RITA DI SANTO draws attention to a new film that features Ken Loach and Jeremy Corbyn, and their personal experience of media misrepresentation
Theatre: Wise Children, HOME Manchester
An adaptation of Angela Cater's novel is a memorable love letter to theatre and Shakespeare in particular
Joyous: Wise Children
JULIA TOPPIN recommends Patti Smith’s eloquent memoir that wrestles with the beauty and sorrow of a lifetime
MARJORIE MAYO welcomes an account of family life after Oscar Wilde, a cathartic exercise, written by his grandson
KEN COCKBURN guides us through a survey of Chekov’s early short fiction, and the groundwork it laid for his later masterpieces
ANDY HEDGECOCK revels in a hugely enjoyable but deadly serious examination of the 1930s, that is an indictment of our own era
The bard distills our hellish times into fiery words
IT’S a wonder that it’s taken so long for Angela Carter’s 1991 novel to be adapted for the stage. It’s been well worth the wait.
Director Emma Rice has brought all the trademarks associated with her previous troupe Kneehigh to this first production for her new company Wise Children, with bawdy comedy, song, dance and puppetry that’s unafraid to address heavyweight subjects and emotions.
Taking sections of dialogue directly from Carter’s novel, the play follows the fortunes of identical showgirl twins Dora and Nora Chance through a series of flashbacks. Narrating their own story, they reinvent versions of themselves as themes of class, incest and the role of the father come to the fore.
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