disability
CODA review - warm-hearted comedy about growing up in a Deaf familyThursday, 12 August 2021
When CODA opened Sundance in May, it was an instant hit with that liberal, kindly audience and was snapped up by Disney at great expense. It’s easy to see why – CODA is a funny, easy-to-watch coming of age comedy that allows viewers to feel warm and... Read more... |
Sound of Metal review - hidden depths behind the decibelsThursday, 08 April 2021
I once went to see Motorhead, back in the days when real men didn’t wear earplugs, and afterwards it was if somebody had completely sawn off the top half of my hearing register. Weird and scary, and the band were putting themselves through that... Read more... |
Filmmaker Darius Marder: 'Deafness is a culture. That's not being PC'Saturday, 03 April 2021
Sound of Metal has been a long time coming. Director and writer Darius Marder faced years of delays ranging from casting changes to the whole world shutting down. Was it worth the wait? Well, six Academy Award nominations including Best Film... Read more... |
A Special School, BBC Wales review - heartwarming film about special needs educationTuesday, 15 September 2020
This warm-hearted and informative documentary series about life in a Welsh special education school probably isn’t going to be a ratings buster for the BBC but it’s one of the most touching and well-made shows I’ve seen in a long time.A Special... Read more... |
Directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui: 'The disability community is the world community'Tuesday, 25 August 2020
In 2018, directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui burst onto the documentary scene with McQueen, a visually stunning study of British fashion designer Alexander McQueen. Acclaim and offers followed, but no-one could have predicted the subject of... Read more... |
Scrounger, Finborough Theatre online review – autobiography meets meta-theatreTuesday, 04 August 2020
During the current pandemic, stories about isolation have a particular resonance. Feelings of claustrophobia, loneliness and frustration slide off the stage and echo in our subconscious – yes, this is us alright. One of the most prescient is Athena... Read more... |
Come As You Are review - a road trip with a differenceSaturday, 18 July 2020
At a point in the early noughties, every third film was a teen comedy about a road trip to lose one's virginity. It’s a genre most were glad to see the back of. What a pleasant surprise Come As You Are is then, which brings much needed heart and... Read more... |
Reasons To Be Cheerful, Graeae review - raunchy working-class nostalgiaWednesday, 10 June 2020
If any musical can live up to this title in these troubled times, it must be this show from Graeae, a theatre company whose mission is to champion the work of Deaf and disabled artists. Founded in 1980, its name alludes to the three sisters of Greek... Read more... |
Theatre Lockdown Special 8: A film star plays tough, and several familiar titles are examined anewThursday, 04 June 2020
As we continue into a third month in lockdown, the arts continue to suggest ever-changing worlds beyond. The invaluable National Theatre at Home this week looks across the Thames to a smaller venue's large-scale Coriolanus, starring a certain... Read more... |
Calm with Horses review - a stirring debutFriday, 13 March 2020
Nick Rowland marks his breakout from TV drama with this very competent feature, an adaptation of Colin Barrett’s short story. Set in a bleak, rural Ireland, Cosmo Jarvis plays Arm, an ex-boxer with an estranged girlfriend, a non-verbal,... Read more... |
Scrounger, Finborough Theatre review - uncomfortable play tackles disability discriminationTuesday, 14 January 2020
Scrounger is no comfortable evening in the theatre, for reasons both intentional and inadvertent. Athena Stevens’ new play recounts her 2016 battle with British Airways and London City Airport, who subjected her to the humiliation of being... Read more... |
Teenage Dick, Donmar Warehouse review - a fearlessly acted, well-intentioned messFriday, 13 December 2019
If good intentions were everything, Teenage Dick would be the play of the year. As it is, this British premiere at the Donmar of an Off Broadway entry from summer 2018 grants centre-stage, and not before time, to two disabled actors, one of whom... Read more... |
