Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
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Sleeping Beauty, Lawrence Batley Theatre Huddersfield
Pleasurable panto with a traditional touch
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
SLEEPING Beauty reunites the creative partnership of writer Andrew Pollard and producer Joyce Branagh for the fourth consecutive year in Huddersfield, with their experience and enthusiasm shining strongly in a pantomime packed with regional gags, double entendres and audience interaction.
The cast of familiar faces from previous productions underpins the exuberance, with the easy rapport between performers a joy to watch. It's particularly evident when Robin Simpson as Nanny Fanny and Nicola Jayne Ingram as Hester the Jester humorously ad lib to cover audience interventions and fluffed lines.
Such moments are key drivers in a production that, on paper at least, has questionable pacing and a plot that only broadly stays true to the original fairy story.
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SUSAN DARLINGTON applauds the translation of Jane Eyre into a ballet that preserves the drama of her formative years
SUSAN DARLINGTON enjoys, with minor reservations, the Northern Ballet’s revival of its 1992 classic