Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
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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]
SIMON DUFF relishes the cross contamination of Damien Hirst’s greatest hits by street artists from France and the US
In view of the grooming gangs inquiry, SIMON PARSONS feels the relevance of this powerful examination of trauma suffered at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre
JOHN GREEN doubts the motivations of a US war photographer who never questions why, or for whom, she is producing images of imperialist conflict
MARIA DUARTE reviews Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Hedda, The Mastermind, and Regretting You
TONY CONWAY welcomes a thrilling and concise history of Hope not Hate, that is also a manual full of tactical advice
PAUL DONOVAN welcomes an inspiring account of living with deafness that has important lessons for the treatment of deaf people in today’s UK
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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MARY CONWAY revels in the Irish American language and dense melancholy of O’Neill’s last and little-known play
MAYER WAKEFIELD laments the lack of audience interaction and social diversity in a musical drama set on London’s Underground
MARY CONWAY applauds the revival of a tense, and extremely funny, study of men, money and playing cards
A nervous year, showing that the theatre, like the world, stands on a precipice and seems uncertain where to jump