unwitting and unwilling with one stylish move, in Richard Jones’s amusing and attractive production […]
The Elixir of Love is a heady brew
by Claudia Pritchard
Waterperry Opera/Charles Court Opera/David Eaton Wilton’s Music Hall, London E1, 14 September Donizetti’s evergreen opera The Elixir of Love moves from sunny Italy to English apple country in Waterperry Opera’s effervescent production, first seen in the Oxfordshire festival this summer and now showing in a very different setting – Wilton’s Music Hall in east London, […]
THE “SECRET” FILM-FESTIVAL? — DAY-TRIP TO PIESTANY
by Neil Young
426. That’s my best-guess estimate for the number of film-festivals I’ve attended since my professional involvement started with them in 1999 — “attended” meaning, as I define it, at least a three-night stay; otherwise it’s just a “visit.” The vast majority of these have been in Europe, and while there are several long-running film-festivals that […]
