APURBA CHATTERJEE explains how British artists in India used the “picturesque” to reshape colonial landscapes and celebrate imperial power
The Suit and Ingoma, Royal Opera House London
Ballet Black's South African double-bill demonstrates why they're one of the most exciting dance companies around
Tragic outcome: The Suit
PAUL DONOVAN welcomes a revival of Reginald Rose’s classic play that reminds us of the fundamental need for trials with juries
SIMON PARSONS applauds an exceptional performance of Wesker’s little-known play, by the same actor for whom it was written 45 years ago
ANDY HEDGECOCK and MARIA DUARTE review Late Fame, The Death of Robin Hood, Leviticus, and Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass
ANGUS REID recommends a uniquely accomplished documentary collage that contemplates our relation to the natural world
GORDON PARSONS enjoys Kant’s ‘mind-boggling’ theory of human reality: that we create the reality we experience
DANCED with verve and passion, classical ballet’s emotive power is joined with the joyous vivacity of popular dance to convey the ambiance of South Africa’s township life in this marvellous double bill from Ballet Black.
It starts with The Suit, based on the famous story by Can Themba and set in Sophiatown, where Philemon (Jose Alves) takes cruel revenge on his seemingly loving and attentive wife Matilda (Sayaka Ichikawa) when he catches her in flagrante.
She must constantly treat her lover’s discarded suit as their honoured guest and, relentlessly humiliated by the suit’s presence in their domestic and social life and distraught by Philemon’s stubborn rebuttals of her entreaties for forgiveness, she hangs herself.
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MATTHEW HAWKINS witnesses a contemporary ballet that represents human life as subjected to artificial intelligence
MATTHEW HAWKINS looks at some of the Edinburgh Festival dance offerings
At the Edinburgh Fringe, MATTHEW HAWKINS reviews eight shows in a single day in one venue, all of which reward the spectator
STEVE JOHNSON relishes a celebration of the commonality of folk music and its links with the struggles of working people the world over