New releases from The Jim Mullen Quartet, Caroline Kraabel/John Edwards, and Matthew Muneses/Riza Printup
Some mothers won’t leave ‘em
MARY CONWAY marvels at the totally engrossing revival of a little-known classic that speaks volumes to interpersonal relationships today
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
The Silver Cord
Finborough Theatre, London
ARTISTIC director Neil McPherson proves his weight in gold, again, as he pursues his mission to bring forgotten gems back to the London stage.
The Silver Cord by US writer Sidney Howard is one such find. Last seen in the West End in 1927-28, it’s been gathering dust for a century as new fads and fashions grip the theatre world.
But it’s a worthy revival. For, though set in a traditional New England home in a long-gone era, it skewers our hearts now with its unswervingly profound central theme: that of the umbilical bond between mother and son.
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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