RITA DI SANTO draws attention to a new film that features Ken Loach and Jeremy Corbyn, and their personal experience of media misrepresentation
Theatre: Random resonance at a time when knife killings are on the rise
Random
Leeds Playhouse
[Anthony Robling]
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
CENTRING on one day and one pivotal event — a fatal stabbing — Debbie Tucker Green’s Random certainly is up-to-the moment as knife-crime statistics continue to rise.
In its single act, it skilfully manipulates emotions and challenges media stereotypes as it explores how an ordinary family deals with grief.
Kiza Deen (pictured) performs all of the roles in a patchwork of narratives punctuated by regular time checks, including the sassy sister, irritated by her colleagues, and the mother concerned that her family hasn’t eaten and her children are inappropriately dressed.
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