In a 1994 article entitled, âDiscussing the Undiscussableâ, New Yorker critic, Arlene Croce, explained her refusal to review a piece by choreographer, Bill T. Jones by accusing him of presenting âvictim artâ. Jonesâs show, Still/Here, employed...
If you remember the 2014 controversy regarding certain Birmingham schools and the so-called âTrojan horseâ revelations, you most probably recall it as a conspiracy by certain Muslim governors to take over and radicalise British schools, a conspiracy...
Flo, the most junior of doctors, wearing her scrubs, already weary, stressed, overloaded with information and feeling out of her depth, excluded from case conferences by her white-coated seniors, is in need of a nightâs rest, to take it all in, to...
Kimberley Sykes is clearly on a mission to take control of theatre in the northwest. Her production of Maxine Peakeâs Beryl has just opened at Boltonâs Octagon theatre, and now here she is, directing the RSCâs touring production of As You Like It...
Yorkshire cyclist, Beryl Burton (1937-1996), has a strong claim to being the greatest sporting hero Great Britain has ever produced and yet, as Kimberley Sykesâs production of Maxine Peakeâs biographical piece makes us painfully aware, she remains...
After a run out at the Edinburgh Festival, a reworked version of âEverything I See I Swallowâ has come home to the Lowry, its commissioning theatre. Written and performed by Tamsin Shasha and Maisy Taylor (with assistance in the devising from Helen...
Itâs hard to create new work – sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnât. Itâs brave for theatres to commission new work – sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesnât. Itâs hard to review a piece written/devised to honour a dear friend...
You can approach Trajal Harrellâs new work, Maggie the Cat, as a purposeful critique of the politics of race, gender and class, inspired by (note: âinspired byâ not âbased uponâ) Tennessee Williamsâs classic, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; or you can go in...
Some of the most powerful political drama of the second half of the twentieth century (Athol Fugardâs, Siswe Banzi is Dead and Woza Albert! by Percy Mtwa, Mbongeni Ngema and Barney Simon, to name but two) was written in protest against apartheid...
When Matthew Bourneâs New Adventures company takes on Shakespeare and a classical ballet score by Sergei Prokoviev, we are primed to expect the unexpected. If Bourne is to be believed (and heâs a knight of the realm, so he ainât gonna lie, is he?)...
Martin Thomasson