Misha and the Wolves review - tricksy documentary about a child survivor

★★★ MISHA AND THE WOLVES Holocaust film plays fast and loose in its story-telling

Holocaust film plays fast and loose in its story-telling

It has become so hard to find funding for non-fiction films that many documentary makers now feel compelled to sell their stories as racy detective yarns, larded with dramatic scores and sneakily obfuscating narratives. There’s a piece of deception at the heart of Sam Hobkinson’s Misha and the Wolves which in this age of Holocaust denial, is distressingly slippery.

Shiva Baby review - sex, lies and rugelach

★★★★ SHIVA BABY Trapped in a Jewish family gathering

Trapped in a Jewish family gathering: Emma Seligman's debut feature is full of life

Comedian Rachel Sennott stars as Danielle, a conflicted, bisexual twenty-something college student who's taking money she doesn't really need from a sugar daddy who isn't who she thinks he is. Emma Seligman’s debut feature, which began as a short in her film studies degree at New York University, is full of energy in its exploration of the dynamics of sex, power and career, with lox and bagels on the side.

Persian Lessons review - confusing Holocaust drama

★★ PERSIAN LESSONS Confusing Holocaust drama

Ukrainian film doesn't add much to the genre

This is an odd film, made even odder by a caption near the beginning, which claims it is "inspired by true events" but doesn’t elaborate. Produced in Belarus, it’s a Holocaust drama based on a novella by the veteran East German screenwriter/director Wolfgang Kohlhaase but made by the Ukrainian director Vadim Perelman.

Nicole Krauss: To Be a Man review - first short-story collection from the award-winning novelist

★★★★ NICOLE KRAUSS: TO BE A MAN First short-story collection from the award-winning novelist

Love, complicity, the burden of the past: ten stories with a wide-ranging focus

Tamar, a character in “The Husband”, one of the most appealing, joyful stories in Nicole Krauss’s new collection To Be a Man, spends summers with her feisty mother in Tel Aviv, leaving her New York apartment in the care of a house sitter. When she returns, she has the feeling that she is not really needed by her life in New York, that she’s superfluous to it.

Rose, Hope Mill Theatre online review - a performer at her peak

★★★ ROSE, HOPE MILL THEATRE Maureen Lipman in fearless form

Maureen Lipman in fearless form in Martin Sherman's discursive solo play

Solo plays and performances are, of necessity, the theatrical currency of the moment, whether across an entire season at the Bridge Theatre or last week at the Old Vic in the too briefly glimpsed Three Kings, starring a rarely-better Andrew Scott.

The Last Five Years, Southwark Playhouse review - an inspired actor-musician take on a cult classic

★★★★ THE LAST FIVE YEARS, SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE Inspired actor-musician takes on cult classic

Jason Robert Brown's conceptual relationship musical gets an enriching new layer

There’s concept on top of concept in this revival of Jason Robert Brown’s beloved 2001 musical, which charts the ebb and flow of a relationship by juggling timelines: aspiring actress Cathy’s story is told in reverse chronological order, while aspiring writer Jamie’s moves forward. It’s an apt framing for a couple who are never on the same page, their dual ambitions and relative success wrenching them apart.

The Prince of Egypt, Dominion Theatre review - Moses musical goes big and broad

★★★ THE PRINCE OF EGYPT, DOMINION THEATRE Moses musical goes big and broad

This mammoth stage adaptation is more splashy than spiritual

The theatre gods rained down not fire and pestilence, but a 45-minute technical delay on opening night of this substantially revised musical – a stage adaptation of the 1998 DreamWorks animated movie. But nothing could entirely halt this juggernaut; fittingly, for a show that earnestly values persistence and the unstoppable power of the epic.