Gordon Parsons | Morning Star

Books / 2 May 2025

Politics in the collective unconscious

2 May 2025

GORDON PARSONS is fascinated by a unique dream journal collected by a Jewish journalist in Nazi Berlin

Theatre review / 2 May 2025

Bloody good

2 May 2025

GORDON PARSONS meditates on the appetite of contemporary audiences for the obscene cruelty of Shakespeare’s Roman nightmare

Pier Paolo Pasolini as Chaucer in his film of The Canterbury

Books / 16 October 2024

Good old-fashioned filth

16 October 2024

GORDON PARSONS recommends an ideal introduction to the writer who was first to give the English a literary language

Books / 6 August 2024

Cross-dressing novelist

6 August 2024

GORDON PARSONS welcomes a graphic biography of George Sand, the most popular French novelist in 19th-century Britain

Theatre Review / 10 July 2024

Reputation murderers

10 July 2024

GORDON PARSONS relishes a fast moving production of Sheridan’s comic masterpiece

ELOQUENT SILENCES: The company in English by Sanaz Toossi

Theatre review / 16 May 2024

It’s not what you say, it’s the way that you say it

16 May 2024

GORDON PARSONS relishes a play that reveals how language carries much more than simple communication

Frontage of the Constitutional Court of South Africa in Joha

Books / 3 September 2023

I’m a jam doughnut

3 September 2023

GORDON PARSONS appreciates a very necessary exploration of the benefit of knowing more than one language

KNOCK KNOCK WHO'S THERE? Alison Peebles as the Porter

Theatre Review / 31 August 2023

Sound and fury

31 August 2023

GORDON PARSONS witnesses a production committed to great fun but signifying nothing

Joanne Howarth as Mrs Hargreaves in Falkland Sound

Theatre Review / 24 August 2023

Model citizens

24 August 2023

GORDON PARSONS is underwhelmed by the inflation of a petty war into the undeserved status of epic

Cat White (Helen), Conor Glean (Cloten), Marcia Lecky (Dorot

Theatre Review / 5 May 2023

Word perfect

5 May 2023

GORDON PARSONS wonders at a near perfect production of Shakespeare’s eloquent fairytale

Graphic Novel / 14 February 2023

Cynics' Lib

14 February 2023

GORDON PARSONS enjoys the tale of a self-emancipating woman told with deceptive simplicity

(L to R) Matthew Trevannion as Brabantio/Lodovico, (on table

Culture / 7 December 2022

2022 theatre round-up with GORDON PARSONS

7 December 2022

(L to R) Jade Ogugua as Vi, Joe Barber as Laurie and Tim Tr

Theatre / 21 October 2022

Ambitious plays in need of directorial editing

21 October 2022

L to R) Toy Soldierand Zaporozhian (Cossack)

Theatre Review / 14 September 2022

Kiss of death by video

14 September 2022

Uniformity of ‘talking heads’ presentation annihilates all possibility of conveying the true drama inherent in the play, suggests GORDON PARSONS

Book Review / 17 June 2022

The art of deflating the hypocritical creed

17 June 2022

THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES: 'Being black connotes a lack of a ri

BOOKS / 13 May 2022

‘Challenges posed by a world in which race matters’

13 May 2022

GORDON PARSONS recommends a book that will keep the reader, black or white, fully engaged and, as importantly, self-questioning

Theatre Review / 1 March 2022

Appropriate for the times

1 March 2022

GORDON PARSONS recommends a production that makes no demands other than being entertained

ESCAPING A TOXIC PAST: The statue of Edward Colston is pulle

Book Review / 14 January 2022

‘Commodifying our collective ache’

14 January 2022

GORDON PARSONS on a thought-provoking reflection on our out of joint times and a warning that there is no escape into the past

UTTERLY ABSORBING: Oliver Ford Davies (Graham Greene, left)

Culture / 1 December 2021

2021 Round-up with Gordon Parsons

1 December 2021

On stage the intriguing Splinter of Ice, eccentricity of Wuthering Heights and a revival of the Living Newspaper tradition absorbed just as much as the graphic novel The Dancing Plague, Ariel Dorfman’s The Compensation Bureau or Mario Vargas Llosa’s Harsh Times

