RITA DI SANTO assesses the winners of the most politically charged festival to date
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Culture: A Christmas Carol tuned in to today
Lurking beneath the festive jollity, the RSC's version of the Dickens classic is a salutary reminder of grim present realities, says GORDON PARSONS
KATARZYNA KOSMALA introduces a retrospective by one of the most significant figures in contemporary US photography
MAYER WAKEFIELD is entertained but let down by an audacious production that, sadly, doesn't ring true
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by drama that, despite accomplished performances, cannot overcome an unfocused script
New releases from Sam Carter, Spell Songs and Les Thomas
A Christmas Carol
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
WITH the latest estimation that over 3.5 million children in Britain are living in poverty, Charles Dickens’s famous Christmas ghost story is a telling choice for the RSC’s seasonal show.
David Edgar’s sharply tweaked adaptation doesn’t need to labour contemporary parallels.
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Family issues and dragon-fuelled history amount to a vacuous spectacle that ill-fits the theatre, muses SIMON PARSONS
GORDON PARSONS appreciates fine performances and a feel for ambiguity, but misses the music of the dialogue
GORDON PARSONS salutes the apt return of Brecht’s vaudevillian cartoon drama that retains the vitality of the boxing or the circus ring
GORDON PARSONS is blown away by a superb production of Rostand’s comedy of verbal panache and swordmanship