SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
The tears of a clone
SIMON PARSONS applauds a moving version of Ishiguro’s vision of a world in which science and ethics have diverged
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
MATTHEW HAWKINS pays tribute to the performance artist and costumier, Leigh Bowery
SIMON DUFF reviews a new composition by German composer and pianist Florian Weber that blurs the line between where improvisation ends and composition begins
New releases from The Jim Mullen Quartet, Caroline Kraabel/John Edwards, and Matthew Muneses/Riza Printup
Never Let Me Go
Bristol Old Vic
SUZANNE HEATHCOTE’S stage adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s highly acclaimed 2005 novel is an assured and theatrically satisfying production.
The dystopian elements of an alternative England that has embraced human cloning are merely the framework on which to hang an elegiac story of friendship and innocent childhood memories recalled from the perspective of an adult world of sacrifice.
Nell Barlow’s effectively restrained and intelligent performance as the narrator Kathy provides a poignant yet non-judgmental commentary on her seemingly idyllic, rural boarding school days as she tries to come to terms with the fate destined for her and her classmates who were once made to feel so special.
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
Similar stories
SIMON PARSONS is swept away on the running tide of a dynamic new version of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale
SIMON PARSONS applauds a new drama that pays tribute to the hundreds of women who volunteered to develop IVF
SIMON PARSONS marvels at a production of Williams’s early masterpiece that transforms the play into a symbolic slow dance of tensions, fears and desires
GORDON PARSONS highly recommends a delightful production of the classic novel that emanates a sense of warmth and love