EWAN CAMERON picks out two fascinating music shows, fusing the Korean, and the Celtic, with the modern
Instructive lessons in Class
SIMON PARSONS recommends an evocative snapshot of an education system struggling to cope with deprivation
Excellent: Stephen Jones, Sarah Morris and Will O’Connell
[Helen Murray]
BENJAMIN POTHIER suggests that Palaeolithic cave paintings in Spain point to the ceremonial use of hallucinogenic flora
The bard confirms that the right has a humour bypass, and replays the English Revolution on period instruments
MARIA DUARTE and ANDY HEDGECOCK review Sunny Dancer, Tony, Songs of Forgotten Trees, and The End of Oak Street
JOHN GREEN relishes a powerful and moving drama that explores the lived realities of west London’s Punjabi community
MARTIN HALL welcomes a plea for greater compassion between believer and non-believer via the framework of philosophical enquiry
Class
Bush Theatre, London
EXPLORING the interchanging relationships between two estranged working-class parents and their son’s well-intentioned teacher in a run-down Irish primary school, this carefully constructed three-hander — first seen at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre — is notable for some outstanding performances.
Stephen Jones masterfully portrays weekend dad Brian, dealing with a well of pent-up anger at his life. Forced back into the school to face the truth about his son’s educational problems, childhood resentment of authority soon resurfaces, while Sarah Morris gives a wonderfully nuanced performance as as his poorly educated wife Donna.
Reverting to childhood subservience on returning to the school she used to attend, and in the face of her outspoken husband, she gradually comes into her own when forced to make a stand.
Similar stories
Family issues and dragon-fuelled history amount to a vacuous spectacle that ill-fits the theatre, muses SIMON PARSONS
SIMON PARSONS applauds the timely revival of a play about solidarity and betrayal within Britain’s Pakistani community
PAUL FOLEY revels in the coolest, most joyful piece of theatre you’ll get this summer
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!