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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Macbeth, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
Misguided mangling of Shakespeare's darkest tragedy
PIC CAP Centre stage: Lucy Ellinson as Macbeth Pic: Johan Persson
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
WITH productions of Henry V, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar and, more recently, Maxine Peake’s acclaimed performance as Hamlet, the Royal Exchange has earned itself an excellent reputation for staging exciting, enthralling and innovative interpretations of Shakespeare’s work.
The omens for this production of Macbeth were good. Having two women play Duncan and Macbeth offered the opportunity to move women centre stage as warrior queens rather than scheming wives or batty witches.
But, as in the play itself, omens are more often portents of disaster.
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