To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
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Class act in Camden
JOE GILL sees an agenda-setting opener to the Common People festival
A Jackie Hagan poem from 2016: Am I Mentally Ill or Am I Just a dickhead?
If you can see past the relentless commodification you will be rewarded by enormously powerful work, suggests JENNY MITCHELL
CHRIS SEARLE revels in the one-off collaboration between an American polymath and a British Muslim, and detects the presence of their revolutionary forebear
GORDON PARSONS revels in an ebullient production of Shakespeare’s magical comedy
BRENT CUTLER welcomes a thoughtful analysis of the Erdogan regime, viewed through the evolving history of a neighbourhood in Istanbul
GORDON PARSONS regrets the price, but is dazzled by an outstandingly ambitious study of the way art restoration in particular, and culture in general was weaponised by the Nazis
This is Not a Safe Place
Camden People’s Theatre, London
LIVERPUDLIAN poet and performer Jackie Hagan tries to put her audience at ease. It’s the opening night of the Common People festival showcasing working-class theatre makers and discussions on class and the arts sector.
Jackie Hagan
“Estate people think that middle-class people have had everything on a plate,” she says. But she assures the audience that she knows it’s not always true. “I know that middle-class people have problems too. I know that because I’ve slept with a lot of you.”
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JOHN GREEN is stirred by an ambitious art project that explores solidarity and the shared memory of occupation