SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
The best medicine
JAMES WALSH is therapeutically disrobed by a disarmingly attentive exploration of harsh truths and nonsense
PAUL FOLEY recommends an extraordinary double bill that packs a punch and leaves you reeling
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a play about AI that results in a deadening disconnect for its audience
SIMON PARSONS applauds an insightful state-of-the-nation play that explores the growing class divide in South Africa
MATTHEW HAWKINS pays tribute to the performance artist and costumier, Leigh Bowery
SIMON DUFF reviews a new composition by German composer and pianist Florian Weber that blurs the line between where improvisation ends and composition begins
New releases from The Jim Mullen Quartet, Caroline Kraabel/John Edwards, and Matthew Muneses/Riza Printup
Julia Masli: ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Soho Theatre
Can a clown save the world?
This probably wasn’t what Julia Masli, an Estonian performer trained by the notorious Parisian pedagogue Philippe Gaulier, had set out to achieve with her latest. Still, you never know. Masli always aims high, with seemingly limitless reserves of care, poise, and life-affirming naivete.
And after an hour of this staggering, beautiful, and heartfelt show, your correspondent is a convert to the idea of free Masli on the NHS. It’s called ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, but it was never supposed to be funny — or so its author claims. Instead, a Bjork-esque elfin alien, Masli in a typically ludicrous outfit, attempts to solve the audience’s problems, whether big or small, serious or inconsequential.
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