MARIA DUARTE recommends a remarkable study of the friendship between a Palestinian and a Pakistani, broken by a hostile state
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Churchill at her radical and compassionate best
An almost out-of-the-body experience where all that is possible, or desired, floats into vision then dwindles, writes MARY CONWAY
DAZZLING: John Heffernan and Linda Bassett
[Johan Persson]
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
What If If Only
Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs
THERE are four compelling reasons to see What If If Only at the Royal Court: first, it’s by the incomparable Caryl Churchill; second, it stars the unmatchable Linda Bassett; third, it explores the extreme profundity of human experience; lastly, it is, in itself, a thing of beauty.
Oh, and it is only 20 minutes long.
Churchill holds a place like no other playwright in our times. Brilliant, uncompromising, cliche-smashing, wry and humorous, she forces us to view the limited perceptions of our lives from ever new and insightful perspectives.
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