artswith Theatre You can’t move for Miller! Exhibition
At the last count, five productions of Arthur Miller’s plays were running or about to run in London. So why the revival? Is it because
it’s the 70th anniversary of Death of a Salesman? Fifty years since his works were banned in the Soviet Union? Or just that his plays are as relevant today as they were when they were written? Controversy and politics –
both big ‘P’ and little ‘p’ – are never far away in Miller’s work. Whether it’s war, bank-inspired financial ruin or a witch hunt, it does not take a huge leap of imagination to transport the issues of 20th century America to 21st century Britain. The Crucible, Miller’s account of
the 1692 Salem witch trials written during the ‘red scare’, is often described as the ultimate post- truth play. Is it also the ultimate post-fact play? The Yard Theatre’s promotional
material boasts “A story from the past brought crashing into the present, a world in which lies and truth are indistinguishable” – £350 million a week for the NHS, anyone? It’s a bold step to cast a woman
(as yet unannounced) as troubled and tragic farmer John Proctor, but
24 | theJournalist
one that will undoubtedly shift the focus of the play. Both The Price and The American
Clock look at the consequences of the Great Depression. The Price focuses on two
brothers (David Suchet and Brendan Coyle) being reunited after 16 years of estrangement while The American Clock features the once-wealthy Baum family who are forced to move from Manhattan to live with relatives in Brooklyn. Clarke Peters (The Wire) and Sule Rimi (Sweat) share the role of businessman Arthur Robertson. Another Wire star, Wendell Pierce,
makes his UK stage debut as fantasist Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman with director Marianne Elliott looking at the tragedy through the eyes of an African-American family. Last but not least, Bill Pullman
and Sally Field star in All My Sons, a Greek-style tragedy about past crimes coming back to haunt successful suburban businessman Joe Keller. If you’re in London at any stage
during the next few months, surely it’s Miller time?
www.oldvictheatre.com
theyardtheatre.co.uk www.youngvic.org www.wyndhamstheatre.co.uk
Can Marketing Save Lives? Museum of Brands, London Until 26 May Dig for Victory, Measles is Misery, Don’t Die of Ignorance – these campaigns have frightened, inspired and educated the British public over the years. They all feature in this exhibition of
historical posters, TV commercials and objects that span a century of public health marketing. See how many you can remember.
www.museumofbrands.com
Theatre
Carrying David On tour Dramatised by NUJ member Ed Waugh, this ‘County Durham Rocky’ tells the tale of how TV pundit Glenn McCrory became a boxing world champion. It also looks at the love between two
brothers, one fighting for boxing fame, the other fighting for his life.
www.facebook.com/carryingdavid/
Books
The Suspect Fiona Barton Journalist Kate Waters, who has not seen her son for two years since he left home to go travelling, gets emotionally involved writing stories about two 18-year-old women who go missing in Thailand. It is described as a ‘twisting psychological suspense about every parent’s worst nightmare’.
http://tinyurl.com/ycyle4ol
attitude
by Tim Lezard
Queenie Candice Carty-Williams This is a novel about Queenie Jenkins, a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman who works for a national newspaper where she is constantly forced to compare herself to her white middle class peers. It is an examination of a society in which she straddles two cultures but slots into neither.
http://tinyurl.com/ybb4z9qz
Slumboy from the Golden City Paul Joseph Activist Paul Joseph’s political awakening began as a 15-year-old Indian in a racially segregated school in 1930s Johannesburg. It continued with his commitment to the fight against apartheid and led him to take part in virtually every political campaign since. Joseph, who now lives in north
London, gives accounts of being held in detention following the Sharpeville Massacre, being placed under house arrest and being tried for treason alongside Nelson Mandela. An astonishing historical read.
http://tinyurl.com/y989hbya
The Man Who Shook His Fist at the Tsar Jack Robertson Longstanding NUJ member Jack Robertson offers a new translation of one of the most influential works of Russian literature, Alexander Pushkin’s epic poem, the Bronze Horseman. In this new version, Robertson
paints Pushkin as a serious historian who gave voice to Russian radicals.
http://tinyurl.com/y8dlyf6y
Some of the best things to
see and do with a bit of political bite
For listings email:
arts@NUJ.org.uk
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