MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
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Time to don your Stetson Cattleman and join the melee
SIMON PARSONS is captivated by a charming zest of an intelligently reworked Rodgers and Hammerstein classic
INFECTIOUS ENERGY: Anoushka Lucas and Raphael Bushay
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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
Oklahoma
Young Vic
THIS stripped down, stylish reworking of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1943 classic arrives from the US with a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, and rightly so. It is a sassy, sexy and at times very dark reimagining of a Midwest community hoedown and the tensions between locals and outsiders.
Daniel Kluger’s re-orchestration of the score is a triumph. Many of the songs have been reworked to incorporate contrasting styles within the same number so Country and Western rhythms dissolve into soulful solos and familiar foot-stomping numbers blend with a cappella renditions.
Likewise John Heginbotham's choreography highlights the uneasy dichotomy between the known and the unknown with a nightmarish ballet sequence to contrast with the traditional line dancing routines.
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