Posts by Sarah Birch
Ridley Road Market, Tamara Stoll, book review: ‘Eight-year labour of love that captures the soul of a Hackney institution’
This book-in-the-making by photographer Tamara Stoll tells the story of the market, in aid of the Save Ridley Road campaign
Read MoreThe Time Of Our Lies, Park Theatre: ‘Compelling – if you’re of the right mindset’
Bianca Bagatourian’s play about the life and work of American intellectual Howard Zinn is a ‘history lesson with sonorous contemporary relevance’
Read MoreWrestling the Walrus, Yard Theatre: ‘The pain and joy of the dementia experience’
This award-winning play about the life of someone with declining cognitive powers is ‘hugely compelling’
Read MoreChe si può fare, Helen Cammock, Whitechapel Gallery: ‘Lost, hidden voices’
The Turner Prize-nominated artist’s multimedia solo show offers ‘stories of resilience in the face of oppression’
Read MoreSo We Live: The Novels of Alexander Baron, Five Leaves: ‘A resurrection from years of neglect’
This collection of essays examines the writer, who spent his formative years in Hackney, from a variety of angles
Read MoreLee Krasner: Living in Colour, Barbican, exhibition review: ‘Smorgasbords of shape, movement and colour’
Nearly 100 works by the late American artist, who ‘came into her own’ following the death of husband Jackson Pollock, are on display in a major retrospective spanning her 50-year career
Read MoreThe East End in Colour, 1980-1990, Tim Brown, book review: ‘A rich glimpse of a time gone by’
Former tube driver Tim Brown’s photographs are a ‘thought-provoking reminder of just how fast East London has changed’
Read MoreIsland Song, Madeleine Bunting, book review: ‘A lyrical take on war-time Guernsey’
The Hackney-based author’s debut novel builds on her meticulous research into the occupation of the Channel Islands during the Second World War
Read MoreThe Crucible, Yard Theatre, review: ‘A subtle alternative to the good versus evil binary’
This ‘deft’, three-hour take on Arthur Miller’s classic play keeps the audience on tenterhooks
Read MoreMaster – An Ainu Story, Sway Gallery, exhibition review: ‘A salutary reminder of the diversity of all identity’
Photographer Adam Isfendiyar talks to the Citizen about his experiences with one of Japan’s indigenous peoples
Read MoreClean, Michele Kirsch, book review: ‘Harrowing and hilarious anatomy of addiction’
The Hackney-based writer’s engaging memoir is ‘part confession, part attempt to come to terms with a life misspent’
Read MoreAn Opinionated Guide to East London, Hoxton Mini Press, book review: ‘Good browsing material’
The second edition of this guide to east London is a ‘handy source of ideas’
Read MoreIn at the Deep End, Kate Davies, book review: ‘A dizzying variety of lesbian sexual mores’
The Stoke Newington author’s new novel ‘explodes the myth that same-sex relationships are any more loving and equal’
Read MoreCacophony, Yard Theatre, review: ‘Vibrant drama that taps into #MeToo debate’
Seventeen young actors star in Molly Taylor’s energetic play inspired by Jon Ronson’s book on public shaming
Read MoreAll About My Mother, Arcola Theatre, review: ‘Hamminess and high drama’
This stage adaptation offers a ‘good way to reminisce’ about the classic Spanish film
Read MoreJSS Bach, Martin Goodman, book review: ‘Searing pain endures for generations’
In a book twenty years in the making, the local author ‘treads delicately around identity, values and life purpose’
Read MoreDead Girls, Abigail Tarttelin, book review: ‘Children know a lot, but they also get a lot wrong’
The Hackney-based author’s third novel puts young people at the centre of the action
Read MoreTrial TV, Secret Theatre, review: ‘An entertaining if slightly barmy evening’
Audience members turn detectives for this immersive murder mystery
Read MoreBus Fare: Writings on London’s Most Loved Means of Transport, book review: ‘Enjoyable hop-on hop-off reading’
Journey through a rich collection of facts, fiction and memoires that chronicle the beguiling history of buses
Read MoreCivilization, Flowers Gallery, exhibition review: ‘Momentous proportions of contemporary life’
This selection of photographs from a new book beautifully documents modern life
Read More