WILL STONE fact-checks the colourful life of Ozzy Osbourne
Promising take on Thatcher's legacy runs out of gas
Spot on: Rina Fantania in Approaching Empty
[Helen Murray] 
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
Approaching Empty
Kiln Theatre, London
THE DEARTH of northern voices, especially authentic working-class ones, on the London stage made the proposition of Ishy Din’s Approaching Empty an appealing one.
His third play, set in a Middlesbrough cab office, draws directly on his experiences as a taxi driver in the city and explores the post-industrial fortunes of middle-aged Asian men against the fitting backdrop of Margaret Thatcher's death in 2013.
It gets off to a lively start, with ruthless entrepreneur Raf (Nicholas Khan) trading blows with his best friend of 40 years and well-meaning assistant Mansha (Kammy Darweish) over the future of the business and the legacy of Thatcher.
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