RUTH AYLETT recommends two anthologies: one that bears witness to refugee and immigrant experiences, and the other to our political relationship to water
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SUSAN DARLINGTON is swept along by a spirited and borderline political production of Lionel Bart’s masterpiece
SETH SANDRONSKY appreciates a fresh take on a 100-year-old novel that helps to contextualise the current moment of conspicuous wealth, waste and climate chaos
A no-nonsense ex-Garda female cop, Scandi-noir’s newest flawed hero, the lure of Aussie gold, and unexpected decency in Silicon valley
JAN WOOLF doubts that soft-core musical is the best way to transmit an important story of heroism and resistance
Reviews of Ella Fitzgerald, My Morning Jacket, and Toria Wooff
GORDON PARSONS admires a version of Marlowe’s grim tragedy that strips it down to its gay essentials
When Cassy’s father fails to connect with his daughter — and misses out on
an evening in the Bitter End — a stranger’s self-mocking charm brings seething resentment.
Oliver!
Leeds Playhouse
ESCALATING child hunger and poverty have given renewed topicality to Lionel Bart’s Oliver!
In this latest revival, directed by James Brining, heaped platters of meats and savouries are paraded past rows of ravenous workhouse children. Gluttonous fat cats feast on a balcony as they look down — physically and metaphorically — on youngsters who are given meagre bowls of gruel.
It’s a powerful depiction of social inequality that could make the 1960 musical, which is based on the Charles Dickens novel, an awkward fit for a festive family show. Brining has nonetheless navigated the production with great care. The politics are unavoidable, but he also delivers on the familiar showtunes, joyous choreography and makes the audience warm to the central cast.
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