MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
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Coriolanus, National Theatre at Home
Gritty account of the downfall of an uncompromising war lord
AT WAR WITH HIMSELF: Tom Hiddlestone as Coriolanus
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
CORIOLANUS is possibly the most single-track and linear of all Shakespeare’s works.
With no subplots or deviation from its core theme, what seems like a predictable tale of military might and political power is, by the conclusion, a simple account of the complexities and inner workings of one man’s mind.
The fearless and commanding Caius Martius — Coriolanus — is a Roman military leader whose macho world of bloody battles and swaggering pride, synonymous almost with the modern world of car chases and shoot-outs, has earned his sobriquet in recognition of one such battle.
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MARY CONWAY applauds the study of a dysfunctional family set in an Ireland that could be anywhere
MARY CONWAY relishes two matchless performers and a masterclass in tightly focused wordplay
