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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Oleanna, Arts Theatre London
David Mamet’s play on the power games between men and women as relevant today as when first performed 30 years ago
IMMACULATELY CONTROLLED: Jonathan Slinger and Rosie Sheehy in Oleanna
[Nobby Clark]
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
OLEANNA has a simple scenario. John holds down a comfortable academic post in a higher education establishment and is engaged in what appears to be a routine tutoring session with Carol, a seemingly innocuous female student.
He acts like he’s done this a million times and is sitting pretty — a recent promotion enabling him to buy a new upmarket house, adding to life’s sweetness.
But Carol is about to upset the apple cart. While she presents initially as a naive, struggling wannabe, a certain defiance in her tone and posture suggests a different agenda. Carol’s weapon is her identity. A female, self-proclaimed socio-economic underling, a beginner in a world of experts and with an unclear sexual proclivity, her life experience is a million miles from John’s.
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