Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
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Ineffective
MARY CONWAY points out that superb acting and production can't remedy a contrived idea
Paapa Essiedu (Tristan) and Taylor Russell (Connie) in The Effect
[Marc Brenner]
SIMON DUFF relishes the cross contamination of Damien Hirst’s greatest hits by street artists from France and the US
In view of the grooming gangs inquiry, SIMON PARSONS feels the relevance of this powerful examination of trauma suffered at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre
JOHN GREEN doubts the motivations of a US war photographer who never questions why, or for whom, she is producing images of imperialist conflict
MARIA DUARTE reviews Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Hedda, The Mastermind, and Regretting You
TONY CONWAY welcomes a thrilling and concise history of Hope not Hate, that is also a manual full of tactical advice
PAUL DONOVAN welcomes an inspiring account of living with deafness that has important lessons for the treatment of deaf people in today’s UK
The Effect
National Theatre - Lyttleton
THE EFFECT by Lucy Prebble is being revived at the Lyttleton Theatre. First shown at the smaller Cottesloe in 2012, it commanded attention at the time for its star casting, and also as a test piece for the playwright after her acclaimed play Enron.
The Effect sets out to explore what, in philosophical terms, is really an old chestnut, namely: whether our brains are just mechanical devices determining our behaviour or whether we do indeed possess an independent, causal self.
Tristan and Connie are participating in a mind-changing drugs trial run by a posh psychiatric clinic that pays guinea pigs well. The question thrown up by the trial is: what of this couple’s thinking is simply drug generated and what “real”? When they seem to fall in love, what does this mean?
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MAYER WAKEFIELD is gripped by a production dives rapidly from champagne-quaffing slick to fraying motormouth
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by characters so un-nuanced as to be unreal, a stereotypical plot and a conceptual vampire
MAYER WAKEFIELD wonders why this 1978 drama merits a revival despite demonstrating that the underlying theme of racism in the UK remains relevant
PETER MASON is moved by a striking production of Noel Streatfeild’s enduringly popular children’s book