Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
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The Wizard of Oz, Leeds Playhouse
Solid seasonal production of musical classic
TREMENDOUSLY CAPABLE: Lucy Sherman (centre)
[The Other Richard]
SIMON DUFF relishes the cross contamination of Damien Hirst’s greatest hits by street artists from France and the US
In view of the grooming gangs inquiry, SIMON PARSONS feels the relevance of this powerful examination of trauma suffered at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre
JOHN GREEN doubts the motivations of a US war photographer who never questions why, or for whom, she is producing images of imperialist conflict
MARIA DUARTE reviews Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Hedda, The Mastermind, and Regretting You
TONY CONWAY welcomes a thrilling and concise history of Hope not Hate, that is also a manual full of tactical advice
PAUL DONOVAN welcomes an inspiring account of living with deafness that has important lessons for the treatment of deaf people in today’s UK
THE WIZARD of Oz is a mainstay of festive viewing and, as such, it's a reliably safe production for the recently renamed and redeveloped Leeds Playhouse.
In a production that entertains rather than truly excites, the venue's artistic director James Brining hits the right balance between providing nostalgia for parents and fresh energy for children, with the story sympathetically updated character-wise. The Lion (Marcus Ayton) is a bluffing boxer in a champ T-shirt and there’s a passing reference to Tinman (Sam Harrison) being gay.
The central cast is ably completed by Eleanor Sutton as Scarecrow, Lucy Sherman as a tremendously capable Dorothy and Polly Lister, one step away from being in a pantomime with her humorously despicable Miss Gulch and Wicked Witch.
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