MARIA DUARTE is swept along by the cocky self-belief of a ping-pong hustler in a surprisingly violent drama
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Theatre: Wise Children, HOME Manchester
An adaptation of Angela Cater's novel is a memorable love letter to theatre and Shakespeare in particular
Joyous: Wise Children
STEVE ANDREW recommends a lively and often moving guide to once vibrant spaces that have been abandoned or swept away
GEOFF BOTTOMS appreciates the local touch brought to a production of Dickens’s perennial classic
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production whose design and cartoonish acting overwhelms the close scrutiny of characters
SUSAN DARLINGTON enjoys the raucous familiarity of a traditional topsy-turvy pantomime
RON JACOBS introduces the latest novel by the best writer of US working-class fiction writing today
IT’S a wonder that it’s taken so long for Angela Carter’s 1991 novel to be adapted for the stage. It’s been well worth the wait.
Director Emma Rice has brought all the trademarks associated with her previous troupe Kneehigh to this first production for her new company Wise Children, with bawdy comedy, song, dance and puppetry that’s unafraid to address heavyweight subjects and emotions.
Taking sections of dialogue directly from Carter’s novel, the play follows the fortunes of identical showgirl twins Dora and Nora Chance through a series of flashbacks. Narrating their own story, they reinvent versions of themselves as themes of class, incest and the role of the father come to the fore.
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