WILL STONE fact-checks the colourful life of Ozzy Osbourne
Gone West
PAUL FOLEY sees a new version of a legendary musical which lacks the exhilarating power of the original
Fizzing with energy: Jocasta Almgill (left)
[The Other Richard] 
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
West Side Story
Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
IN 1946 Jerome Robbins approached Leonard Bernstein about the possibility of creating a musical version of Romeo and Juliet and, after many trials and tribulations, West Side Story premiered on Broadway in 1957.
It was a huge hit and set the standard for the modern musical and it was certainly in tune with the times. The US was emerging from the second world war and young people were becoming frustrated and angry for change.
The racism and intolerance creating a gang culture, brutally played out on the mean streets of the big cities, provided a perfect context to recontextualise the most famous love story of all time.
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PAUL FOLEY welcomes a dramatic account of the men and women involved in the pivotal moment of the 5th Pan African Congress
PAUL FOLEY picks out an excellent example of theatre devised to start conversations about identity, class and belonging
PAUL FOLEY applauds a faultless musical that tells the tragic real-life story of working-class winners of the football pools
PAUL FOLEY is blown away by a Brazilian band at the top of their game
