MARIA DUARTE and ANDY HEDGECOCK review The Tasters, A Pale View of Hills, How To Make a Killing, and Reminders of Him
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What we were – and still are
The Globe Theatre's productions of Shakespeare's history plays show how acutely they mirror a divided country, says MARY CONWAY
Explosive: Michelle Terry as Hotspur
[Tristram Kenton]
SYLVIA HIKINS celebrates the chance that a new memoir offers to explore Frieda Brewster’s remarkable life story
JOHN GREEN is intrigued by an explanation of irrational behaviour from the point of view of brain science
PAUL DONOVAN enjoys a somewhat rose-tinted survey of Brown’s achievements and legacy, as well as his moments of political cowardice
GUILLERMO THOMAS recommends an important, if dispiriting book about the neo-colonial culture of Uganda under Yoweri Museveni
SUSAN DARLINGTON applauds the sensuality and strong characterisation of an unconventional ballet about an unconventional woman
SHAKESPEARE was not a king nor even a man in power. He was a jobbing playwright whose itinerant lifestyle allowed him to observe life in high and low places and to use the fads and foibles of the world at large as fodder for his incomparable talents.
His history plays, timeless favourites on the British stage, sometimes appear as immutable period pieces and often they are brandished like the Union Jack to incite nationalism.
But, always, they explore the fragility of the crown and its quest for power.
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