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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Medusa’s take on the Trojan Wars reveals a startling modern relevance
nedusa
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
Beautiful Evil Things
The Tobacco Factory
CO-CREATOR and solo performer Deborah Pugh illuminates the empty, dark stage with her 75-minute account of the Trojan Wars from the perspective of the petrifying gorgon Medusa. The riveting performance focuses on the roles of three women, enabling the female-centric narrative to provide a fresh reassessment of events.
Contextualising the three women with their backstories and ultimate fates woven into the decade-long war, Pugh's narrator is no longer seen as the ultimate horror but as one of three gorgon sisters tasked with being eternal record keepers, the guardians of truth.
Her refusal to edit their account for Zeus's sake leads to her transformation and ultimate brutalisation. This struggle for truth in a world dominated by males and their egos lies at the heart of this taut production.
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