The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends an impressive impersonation of Bob Dylan
Bloody chamber theatre
SUSAN DARLINGTON revels in an exhilarating adaptation of the gruesome fairytale that invokes the real-life horror of women lost to male violence
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Here, Vermiglio, William Tell and Wolf Man
New releases from Thorpe and Morrison, Daria Kulesh, and Will Finn and Rosie Calvert
RINA ARYA confronts the brutal operation of Francis Bacon’s approach to portraiture
Emphasising his continuous engagement in labour movement struggles, ALISTAIR FINDLAY salutes John Foster’s contribution as activist, strategist, intellectual and defender of the Morning Star
ANDY MIAH advocates the use of AI to assist people by expanding access to global literature and culture
EWAN KOTZ relishes a veteran Glasgow band that have lost none of their verve for live performance
Blue Beard
York Theatre Royal
ANYONE who’s seen a previous Emma Rice production will know what to expect from Blue Beard: bawdy humour, music hall, and emotional heft. These are all characteristics she shares with Angela Carter, whose work she admires so much she named her theatre company after her 1991 novel Wise Children.
The biggest surprise is, perhaps, that it’s taken her so long to adapt Charles Perrault’s gruesome folktale, which Carter notably updated in classic feminist short story The Bloody Chamber. Rice leans into this revisionist angle in a way her hero would doubtless approve in this co-production with Birmingham Rep, HOME Manchester, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, and York Theatre Royal.
It’s a characteristically unruly, exhilarating show that lures the audience into false security with mischievous jokes aimed at everyone from Jamie Oliver to Claire from Steps.
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