MAYER WAKEFIELD has reservations about the direction of a play centered on a DVLA re-training session for three British-Pakistani motorists
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Brilliant exposure of Tory entitlement
PAUL FOLEY relishes a superb production that plays Wilde’s farce as a contemporary dissection of the rich and ridiculous ruling class
earnest
New releases from Steve Knightley, Jupiter & Okwess, Jason Palmer, Lisa Knapp and Gerry Driver, Kin'Gongolo Kiniata, Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey, Dan Sealey, Simin Tande, PAZ
JOHN GREEN relishes photography that unfolds a longstanding and poetic relationship with Leeds
A uncomfortably misogynistic authorial voice that sometimes seems to lack insight troubles FIONA O’CONNOR
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production that panders – if inadvertently – to Western prejudice against China
JOHN GREEN is fascinated by a history that excavates the enormous role played by agricultural workers in recent times
ALEX HALL recommends a book that places empirical evidence at the heart of understanding racism
The Importance of Being Earnest
Royal Exchange Manchester
OSCAR WILDE’s perennial classic, The Importance of Being Earnest is as popular with audiences today as it was back in 1895 (apart from the odd homophobic lord, of course).
Despite Wilde’s wonderful manipulation of language, a wit that cuts to the bone and throwing a satirical punch at the ruling class, does it hold up in today’s fast-moving world? I had my doubts. Surely the absurdities of the ruling class which Wilde so enjoyed poking fun at no longer exist?
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While the group known as the Colourists certainly reinvigorated Scottish painting, a new show is a welcome chance to reassess them, writes ANGUS REID
ANGUS REID recommends an exquisite drama about the disturbing impact of the one child policy in contemporary China
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
