GORDON PARSONS is bowled over by a skilfully stripped down and powerfully relevant production of Hamlet
While the others suffered
LYNNE WALSH is spell-bound by a production of Beckett’s classic that weaves the big themes of alienation into the warp and weft of humour and friendship
In which we accompany the Bard into Cymru to meet his musical accomplices, young and old
SUE TURNER is inspired by the example of a librarian’s struggle to confront the book-banning movement
ANDY HEDGECOCK relishes two exhibitions that blur the boundaries between art and community engagement
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews I Am Martin Parr, September Says, The Monkey, and The Gorge
RITA DI SANTO applauds a touching and witty opener that touches a hot topic in Germany: the future of the immigrant population
SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
Waiting for Godot
Theatre Royal Haymarket, London
IS this really a play in which nothing happens — twice, as so many critics have claimed?
Is it all nihilistic gloom, or is there a tale of comradeship against the odds?
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
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A nervous year, showing that the theatre, like the world, stands on a precipice and seems uncertain where to jump
ANDREW MURRAY welcomes a sympathetic history of two waves of left advance within Labour and the contest between the support they could mobilise and the forces ranged against them
MARY CONWAY recommends you to see an outstandingly acted production of a great play that resonates with modern life