Irving Wardle
Look Back In Wonder
State of the Nation: British Theatre Since 1945
By Michael Billington
Faber & Faber 435pp £25
To Guardian readers, the premise of State of the Nation will come as no surprise. A history of British theatre since the war, it makes no mention of theatre in its main title, following Michael Billington’s belief that a nation and its theatre are inseparable. I share that belief, though always with relief that I have never had to defend it. As a theatre reviewer you can get away with slapping a sociopolitically relevant sticker on anything that takes your fancy, and in Billington’s own reviews few four-star recommendations have been awarded without one. In his book, however, he turns his back on that fly-by-night world and retraces his sixty years of theatrical experience so as to put his convictions to the test.
Stylistically his book achieves depth of focus by bringing the political, theatrical and personal material into a perspective of long-range, middle-distance and close-up. (Speaking of style, the pleasure of reading Billington would be increased if he did not begin so many sentences with ‘but’.) Read selectively, it amounts to a
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Knowledge of Sufism increased markedly with the publication in 1964 of The Sufis, by Idries Shah. Nowadays his writings, much like his father’s, are dismissed for their Orientalism and inaccuracy.
@fitzmorrissey investigates who the Shahs really were.
Fitzroy Morrissey - Sufism Goes West
Fitzroy Morrissey: Sufism Goes West - Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah by Nile Green
literaryreview.co.uk
Rats have plagued cities for centuries. But in Baltimore, researchers alighted on one surprising solution to the problem of rat infestation: more rats.
@WillWiles looks at what lessons can be learned from rat ecosystems – for both rats and humans.
Will Wiles - Puss Gets the Boot
Will Wiles: Puss Gets the Boot - Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Twisters features destructive tempests and blockbuster action sequences.
@JonathanRomney asks what the real danger is in Lee Isaac Chung's disaster movie.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/eyes-of-the-storm