RITA DI SANTO draws attention to a new film that features Ken Loach and Jeremy Corbyn, and their personal experience of media misrepresentation
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Refugee drama unwelcome in its ineptness
Stereotypes on stage: Welcome to the UK
[Jose Farinha]
JULIA TOPPIN recommends Patti Smith’s eloquent memoir that wrestles with the beauty and sorrow of a lifetime
MARJORIE MAYO welcomes an account of family life after Oscar Wilde, a cathartic exercise, written by his grandson
KEN COCKBURN guides us through a survey of Chekov’s early short fiction, and the groundwork it laid for his later masterpieces
ANDY HEDGECOCK revels in a hugely enjoyable but deadly serious examination of the 1930s, that is an indictment of our own era
The bard distills our hellish times into fiery words
Welcome to the UK
The Bunker Theatre, London
EXPECTATIONS were high for a new theatre piece focusing on the experiences of refugees and asylum-seekers, all too often victims to the vagaries of the Home Office and, at the centre of Welcome to the UK, is a great deal of heart.
The PSYCHEdelight company was set up by writer, director and psychotherapist Sophie NL Besse, who has delivered drama sessions in the Calais Jungle and their first show Borderline drew on real stories from people stuck there in the freezing cold, mud and fear.
And it drew in some real people too — Besse’s company includes refugees and this time round she has worked with the Women for Refugee Women drama group.
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