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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Clever and respectful but missing the requisite dramatic excess
MARITAL CHAOS: Andrea Bræin as Maia Rubek and Hovig and James Browne as Ulfhejm
[Tristam Kenton]
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
When We Dead Awaken
Coronet Theatre, London
IBSEN’S When We Dead Awaken is — as Michael Billington once quipped _ a portrait of the artist as an old man (apologies to James Joyce!)
In the play, successful sculptor Rubek returns to Norway with his young, dissatisfied wife, Maia, only to reconnect with the woman who was the life model for his most successful work and whom he immortalised, albeit in stone.
Through this muse and soul-accomplice Irena, we see how life with its vanities and aspirations, over time, disavows the heart and defeats all inner truths. Only with Irena can Rubek resurrect the soul that he has all but killed.
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Although this production was in rehearsal before the playwright’s death, it allows us to pay homage to his life, suggests MARY CONWAY
MARY CONWAY is blown away by a flawless production of Lynn Nottage’s exquisite tragedy