overnight reviews

Chuck Prophet, Mid Sussex Music Hall, Hassocks review - the good American

★★★★ CHUCK PROPHET, MID SUSSEX MUSIC HALL, HASSOCKS The good American

Liberating, humane rock'n'roll from an unassuming master

Forty years ago, Chuck Prophet was the Keith Richards-like guitar hotshot in Green On Red, peers of R.E.M. and among the raw country-punk architects of what became Americana. Now he’s 61 and playing in a sold-out pub back-room in Hassocks, a downland commuter village near Brighton, still giving his all during two hours of humour and humane passion as if this is the biggest stage, and this crowd a community clearly worth serving.

Echoes: Stone Circles, Community and Heritage, Stonehenge Visitor Centre review - young photographers explore ancient resonances

The ancient monument opens its first exhibition of new photography

Stonehenge is about 5,000 years old; three photographic artists currently exhibiting in the visitor centre are all under the age of 25. The juxtaposition of 21st century and the ancient world has been facilitated by Shout Out Loud, a youth engagement programme from English Heritage, custodians of this historic monument. In collaboration with Photoworks, this gives rise to the first ever exhibition of new photography at the site.

Hylozoic/Desires: Salt Cosmologies, Somerset House and The Hedge of Halomancy, Tate Britain review - the power of white powder

 ★★★ HYLOZOIC/DESIRES: SALT COSMOLOGIES, SOMERSET HOUSE AND THE HEDGE OF HALOMANCY, TATE BRITAIN A strong message diluted by space and time

A strong message diluted by space and time

The railways that we built in India may be well known, but I bet you’ve never heard of the Customs Line, a hedge that stretched 2,500 miles across the subcontinent all the way from the River Indus to the border between Madras and Bengal – the distance between London and Istanbul. Comparable in scale to the great Wall of China, this 40-foot high barrier was created to prevent the smuggling of salt.

Alterations, National Theatre review - high emotional costs of ambition

★★★ ALTERATIONS, NATIONAL THEATRE High emotional costs of ambition

The Guyanese migrant experience of 1970s London gets the big-stage treatment

Plays about the Windrush Generation are no longer a rarity, but it’s still unusual for revivals of black British classics to get the full resources of the National Theatre. Guyana-born playwright Michael Abbensetts, who died in 2016, is often mentioned in books about black British drama, but his plays are infrequently revived.

Uprising, Glyndebourne review - didactic community opera superbly performed

★★★★ UPRISING, GLYNDEBOURNE Didactic community opera superbly performed

Jonathan Dove and April De Angelis go for the obvious, but this is still a rewarding project

The score is effective, and rewarding to perform, but derivative. The libretto uses every cliché, or truism, about save-the-planet youth activism in the book; it’s didactic, not dramatic. Direction, design and lighting sometimes feel unfinished. Yet as a youth/community opera, Glyndebourne’s latest educational project hits the mark; the commitment of singers and players young and old, professional and amateur, makes the ends justify the means.

Mahan Esfahani, Wigmore Hall review - shimmering poise and radical brilliance

★★★★ MAHAN ESFAHANI, WIGMORE HALL Shimmering poise and radical brilliance

Magnificent demonstration of a lifelong dedication to the harpsichord

To watch Mahan Esfahani play the harpsichord is to watch a philosopher at work. While there’s often playfulness and shimmering levity you can feel the thought behind each note. The Iranian-American’s passion for the harpsichord began when he was nine – the moment he heard it on a cassette his uncle gave to him when he was visiting Iran, he knew he wanted to spend his life devoted to the instrument. In a Guardian interview he once described it as the “posh, pretty boy in prison.

Jopy/Lemonsuckr/King of May, Green Door Store, Brighton review - exhilarating showcase for new young guitar bands

Local label Goo Records put on an ebullient show on their home turf

There’s something exhilarating about seeing bands right at the very, very dawn of their careers. Will they be headlining the Houston Astrodome in five years’ time or working in chip shops? It’s all to play for. But it’s right now that counts. Of course, it only feels that way if they’re any good. When they are, it peps the spirit.

Gromes, Hallé, Chauhan, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - new concerto and music of triumph

★★★★ GROMES, HALLE, CHAUHAN, MANCHESTER New concerto and music of triumph

Spirit of Germany in the 1930s captured in Herz’s tense and despondent work

A cello concerto received its UK premiere in Manchester last night – almost 100 years after it was written. It’s by Maria Herz, a German-Jewish composer who had to leave her native land in the 1930s and whose work has remained almost unknown until quite recently.

Raphaela Gromes has championed this concerto, giving its German premiere last year, and she brought it to Britain with the Hallé and Alpesh Chauhan (main picture).

Bergerac, U&Drama review - the Jersey 'tec is born again after 34 years

★★★★ BERGERAC, U&DRAMA Damien Molony boldly follows in the footsteps of John Nettles

Damien Molony boldly follows in the hallowed footsteps of John Nettles

They stopped making the BBC’s original Bergerac in 1991, so you can hardly complain that this reboot is premature. John Nettles became closely identified with the titular detective Jim Bergerac before he decamped to Midsomer, murder capital of the world, and has declared himself impressed with Damien Molony’s performance as the born-again sleuth (pictured below, Molony picks up the baton from Nettles).