To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
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Theatre Review: dressed
Surviving abuse: Lydia Higginson
[Linda Crisafulli]
If you can see past the relentless commodification you will be rewarded by enormously powerful work, suggests JENNY MITCHELL
CHRIS SEARLE revels in the one-off collaboration between an American polymath and a British Muslim, and detects the presence of their revolutionary forebear
GORDON PARSONS revels in an ebullient production of Shakespeare’s magical comedy
BRENT CUTLER welcomes a thoughtful analysis of the Erdogan regime, viewed through the evolving history of a neighbourhood in Istanbul
GORDON PARSONS regrets the price, but is dazzled by an outstandingly ambitious study of the way art restoration in particular, and culture in general was weaponised by the Nazis
dressed
Battersea Arts Centre
London SW11
VICTIM, survivor, or both? That’s the perennial query when talk turns to those who’ve been through sexual assault and it’s the focus of dressed, 60 minutes of ethereal brilliance which dispenses with labels, reaffirms the nature of recovery and reminds that deep wounds can heal.
There’s flawless choreography, some haunting musical interludes, a little knockabout and daftly surreal humour, along with a prosaic justification for the piece’s creation.
The initial focus is on costume designer Lydia Higginson, 19, when she was held at gunpoint and sexually assaulted during a robbery in a house where she was staying. She suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result, gave away all her shop-bought clothes, retreated to an attic and made an entirely new wardrobe for herself.
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