London Grip Poetry Review – McManus
Richie McCaffery reviews a poetry collection by Rebecca McManus which has an unusually tragic background
London Grip Poetry Review – Duffy
Emma Lee appreciates the new points of view offered by John Duffy’s poetry
Richard III, Arcola Theatre. Review by Barbara Lewis.
Richard III manages to be at once resounding royal propaganda and an unsettling reminder of the fragility of the status quo given Elizabeth I’s lack of an heir: the Tudors had rescued the kingdom from the murderous House of York, but they hadn’t secured the future for long.
London Grip Poetry Review – Farrington
Alex Josephy finds that Pat Farrington’s poems take a realistic rather than an overly romantic look at nature
London Grip Poetry Review – Lee
Emma Lee praises Jason Lee’s collection as an excellent example of Eyewear’s distinctive house style
London Grip Poetry Review – Lewis
Poems in this collection by Owen Lewis make a lasting impression on Wendy French
London Grip Poetry Review – Campbell
Wendy French is happy to follow where Siobhan Campbell’s poetry leads the way
London Grip Poetry Review – Denny
Shining Like Clara Bow: Brian Docherty celebrates an overdue first collection from performance poet Alice Denny
London Grip Poetry Reviews – Wynn Owen & Parker
Merryn Williams considers books by two poets with vivid imaginations which they use in different ways: Andrew Wynn Owen veers towards mythology while Rennie Parker finds anarchy closer to everyday life.
The Cardinal, Southwark Playhouse. Review by Barbara Lewis.
Authority on literature Terry Eagleton tells us tragedy is unfashionable: “Its tone is too solemn and portentous for a streetwise, sceptical culture”. If that’s true now, it was also true in 1641 when James Shirley’s finest work was one of the last plays staged in England before Oliver Cromwell’s solemn ban on theatre.
London Grip Poetry Review – Black
Richie McCaffery is pleased to have a chance to get better acquainted with D M Black’s poetry
London Grip Poetry Review – Barlow
Peter Ulric Kennedy is vastly impressed by Mike Barlow’s most recent collection of poems.