'Lost in Yonkers' by Neil Simon
26 September 2012
On Saturday we were at the Watford Palace Theatre to see
‘Lost in Yonkers’ by Neil Simon. This Pulitzer Prize-winning play from 1991 is
clearly a mature work which marries Simon’s trademark comic quips and wry
observations with an achingly poignant tale of family relationships and
dependency set against a backdrop of war in 1940s New York. We see events
through the eyes of two Jewish teenage boys who have to move in with their
fearsome German grandmother while their father is away on business, but it is
the boys’ Aunt who emerges as the heart of the story. Her imperfect memory and
ditzy absent-mindedness initially make her seem a peripheral, comic character,
but she gradually moves centre-stage and her yearning to leave her over-bearing
mother and start her own family is terribly moving. The Watford Palace
production was excellent with strong performances throughout the cast,
particularly Laura Howard as Aunt Bella – looking and sounding uncannily like Kristen
Schaal’s goofy New Yoik stalker-fan Mel in ‘Flight of the Conchords’.
Labels: Drama, Theatre
‘The Slap’ by Christos Tsiolkas
26 September 2012
I’ve just finished reading Christos Tsiolkas’s novel ‘The
Slap’ (as an unabridged audio book narrated by Alex Dimitriades). ‘The Slap’
seemed to attract equal amounts of praise and condemnation on its publication
in 2009 – its readers taking sides in much the same way as the central plot
divides the novel’s characters. The book starts with a family barbecue in
Melbourne at which an adult loses patience with an unruly child and strikes the
toddler. The rest of the book deals with the reactions of those present,
dividing friends and families as to whether this was a justified ‘slap’ or an
unpardonable act of violence by an adult on a child. The novel is structured as
a series of eight interlinked short stories, each showing the point of view of
one of the people present at the barbecue. This allows Christos Tsiolkas to
fill in the backstory of each of the families and friends and provides an
interesting exploration of varying ethnic and cultural backgrounds and
different generations. I liked the way the reader is kept guessing which
character is really at the centre of the story. And there is an intriguing
inevitability to the way another ‘slap’ occurs towards the end of the story –
thought not quite in the way you expect. But I’m not sure I really enjoyed ‘The
Slap’: almost all of the characters seem fairly unlikeable – violent,
misogynist, deceiving, swearing, drug-taking and cruel. ‘The Slap’ is a very
clever novel but I found it a bit cold.
Labels: Books
'Bully Boy' by Sandi Toksvig
19 September 2012
Last Saturday we were at the Royal Theatre in Northampton to
see ‘Bully Boy’, a new play by Sandi Toksvig which explores the mental health problems
suffered by soldiers who have seen active service. The play is a two-hander in
which a Major (with his own physical injuries as a result of serving in the
Falklands) investigates a young Private who was involved in an incident in
Afghanistan in which a young civilian boy was killed. This disturbing subject
matter is dealt with cleverly, believably and movingly: there are some nice touches
of humour but this is a serious work. In 100 minutes of uninterrupted drama the
audience’s attention is held with a measured mixture of pace, plot and movement.
Anthony Andrews gives a subtle and thoughtful performance as the Major and
Joshua Miles brings an incredible twitchy physicality to the troubled young
soldier (and demonstrates a near-perfect Burnley accent!). Simon Higlett’s set
makes creative use of projection to conjure up a wide variety of environments. ‘Bully
Boy’ is an excellent piece of theatre – entertaining, disturbing and
thought-provoking.
Labels: Drama, Theatre
Bandstand Marathon 2012
14 September 2012
At 1 pm last Sunday afternoon simultaneous performances
started at 300 locations across the UK as part of Bandstand Marathon 2012. We
were at the amphitheatre in Campbell Park, Milton Keynes, to see the
BradwellSilver Band. It was a lovely sunny afternoon, though the wind presented some
challenges with gusts occasionally carrying away sheet music and even a music
stand! The Bradwell Silver Band treated us to a mixed programme that included classical
music, big band jazz and pop and many pieces with an Olympic connection. It was
great fun: watching a band on a bandstand on a sunny Sunday afternoon felt
charmingly old-fashioned yet clearly appealed to an audience of all ages. Best
of all there were some very young children dancing enthusiastically in front of
the bandstand. One boy was using his grandfather’s walking stick like Fred
Astaire dancing with a cane. When the music stopped he held the walking stick
against his leg, upside down so that the curved handle was on the floor, and
bent his leg upwards so that he was standing on one leg, proudly declaring “I’m
Jonnie Peacock”. The kids proceeded to enact a series of Paralympic races,
emulating their disabled heroes. It was a London 2012 moment!
Labels: Concerts, Music
London 2012 Paralympic Games
7 September 2012
We spent most of last weekend at the Olympic Park in
Stratford, East London, watching the Paralympics athletics and track-cycling.
It was a fantastic experience. The Olympic Park is wonderful and the
organisation, the venues, the wildflowers, the weather and, of course, the
Games Maker volunteers were all excellent. You can see a selection of my photos
at:
http://www.culturaloutlook.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/London2012.
The atmosphere in the velodrome was electric, though the temperature was like a
sauna! We really enjoyed watching the sprints with their hesitant ‘cat and
mouse’ manoeuvring followed by a sudden dive for position and a desperate race
for the line – much more thrilling when the two bikes involved are tandems, and
particularly enjoyable as there was an all British final to the men’s individual
B sprint with Anthony Kappes and Craig MacLean securing the gold medals and Neil
Fachie and Barney Storey the silver. It was great to see the medal ceremony in
a packed crowd all singing ‘God Save the Queen’.
We were also very lucky to be
in the Olympic Stadium for two evening sessions of athletics. Saturday was
definitely Irish Night in the stadium as we watched Jason Smyth win the T13 100m
and Michael McKillop triumph in the T37 1500 m. On Sunday saw Oscar Pistorius dramatically
beaten by Alan Oliveira of Brazil in the T44 200m – though Oliveira’s incredible
acceleration in the last few metres didn’t come as too much of a surprise,
having been there to see him do something similar in his semi-final the
previous day. We got to sing the national anthem in the stadium too, as we saw
the Duchess of Cambridge present the gold medal to the F42 discus champion Aled
Davies. And we finished our Paralympic experience on the high of seeing David
Weir win the T54 5000m, late on Sunday evening. The entire crowd was on its
feet for the whole of the last lap and it was truly thrilling.
As someone who
has been eagerly looking forward to London 2012 for the past 7 years, I am delighted
to be able to report that the experience exceeded my expectations: it was
brilliant!
Labels: Sport
