The bard celebrates two other fine practitioners of the art, and laments a lost brewer
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Pertinent history lesson
The insights into women and power in a new play on Elizabeth I resonate uncomfortably as an arch-misogynist returns to Downing Street, says KATHERINE M GRAHAM
CONFLICTED: Abigail Cruttenden as Elizabeth I
[Johan Persson]
This right-wing conspiracy theory is used to justify the coercive measures against gender, race and labour rights that best serve capitalism, attests GAVIN O’TOOLE
KENNY MONROSE recommends a new exhibition that highlights the significance of Black British music
ANGUS REID is bowled over by an exuberant film about the making of Keith Jarrett’s legendary concert
MARIA DUARTE, FIONA O’CONNOR and ANDY HEDGECOCK review Savage House, Enzo, Madfabulous, and Erupcja
CHRIS SEARLE recommends a work of love and deep admiration for a great musician
Swive [Elizabeth]
Sam Wanamaker Theatre, London
WATCHING any piece of theatre on the night of a general election is an odd experience. But watching one which shows us a thoughtful, philosophical and astute ruler while the country elects Boris Johnson is particularly jarring.
Ella Hickson’s Swive, tightly directed by Natalie Abrahami, is an epic and sweepingly poetic engagement with the life of Elizabeth I, with her childhood, imprisonment, ascension to the throne, leadership challenges and desires all under scrutiny.
Despite the epic historical scale, a sense of intimacy prevails, with the settings predominantly domestic. Four actors play nine roles, with Nina Cassells as the princess and Abigail Cruttenden as the queen and it is abundantly clear that in both these stages of her life Elizabeth’s power is bound up with her sex.
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