MATTHEW HAWKINS applauds a psychotherapist’s disection of William Blake
The poor have got their channels in the bedrooms of the rich
JAN WOOLF marvels at a rich brew of steam-punk Victoriana, homosexual scandal, and contemporary reference
INTERROGATING THE SEX WORKER: Will Bliss (Abberline) and Stefan Race (Henry Newlove) in The Flea
[Marc Brenner] 
New releases from Christina Alden and Alex Patterson, Odette Michell, Clementine Lovell
JOHN GREEN is fascinated by a very readable account of Britain’s involvement in South America
Strip cartoons used to be the bread and butter of newspapers and they have been around for centuries. MICHAL BONCZA asks our own Paul Tanner about which bees are in his bonnet
GORDON PARSONS acknowledges the authority with which Sarah Kane’s theatrical justification for suicide has resonance today
RON JACOBS welcomes a timely homage to one of the IWW and CPUSA’s most effective orators
The Flea
Yard Theatre, Hackney Wick, London
NAOMI KUYCK-COHEN’s set intrigues as we settle in our seats; surreal furniture for a brothel and a sitting room, a weird Dali-esque desk and chairs on the upper level.
Then come the five actors marching on, their 12 roles named on screens. Costume designer Lambdog1066 seems to have scissored through many charity shop numbers, with mutton leg sleeves on some. What do these mean? Doesn’t matter — they look great. Call it punk Victoriana with a nod to Vivienne Westwood.
This introductory catwalk opens the emotional valves for the true (and embellished) story of the 1889 Cleveland Street scandal that rocked Victorian England, from dirt-poor Bermondsey, London to gold-rich Buckingham palace.
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JAN WOOLF relishes a book of poetry that deploys the energy of political struggle, rooted in post-war working class history and culture
