Theatre group Sleepwalk Collective have returned to the UK to perform their new show Domestica, a production that functions as live art more than theatre . . . What is delivered is an experience that is unlike most others one might have in a theatre space this year. Whether that means you should see it is another thing entirely . . . The work is densely referential, highly affected and occasionally dull. Thespian pretension dampens the feminist power on display.

Tim Barlow has had an acting career spanning over forty years, since he left the army. His life both before and since that vocational turn has been colourful. You could say that it’s been the sort of life one might write down in memoirs. But colour isn’t always enough. Memoirs can be written about any kind of life—big, small, glamorous, simple, fraught, or easy—with the right knack. Barlow is a charming enough presence on stage, and the different elements of HIM work fine on their own, but what they amount to is neither cohesive nor particularly powerful.

Pig and Runt are celebrating their 17th birthday. They have been friends all their lives, since their mammies shared a hospital ward, and have been getting into trouble just as long. Their adventures, real and fantastical, are lived out on a single, cluttered set complete with bewigged mannequins, toy food and a framed portrait of Jesus Our Lord. Quite well, I’d say . . . Invigorating, difficult, and occasionally devastating, this is a production worth seeing. Congratulations to all involved.