STEPHANIE BROWN draws attention to the hidden labour of the female embroiderers, and how a 19th century replica made no such error
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Ambitious plays in need of directorial editing
(L to R) Jade Ogugua as Vi, Joe Barber as Laurie and Tim Treloar as Mick
[The Other Richard]
MIK SABIERS revels in a band that ploughs an idiosyncratic furrow of expletive laden, guitar-driven alt rock
ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARIA DUARTE and ANGUS REID review Synthetic Sincerity, Our Hero, Balthazar, Heartstopper Forever, and A Year In London
The bard invites readers to a gig, raps for Clacton, and lays out the Burnham-Hurzeler conundrum
RON JACOBS recommends an important book that enhances the oppositional theories put forth by Fanon and, in doing so, remakes psychology itself
JAN WOOLF relishes an extensive history of our long relationship to trees in Britain that underlines the current emergency
DIANE WATT argues that while evidence of sex is not there, a 16th‑century lesbian poet could be Scotland’s answer to Gentleman Jack
O, Island
★★★
Ivy Tiller, Vicar’s Daughter, Squirrel Killer
★
The Other Place
Stratford-Upon-Avon
THE post-Covid re-emergence of the RSC’s Mischief Festival in its Stratford studio theatre, designed to introduce new writing, features a double bill of two ambitious short plays full of topical references, both in need of directorial editing.
O, Island by Nina Seagal is a dystopian parable set in a Home Counties village not a million miles from Ambridge, isolated by river floodwaters.
It moves from knock-about comedy, with the local Tory MP determined at all costs to snatch a publicity photograph of his heroic rescuing performance, being rejected by the villagers, who establish an independent islet state led by the articulate, grandmotherly Margaret.
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ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARIA DUARTE and ANGUS REID review Synthetic Sincerity, Our Hero, Balthazar, Heartstopper Forever, and A Year In London
KEITH RICHMOND relishes a superbly conceived modern version of Aeschylus’ drama of murderous family succession
GORDON PARSONS salutes the apt return of Brecht’s vaudevillian cartoon drama that retains the vitality of the boxing or the circus ring
GORDON PARSONS is blown away by a superb production of Rostand’s comedy of verbal panache and swordmanship