MARIA DUARTE and JOHN GREEN review Michael, The North, Exit 8, Rose of Nevada
THE MONOCHROMATIC, yet stylish, opening scene of a dozen women isolated in their daily drudgery in Lucy Kirkwood’s new play initially appears to be heading towards well-worn territory — the trial format of Twelve Angry Men.
But those brought together are a “jury of matrons” and their role is to decide whether the guilty woman in front of them is pregnant. If she is, she escapes the noose for transportation instead.
With only the nominal supervision of a muted court official, this eclectic group is temporarily released from daily oppressive routines to freely argue another woman’s fate.
As Ash Regan’s Unbuyable Bill sparks debate in Scotland, the real issue remains unaddressed: a digitalised sex industry and a neoliberal economy that repackages exploitation as empowerment while leaving women’s material conditions unchanged, argues LAUREN HARPER
MAYER WAKEFIELD is gripped by a production dives rapidly from champagne-quaffing slick to fraying motormouth
SIMON PARSONS is beguiled by a dream-like exploration of the memories of a childhood in Hong Kong
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic



