CULTURE THE WINTER’S TALE Part of the Transatlantic Bridge Project, Sam Mendes’ production of Shakespeare’s tale of all-consuming jealousy is more comic celebration than tragedy once the glimmering candles of Sicilia give way to the rustic pleasures of Bohemia, with its fun-loving comedy characters. Ethan Hawke’s guitarstrumming, light-fingered Autolycus and Tobias Segal’s Young Shepherd bat brilliantly for the US contingent, while Brits Richard Easton (as the Old Shepherd), Simon Russell Beale and Sinead Cusack
ENTERTAINMENT
SEE THIS: Stage are equally effective. The famous “exit pursued by bear” stage direction raises a laugh (even though it proves a lanky specimen), and sausage-pink balloons are put to saucy use when a bucolic hoedown gets under way. LOUISE KINGSLEY
» Old Vic, The Cut, SE1 8NB
23
Waterloo (0870 060 6628; oldvictheatre.com). In repertoire with The Cherry Orchard until Aug 15. £9-£45
tntonline For more reviews and what’s on in London visit tntonline.co.uk/londonlife
WORTH A LOOK The trials, tribulations and joys of life in contemporary England get a comic turn in Jerusalem. » The Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Sq, SW1W 8AS
•The affairs, scandals and decadence of the
Sloane Square (royalcourttheatre.com). Until Aug 15. £10-25
Roman court feature in In Bed With Messalina. » The Courtyard Theatre, Pitfield St, N1 6EU
EXHIBITION OF THE WEEK
BOOK OF THE WEEK
JW WATERHOUSE
SILENCED
★★★★★
John William Waterhouse (1849-1917) might not be a household name, but his paintings depicting scenes from classical mythology, poetry and mysticism made him one of Britain’s bestloved artists. Portrayals of Greek and Roman life, and of love-struck
Manchester City Galleries, Joan Marcus
Old Street (thecourtyard.org.uk). Jul 14-Aug 2. £10
women, are imbued with a gorgeous aesthetic presence. There’s plenty of sexual tension and numerous femme fatales here – but in an evocative, sensual way. DANIEL LANDON
» Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly, W1J 0BD Piccadilly Circus (royalacademy.org.uk). Until Sep 13. £9
Vicky Jaggers (Hodder & Stoughton) OUT NOW
★★★★★ Confessional memoirs are weird beasts. Invariably you read them knowing that you are not necessarily going to get a ‘literary experience’. The attraction to them, as a reader, is that they are real-life tales of hardship and/or horror endured by real-life people. So I’m not sure what’s gone wrong with Vicky Jagger’s memoir. Her story is as compelling as it is horrific. At 13 she was raped by her psychopathic older brother. She fell pregnant to him and bore a child. As if
that weren’t bad enough, she didn’t feel able to confide in her parents and kept this wretched secret to herself for 18 years, until David’s escalating violence forced her to speak out. She says she committed her story to paper so as to inspire victims of abuse to break their silence, which is laudable. But the prose she proffers is so enervating the reader soon loses interest. I suspect the book was heavily edited and that we’re just not hearing enough of her own voice. Her anger seems muted and the emotional impact of her considerable trauma blunted. ALISON GRINTER
MORE EXHIBITIONS See contemporary British art in all its glory in Classified. » Tate Britain, Millbank, SW1P 4RG
Pimlico
•After Darwin: Contemporary Expressions presents artistic and literary responses to Darwin’s theories
(tate.org.uk). Until Aug 23. Free
on human and animal emotions. » Natural History Museum, Cromwell Rd, SW7 5BD
South Kensington (nhm.ac.uk). Until Nov 29. £6
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