WILL STONE fact-checks the colourful life of Ozzy Osbourne
Dream of a production
MARY CONWAY sees a gender-bending version of a classic Shakespeare comedy triumphantly reconfigured
Lighting up the stage: David Moorst and Gwendoline Christie
[Manuel Harlan] 
JAMES CROSSLEY applauds a lucid biography of the German radical preacher who reemerged as a hero in the GDR
Prizes all round: the Bard hands plaudits to the Miners Gala, OT&JC, Joe Solo, Black Sabbath’s frontman and the Lionesses
Star cartoonist JAMIE BRITTON is in awe of a graphic novel of epic proportions that explores class, religion and globalisation via the strange cultivation of Ginseng in the US Midwest
GUILLERMO THOMAS is intrigued by a history of the Middle East that demonstrates how promising post colonial beginnings were snuffed out by Western imperialist interests
MARIA DUARTE recommends the intricate study of a high-performance and highly dysfuntional German family
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Bridge Theatre London
THE BAD news is that, as with Brexit, responses to production will fall into two bitterly divided camps. The good, though, is that unlike with those negotiations, this tale of desperate lovers is thrillingly theatrical and worth anyone’s time.
Not only does Nicholas Hytner have a ball, he invites all to join in the unconstrained hedonism of a last blow-out party on the edge of doom. It’s a welcome antidote to the current world at large.
Just as with Hytner’s earlier Julius Caesar at the Bridge, this is a promenade performance where half the audience stand. And the action is everywhere — from high-wire acts, soaring glass booths and ivy-laden brass beds to floating moon balls, glamorous fairies and a gravity-defying Puck.
More from this author
MARY CONWAY applauds the success of Beth Steel’s bitter-sweet state-of-the-nation play
MARY CONWAY is blown away by a flawless production of Lynn Nottage’s exquisite tragedy
MARY CONWAY revels in the Irish American language and dense melancholy of O’Neill’s last and little-known play
MARY CONWAY recommends a play that some will find more discursive than eventful but one in which the characters glow
