arts


spot. Many fringe events are taking place, including street theatre, art exhibitions, workshops and events for young people. http://dramafestival.ie


The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? Theatre Royal, Haymarket until 24 June Just shy of his 50th birthday, prosperous Martin (Damian Lewis) seemingly has it all: fame, fortune, an incredible commission and a loving family. But all is not well as Martin’s


mid-life crisis reveals itself. Instead of having an affair with his secretary and buying a motorbike, Martin’s tastes have taken a darker tone. He’s fallen in love with a goat. Shocked and devastated by this


development, his beautiful, intelligent and supportive wife Stevie (Sophie Okonedo) finds it utterly impossible to get to the bottom of the bizarre attachment, cueing a chaotic collapse of the life they both thought they knew. www.trh.co.uk/whats-on/haymarket/


LITERATURE Dylan Day The third Dylan Day, an international day to celebrate the life and work of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, takes place on 14 May, the date on which Under Milk Wood was first read on stage in New York in 1953. Events, including creative writing


workshops, literary tours and readings in unusual places, are taking place all over the world. www.literaturewales.org/our- projects/international-dylan-thomas- day/dylan-day-resources/


Spotlight On national tour with the zero-hours contracts


No-one captures the struggles of living in low-wage Britain like Sean McGowan. The Southampton


singer-songwriter, who works in two bars to make ends meet, embarks on a national tour in April. Raised on a diet of The


Clash, The Jam, the Specials and Billy Bragg, the


24-year-old sings of precarious employment, telling the stories of friends and family surviving on zero hours contracts and the minimum wage. “It’s the inability to have


a life, or any kind of control over your time,” he tells Arts With Attitude. “I could be called in to work at any moment and, if I


refused, I was told I could be replaced. It’s difficult when you have no rights, no holidays, no sick pay.” While resisting attempts


to pigeonhole him as a “political” singer, he admits politics shapes his views. “When we were


younger, it was easy to avoid conversations about politics but, now we’re


older, we can’t find jobs or get onto the property ladder, politics inevitably plays a bigger part in our conversations,” he says. Catch Sean on tour


during April and May, at the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival in July or at Beautiful Days in August. www.musicglue.com/ seanmcgowan


Book review A life in the news from Reuters to the BBC


In the days before mobile phones, the internet and 24-hour news channels, the easiest way for a British foreign correspondent to find out what was going on in the world was to phone the local office of Reuters news agency and ask: “Is anything happening?” That’s how award-winning BBC


reporter and presenter Robin Lustig started out in journalism – working for Reuters as an agency man. During a distinguished career spanning more than 40 years, he watched the world of news change beyond recognition, as he reported


on terror attacks, wars and political coups. In this memoir, Lustig looks back


on his life as a newsman, from coming under fire in Pakistan to reporting on the fall of the Berlin Wall, and from meeting Nelson Mandela to covering Princess Diana’s sudden death. Back in the studio, Lustig lets us in


through the BBC’s back door for a candid, behind-the-scenes look at some of his triumphs and disasters working for the nation’s favourite broadcaster. www.bitebackpublishing.com/


books/is-anything-happening


FILM


Their Finest Comedy set during the Second World War, in which a British film crew attempts to boost morale by making a patriotic movie about Dunkirk. Starring Gemma Arterton, Bill Nighy, Helen McCrory, Richard E Grant and Jeremy Irons. www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfilms/film/ their_finest


The Case For Christ Based on the true story of an award-winning Chicago Tribune investigative journalist and avowed atheist, The Case For Christ follows Lee Strobel as he applies his


well-honed journalistic and legal skills to disprove the newfound Christian faith of his wife. Starring Mike Vogel and Faye Dunaway. http://caseforchristmovie.pureflix. com


A Quiet Passion Cynthia Nixon stars as American


poet Emily Dickinson in film from her days at school to her later years as a reclusive, unrecognised artist. www.palacefilms.com.au/ aquietpassion/


BOOKS


Reporting War – How Foreign Correspondents Risked Capture, Torture and Death to Cover World War II by Ray Moseley Luminary journalists Ed Murrow,


Martha Gellhorn, Walter Cronkite and Clare Hollingworth were among the young reporters who chronicled the Second World War’s daily horrors and triumphs for Western readers. Ray Moseley, himself a former


foreign correspondent, mines the correspondents’ writings to relate the events across every theatre – Europe, Pearl Harbor, North Africa and Japan – as well as the lives of the courageous journalists who doggedly followed the action and the story, often while embedded in Allied armies. His book draws on newly unearthed


material to offer a comprehensive account of the war and abundant individual stories and overlooked experiences, including those of women and African-American journalists, capturing the drama as it was lived by reporters on the front lines of history. http://yalebooks.co.uk


Rasmus – a Television Tale Rasmus is a pitch-dark satire and a gloriously cynical swipe at the television industry in which a reality TV producer leads the public to a point of corruption they never dreamed possible. Along the way, pets stampede, celebrities are eaten and the world erupts in violence. The story revolves around three characters: Rasmus, the mysterious visionary; Minty, ambitious TV producer and wannabe first female director general; and Hugo, affable but bumbling BBC head of vision. www.troubador.co.uk/book_info. asp?bookid=4061


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