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In this Pinter double-bill, the personal and political collided to create a menacingly oblique world with a dash of jet black humour. Sparse staging and lighting expertly enhances both plays. In Road, a death-loving instrument of an unnamed state interrogates a family for reasons never specified. Ashes presents a conversation between a man and woman whose relationship keeps shifting and within which there are echoes of sadomasochism and the Holocaust. The staging was slightly static in Ashes; a well placed subtle gesture or movement could have brought the excellent text to life and illuminated some of its mysteries. Acting was very good throughout but Jonathan Rice stood out as the terrifying interrogator.
Upstairs At Three & Ten, 20 November
4/5
Simon Plotkin

When on form, there’s no better live band in the world than the Bad Seeds. On this night, Hove’s favourite adoptive son and his formidable six-man gang veer tantalisingly close to their creative peak. New album Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! is a raucous, bloodied brawl fusing an old school preacher croon with the rusty sound of Cave’s Grinderman project. Live, these songs are just as powerful. Old staples ‘The Weeping Song’, ‘Stagger Lee’ and ‘Tupelo’ receive majestically messy makeovers as ballads ‘People Ain’t No Good’ and ‘Straight To You’ retain their subtle elegance. Slightly unflattering acoustics prevent a classic Bad Seeds show, but this remains a remarkable night.
Brighton Centre, 23 November
4/5
Nick Aldwinckle

Victoria Nangle comes up with a cracking joke and searches out some festive cheer in this season of goodwill

Alright, so it’s December. It’s officially cold, it’s officially getting scarily close to Christmas and I’m allowed to worry now without appearing too much to be the festive worry-wort I am, and it’s officially the season of good cheer. So where is it then?
With all the best ho, ho, hos in the world, bells jingling like they’re about to get disconnected they’re so jingly, and forced smiles at the ready, as we prepare to embark upon the annual odyssey to meet up with the relatives that time forgot, good cheer there ain’t. Anxious cheer a-plenty but good don’t get started until well after lunch on Christmas Day and that satisfied feeling of ‘we’re over the hump of it’ starts to emerge. That’s not to say that Christmas isn’t fun at all, it’s just bloody exhausting with it. So why not search out some Christmas cheer of our own?
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Dani is living a life of self-doubt and a growing sense of underachieving

Television and movies are to blame for many of us feeling let down by reality. We are bombarded with images of the perfect relationship, which immediately makes you doubt your own. We are also shown the perfect affair, which in turns makes you suspect your partner. We see perfect homes, perfect families, perfect friends, hair, bodies, teeth, skin and spend the rest of our time trying to achieve these goals that can only be written.
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