ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
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Theatre review: Rockets and blue lights
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
MICK McSHANE rubs shoulders with Mod legend Steve Craddock and joins in with the joyous Glasgow choir
DENNIS BROE sifts out the ideological bias of the newest TV series offerings, and picks out what to see, and what to avoid
Rockets and Blue Lights
BBC R3
Winsome Pinnock’s “Alfred Fagon Award” winning play Rockets and Blue Lights had just started its run at the Royal Exchange Manchester when the hammer of pandemic hit the world’s pause button.
The jolt sent shockwaves across the planet bringing creativity to a juddering halt. Yet the creative mind can overcome catastrophe and it wasn’t long before new and innovative ways were devised to provide a despairing public with stimulation, fun and excitement.
Actor Bertie Carvel managed to convince the BBC to stage The Lockdown Theatre Festival. Four great plays, including Pinnock’s, which were abruptly cut short by the coronavirus crisis, were to be reimagined for radio.
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