Back from a mini tour of Yorkshire and Stockport and cheering for supporting act Indignation Meeting
Lusty strokes
Nick Dark paints a full-blooded portrait of 18th-century artist William Hogarth in a double bill of plays, says LYNNE WALSH
Misanthrope: Keith Allen as William Hogarth Pic: Manuel Harlan
ALISTAR FINDLAY is mesmerised by this multiple ‘Visions of Scotland’ assault on the audience’s eyes and senses
The Star's critics ANGUS REID, ANDY HEDGECOCK and MICHAL BONCZA reviews I Am Love, The Penguin Lessons, Freaky Tales, The Thicket
MAYER WAKEFIELD has reservations about the direction of a play centered on a DVLA re-training session for three British-Pakistani motorists
New releases from Steve Knightley, Jupiter & Okwess, Jason Palmer, Lisa Knapp and Gerry Driver, Kin'Gongolo Kiniata, Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey, Dan Sealey, Simin Tande, PAZ
Peter Mitchell's photography reveals a poetic relationship with Leeds
A uncomfortably misogynistic authorial voice that sometimes seems to lack insight troubles FIONA O’CONNOR
Hogarth’s Progress
Rose, Kingston
THIS double bill from Nick Dear is a bawdy romp — a delve into the seething underbelly of 18th-century London, with its buxom wenches and pox-ridden punters.
Here too are venal politicians, brothel keepers, narcissist actors and devoted servants and at the centre artist William Hogarth, who masks self-doubt in braggadocio, craving critics’ approval, and creating a breathtaking legacy.
Dispensing with cliches, the two plays are a nuanced examination of art, its place in people’s hearts and rich men’s wallets. Hogarth’s work remains as a testament to his great desire that his work should last. He was determined that the Old Masters shouldn’t be the only game in town. “What is art?” he spits. “Is it property or communication? Is it to be owned — or understood?”
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