43 28 MARCH 2024 DON’T MISS THIS WEEK TV Renegade Nell Sally Wainwright’s historical fantasy romp stars Louisa Harland, of Derry Girls fame (above), as a plucky 18th-century highwaywoman gifted with super ghting strength by a winged sprite (Nick Mohammed, in the wisecracking Jiminy Cricket role). It’s no Happy Valley – but it is terri c, swashbuckling fun. Disney+. Paul Kirkley Film The Trouble With Jessica Shirley Henderson, Alan Tudyk, Olivia Williams, Indira Varma and Rufus Sewell star in this British black comedy. When tragedy strikes at a dinner party, four friends debate whether to call the authorities or stage a risky cover-up that could help a house sale go through. A dark, sometimes disturbing middle-class farce. Anna Smith Music Beyoncé Her 2022 album Renaissance celebrated dance music and its attendant culture, especially that of the black LGBTQIA+ community. For Act II: Cowboy Carter, Beyoncé heads into the heartlands for an album steeped in her slick, sexy style in the traditions of country music. Texas Hold ’Em gives a avour of a rambunctious collection. Stuart Maconie PRETTY PATTERNS (Clockwise from top left): a room at Castle Howard; a room showing the Trellis design; a 1982 Strawberry Thief stamp; William Morris’s bedroom and the green room, both at Kelmscott Manor Carlisle, who filled virtually every room of Castle Howard in Yorkshire with Morris designs – including 170 rolls of sunflower wallpaper. “Previously, the fashion was for superrealistic florals produced using industrial processes,” says Claudia Suckling, chief executive director of the William Morris Society.“Morris had an exceptional ability to combine familiar elements in new ways, using a palette of natural colours. The result is boldly unique yet familiar, which is why his patterns have stood the test of time.” In 1875, he took full control of the firm, renaming it Morris & Co. It continued to trade until 1940, long after his death in 1896, and designs are still sold today under the Morris & Co name, via licences granted to homeware group Sanderson. That’s why, almost two centuries on, you’ll find his designs in some of the country’s chicest homes – including those of interior designer James Mackie, architect George Saumarez Smith and journalist Pandora Sykes. “I think he would be happy that his work is still enriching lives,” says Claudia. As William Morris once said: “The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.” Staring at the wallpaper seems like a good place to start. This is evident at Red House, his beloved home in Bexleyheath, south London, so named as it was built of brick when the fashion was for Stucco. Now open to visitors on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, William commissioned his friend, architect Philip Webb, to design the structure, then enlisted others, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Ford Madox Brown, to help decorate it. “He worked to cover every inch of the interior with art,” says Red House manager Elly Bagnall. “A mural painted by Edward Burne-Jones stretches across the drawing room, while the master bedroom is decorated with figures from the Old Testament.” This creative process inspired the friends to go into business together, forming Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Company in 1861, specialising in stained glass, embroidery and painted furniture. Increasingly, however, he turned his attention to wallpaper, which was comparatively cheap to produce. As a passionate socialist, he wanted to make products everyone could a ord. “What business have we with art at all unless all can share it?” he wrote. His wallpaper quickly became fashionable, revolutionising Victorian tastes. Early customers included George, Earl of Photographs: © Society of Antiquaries of London, Getty Images, Alamy, © Society of Antiquaries of London, Shutterstock
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDY5NzE=