News about Simon McBurney

PATRICK MARMION: There are are few shows more difficult to describe, and even fewer that have left a deeper impression on me, than Complicité Theatre Company's magical, mercurial and ground-breaking 1999 production, Mnemonic - now being revived for its 25th anniversary at the National Theatre. On the face of it, it's a simple set-up featuring an everyman Londoner called Virgil, who's preoccupied with the frozen corpse of a 5,000-year-old Neolithic man discovered in the Italian Alps in 1991. But it's also about the lonely Virgil's efforts to reconnect with his partner Alice, who has gone AWOL in search of her Lithuanian father, following her mother's death. Created by the great non-conformist actor-director Simon McBurney, it's an archaeological odyssey excavating many themes. It attempts to connect the modern and Neolithic worlds, but also investigates the mystery of memory, evolution, and human consciousness itself.

Lily-Rose Depp and her partner 070 Shake have certainly packed on the PDA on a day out that included a stop at an Erewhon market. Although out together, the pair seemed to be unable to take their hands off one another while browsing through the store and then again when waiting in line to pay for their food and drinks. On several occasions, Depp, who chose to keep it casual in the fashion department, could be seen snuggling up and hugging her lady.

BRIAN VINER: Christmas films come in a variety of forms. It's A Wonderful Life (C4, Christmas Eve) and White Christmas are two of the cherished classics with a distinct festive theme, as shown below. There are others we associate with the season jolly because they're a yuletide fixture: The Great Escape (C4, Christmas Day) and The Magnificent Seven (BBC2, Boxing Day). But there is another category: top-notch films that are not commonly thought of as holiday fare, but in which Christmas looms large. Here's my Top Ten, with each of them a holiday treat and one way or another, all available to watch over the next few days. Merry Christmas!