Posts by Sarah Birch
An Opinionated Guide to Vegan London, Hoxton Mini Press: ‘Highly informative digest of animal-free eating’
The volume features mouth-watering photos, and the section on east London is ‘by far the bulkiest’
Read MoreThe Duchess of Malfi, Almeida Theatre: ‘High-octane take on a surprisingly modern play’
John Webster’s early 17th century classic is an ‘object lesson in the iniquity of restrictions on a woman’s sexual conduct’
Read MoreThe Taming of the Shrew, Barbican Theatre, stage review: ‘Gender reversal offers an ingenious twist’
Justin Audibert’s ‘inside-out version’ of Shakespeare’s classic is ‘highly enjoyable’
Read MoreOnce Upon a Time in Brick Lane, Paul Trevor: ‘Camaraderie of the East End during a period of strife’
One of the leading photographers of local street life takes us back to Spitalfields in the 70s and 80s with this new collection
Read MoreAtlas of Vanishing Places, Travis Elborough, book review: ‘For the budding explorer and armchair traveller alike’
The Hackney author’s companion book to last year’s Atlas of the Unexpected explores worlds ‘savaged by nature, humanity or both’
Read MoreInto the Night: Cabarets and Clubs in Modern Art, Barbican Centre: ‘Fascinating insight into culture-shaping places’
The multimedia exhibition looks at the modernist movement through nightlife, from Belle Epoque Paris to Ibadan, Mexico City and Tehran
Read MoreArtemis of the Lea, Amanda Lwin: ‘Elevating human waste into something precious’
The artist’s temporary canalside installation features jugs that serve as both urinals and watering cans
Read MoreHolocaust Brunch, Artsdepot, stage review: ‘Humour and food open up traumatic history for a modern audience’
Tamara Micner’s one-woman play uses everyday devices to ‘make us think anew about a topic no-one can afford to forget’
Read MoreAnna Laurini: Stillness Speaks, The Old Bank Vault, exhibition review: ‘Raw voluptuousness and urban chic’
The street artist’s solo show at the Hackney Road gallery features her signature faces with their ‘bold magenta lips and alluring eyes’
Read MoreAnna Maria Maiolino: Making Love Revolutionary, Whitechapel Gallery: ‘Bringing sensuality to politics and politics to art’
This retrospective of the Italian-Brazilian artist covers her resistance-themed work of the 60s and 70s to more personal creations from the past 30 years
Read MoreLina Iris Viktor, Autograph ABP, exhibition review: ‘An assertive reinvention of cultural identity’
The Liberian-British artist’s first major solo show in the UK ‘hijacks demeaning portrayals of African identity’
Read MoreThe Doll Factory, Elizabeth Macneal, book review: ‘Dark thriller set in Victorian-era Hackney’
The East End author’s fast-paced debut novel ‘haunts the mind long after the pages are closed’
Read More‘Alternately sombre and exuberant’: All of Me at the Yard Theatre – review
‘A wide-ranging reflection on fear, hope, pain, death and the meaning or lack of meaning of life’
Read MoreRidley 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’
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