WILL STONE fact-checks the colourful life of Ozzy Osbourne
Dragged into the limelight
MARY CONWAY contemplates a landmark show that raises questions of identity, not class
Cast in-rehearsal
[Helen Murray] 
JAMES CROSSLEY applauds a lucid biography of the German radical preacher who reemerged as a hero in the GDR
Prizes all round: the Bard hands plaudits to the Miners Gala, OT&JC, Joe Solo, Black Sabbath’s frontman and the Lionesses
Star cartoonist JAMIE BRITTON is in awe of a graphic novel of epic proportions that explores class, religion and globalisation via the strange cultivation of Ginseng in the US Midwest
GUILLERMO THOMAS is intrigued by a history of the Middle East that demonstrates how promising post colonial beginnings were snuffed out by Western imperialist interests
MARIA DUARTE recommends the intricate study of a high-performance and highly dysfuntional German family
Sound of the Underground
Royal Court Theatre, London
THE Royal Court still maintains its special, innovative role in the theatre world, though its best new voices now find inspiration from questions of identity, not class.
Sound of the Underground, written by Travis Alabanza, is a theatrical extravaganza fit to blast you into space. Alabanza, who themself identifies as black, transfeminine and gender non-conforming, wrenches this performance art from its more habitual environment of queer clubs, gay bars and lowlife cabaret and parades it with consummate daring on the main stage of the Royal Court. And what an epiphany it is.
At first impression, the audience seem planted, so ready are they to cheer, pantomime-style, at the cast, laugh at the jokes and generally whoop and heckle. Only when the cast thread through the audience with QR cards, and people jump out of their seats with phones to bestow a gratuity, do we see that the auditorium is awash with genuine drag aficionados who’ve come to see their heroes.
More from this author
MARY CONWAY applauds the success of Beth Steel’s bitter-sweet state-of-the-nation play
MARY CONWAY is blown away by a flawless production of Lynn Nottage’s exquisite tragedy
MARY CONWAY revels in the Irish American language and dense melancholy of O’Neill’s last and little-known play
MARY CONWAY recommends a play that some will find more discursive than eventful but one in which the characters glow
