PAUL DONOVAN is chilled by the contemporary resonance of Harper Lee’s coming of age tale amidst racism and white supremacy in this excellent production
Latest editorial
Theatre: Masterfully mordant
Set in Trinidad during Carnival, Mustapha Matura’s brilliant satire on colonialism gets a long overdue revival, says MAYER WAKEFIELD
Play Mas
Orange Tree Theatre
Richmond-upon-Thames
4/5
GEOFF BOTTOMS recommends the unashamedly light-hearted escapism on offer in this stage version of the 1963 film
Full of mysterious religious references and radical sound design, the Scottish duo’s new offering is candidate for album of the year, suggests SIMON DUFF
MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
PAUL DONOVAN recommends the fine performances in this account of the pre-war meeting between the US president and the British king
TECLYN AROD relishes an intimate celebration of jazz improvisation that mixes local and national musicians
THIS superb revival of Mustapha Matura’s Play Mas leaves you wondering why it has taken over 40 years for it to find its way back on to a British stage.
Paulette Randall’s simmering production certainly makes it worth the wait.
Matura’s finely crafted two-acter is a deeply felt work that delivers a historical and social documentation of Trinidad’s turbulent pre and postcolonial history. The action of both acts is played out during Carnival, the major event of the island’s calendar, when many of its population “‘play mas” — masquerade — in the streets of Port of Spain.
Similar stories
MARY CONWAY applauds the timely revival of Miller’s study of people fatally deformed by the economics of survival
KEN COCKBURN guides us through a survey of Chekov’s early short fiction, and the groundwork it laid for his later masterpieces
PETER MASON applauds a stage version of Le Carre’s novel that questions what ordinary people have to gain from high-level governmental spying
DAVID HORSLEY reminds us of the roots and staying power of one of the most iconic festivals around