WILL STONE fact-checks the colourful life of Ozzy Osbourne
Pitted against injustice
PAUL FOLEY sees an inspiring play by Maxine Peake on the women who battled against the destruction of mining communities in 1984-85 and after
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
Queens of the Coal Age
Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
ONE of the lasting legacies of the 1984-85 miners’ strike is the liberation of women in mining communities across the country. Grandmothers, mothers, wives and partners of miners recognised this dispute was very different from the struggles of the past — it was a battle for their communities’ very existence.
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
