As Hackney Empire marks 125 years, Chris Sudworth talks community, affordability and a 16-month birthday party — with a little help from Lenny Henry, Chaka Khan and Hackney Women's FC.
Christine Bacon's expansive new play at the Arcola, drawn from Jason Hickel's The Divide, takes aim at 80 years of 'international development' — and is very nearly saved by a strong cast from a script that wants to do everything at once
This stage adaptation of this 2016 Persian-language horror is sharp on the politics of women's lives in wartime Tehran — and oddly literal-minded about its Djinn. Lelia Farzad leads a strong cast; the parlour tricks let them down
