MAYER WAKEFIELD has reservations about the direction of a play centered on a DVLA re-training session for three British-Pakistani motorists
Time to don your Stetson Cattleman and join the melee
SIMON PARSONS is captivated by a charming zest of an intelligently reworked Rodgers and Hammerstein classic
stetson
New releases from Steve Knightley, Jupiter & Okwess, Jason Palmer, Lisa Knapp and Gerry Driver, Kin'Gongolo Kiniata, Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey, Dan Sealey, Simin Tande, PAZ
JOHN GREEN relishes photography that unfolds a longstanding and poetic relationship with Leeds
A uncomfortably misogynistic authorial voice that sometimes seems to lack insight troubles FIONA O’CONNOR
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production that panders – if inadvertently – to Western prejudice against China
JOHN GREEN is fascinated by a history that excavates the enormous role played by agricultural workers in recent times
ALEX HALL recommends a book that places empirical evidence at the heart of understanding racism
Oklahoma
Young Vic
THIS stripped down, stylish reworking of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1943 classic arrives from the US with a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, and rightly so. It is a sassy, sexy and at times very dark reimagining of a Midwest community hoedown and the tensions between locals and outsiders.
Daniel Kluger’s re-orchestration of the score is a triumph. Many of the songs have been reworked to incorporate contrasting styles within the same number so Country and Western rhythms dissolve into soulful solos and familiar foot-stomping numbers blend with a cappella renditions.
Likewise John Heginbotham's choreography highlights the uneasy dichotomy between the known and the unknown with a nightmarish ballet sequence to contrast with the traditional line dancing routines.
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SIMON PARSONS questions whether a dark take on Shakespeare’s Seasonal comedy is in harmony with the original text
