Unfinished Leather

‘ The day Somebody McSomebody put a gun to my breast and called me a cat and threatened to shoot me was the same day the milkman died.’ In the powerful first line of  Milkman, Anna Burns introduces the absurd, urgent and deeply provocative tone of the novel. Winner of the Man Booker Prize, this novel is one of the masterpieces of our age, combining the gang violence of Ireland’s troubled past with a terrifying presentation of an overbearing collective city consciousness. It seems dystopian in its bleakness and horror, and it transcends time in its haunting vagueness.  The story follows middle sister, living in an unnamed city with her family. Controlled by police, renouncers and miscellaneous paramilitary, to be noticed is to be in immediate danger. When Milkman starts appearing outside her work, house and French classes, her carefully muted, cultivated persona falls apart.  Intricately structured, Burns’ narrative takes the reader on a gripping explorati...

    Never before has our modern era of knife crime, gang violence and suicide seemed so reflected in the 16 th -century play  Romeo and Juliet . This RSC performance, set in the grungy, brutalist Barbican, shone with a hungry energy. Smacking of the Bas Luhrmann 1996 film version, it was restless and sharp, seeming to hold a mirror up to the dark heart of young London. The youth of the play were what really gave it its edge; the cast was young and fresh, and Shakespeare’s thirteen-year-old Juliet suddenly seemed painfully believable. Though at times amateur and laughable, the slice of cold reality and current relevance found in this production made it one to watch.  Admittedly, this production wasn’t perfect. The age of the cast often made it seem underdeveloped, reminding the audience of a high-end amateur production. Itopened on what could only be described as a concerning start: in the opening act, a collection of young RSC members, formed into a Gre...