No excuses can hide the criminal actions of a Nazi fellow-traveller in this admirably objective documentary, suggests MARTIN HALL
Just another unhinged celebrity
PETER MASON appreciates the songs and spectacle but misses attention-grabbing intrigue in Sarah Ruhl’s adaptation of the US movie
Ramin Karimloo and Anoushka Lucas in A Face in the Crowd
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
A Face in the Crowd
Young Vic, London
THERE’S not a great deal wrong with this musical adaptation of the 1957 US film of the same name: the two leads are excellent, the music and lyrics by Elvis Costello are a cut above the ordinary and the sets and costumes are at times dazzling.
What it lacks, though, is a storyline that offers any attention-grabbing intrigue.
From the off it’s clear what will happen to the two main characters, Marcia Jeffries (Anoushka Lucas), an ambitious small-town radio broadcaster, and Lonesome Rhodes (Ramin Karimloo), a semi-hobo songwriter and storyteller whom she discovers languishing in the county jail.
Similar stories
MARY CONWAY admires an accomplished drama that explores the consequences of a fatal punch on a desolate housing estate
MARY CONWAY applauds a worthy revival of the US 1939 classic drama that studies the dehumanising consequences of affluence
New releases from Yasmin Williams and The War On Drugs, and a tribute album to Jesse Malin
TONY BURKE enjoys a rare history of those who play music on the street