ANDY HEDGECOCK is entertained by a playful novel that embeds a fictional game at its heart
Latest editorial
Kwame Kwei-Armah sets a marker in vibrant first production at the Young Vic
Death comes for Liberals, entitled murder, Vatican hit squads, and fraternising with the Blitz killer
New releases from Public Image Ltd, William Basinski, and John Luther Adams
GABRIELE NEHER draws attention to an astoundingly skilled Flemish painter who defied the notion that women cannot paint like men
The Bard pays homage to Hull’s finest promoter and venue, and awards Douze Points to Laibach
KEVIN DONNELLY outlines how the bourgeois institutions inhibit our ability to to view art in revolutionary ways, and suggests some tactics to overturn it
Twelfth Night
Young Vic, London
KWAME KWEI-ARMAH opens his tenure as artistic director at the Young Vic with this highly successful musical adaptation of Twelfth Night that played in New York’s Central Park to glowing reviews.
It will not appeal to Shakespearian purists. The majority of the verse is replaced by Shaina Taub’s catchy musical score and the darker themes all but expunged but, running at 90 minutes and with a 30-strong local chorus, it's a joyous introduction to Shakespeare and a vibrant celebration of the Notting Hill community.
Set on the eve of the carnival, the street-party atmosphere is established from the outset as the cast, interacting with the arriving audience, populate both the auditorium and Robert Jones’s expansive, and brightly coloured street set.
Similar stories
MARY CONWAY is spellbound by superb performances in Arthur Miller’s study of the social and personal stress brought about by Nazi Germany’s Kristallnacht
On the 121st anniversary of communist Claudia Jones’s birth ROGER McKENZIE looks at political events that shaped her, and those she helped shape
STEVE JOHNSON relishes a celebration of the commonality of folk music and its links with the struggles of working people the world over
SIMON PARSONS is beguiled by a dream-like exploration of the memories of a childhood in Hong Kong