There are lots of reasons not to go to war – the tools of negotiation not having been fully exhausted yet, the potential loss of life, the financial expenses incurred, and the psychological impact of battle on military personnel and civilians alike to name a few. The life of Howard Zinn (1922-2010) was not one I had come across before seeing The Time of Our Lies – but his political views are certainly intriguing, even …

Just by googling Charles Darwin (1809-1882) – other search engines are available – the famous image of the scientist is evident: the sober look of a wise, bearded man with decades of accumulated knowledge. The Wider Earth could have chosen to capitalise on that familiar picture, and while some later arguments and counter-arguments about his well-known ‘On The Origin of Species’ may have made for some gritty and explosive theatre, this production instead focuses as …

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote about a little girl. “When she was good / She was very good indeed, / But when she was bad, she was horrid.” Such conduct seems to apply to many people in the life of Billy Casper (Simon Stallard). A large number of other characters are taken on by ‘The Man’ (Rob Pomfret), including Billy’s older brother Jud, their mother, and miscellaneous pupils and members of staff at Billy’s school. …