WILL STONE fact-checks the colourful life of Ozzy Osbourne
Mental health check
A stunning new play on a young woman battling her inner demons raises some acute questions, says PAUL FOLEY
Almighty conflict: Julie Hesmondhalgh and Norah Lopez Holden
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
The Almighty Sometimes
Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
AS THE epidemic of childhood mental illness threatens to overwhelm an increasingly tenuous NHS provision, Katy Rudd's production of Kendall Feaver’s perceptive, shocking and beautifully crafted play is timely and urgent.
It not only unravels the severe impact of mental illness on an adolescent on the cusp of adulthood, it also reveals the damage such a profound illness has on carers.
Anna has carried her mental illness like a rusty anchor from her early childhood. Renee, her frightened and anxious mother, tries to “edit” her daughter's life by intervening and directing every important decision.
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
