JAMES WALSH is moved by a provocative and original take on the relationship between ecology and architecture, and a plea to work with, not against, the materials and minerals of our world
Kes
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds/Touring
3/5
WHEN Barry Hines died in March he was hailed by many as capturing the authentic voice of Yorkshire, a spirit that Robert Alan Evans has stayed true to in his adaptation of the Barnsley author’s most famous work, Kes.
Anyone expecting to see kestrels or an approximation of Ken Loach’s much-loved 1969 film will be disappointed because Evans offers a much more impressionistic version of the story. Performed by just two actors, it follows Billy Casper’s working-class hero with the benefit of nostalgic hindsight.
Family issues and dragon-fuelled history amount to a vacuous spectacle that ill-fits the theatre, muses SIMON PARSONS
GORDON PARSONS appreciates fine performances and a feel for ambiguity, but misses the music of the dialogue
GEORGE FOGARTY is dazzled by a breathtakingly skillful puppet version of Shakespeare’s greatest love poem
GORDON PARSONS is blown away by a superb production of Rostand’s comedy of verbal panache and swordmanship



