ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
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The MP, the angry man and the panic button
MARY CONWAY is impressed by a deeply thought provoking and immensely topical new play
James Corden and Anna Maxwell Martin in The Constituent
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
MICK McSHANE rubs shoulders with Mod legend Steve Craddock and joins in with the joyous Glasgow choir
DENNIS BROE sifts out the ideological bias of the newest TV series offerings, and picks out what to see, and what to avoid
The Constituent
The Old Vic, London
IT’S rare, in the current climate, to explore the intimate life of a good, well-meaning MP, but Joe Penhall’s The Constituent does just that.
Monica, played with earnest conviction by Anna Maxwell Martin, is an opposition backbencher, bravely fielding responsibility at every turn. Personally, she’s an overstretched wife, daughter and mum; professionally her time is filled — not so much with the glamour of Westminster but with a relentless stream of troubled constituents at her regular surgery.
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