WILL STONE fact-checks the colourful life of Ozzy Osbourne
Hope springs eternal in affecting drama of small-town lives
Out of the ordinary: Amelia Bullmore (marty) and Anthony Ofoegbu (James)
[Marc Brenner] 
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
Circle Mirror Transformation
HOME, Manchester
ONCE a week for six weeks, five lonely people turn up at the local community hall in a small town in Vermont for drama classes and, over time, the workshops become more therapeutic as each of the characters begins to reveal their past, grapple with their present and work towards a new beginning to their lives.
I can hear the groans rising on a tide of despair at that synopsis, but they would be misplaced. This is a beautifully crafted play that appears to have slipped effortlessly from the pen of the great US playwright Annie Baker.
More from this author
PAUL FOLEY welcomes a dramatic account of the men and women involved in the pivotal moment of the 5th Pan African Congress
PAUL FOLEY picks out an excellent example of theatre devised to start conversations about identity, class and belonging
PAUL FOLEY applauds a faultless musical that tells the tragic real-life story of working-class winners of the football pools
PAUL FOLEY is blown away by a Brazilian band at the top of their game
