WILL STONE fact-checks the colourful life of Ozzy Osbourne
Poe classic lost in translation to the stage
Irreverent: Olwen Davies and Ollie Smith
[Andrew Eaton] 
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 Black Cat
Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds/Touring
THE CONSIDERATIONS when adapting a classic book for the stage are much the same as those when covering a much-loved song. The performer can choose a traditional approach, as does Jeff Buckley with Hallelujah or take a more radical one, as in Nirvana's angsty version of The Man Who Sold The World.
Those parallels are repeatedly referenced in this retelling of Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat by LaPelles Factory, a two-hander from Olwen Davies and Ollie Smith, with the duo wrangling over how faithfully the macabre short story should be updated.
With irreverent insights into the process of staging and adaptation, the performers deliberately take opposing stances.
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