STEVE JOHNSON recommends a protest album with a harder edge than many in the genre
Ridiculing courtship and the traditional battle of the sexes
SIMON PARSONS recommends an ingenious and wonderfully memorable upgrade of a classic
(L to R) Caroline Quentin as Mrs Malaprop, Peter Forbes as Anthony Absolute, Laurie Davidson as Jack Absolute and Natalie Simpson as Lydia Languish
[Brinkhoff-Moegenburg] 
DENNIS BROE finds much to praise in the new South African Netflix series, but wonders why it feels forced to sell out its heroine
CARL DEATH introduces a new book which explores how African science fiction is addressing climate change
In his second round-up, EWAN CAMERON picks excellent solo shows that deal with Scottishness, Englishness and race as highlights
Fiery words from the Bard in Blackpool and Edinburgh, and Evidence Based Punk Rock from The Protest Family
MATTHEW HAWKINS is mesmerised by a performance that dissolves the line between audience and performer
MATTHEW SHARPE recommends the essays of a Renaissance politician that instruct and unnerve after 400 years
Jack Absolute Flies Again
National Theatre
RICHARD BEAN and Oliver Chris’s brilliant reworking of Sheridan’s Rivals cleverly moves the location from 18th-century Bath to a 1940s country estate billeted by an RAF squadron.
More from this author
SIMON PARSONS is beguiled by a dream-like exploration of the memories of a childhood in Hong Kong
SIMON PARSONS is taken by a thought provoking and intelligent play performed with great sensitivity
SIMON PARSONS is gripped by a psychological thriller that questions the the power of the state over vulnerable individuals
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
