STEVEN ANDREW is moved beyond words by a historical account of mining in Britain made from the words of the miners themselves
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You shall have a ball
PETER MASON recommends a witty update of Cinderella
LEADING LIGHTS: Timmika Ramsay and Gabriel Fleary
CAILEAN MCBRIDE welcomes a refreshing and timely study of the way officialdom creates structures that exclude LGBT+ rights and humanity
The bard mourns the loss of comrades and troubadours, and looks for consolation with Black Country Jess
CHRIS MOSS relishes the painting and the life story of a self-taught working-class artist from Warrington
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a star-studded adaptation of Ibsen’s play that is devoid of believable humanity
GORDON PARSONS is fascinated by a unique dream journal collected by a Jewish journalist in Nazi Berlin
Borrowed Time: Lennon’s Last Decade, Parthenope, Where Dragons Live and Thunderbolts* reviewed by MICHAL BONCZA and MARIA DUARTE
Cinderella
Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith
SET in the contemporary Queendom of Hammersmith, against an urban background of zero-hours contracts, JD Sports gear and stage sets populated by road signs and traffic junctions, this is most certainly a panto with modern sensibilities.
When Cinderella and her stepsisters hear of an invitation to the royal ball, at first they appear most excited by the fact that the Prince’s palace “has wifi in every room” and, when they arrive, they undergo rigorous electronic security checks before entry is allowed.
Similarly, relationships are very much of the here and now in this Tinuke Craig-directed show. Cinderella proves to be a strong woman buttressing a rather uncertain prince (Gabriel Fleary) while, on the sidelines, the roots of a same-sex relationship begin to develop between Buttons (the excellent Jodie Jacobs) and Popsy, a reluctantly obnoxious stepsister (Lauren Samuels).
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