New releases from The Jim Mullen Quartet, Caroline Kraabel/John Edwards, and Matthew Muneses/Riza Printup
Bartful dodger
SUSAN DARLINGTON is swept along by a spirited and borderline political production of Lionel Bart’s masterpiece
JAN WOOLF wallows in the historical mulch of post WW2 West Germany, and the resistant, challenging sense made of it by Anselm Kiefer
ANA ISABEL NUNES points to the empowering legacy of Augusto Boal’s Theatre Of The Oppressed
CARLOS MARTINEZ welcomes the publication of the writings of the great Palestinian author, political theorist and spokesman for the PFLP
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE review Cottontail, Memoir of a Snail, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, and Captain America: Brave New World
PAUL DONOVAN is fascinated by an account of the long history of Catholic Church’s involvement in espionage
ROGER McKENZIE welcomes an important contribution to the history of Africa, telling the story in its own right rather than in relation to Europeans
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.
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