Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
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Counter-terror alert
MAYER WAKEFIELD sees a timely reminder of the threat posed by an unfettered surveillance state
MAKING WAVES: Rona Morison as Cora Preece
[Ellie Kurttz]
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
The Haystack
Hampstead Theatre, London
AL BLYTH’S debut play may have hit the stage over six years on from the release of Edward Snowden’s National Security Agency leaks that inspired it but it still manages to shock.
In it, Neil (Oliver Johnstone) and Zef (Enyi Okoronkwo) are two graduate whizz-kids whose technological prowess sees them rapidly progressing up the ladder at GCHQ’s Cheltenham spy base by impressing their officious boss Hannah (Sarah Woodward).
Dressed in hoodies and tracksuit bottoms, they find themselves “getting the keys to the Ferrari” as they are recruited onto a counter-terror case. They casually intrude upon conversations, trace medical records and relationship histories with chilling ease while munching Maltesers.
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