DOUGLAS FIELD relishes the hard-boiled language, satire and humour of the third and last of the Harlem trilogy
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Mental health check
A stunning new play on a young woman battling her inner demons raises some acute questions, says PAUL FOLEY
Almighty conflict: Julie Hesmondhalgh and Norah Lopez Holden
STEPHANIE BROWN draws attention to the hidden labour of the female embroiderers, and how a 19th century replica made no such error
MIK SABIERS revels in a band that ploughs an idiosyncratic furrow of expletive laden, guitar-driven alt rock
ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARIA DUARTE and ANGUS REID review Synthetic Sincerity, Our Hero, Balthazar, Heartstopper Forever, and A Year In London
The bard invites readers to a gig, raps for Clacton, and lays out the Burnham-Hurzeler conundrum
RON JACOBS recommends an important book that enhances the oppositional theories put forth by Fanon and, in doing so, remakes psychology itself
The Almighty Sometimes
Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
AS THE epidemic of childhood mental illness threatens to overwhelm an increasingly tenuous NHS provision, Katy Rudd's production of Kendall Feaver’s perceptive, shocking and beautifully crafted play is timely and urgent.
It not only unravels the severe impact of mental illness on an adolescent on the cusp of adulthood, it also reveals the damage such a profound illness has on carers.
Anna has carried her mental illness like a rusty anchor from her early childhood. Renee, her frightened and anxious mother, tries to “edit” her daughter's life by intervening and directing every important decision.
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JULIA TOPPIN recommends Patti Smith’s eloquent memoir that wrestles with the beauty and sorrow of a lifetime
Although this production was in rehearsal before the playwright’s death, it allows us to pay homage to his life, suggests MARY CONWAY
KEN COCKBURN relishes the memoir of a translator, but wonders whether the autobiography underlying the impulse would make a better book