STEPHANIE BROWN draws attention to the hidden labour of the female embroiderers, and how a 19th century replica made no such error
Latest editorial
Counter-terror alert
MAYER WAKEFIELD sees a timely reminder of the threat posed by an unfettered surveillance state
MAKING WAVES: Rona Morison as Cora Preece
[Ellie Kurttz]
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
The Haystack
Hampstead Theatre, London
AL BLYTH’S debut play may have hit the stage over six years on from the release of Edward Snowden’s National Security Agency leaks that inspired it but it still manages to shock.
In it, Neil (Oliver Johnstone) and Zef (Enyi Okoronkwo) are two graduate whizz-kids whose technological prowess sees them rapidly progressing up the ladder at GCHQ’s Cheltenham spy base by impressing their officious boss Hannah (Sarah Woodward).
Dressed in hoodies and tracksuit bottoms, they find themselves “getting the keys to the Ferrari” as they are recruited onto a counter-terror case. They casually intrude upon conversations, trace medical records and relationship histories with chilling ease while munching Maltesers.
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MAYER WAKEFIELD has reservations about a two-handed theatrical homage to jazz’s most mercurial musician
Although this production was in rehearsal before the playwright’s death, it allows us to pay homage to his life, suggests MARY CONWAY
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