MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
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Noyes Fludde, Theatre Royal, Stratford East
Britten's biblical epic gets an engaging pop-up production
Noye's Fludde at Theatre Royal Stratford East
New releases from Mountain, Soul Asylum and Michael McDermott
ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
THIS collaboration between English National Opera and Theatre Royal Stratford East, with Lyndsey Turner directing, has a magnificent cast of both professional and amateur performers and musicians who bring Benjamin Britten’s opera vibrantly to life.
The cast includes 60 children from two local primary schools who, thanks to simple but effective outfits by Oliver Jeffers, make up a colourful menagerie.
Intended as a sort of pop-up opera, to be performed in church halls and community centres on a shoe-string budget with ample audience participation, its simplicity — reflected in a clever set design from Soutra Gilmour — remains true to Britten’s ideals.
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