STEVE JOHNSON recommends that you catch an unforgettable tribute to Woody Guthrie
When you can’t breathe, it ain’t funny
MARY CONWAY relishes a magnificent performance and the rich street language in a flawed depiction of racist police violence in downtown New York
MARJORIE MAYO recommends a punchy demonstration of the the way class politics are being fragmented by the right
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends a deliciously dark thriller that explores the complex loyalties within a marriage
JOHN GREEN surveys the remarkable career of screenwriter Malcolm Hulke and the essential part played by his membership of the Communist Party
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Last Breath, Sister Midnight, Opus, and The Electric State
HENRY BELL is moved by the account of scientists under seige in Leningrad who preferred to starve rather than sacrifice their life-saving work
RUTH AYLETT recommends two anthologies: one that bears witness to refugee and immigrant experiences, and the other to our political relationship to water
Between Riverside and Crazy
Hampstead Theatre, London
PLAYWRIGHT Stephen Adly Guirgis commands a dramatic niche all of his own as he immerses us in the hidden entrails of downtown New York in this Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy/drama from 2014.
Following his previously acclaimed works such as The Motherfucker With The Hat and Jesus Hopped The “A” Train, Guirgis returns to a world where the law and criminality, drugs and sobriety, truth and lies, God and retribution, duck and dive together until none is distinguishable from its opposite.
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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ALEX HALL revels in the fascinating details of village life unearthed by a model of local history research
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