MAYER WAKEFIELD applauds Rosamund Pike’s punchy and tragic portrayal of a multi-tasking mother and high court judge
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Acute lesson on Islamophobia
This inside story of 'The Trojan Horse' controversy in a Birmingham school is a must-see, says LYNNE WALSH
School desk weaponised: Trojan Horse
[Ant Robling] 
FIONA O CONNOR recommends an unflinching depiction of child sexual abuse and its aftershocks, set in a working-class Liverpool family
New releases from Paul Weller, Wet Leg, and Dino Saluzzi
PAUL DONOVAN relishes the spectacle of a 1950s detective in pursuit of a 500-year-old murder mystery
MARIA DUARTE recommends the intricate study of a high-performance and highly dysfuntional German family
GUILLERMO THOMAS is intrigued by a history of the Middle East that demonstrates how promising post colonial beginnings were snuffed out by Western imperialist interests
Trojan Horse
Battersea Arts Centre/Touring
VERBATIM theatre has a track record for creating powerful and atmospheric drama and Trojan Horse is a superb example.
Created by young talents Matt Woodhead and Helen Monks, this gripping piece brings to life the complex and controversial story of claims a few years ago that Muslim extremism had infiltrated Birmingham schools.
It’s a work of great maturity, unravelling the community’s confused and angry reactions to media stories of scandals and plots. Those at the chalkface had a different view of the shenanigans and their testimonies drive the drama here.
LUNG Theatre, which based Trojan Horse on 200 hours of interviews, as well as public documents and transcripts from public hearings, is no stranger to bringing real people’s words alive.
Their portfolio includes Chilcot, which eviscerated the claims made by the Blair government to justify the war on Iraq and E15, the campaign by single mothers in the London borough of Newham who struck back against a state planning to kick them out of their homes.
One victim of the Birmingham row is represented as feisty and vulnerable pupil Jess (Komal Amin), her burgeoning sexuality a secret entrusted to teacher Rashid (Mustafa Chaudhry). There is betrayal to come, for both of them.
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