GUILLERMO THOMAS recommends an important, if dispiriting book about the neo-colonial culture of Uganda under Yoweri Museveni
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Death of England, National Theatre London
Rafe Spall brilliantly conveys the conflicted mindset of a white working-class ‘loser’
ENGLAND TILL I DIE: Rafe Spall as Michael
[Helen Murray]
SUSAN DARLINGTON applauds the sensuality and strong characterisation of an unconventional ballet about an unconventional woman
BRENT CUTLER admires the plotting but takes issue with the politics of a new Scottish crime thriller
Tyrannosaurs in Thailand, colonialism as videogame, and a feminist gem from 1936
PAUL FOLEY steps gingerly through an exhibition that purports to show east and south-east Asian culture, and questions its intentions
New releases from Alex Wilson and Omar Rios Melendez, Hello Cosmos, and Harry Christelis
IN THIS solo tour-de-force from actor Rafe Spall, Michael is an estuary lad on a rolling boil of nervous energy.
With clipped strut and barely comprehensible speech he makes his entrance on to a set which, akin to a cockpit, resembles the cross of St George. Red against white, it evokes a wound as well as a symbol of national pride.
You wouldn’t want to meet Michael if he was pissed or if Leyton Orient were losing — he’s volatile enough sober. But Michael is in crisis and the layers of his persona and raw intelligence are stripped back as he recalls his father’s death while watching England’s last World Cup effort.
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