Theatre Review / 4 October 2021

A poignantly contemporary reading of an old murder folk tale

4 October 2021

A cautionary melodrama that hits the right notes in articulating the realities of class-ridden society with omnipresent violence against women, writes GORDON PARSONS

INCOMPREHENSION: Protesters outside the Crowne Plaza London

Book Review / 17 August 2021

‘Man's Inhumanity to Man*’

17 August 2021

Narratives from detained refugees who exist in a virtual lawless world with no fixed sentences

ON THE TREADMILL: Scene from The Language of Kindness

THEATRE / 25 May 2021

A real clap for carers

25 May 2021

GORDON PARSONS recommends an excellent theatrical tribute to nursing staff

SHAKESPEARE'S STAGES: A panorama of London by Claes Van Viss

LITERATURE / 17 May 2021

Revelatory work of literary detection

17 May 2021

Research into the lost plays of the Shakespearean period provides new insights into the Bard and his work, says GORDON PARSONS

FRIENDS REUNITED: Graham Greene (Oliver Ford Davies) and Kim

THEATRE ONLINE / 22 April 2021

A Splinter of Ice

22 April 2021

Engrossing drama of Moscow meeting between Soviet spy Kim Philby and novelist Graham Greene

THEATRE ONLINE / 6 April 2021

Things won't be what they used to be

6 April 2021

GORDON PARSONS recommends a sharply satirical take on what awaits us after the pandemic ends

INHUMAN: (Right) Photograph, c1890) of an enslaved boy in Za

BOOKS / 23 February 2021

Being Human after 1492

23 February 2021

Succinct account of colonialism’s history of blood, cruelty and greed

FRUSTRATED: Kwame Bentil in Railway Worker

ONLINE THEATRE / 16 February 2021

Tales from the Front Line

16 February 2021

Resonant accounts of the impact of the pandemic on the black community

SPOOKY: Russian spy Verloc (Toby Jones, right) is instructed

BOOKS / 25 January 2021

Biography: Joseph Conrad

25 January 2021

Enlightening overview of a literary pioneer

BOOKS / 3 January 2021

Passing: An Alternative History of Identity

3 January 2021

Remarkable exploration of how we construct our sense of belonging

Best of 2020 / 4 December 2020

Theatre and Books with Gordon Parsons

4 December 2020

Theatre / 4 December 2020

Tales from the Front Line… and other stories

4 December 2020

Virus of racism diagnosed in acute commentaries on pandemic

Book Review / 12 November 2020

Writing out Vietnam war traumas

12 November 2020

Levy’s compendium is as concerned with the legacy of the Vietnam War on the hapless vets, trying to live in a society which responded with the standard ‘thank you for your service’

Juliet Stevenson’s hard-edged Hellman carry the core of th

Theatre / 4 November 2020

Exploring identity and female solidarity

4 November 2020

On the eve of France’s 1940 surrender an intriguing gathering takes place at Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas’s renowned Paris salon

PERFORMANCE ONLINE / 19 August 2020

Shades of Tay, Pitlochry Festival Theatre

19 August 2020

Lockdown diversions from the heart of Scotland

Books / 19 June 2020

Studious rebel

19 June 2020

Intriguing account of Lenin's time in London

THEATRE ONLINE / 28 April 2020

#AIWW: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei, Hampstead Theatre at Home

