To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
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By the people, for the people
MARY CONWAY is inspired by a community theatre project that explores the remarkable life of Ada Salter
(left) Ada opens a playground by planting a tree, Alfred is on her left
[(L to R) Grahamcoleridge/CC and public domain]
If you can see past the relentless commodification you will be rewarded by enormously powerful work, suggests JENNY MITCHELL
CHRIS SEARLE revels in the one-off collaboration between an American polymath and a British Muslim, and detects the presence of their revolutionary forebear
GORDON PARSONS revels in an ebullient production of Shakespeare’s magical comedy
BRENT CUTLER welcomes a thoughtful analysis of the Erdogan regime, viewed through the evolving history of a neighbourhood in Istanbul
GORDON PARSONS regrets the price, but is dazzled by an outstandingly ambitious study of the way art restoration in particular, and culture in general was weaponised by the Nazis
Bermondsey Revolution
Southwark Playhouse Elephant
Until January 28
COMMUNITY theatre at its most dynamic is a profoundly transformative experience as Bertolt Brecht has vouched. And it bodes well for the future that the spanking, brand new Southwark Playhouse Elephant theatre has kicked off with this hugely relevant offering from director John Whelan’s splendid brainchild: People’s Company.
To watch this project at work is to experience at first-hand something of the reformative zeal the play aims to capture. And it’s by watching the faces of the wonderfully diverse, volunteer cast – drawn entirely from the locality – that the soul of this artistic venture is realised.
Ada Salter – iconic social activist and central figure in this play – would have approved.
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