MARIA DUARTE recommends a remarkable study of the friendship between a Palestinian and a Pakistani, broken by a hostile state
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LYNNE WALSH is intrigued by a new play that examines the dilemma of cancel culture on campus
Tanya Franks as Amy and Julian Ovenden as Charles Nichols in Paul Grellong’s Power of Sail
[Manuel Harlan]
MATTHEW HAWKINS rakes through un-fancy words and flair-free summaries to find who and what might be flamboyant
PETER MASON is exhilarated by an exciting, well-considered and historically minded tribute to the great Trinidadian instrument
Reducing historical lives to ‘male’ and ‘female’ roles, we lose the nuance of those lives and a clearer understanding of past societies, suggests CLAIRE ISABELLA GILMOUR
CHRIS SEARLE relishes the genius of pianist Alexander Hawkins, his many ensembles, and his new album
Power of Sail
Menier Chocolate Factory, London
WRITER Paul Grellong has embarked on a precarious voyage with this one-act play. Power of Sail doesn’t quite go aground, rescued by some powerful performances, but there is certainly a bit of a riptide in the narrative arc.
The big issue here has huge resonance with audiences: is our belief in free speech absolute, or are there arguments for deplatforming a speaker?
Benjamin Carver is the archetype at the rotten heart of this controversy. Holocaust-denier and white supremacist, he is the perfect addition to Harvard professor Charles Nichols’ symposium. Carver is never seen, an emblematic figure, the far-right contrarian who sees academia as a slick goose-step away from fame and power.
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GEORGE FOGARTY is dazzled by a breathtakingly skillful puppet version of Shakespeare’s greatest love poem
GEORGE FOGARTY is captivated by a brilliant one-man show depicting life in HMP Strangeways
MAYER WAKEFIELD is gripped by a production dives rapidly from champagne-quaffing slick to fraying motormouth
DAVID NICHOLSON recommends a dazzling production of Bernstein’s opera set in a world where chaos and violence are greeted by equanimity