CATHERINE STEEL relishes a compelling novel about Augustus’s right hand man, but misses the politics, the cultural shifts, and more detail about his restoration of Rome
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Winning X-factors
A new sci-fi drama has all the ingredients for a challenging and innovative night in the theatre, says KATHERINE M GRAHAM
TONY BURKE speaks to JOEL McIVER, co-author of the biography of bluesman John Mayall
A misfit couple unhappily ever after, a dead man walking, dodgy journos, and trench art trucking
New releases from Javon Jackson, IZE Trio, and Mal Waldron Trio
PAUL DONOVAN applauds an intriguing multi-layered depiction, dominated by a stunning impersonation of Marilyn herself
EWAN CAMERON marvels at the impossible ambition, realised with dreamlike finesse of translating Italo Calvino to the stage
X
Royal Court Theatre, London SW1
4/5
ALISTAIR McDowall’s X sees a rag-tag group of British astronauts stuck on Pluto. With no radio responses from Earth — where, apocalyptically, no trees remain — and the failure of the scheduled pick-up to arrive, things start to disintegrate.
The clock begins to malfunction, meaning that the stranded group have no idea how long they’ve been there, plus there might be a little girl outside on the surface...
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