MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
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Theatre: BE place to be for stagecraft
PAUL DONOVAN recommends the fine performances in this account of the pre-war meeting between the US president and the British king
TECLYN AROD relishes an intimate celebration of jazz improvisation that mixes local and national musicians
The missing sister, the vengeful WAG, cruise ship claustrophobia, and reanimated Avengers
Three great releases of lost concerts by Duke Ellington Orchestra, John Taylor & Stan Sulzman, and Joe Henderson
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
Best of BE Festival
Barbican, London EC2
5/5
THE BE (Birmingham Europe) is the city’s only annual festival dedicated to European performing arts and every year it offers three pearls of carefully selected stagecraft at the Barbican’s Pit for a short season.
Opening the showcase, Spaniard Carlota Gavina is a highly strung Juliet, with the audience as the Montagues and a piercing alarm sounding and red lights flashing as soon as she gets anywhere near it.
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PAUL DONOVAN is chilled by the contemporary resonance of Harper Lee’s coming of age tale amidst racism and white supremacy in this excellent production
GEORGE FOGARTY is dazzled by a breathtakingly skillful puppet version of Shakespeare’s greatest love poem
PETER MASON applauds a stage version of Le Carre’s novel that questions what ordinary people have to gain from high-level governmental spying
JOHN GREEN recommends an Argentinian film classic on re-release - a deliciously cynical tale of swindling and double-cross