SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
Culture
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
JAN WOOLF wallows in the historical mulch of post WW2 West Germany, and the resistant, challenging sense made of it by Anselm Kiefer
ANA ISABEL NUNES points to the empowering legacy of Augusto Boal’s Theatre Of The Oppressed
CARLOS MARTINEZ welcomes the publication of the writings of the great Palestinian author, political theorist and spokesman for the PFLP
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE review Cottontail, Memoir of a Snail, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, and Captain America: Brave New World
PAUL DONOVAN is fascinated by an account of the long history of Catholic Church’s involvement in espionage
ROGER McKENZIE welcomes an important contribution to the history of Africa, telling the story in its own right rather than in relation to Europeans
DAVID NICHOLSON welcomes an overdue revival of WNO’s classic production, complete with protests against cuts
CHRIS SEARLE samples the Kris Davis Trio at the Vortex and recommends highlights from the forthcoming programme
SIMON DUFF immerses himself in the Kings Place D&B soundscape to relish a contemporary string quartet
GEORGE FOGARTY applauds a show that punches down alt-right-friendly comedy
ANDY HEDGECOCK recommends two collections of short stories that use a single location to connect the narratives, and explore the limits of our ability to understand the world
RITA DI SANTO applauds a touching and witty opener that touches a hot topic in Germany: the future of the immigrant population
by Jude Price
FIONA O’CONNOR recommends an accessible and entertaining survey of post-war French philosophy and its relation to contemporary capitalism
PAUL DONOVAN applauds an adaptation that draws out the contemporary relevance of George Orwell’s satire
GAVIN O’TOOLE chuckles through a guide to politically correct usage of the literary canon
MARIA DUARTE recommends a tense thriller that uses Palestinian characters to explore the predicament of migrants in Europe
MARY CONWAY is gripped by a hilarious and erudite new play that dramatises the making of the alliance that defeated fascism
by Uzmah Ali
New releases from The Delines, Jim Ghedi and Nap Eyes
An outstanding novel by Chilean writer and activist Pedro Lemebel, a poetry pamphlet by Venezuelan Natasha Tiniacos, and a children’s book of haikus singing the beauty of Cuba
RON JACOBS welcomes a Palestinian account of being subject to a brutal occupation supported by the most powerful governments in the world
The bard ditches an unspecial relationship, encounters a new subdivision of metal, and discovers the cure for a stiff neck