Another World War Win at the Colab Factory.
Illicit Secrets: Bletchley is a very clever drama. Like a predecessor Hidden Figures, it uses immersive theatre to celebrate real heroes from The Second World War – in this case, the code breakers of Bletchley Park. It does this by immersing you in their work and their world.
Read MoreOwen Kingston looks like a pirate king. Even in a small coffee shop dashing between engagements, he looks larger than life and like he should be brandishing a cutlass (very unfair, given he is incredibly sweet natured).
Read MoreOnce again the Labour Party is spending a summer at war with itself. The disgust at antisemitism that has been rightly vocalised by Jeremy Corbyn, Tom Watson and many others has not stopped the issue becoming a political football in Labour’s vastly overheated National Executive Committee elections.
Many Corbyn supporters, the vast majority of whom share the disgust at antisemitism, still feel bruised after the attempted ousting of Corbyn in 2016 and vindicated by the party’s better-than-expected showing at the general election. They know that the Venn diagram of those who are outraged and upset by antisemitism has a lot of overlap with those who will never accept Corbyn as a leader. Some have therefore understandably – if wrongly, in my view – seen this issue purely through those old lenses.
Read MoreReading Gaol is a fantastically evocative poem and this is a powerful piece of work built out of and around it. The play consists of readings of Reading Gaol, interspersed with monologues – written now but covering a longer time span from Wilde’s time to now. Each is delivered by one of five actors, who each get their chance to shine.
Read More“Why don’t you just leave?” This is a question frequently faced by Labour members who are sceptical of the leadership and direction of the party.
A decade ago it was asked of those now in charge, who felt similarly out of step with New Labour. They stayed; things changed. Many see a lesson there.
Read MoreAs part of my ongoing role as Co-Chair of Open Labour, I co-edited a pamphlet of the future of the relationship between the EU and the UK. This looked specifically at how the left should approach the future of cooperation with our nearest trading bloc.
Read Moreclaiming it had treated him “like a criminal”.
No part of the saga is satisfactory for anyone involved. The Labour Party and O’Mara have both shown themselves to be lacking in understanding of what his offence means. Both in relation to those he insulted then, and why it matters to those of us in the party who remain determined to wipe the scourge of misogyny from the party and wider society.
O’Mara does have some legitimate complaints and has clearly had a dreadful time. I wouldn’t wish his emotional distress on anyone. The lack of support he received is a stain on the party and its processes.
Read MoreA sparse set made up of a split level stage and a large paper suspended lamp are what greets us as we take our seats for this performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This sparse staging plays well with the venue itself, as the light dims, the shadows cast on the rough walls become more dreamlike. The lamp turns from sun to moon and back as the play goes on, and this clever use of light guides us through the progress of what can be a confusing production of a confusing play.
Read MoreIt’s unusual for me to meet Alex Sobel dressed in a suit. Before he became an MP we were occasional gig buddies, and so I’m more used to the regulation jeans and T-shirt. But today, relaxing in his Parliamentary office, Alex looks every inch the MP.
One week from when this interview will be published, it will be Open Labour’s AGM and conference at which we will be launching the new pamphlet edited by myself and Allison Roche of Unison and with a Foreword by Alex. In it Open Labour lay out the options available to the Party over Europe and argue strongly in favour of staying in both the Customs Union and the Single Market.
Read MoreThere is a sense I get from some Corbynsceptics in the Labour Party that if they just sit quietly and ride out the storm, then eventually things will return to their version of normal.
This is why there is so much infighting on process issues. They know that mandatory reselection, whereby MPs have to refight for their seat before every election would put at risk some of their MPs and would change the largely Corbyn-critical membership of the Parliamentary Party.
Read MoreTens of thousands of people hanging on your every word and singing your name to the heavens. Who wouldn’t want to experience that? More pertinently, who—having experienced it once—wouldn’t want to recreate it?
It is very easy to see how, after the high of Corbyn’s post-election appearance at Glastonbury, the temptation to go big on Labour Live was as difficult to resist as it has proved impossible to deliver. According to reports, ticket sales are rather low and my younger, cooler friends tell me the line up isn’t up to much. Even I can see that there’s no Stormzy there—an oversight apparently caused by him already being booked to do something else. Which begs the question why that wasn’t checked before the date was set.
Read More“Truth or dare?” This is the challenge put to a few audience members in a game of “spin the bottle” at an immersive production of The Great Gatsby currently being enjoyed by audiences in Borough, south London.
Read MoreThe set is stunning. You’re greeted as you take your seat with a cavalcade of letters all making up words you’ll spend possibly too much of your night working out. On occasion, it will obscure your view, but as there’s so much to look at, that matters little. t sets a high expectation of the kind of entertainment we can expect, and that Matilda delivers in spades.
Read MoreIs this a dystopian drama or is it the natural conclusion to Trumpism? That was the main question I was left with on leaving Building the Wall. When does it become impossible for a drama to overdramatise the effects of a presidency as ridiculous and audacious as this one?
It is a time of high tension between Russia and the West. A flamboyant, morally questionable American with an implausible surname and Daddy issues is running around making things worse. I can’t imagine what prompted this reshowing of the classic 80s musical, Chess.
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