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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Shouldering the burden of history
MAYER WAKEFIELD recommends a resonant play on the black British experience, then and now
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
Black Men Walking
Royal Court, London
POET, rapper, beatboxer and now theatre-maker — Testament is a man with many strings to his bow.
Encouraged by Eclipse Theatre's artistic director Dawn Walton — also the shrewdly adept director of this show — and inspired by David Olusoga's 2015 television series Black and British: A Forgotten History, he set about writing Black Men Walking by climbing the Peaks alongside a group of black men who climb them monthly to catch a break from their very different daily lives.
Exploring centuries of black British history from John Moore, a Freeman of the City of York in Tudor times, to one of Britain’s first black footballers Paul Canoville, the play is a stark reminder of both historical and current racial injustice in Britain.
But it's also a portrayal of hope and perseverance, located deep within the personal experiences of four superbly crafted characters.
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