Tribune – Comment, news and reviews from Britain's democratic left

The great and the good of British theatre turned out en masse on June 7 to pay tribute to Harold Pinter at the Olivier Theatre. The celebration, directed by Ian Rickson, and starring, among others, Lindsay Duncan, Jude Law, Gina McKee, Sam West and Penelope Wilton, was something truly memorable – and I’m sure that Pinter would have approved.

The Observer
National Theatre, London

Does liberal guilt make good drama? Matt Charman’s new play about international politics, The Observer, is set in a fictional West African country which is making a transition to democracy. The story takes place during that most emotional of all acts of change: the first democratic elections. Against this background, Charman focuses on one person, Fiona Russell, an idealistic international observer.

Fires of Faith: Catholic England under Mary Tudor by Eamon Duffy
Yale University Press, £19.99

Eamon Duffy’s central thesis is that Bloody Mary was not such a bad old stick if judged by the standards of her day and not ours. True, she burned 284 Protestants, but then even the saintly Elizabeth I strangled, disemboweled or dismembered 200 Roman Catholics. And their combined tally of scalps was nothing on their father Henry VIII who executed 57,000 heretics.

Looking for Eric
Director: Ken Loach

Fireflies in the Garden
Director: Dennis Lee

Delta
Director: Kornél Mundruczó

In the past, director Ken Loach has used a football metaphor to describe his films, dividing them into home fixtures (My Name is Joe, Sweet Sixteen) or away games (Bread and Roses, Land and Freedom). His latest, Looking for Eric, is what I would call a friendly.

West End Final by Hugo Williams
Faber & Faber, £9.99

Hugo Williams is probably as well known for his personal life – Bohemian Old Etonian with colourful love life, unmodernised house in Islington and unconventional marriage – as for his poetry. And although, given his penchant for confessional verse, the two may appear to be inextricably linked, it is the words which will endure.

State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda by Steven Luckert and Susan Bachrach
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, £28

“Propaganda”, wrote Adolf Hitler in 1924, “is a truly terrible weapon in the hands of an expert,” an observation that he took to heart in promoting and imposing his authoritarian views. From early on Hitler saw the power of the image to convey concepts, whether in the use of the age-old symbol of the swastika (an ancient symbol for the sun) set on a striking red and white background, or in posters and pamphlets that were direct and unequivocal in the message they told, relying as much on image as words. A typical poster affirmed Hitler as the great leader, portraying a towering figure standing in front of vast smiling crowds chanting the slogan: “Yes, Führer! We will follow you!”

The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 by Paul Krugman
Penguin, £9.99

Alan Greenspan, when chairman of the Federal Reserve, said that a fall in house prices was “most unlikely” and added: “Not only have financial institutions become less vulnerable to shocks from underlying risk factors, but also the financial system as a whole has become more resilient.” Ben Bernanke, who succeeded Greenspan as head of the Fed, said there would be “no more boom and bust.” And Robert Lucas, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, claimed: “The central problem of depression prevention has been solved.”