WILL STONE fact-checks the colourful life of Ozzy Osbourne
Macbeth, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
Misguided mangling of Shakespeare's darkest tragedy
Centre stage: Lucy Ellinson as Macbeth
[Johan Persson] 
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
WITH productions of Henry V, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar and, more recently, Maxine Peake’s acclaimed performance as Hamlet, the Royal Exchange has earned itself an excellent reputation for staging exciting, enthralling and innovative interpretations of Shakespeare’s work.
The omens for this production of Macbeth were good. Having two women play Duncan and Macbeth offered the opportunity to move women centre stage as warrior queens rather than scheming wives or batty witches.
But, as in the play itself, omens are more often portents of disaster.
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