The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Sebastian, Four Mothers, Restless, and The Most Precious of Cargoes
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A Hunger Artist, Seven Arts Leeds
Opaque exploration of art and the human condition
UNSPOKEN ANGER: Henry Petch (left) in A Hunger Artist
JOHN GREEN explores the argument that psychiatry needs to move away from the idea of just seeing and treating the individual
SYLVIA HIKINS applauds a polemic against “cleanfluencers” and considers radical alternatives to current inequalities of housework
RUTH AYLETT admires the blunt honesty with which a woman’s experience is recorded, but detects the unexamined privilege that underlies it
IAN SINCLAIR draws attention to the powerful role that literature plays in foreseeing the way humanity will deal with climate crisis
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DENNIS BROE notes what happens to content when the streaming giants incorporate AI and deregulation into their economic models
FRANZ KAFKA’S deceptively straightforward style of writing forces readers to search for deeper meaning. It’s an approach that CVIVarts has sought to emulate in this debut production, an adaptation of his 1922 short story A Hunger Artist, which follows the eponymous protagonist (Henry Petch) from his first to his 40th day of starvation at a circus.
He’s only rarely given his own voice, with his warder (Richard Koslowsky) and the narrator (director Carrieanne Vivianette) interpreting the motivations behind his act.
His unspoken frustrations and anger are instead conveyed through physical movement, choreographed by Phil Sanger, with repeated poses losing their vigour as his act progresses and public interest wanes.
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