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Mixed blessings as double bill tackles contemporary themes
Peter Brathwaite: a strong, emotionally layered performance in The Knife of Dawn
[Tristram Kenton]
Given the power of the live experience, MIK SABIERS recommends Jon Spencer’s new album
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The bard celebrates two other fine practitioners of the art, and laments a lost brewer
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
The Knife of Dawn
★★
New Dark Age
★★★★
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House presents a double bill with The Knife of Dawn and New Dark Age. The Knife of Dawn is ROH’s response to black history month and A New Dark Age offers a sense of solace in the troubling times of Covid and lockdown.
As it was very well received at The Roundhouse in 2016, I feel a lot less guilty about not liking The Knife of Dawn. I have to admit there’s a lot to like about it but ultimately there is a fatal flaw.
Composed by Hannah Kendall with a libretto by Tessa McWatt, directed by Ola Ince and starring baritone Peter Braithwate, The Knife of Dawn tells the story of Martin Carter, a writer and activist imprisoned in Guyana in the ’50s. It shows Carter during a period of incarceration and draws on his poetry and life story. The show begins with a narrator’s voice contextualising the piece.
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