28 April 2020

Timely revival of play on Chinese dissident

THEATRE ONLINE / 22 April 2020

Tiger Country, Hampstead Theatre London

22 April 2020

Hospital drama from 2014 resonates at a time of NHS crisis

THEATRE ONLINE / 10 April 2020

Wonderland, Hampstead Theatre London

10 April 2020

Powerful reminder of the war against the miners in 1984-85

ONLINE THEATRE / 1 April 2020

Wild, Hampstead Theatre London

1 April 2020

Ingenious whistleblower drama from Mike Bartlett now online

IN FOCUS THROUGHOUT: Jodie McNee as Johanna

THEATRE / 30 January 2020

Faustus: That Damned Woman, Lyric Theatre Hammersmith

30 January 2020

Ingenious reworking of Dr Faustus less than the sum of its parts

‘RADICAL STAR’: Portrait of Defoe by unknown artist

Books / 13 January 2020

Crusoe and his Consequences by James Dunkerley

13 January 2020

Radical demystification of Daniel Defoe’s iconic work

Books / 16 December 2019

Keir Hardie and the 21st-century Socialist Revival

16 December 2019

Timely reminder of Labour Party founder's vision

LEST WE FORGET: Stalingrad after the battle

Year round-up / 6 December 2019

Best of 2019: Books

6 December 2019

Mirror to life: John Kani and Anthony Sher in Kunene and the

Culture / 26 November 2019

Best of 2019: Theatre

26 November 2019

John Kani's Kunene and the King, set in post-apartheid South Africa, was a highlight of the year

Book Review / 27 October 2019

The Responsibility of Intellectuals

27 October 2019

Essays on the role of intellectuals in a conflicted contemporary world

Theatre Review / 27 October 2019

A Museum in Baghdad, Swan Theatre Stratford-upon-Avon

27 October 2019

Hannah Khalil’s ambitious new play suffers from information overload

Product of his times: the young Karl Marx

Book Review / 14 October 2019

Karl Marx and the Birth of Modern Society by Michael Heinrich

14 October 2019

Magisterial biography of Marx's early life and times

Attention seeking: Eleanor Rhode’s production of King John

Theatre Review / 29 September 2019

King John, The Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

29 September 2019

Director's cut Shakespeare sacrifices coherence for chaos

Fiction Review / 15 September 2019

Life in the world's largest prison

15 September 2019

GORDON PARSONS recommends a collection of short stories on the grim realities of existence in Gaza

Book Review / 25 August 2019

Touching base with social change

25 August 2019

GORDON PARSONS recommends an evocative exploration of how working-class attitudes have evolved over time in Britain

Edinburgh Fringe / 15 August 2019

Traverse stays true to form as it serves an mouth-watering oeuvre

15 August 2019

Culture / 13 August 2019

1927 Theatre Company’s innovative style of narrative charms and entertains in equal measure

13 August 2019

Culture / 6 August 2019

The Canadian Inuit plight is given a stage with a powerful advocacy

6 August 2019

Ballet Review / 6 August 2019

Nothing’s lost in classic play’s translation into the physical language of ballet

6 August 2019

Theatre Review / 6 August 2019

A horrifying anatomy of a senseless murder charts new ground

6 August 2019

Bearing witness: Vasily Grossman in Stalingrad

Book Review / 17 July 2019

Towering tribute to the hero city

17 July 2019

The novel Stalingrad is a magnificent account of the people who endured the battle which changed the course of WWII, says GORDON PARSONS

Promising: Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran

Arts Ahead / 15 July 2019

Edinburgh Festival preview

15 July 2019

There are thousands of shows to choose from at this year's festival. GORDON PARSONS helps you make your mind up

Theatre Review / 30 June 2019

The Hunt, Almeida Theatre, London

30 June 2019

Thomas Vinterberg’s film about a teacher wrongly accused of child abuse gets a powerful stage adaptation

Culture / 30 June 2019

Crooked Dances, The Other Place Stratford-upon-Avon

30 June 2019

Engagingly old-fashioned ghost story dressed up in modern clothes

Theatre review / 2 June 2019

Venice Preserved, Swan Theatre Stratford-upon-Avon

2 June 2019

The conflict between love and honour in Thomas Otway’s Restoration tragedy gets a modish yet uneven update by the RSC

Portrait of Pushkin by Orest Kipresnky, 1827

Book review / 23 May 2019

The Man Who Shook his Fist at the Tsar by Jack Robertson

23 May 2019

Compelling account of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin's defiance of autocracy

Comic turn: Caroline Quentin as Lady Fancyfull

Theatre Review / 12 May 2019

The Provoked Wife, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

12 May 2019

The RSC are in assured form in a classic Restoration farce

Mirror to apartheid: John Kani and Anthony Sher in Kunene an

Theatre Review / 5 April 2019

An infection yet to heal

5 April 2019

There's an invisible third presence throughout John Kani’s magnificent play — the malevolent incubus of apartheid, says GORDON PARSONS

