Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
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A memorably stimulating production despite information overload
CONUNDRUM: Pierro Niel-Mee as Victor
[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
Once Upon a Time in Nazi-occupied Tunisia
Almeida Theatre, London
THE key question set by this intriguing new Josh Azouz play is just how close to the surface our prejudices lie – and how much it takes to bring them to the fore.
Azouz tries to supply some answers through the experiences of two young Tunisian couples, one Jewish (Loys and Victor) and one Arab (Faiza and Yussef), whose previously harmonious relationships are deeply unsettled by the invading Germans in 1942.
As rifts open up and the malign presence of the Nazis drives a wedge within and between them, Loys (Yasmin Paige) declares to Victor (Pierro Niel-Mee) that “the occupation has made us not ourselves,” while Victor, in gloomier frame of mind, asks: “What if it has revealed who we are?”
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GORDON PARSONS is blown away by a superb production of Rostand’s comedy of verbal panache and swordmanship
MARY CONWAY revels in the Irish American language and dense melancholy of O’Neill’s last and little-known play
PETER MASON applauds a thought-provoking study of the relationship between a grieving woman and her photographer
PETER MASON reckons the NYT’s production of Shakespeare’s comedy is the pick of the Christmas shows on offer in London