JENNY MITCHELL, poetry co-editor for the Morning Star, introduces her priorities, and her first selection
Going nowhere fast
MICHAEL STEWART is left perplexed by an odd rag-bag of a play
(L to R) Patrick Walshe Mcbride as Hugo, Eva Pope as Val, Vincent Franklin as Sir Neil Marriot, Grace Hogg-Robinson as Sarah and, taking pictures, Megan Mcdonnell as Wynona
[Manuel Harlan]
HENRY BELL is sceptical of the notion that ‘progress’ is an ideology that the ruling class uses exclusively to camouflage appropriation
In search of political understanding, MATTHEW HAWKINS welcomes a critique of anti-semitism as codified by the Israeli state
BEN CHACKO welcomes a masterful analysis that puts class struggle back at the heart of our understanding of China’s revolution
JOHN GREEN is intrigued by the ethereal, ghostly quality of images of a London unobscured by the bustle of humanity
JENNY FARRELL relishes an outstanding Palestinian novel that immerses readers in the sensory reality of Gaza, then and now
AI-induced murder, last rites for the mob-dog, a gullible common herd, and an exemplary Christmas chiller
The Snail House
Hampstead Theatre
THE title The Snail House, we are informed, comes from a Nigerian saying; “Even a snail will eventually reach its home.” What this means I’ve no idea as I thought it carries its home on its back.
Author Richard Eyre has written his first play at age 79 after a lifetime of directing for the stage and screen other writers’ works. Moreover, as the scourge of Covid was turning most of us into stir-crazy psychotics he was inspired by the pandemic to pen this state of the nation oeuvre.
Sir Neil Marriot (Vincent Franklin), a respected paediatrician who has risen to fame during the plague, is holding a celebratory birthday dinner at his son’s old school.
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