To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bridge Theatre/National Theatre at Home
Riotous Dream for the 21st century
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
If you can see past the relentless commodification you will be rewarded by enormously powerful work, suggests JENNY MITCHELL
CHRIS SEARLE revels in the one-off collaboration between an American polymath and a British Muslim, and detects the presence of their revolutionary forebear
GORDON PARSONS revels in an ebullient production of Shakespeare’s magical comedy
BRENT CUTLER welcomes a thoughtful analysis of the Erdogan regime, viewed through the evolving history of a neighbourhood in Istanbul
GORDON PARSONS regrets the price, but is dazzled by an outstandingly ambitious study of the way art restoration in particular, and culture in general was weaponised by the Nazis
DIRECTOR Nicholas Hytner knows better than most how to play an audience and, after years of running the National Theatre, brings this immersive riot of a production to The Bridge with a palpable sense of freedom.
When this production first surfaced last year, it seemed apocalyptic. Now even more so, when only a curmudgeon could refuse to get lost in this beautifully acted, exuberant homage to anarchy, thrillingly designed by Bunny Christie.
We could leave it there but, as so often after a wild party, there is a time of sobering reflection. And one of the effects of viewing a play on screen is that we are no longer caught in the moment. Detached from the energy that in the live show bounces off the walls, we seem to be watching a private rave from the street outside.
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