Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
Latest editorial
Equus, Bristol Old Vic/touring
Stripped of most of its period trappings, Peter Shaffer’s disturbing 1973 play is given a new lease of life
Fatal attraction: Ira Mandela Siobhan (Nugget) and Ethan Kai (Alan Strang) in Equus
[The Other Richard]
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
WHILE previous stagings of Equus frequently focused on the young protagonist Alan’s infatuation and ultimate blinding of his equine charges as a lament for the loss of mysticism and spiritual passion in a materialistic world, this English Touring Theatre production brings out all the latent homoeroticism in the text.
The intimacy and passion shared between the young stablehand and Ira Nubella’s proud physical embodiment of Nugget, the horse at the centre of his obsession, highlights the boy’s otherwise arid life.
As the horses, the semi-naked and muscular performers move with equine grace and strength and they become objects of deification for Ethan Kai’s tortured teenager Alan as he lives out a midnight fantasy at the stables in order to escape a world of suppressed sexual desire and impotence.
Similar stories
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
GORDON PARSONS admires a version of Marlowe’s grim tragedy that strips it down to its gay essentials
SIMON PARSONS applauds an insightful state-of-the-nation play that explores the growing class divide in South Africa
SIMON PARSONS applauds the psychological study of prisoners dealing with a frighteningly oppressive world endured by far too many