WILL STONE fact-checks the colourful life of Ozzy Osbourne
Theatre: Hamlet, Leeds Playhouse
A gender-swapping production of Shakespeare’s tragedy disappoints
Rebellious youth: Tessa Parr as Hamlet
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
WOMEN have been cast in the role of Hamlet since the late 1800s but it’s only in recent years that there’s been a trend towards them playing the role as the Princess, rather than Prince, of Denmark.
That shift is reflected in their assuming positions of authority and being open about their sexuality and so it is in this production, with director Amy Leach regendering many of the other key characters.
Tessa Parr’s Hamlet is a rebellious youth — emphasised by her non-royal leisure wear — who returns home from university to attend the king’s funeral and, in a silent prologue, spars with Horatio (Crystal Condie) before being visited by her father’s ghost.
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