[Steve Tanner]
HENRY BELL is fascinated by the underlying curiosities and contradictions of one of the great poets of the Mediterranean
DAVID RENTON recommends a books that explores the ways in which disabled people are made to feel both of and not part of this world
JONATHAN TAYLOR is fascinated by the philosophical problems that permeate the art of life-writing
GORDON PARSONS steps warily in between the lines of Britain’s most famous diarist
SIMON DUFF recommends a recording of Arvo Part that takes the listener on a pilgrimage through seemingly distant times and events of the Bible
The Little Matchgirl and Other Happier Tales
Bristol Old Vic
IN MANY ways, this production of some of Hans Christian Anderson’s best-known stories is traditional Christmas fare, complete with witty rhyming couplets, bright inventive costumes, song, dance and audience interaction and a spattering of jokes.
But it is so much more. The Matchgirl, a mute war refuge, is a vulnerable puppet who burns her matches to conjure up other stories narrated by a music-hall performer and his vaudevillian troupe.
SIMON PARSONS is taken by a thought provoking and intelligent play performed with great sensitivity
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
