MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
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Arts ahead
The courage to resist, from WWI pacifists to civil rights activists in America's Deep South
TIME HAS COME: Detail from Ralph Griffin’s Eagle (1988), part of the We Will Walk exhibition
New releases from Mountain, Soul Asylum and Michael McDermott
ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
WITH This Evil Thing, Michael Mears has created a mesmerising drama on the brave struggles of pacifists during the first world war.
This talented — and, in lockdown, amazingly resourceful — writer and actor filmed the whole thing in his flat. His play — in which Mears plays 52 roles — runs at 90 minutes. He has performed it more than 100 times in Britain and the US but has now produced a lockdown version on his phone.
“Lockdown” is perhaps appropriate because, as Mears says,“Just over 100 years ago, British conscientious objectors were locked down in this country against their will because of the ‘virus’ it was feared they were spreading — the virus of pacifism and anti-militarism.”
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Anti-fascists from around the world will soon be travelling to Spain to commemorate the International Brigades and walk in the footsteps of the bravest of their generation, writes LYNNE WALSH
