MAYER WAKEFIELD has reservations about the direction of a play centered on a DVLA re-training session for three British-Pakistani motorists
Dante’s parable applied to war crimes
SIMON PARSONS
SP
New releases from Steve Knightley, Jupiter & Okwess, Jason Palmer, Lisa Knapp and Gerry Driver, Kin'Gongolo Kiniata, Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey, Dan Sealey, Simin Tande, PAZ
JOHN GREEN relishes photography that unfolds a longstanding and poetic relationship with Leeds
A uncomfortably misogynistic authorial voice that sometimes seems to lack insight troubles FIONA O’CONNOR
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production that panders – if inadvertently – to Western prejudice against China
JOHN GREEN is fascinated by a history that excavates the enormous role played by agricultural workers in recent times
ALEX HALL recommends a book that places empirical evidence at the heart of understanding racism
9 Circles
Park Theatre, London N4
THIS absorbing psychological thriller based on real events follows Private Reeves’s passage through hell, as his brutal war crimes undergo the scrutiny of the military hierarchy, politicians, psychiatrists, clergymen and lawyers.
The 9 Circles equate to Dante’s descent into hell with each new circle representing a different perspective and judgment on the young man’s actions.
Bill Cain’s taut script explores who is really to blame for the atrocities of war as experienced by a Texan, white-trash youngster with a personality disorder who only finds a role and an identity after enlisting.
More from this author
SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
SIMON PARSONS applauds an insightful state-of-the-nation play that explores the growing class divide in South Africa
SIMON PARSONS applauds a tense and thoughtful production that regularly challenges our political engagement and prejudices
SIMON PARSONS questions whether a dark take on Shakespeare’s Seasonal comedy is in harmony with the original text
