KATAYOUN SHAHANDEH surveys Iran’s cultural heritage and explains what has been damaged and what could be lost
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Thatcherite blues
PAUL DONOVAN applauds a new production of Stoppard’s dated, yet witty study of middle-class morals and misdemeanours
LOVE IN THE AGE OF THATCHER: James McArdle (Henry) and Bel Powley (Annie) in The Real Thing at The Old Vic
[Manuel Harlan]
A dazzling novel, and autobiographical fiction, by Mexicans Brenda Navarro and Cristina Rivera Garza, and poetry by Brazilian Ricardo Domeneck
JONATHAN TAYLOR ponders the difference between autobiography and memoir - between life and story - in Margaret Atwood’s account of herself
Rereleases from Andrew Gold; John McFee, Stu Cook, Keith Knudsen; and The Outer Limits
Five years ago a flash crowd of Glaswegian activists defeated the Home Office and the police; MATT KERR urges you to savour that day in a cinema
SYLVIA HIKINS celebrates the chance that a new memoir offers to explore Frieda Brewster’s remarkable life story
The Real Thing
The Old Vic, London
THE latest production of Tom Stoppard’s 1982 play, The Real Thing, does not disappoint.
Impressive performances from James McCardle as Henry and Bel Powley as Annie keep the audience gripped, and the slick scene changes, bring a minimalist 1980s feel to proceedings. The strong blue of the latter part is in some way reflective of the Thatcherite timbre of the times.
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