MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
A View from Islington North
Arts Theatre, London WC2
3/5
A VIEW from Islington North comes not a moment too soon. With the political right and most of the press gunning for Jeremy Corbyn, it’s time for a little theatrical return of fire.
The production brings together five short pieces and a song from the pens of some of our most celebrated writers — Carol Churchill, David Hare and Mark Ravenhill among them — and that list of talents is something of a drama lover’s dream. But the individual pieces were not specifically written for the production, with Churchill’s and Stella Feehily’s getting their premiere last year.
KEN COCKBURN guides us through a survey of Chekov’s early short fiction, and the groundwork it laid for his later masterpieces
GORDON PARSONS is blown away by a superb production of Rostand’s comedy of verbal panache and swordmanship
TONY BURKE revels in the publication of previously unreleased tracks by the great US folksinger
ANGUS REID squirms at the spectacle of a bitter millennial on work experience in a gay sauna


