GORDON PARSONS is bowled over by a skilfully stripped down and powerfully relevant production of Hamlet
Fools the theme, Satire the song
WILL STONE relishes a refreshingly irreverent raconteur's record on politics at the turn of the millennium
In which we accompany the Bard into Cymru to meet his musical accomplices, young and old
SUE TURNER is inspired by the example of a librarian’s struggle to confront the book-banning movement
ANDY HEDGECOCK relishes two exhibitions that blur the boundaries between art and community engagement
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews I Am Martin Parr, September Says, The Monkey, and The Gorge
RITA DI SANTO applauds a touching and witty opener that touches a hot topic in Germany: the future of the immigrant population
SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
As I Please: And Other Writings, 1986-2024
Martin Rowson, Seagull Books, £19.99
ONE of the most celebrated political cartoonists of our age, Martin Rowson has a decades-long written record of equally skilful takedowns of the world’s many hypocrisies and hypocrites, proving to the detractors that cartoonists can write. Shock, horror!
The all-singing, all-dancing Rowson spent 20 years from 1997 showcasing his ready wit in the pages of the left-wing Tribune magazine for its As I Please column — a slot originally occupied by none other than George Orwell in the 1940s. Rowson himself admits to “squatting” in Orwell's column in a June 2003 article marking 100 years since the author’s birth.
But in reality the column — which gave Orwell carte blanche to improvise on any subject he pleased — is the perfect modus operandi for Rowson’s eccentric, offbeat mindset.
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
Similar stories
TOMASZ PIERSCIONEK relishes a collection of cartoons that focus on Palestine from the period 1917 to 1948
MALC MCGOOKIN wallows in the artistry of gifted cartoonists given a fine target for caricature
Star cartoonist MALC McGOOKIN introduces two commercial artists beloved by cartoonists and comic artists the world over