No excuses can hide the criminal actions of a Nazi fellow-traveller in this admirably objective documentary, suggests MARTIN HALL
If Shamima Begum had a sister
SIMON PARSONS applauds a tense and thoughtful production that regularly challenges our political engagement and prejudices
Hiba Medina as Antiya in Antigone (On Strike)
PAUL DONOVAN relishes a fascinating exploration of the leading lights of the Labour right in the 1970s
BEN LUNN alerts us to the creeping return of philanthropy and private patronage, and suggests alternative paths to explore
A novel by Argentinian Jorge Consiglio, a personal dictionary by Uruguayan Ida Vitale, and poetry by Mexican Homero Aridjis
MIK SABIERS savours the first headline solo show of the stalwart of Brighton’s indie-punk outfit Blood Red Shoes
New releases reviewed by IAN SINCLAIR
STEVEN ANDREW is moved beyond words by a historical account of mining in Britain made from the words of the miners themselves
Antigone (On Strike)
Park Theatre
THIS modern, imaginative reworking of the Greek tragedy involves a British-born, Isis child bride and her sister’s desperate campaign to stop her being stripped of her citizenship and denied her time in court. The parallels to Shamima Begum’s desperate plight, still detained in a Syrian camp along with 18 other British women, are obvious.
The production centres on the political machinations of the British Conservative government in promoting this policy, while remaining true to the nature of classical Greek theatre by making the audience active participants in the process.
Set within an interactive media studio, we are asked to vote electronically on various questions relating to the issue. Our responses, in between being bombarded with reportage interwoven with political sound bites and the manoeuvrings of an ambitious home secretary, are set against the embattled reflections of the sister at the heart of the campaign.
More from this author
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
SIMON PARSONS applauds an insightful state-of-the-nation play that explores the growing class divide in South Africa
SIMON PARSONS questions whether a dark take on Shakespeare’s Seasonal comedy is in harmony with the original text
