EDINBURGH THEATRE
Vagabonds — My Phil Lynott Odyssey
Zoo 124, The Pleasance
Carpenters Mews
Until August 31
In Vagabonds, Rob Mountford — saddled with a mess of cultural identity — is challenged by the statue of his hero, Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott, to tell that rock star’s swashbuckling story. But, as Mountford does so, his own story takes over in a tale of confused Irish heritage and untimely death as he explores what makes a hero and how true myths are. It’s described as a “hilarious, philosophical, rock’n’roll one-man show,” and should be well worth a punt.
edfringe.com

LONDON CINEMA
The London Labour Film Festival
Arthouse
Tottenham Lane, N8
24-26 September
The third London Labour Film Festival Full shines the spotlight on austerity with screenings of Theopi Skarlatos’s film Greece: The End Of Austerity and Ken Loach’s Bread and Roses, (pictured) featuring two Latina sisters struggling for union recognition in the workplace. Also in the programme are The Divide, which tackles 21st-century globalisation, Pride, the celebration of LGBT activism during the miners’ 1984 strike and the disturbing fast-food tale Compliance, which unfolds over a busy day in a burger restaurant where a prank caller convinces a manager that an employee has committed a theft and needs to be interrogated.
londonlabourfilmfest.com

LONDON PHOTOGRAPHY
Syd Shelton: Rock against Racism
Autograph ABP
Rivington Place, EC2
Between 1976 and 1981, the movement Rock Against Racism (RAR) confronted racist ideology in the streets, parks and town halls of Britain. Formed by a collective of musicians and political activists to fight fascism and racism through music, this free exhibition of Syd Shelton’s photographs captures the spirit of the times as reggae and punk bands performed on the same stage, attracting large multicultural audiences in a show of resistance to violent and institutionalised racism. The Clash, Elvis Costello, Misty in Roots, Tom Robinson, Au Pairs and The Specials feature, along with the audiences at RAR gigs and carnivals across England.
autograph-abp.co.uk

MANCHESTER THEATRE
The Crucible
Royal Exchange Theatre
St Anns Square
September 18-October 24
Arthur Miller’s great allegory on the anti-communist witch-hunts in the US during the 1950s gets a revival at the Royal Exchange. It’s a grim and compelling drama of what happens when accusations of witchcraft spin out of control as the devout 18th-century Salem community descends into a cauldron of hysteria it can never return from. Highly recommended.
royalexchange.co.uk