The Star's critics ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARTIN HALL, MICHAL BONCZA, ANGUS REID reviews Holy Cow, One to One: John and Yoko, King of Kings, Panda Bear in Africa
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J'Ouvert, Harold Pinter Theatre London
The Notting Hill Carnival's been cancelled but the exhilarating J'Ouvert is a pretty good alternative
J'Ouvert
PATRICK JONES recommends a vital anthology from Afghan and Iranian poets where the political and personal fuse into witness-bearing and manifesto-making
WILL STONE is impressed by Hania Rani who is already making a name for herself in the male-dominated world of modern classical music
MIK SABIERS enjoys the theatrical feminist six piece who have a lot of fun that the audience feeds off as the set rolls on
New releases from Ibex Band, Lucy Dacus, and Various Artists
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by characters so un-nuanced as to be unreal, a stereotypical plot and a conceptual vampire
WILL STONE appreciates an artist who can swerve from industrial noise to clubby trance pop without missing a step
JUST hours after the 2019 election results were announced, Michael Gove made a vitriolic boast that “both the Durham Miners’ Gala and the Notting Hill Carnival will take place in seats held by Conservative MPs.” That remark reflects the contempt that the Tories have for these two unique festivals of resistance and their deep-rooted political significance.
A telling riposte is Yasmin Joseph’s J’Ouvert and its breakneck excursion around Carnival and boy, does it do it well.
We’re led around the sweaty Notting Hill streets by twenty-something best friends and life-long Carnival goers Jade (Sapphire Joy) and Nadine (Gabrielle Brooks). Looking resplendent in carnival costume and “worshipping at the altar of soca music” they run the full gamut of all the highs and lows a Carnival Monday has to offer.
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