CHRIS SEARLE welcomes a startling vision of contemporary Newport from a veteran photographer of the British working class
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Lockdown blues
SIMON PARSONS welcomes a new play that examines the Covid pandemic through the lens of a disintegrating marriage
MARITAL TENSIONS OF A KEY WORKER: Kacey Ainsworth and Liam Tobin in James McDermott's Jab
[Steve Gregson]
ANGUS REID recommends a very unusual documentary: a love story between two disillusioned journalists
In verse and polemic, the bard points out that he is a poet and musician, not a political party
MARIA DUARTE, JAMES WALSH and ANDY HEDGECOCK review The Invite, My Father’s Island, Nirvanna: the Band, the Show, the Movie, and Oh My Goodness!
PAUL DONOVAN is chilled by the contemporary resonance of Harper Lee’s coming of age tale amidst racism and white supremacy in this excellent production
GEOFF BOTTOMS recommends the unashamedly light-hearted escapism on offer in this stage version of the 1963 film
Jab
Finborough Theatre, London
FOUR years since the Covid lockdown, the memory is still fresh in most people’s minds, but James McDermott’s play is a worthwhile reflection on the scarring impact of the event.
Seen through the eyes of a couple in their sixties, this domestic drama works as a series of brief scenes, almost like a photo album, mapping the disintegration of their long marriage during the months of confinement while external snippets of news remind us of the deadly progress of the virus and the government’s responses.
Anne is an NHS administrative worker and the breadwinner for the household, while Don runs an unprofitable vintage clothing shop, more as a hobby than a business.
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