RITA DI SANTO draws attention to a new film that features Ken Loach and Jeremy Corbyn, and their personal experience of media misrepresentation
Best of 2018: London theatre
By MAYER WAKEFILED
Authentic: Ben Weatherill's Jellyfish
[Samuel Taylor]
JULIA TOPPIN recommends Patti Smith’s eloquent memoir that wrestles with the beauty and sorrow of a lifetime
MARJORIE MAYO welcomes an account of family life after Oscar Wilde, a cathartic exercise, written by his grandson
KEN COCKBURN guides us through a survey of Chekov’s early short fiction, and the groundwork it laid for his later masterpieces
ANDY HEDGECOCK revels in a hugely enjoyable but deadly serious examination of the 1930s, that is an indictment of our own era
The bard distills our hellish times into fiery words
IN ANOTHER year of political turmoil, London theatre certainly had something to say. At its best, it was responsive and highly vociferous on multiple fronts, ranging from #MeToo to inner-city social cleansing and much more besides.
Nicholas Hytner’s masterful production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar at the newly opened Bridge Theatre got the year off to a rip-roaring start.
Manipulating the audience both physically and mentally, Hytner employed a superb cast to inject the play with a raw immediacy that railed against power-hungry elites.
Similar stories
GORDON PARSONS joins a standing ovation for a brilliant production that fuses Shakespeare’s tragedy with Radiohead's music
MAYER WAKEFIELD wonders why this 1978 drama merits a revival despite demonstrating that the underlying theme of racism in the UK remains relevant
GORDON PARSONS is bowled over by a skilfully stripped down and powerfully relevant production of Hamlet
GAVIN O’TOOLE chuckles through a guide to politically correct usage of the literary canon