Ben Cowles speaks with IAN ‘TREE’ ROBINSON and ANDY DAVIES, two of the string pullers behind the Manchester Punk Festival, ahead of its 10th year show later this month
Raya, Hampstead Theatre London
Affecting tale of mid-life crises
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PAUL FOLEY is disappointed by a production that encourages the audience to laugh at rather than with the characters
Odysseus’s homecoming myth is treated as a factual story, with strong resonances for our contemporary world. This is an implicit anti-war film that has an urgent relevance, writes JOHN GREEN
The Star's critics ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARTIN HALL, MICHAL BONCZA, ANGUS REID reviews Holy Cow, One to One: John and Yoko, King of Kings, Panda Bear in Africa
PATRICK JONES recommends a vital anthology from Afghan and Iranian poets where the political and personal fuse into witness-bearing and manifesto-making
WILL STONE is impressed by Hania Rani who is already making a name for herself in the male-dominated world of modern classical music
MIK SABIERS enjoys the theatrical feminist six piece who have a lot of fun that the audience feeds off as the set rolls on
AFTER a student reunion, ex-lovers Alex and Jason, played with vulnerable intensity by Claire Price and Bo Poraj, return to their old flat.
In Moi Tran’s spot-on set design, it’s now a spare space of packed-up boxes, dodgy standard lamps and ghastly red carpet.
Their prevaricating and elliptical dialogue has another “character” in tow — or rather undertow — Alex’s menopause. This disorientating state is fantastically well conveyed by Price, who wants to sleep with Jason, not just for old time’s sake but to make her feel real.
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