Borrowed Time: Lennon’s Last Decade, Parthenope, Where Dragons Live and Thunderbolts* reviewed by MICHAL BONCZA and MARIA DUARTE
Riveting views from the eye of the storm
SIMON PARSONS recommends a spellbinding production of Life and Fate, set at the height of WWII in Soviet Russia
CHRIS SEARLE wallows in an evening of high class improvised jazz, and recommends upcoming highlights in May
MARY CONWAY applauds the revival of a tense, and extremely funny, study of men, money and playing cards
MEHDI ACHOUCHE explores the constant fascination of cinema with Marxist alienation from Fritz Lang and Chaplin to Bong Joon Ho
FIONA O’CONNOR steps warily through a novel that skewers many of the exposed flanks of the over-privileged
MARY CONWAY applauds the study of a dysfunctional family set in an Ireland that could be anywhere
MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
Life and Fate
Theatre Royal Haymarket, London
VASILY GROSSMAN’S magnificent epic novel Life and Fate, performed by a renowned Russian theatre company and directed by the celebrated Lev Dodin, has all the potential for a memorable production.
But expectations are also accompanied by natural doubts. How can the settings and scale of this 700-page novel, performed in Russian by Maly Drama Theatre with surtitles and lasting three-and-a-half hours, capture the power and profundity of the novel?
Premiered in Paris in 2007, Dodin devised the production with actors from the company and the depth of feeling is evident throughout the performance.
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