WILL STONE fact-checks the colourful life of Ozzy Osbourne
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
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
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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