Role reversal: Claire Price as Petruchia and Joseph Arkley a

Theatre Review / 21 March 2019

The Taming of the Shrew, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

21 March 2019

Shakespeare's misogynistic comedy gets a #MeToo update

Playing for laughs: Lucy Phelps (Rosalind) and Amelia Donkor

Culture / 3 March 2019

Theatre Review: As You Like It

3 March 2019

There’s little to like in this Shakespearean comedy which, played relentlessly for laughs, ignores its sexual ambiguities

Culture / 1 March 2019

Theatre Review: The Son

1 March 2019

Florian Zeller's play is an engrossing study of the neuroses besetting the modern bourgeois family

Credible skinflint: Adan Gillet as Scrooge

Theatre Review / 16 December 2018

Carol in tune with austerity

16 December 2018

GORDON PARSONS recommends a production of a Dickens classic with contemporary undertones

Culture / 5 December 2018

Best of 2018: Books

5 December 2018

by GORDON PARSONS

Year round-up / 26 November 2018

Best of 2018: Performance

26 November 2018

Establishment mouthpiece: George Orwell broadcasts for the B

Book Review / 11 November 2018

Insights into political contradictions and certitudes of ‘gloomy sage’ George Orwell

11 November 2018

Motley crew: James Cooney (Patroclus), Andy Apollo (Achill

Theatre Review / 21 October 2018

Doran mines seam of moral corruption at core of Trojan epic

21 October 2018

Book Review / 18 October 2018

Radical insights into how we make history

18 October 2018

Opera Review / 3 October 2018

This Salome is a really rocky horror show

3 October 2018

Hypocrisy in action: Asif Khan as Tartuffe

Theatre Review / 25 September 2018

Plus ca change...

25 September 2018

GORDON PARSONS sees an adaptation of Moliere’s satire on religious hypocrisy translate magnificently from 17th century Paris to 21st century Birmingham

Traverse / 16 August 2018

Rich picking for the inquisitive

16 August 2018

GORDON PARSONS believes the Traverse Festival offers a treasure trove for the casual theatre-goer

Opera Review / 10 August 2018

New life breathed into old favourite

10 August 2018

Culture / 7 August 2018

Death at their finger tips

7 August 2018

GORDON PARSONS falls head over heels with a production that dazzles with its nanotechnology

Book review / 13 May 2018

French intellectuals obscured in a moral twilight zone

13 May 2018

Book review / 11 April 2018

Philosophers pirouetting through a linguistic maze

11 April 2018

Theatre Review / 5 April 2018

Audience and cast in unison delight

5 April 2018

Theatre Review / 22 March 2018

Speed sabotages subtlety

22 March 2018

GORDON PARSONS sees a rapid-fire production of Macbeth that allows no pause for thought

Theatre Review / 11 March 2018

Gore-filled Jacobean tragedy is a bloody mess

11 March 2018

Wider reach: The RSC is broadcasting its production of Macbe

Opinion / 11 February 2018

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater

11 February 2018

GORDON PARSONS responds to Chris Jury's attack on the ‘Shakespeare cult’ in the Morning Star

Theatre Review / 28 January 2018

Different but the same

28 January 2018

GORDON PARSONS sees an imagined confrontation between Queen Elizabeth I and the jailed Mary Queen of Scots which reveals them as equally confined by personal and political traumas

Theatre Review / 14 December 2017

Imperial decline

14 December 2017

An RSC adaptation of Robert Harris's novels about power politics in ancient Rome loses something in translation from page to stage, says GORDON PARSONS

2017 Round-up / 14 December 2017

Gordon Parsons' best books of the year

14 December 2017

Theatre review / 8 December 2017

Culture: A Christmas Carol tuned in to today

8 December 2017

Lurking beneath the festive jollity, the RSC's version of the Dickens classic is a salutary reminder of grim present realities, says GORDON PARSONS

2017 Round-ups / 3 December 2017

Theatre Gordon Parsons

3 December 2017