CHRIS SEARLE recommends a work of love and deep admiration for a great musician
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Kate Rusby, Kings Place, London
The ‘Barnsley Nightingale’ delivers a joyous set of songs, old and new
KENNY MacASKILL relishes a fictionalised account of the life and death of the principled Irish anti-colonialist, executed for betraying his English imperial masters
FIONA O’CONNOR admires an ambitious first novel that loosens South Africa’s rainbow collective to examine the racial tensions within
Aussie mining corporation murder, Liverpudlian ex-cop amnesia, a naive vigilante tries to reset capitalism, and the riddle of the dead psychoanalyst
SYLVIA HIKINS is persuaded by an entertaining play that the true miracle of Lourdes would be for attitudes toward disability to change
JAMIE BRITTON recommends this fine analysis of the architectural, ecological and infrastructural destruction of the Gaza Strip
AT THE age of only 45, Kate Rusby has already attained national treasure status, certainly in the English folk world but possibly even beyond that.
Yet there’s no sign that she’s resting on her laurels. On this third date of an intermittent spring tour, she provides ample proof not only that her songwriting skills are as sharp as ever but that the inspiration continues to flow.
Mainly, that evidence comes in the shape of some fine compositions from her forthcoming album Philosophers, Poets and Kings, due out next month. But it also shines through in a performance that demonstrates how much joy she still derives from songs and singing.
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MAYER WAKEFIELD relishes a witty and uplifting rallying cry for unity, which highlights the erasure of queer women