ANDY HEDGECOCK relishes two exhibitions that blur the boundaries between art and community engagement
Inky slick and the mermaid
SIMON PARSONS is swept away on the running tide of a dynamic new version of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews I Am Martin Parr, September Says, The Monkey, and The Gorge
RITA DI SANTO applauds a touching and witty opener that touches a hot topic in Germany: the future of the immigrant population
SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
PAUL FOLEY recommends an extraordinary double bill that packs a punch and leaves you reeling
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a play about AI that results in a deadening disconnect for its audience
SIMON PARSONS applauds an insightful state-of-the-nation play that explores the growing class divide in South Africa
The Little Mermaid
Bristol Old Vic
BRISTOL have come up trumps with this year’s festive offering, a simplified but gloriously colourful and dynamic ecological version of Hans Christian Andersen’s much loved fairy tale.
The titular character, the only remaining mermaid in an ocean devasted by oil production, sacrifices her subaquatic existence in a desperate attempt to pursue the human who promises some hope for restoring the coral and revitalising sea life.
More from this author
The phrase “cruel to be kind” comes from Hamlet, but Shakespeare’s Prince didn’t go in for kidnap, explosive punches, and cigarette deprivation. Tam is different.
ANGUS REID deconstructs a popular contemporary novel aimed at a ‘queer’ young adult readership
A landmark work of gay ethnography, an avant-garde fusion of folk and modernity, and a chance comment in a great interview
ANGUS REID applauds the inventive stagecraft with which the Lyceum serve up Stevenson’s classic, but misses the deeper themes
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