GORDON PARSONS is bowled over by a skilfully stripped down and powerfully relevant production of Hamlet
The body language of fascism
JAN WOOLF recommends an exhibition of Brecht’s collages whose message is driven home by actors recreating scenes from his unfinished plays
In which we accompany the Bard into Cymru to meet his musical accomplices, young and old
SUE TURNER is inspired by the example of a librarian’s struggle to confront the book-banning movement
ANDY HEDGECOCK relishes two exhibitions that blur the boundaries between art and community engagement
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews I Am Martin Parr, September Says, The Monkey, and The Gorge
RITA DI SANTO applauds a touching and witty opener that touches a hot topic in Germany: the future of the immigrant population
SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
Brecht — Fragments
Raven Row, London
IF you manage it right, there’s a treat in store at Raven Row, London E1.
Twice a day theatre performances accompany an exhibition of Bertolt Brecht’s archive in an hour-and-a-half of terrific theatre, as world-class actors lead you through the rooms for dramatic fragments of Brecht’s unfinished plays from 1920s Berlin.
As vividly costumed as anything from the Weimar Republic — and a broken fourth wall — these sketches are as relevant now as when Brecht wrote them. They cover class struggle, poverty, accumulative capitalism, religion and war, and crucially how they all relate to one another.
More from this author
The phrase “cruel to be kind” comes from Hamlet, but Shakespeare’s Prince didn’t go in for kidnap, explosive punches, and cigarette deprivation. Tam is different.
ANGUS REID deconstructs a popular contemporary novel aimed at a ‘queer’ young adult readership
A landmark work of gay ethnography, an avant-garde fusion of folk and modernity, and a chance comment in a great interview
ANGUS REID applauds the inventive stagecraft with which the Lyceum serve up Stevenson’s classic, but misses the deeper themes
Similar stories
The playwright and artist reflects on the ways in which reviewing can nourish the creative act
MEIC BIRTWHISTLE speaks to David Constantine about the fascination he shares with Brecht for the material exactness of Greek poetry
JAN WOOLF applauds art that has not only documented the anti-war and anti-capitalist movement but been an integral part of it
HENRY BELL relishes an evening of radical politics, surreal comedy and expert musicianship