'Nocturnes' by imitating the dog
27 September 2017
On Tuesday we were at the Stantonbury Theatre in Milton Keynes to see ‘Nocturnes’ - a new play by ‘imitating the dog’ which is on tour following a run at the Edinburgh Fringe in August. Written and directed by Andrew Quick and Pete Brooks, ‘Nocturnes’ is an exploration of the relationship between film and stage. A black & white film noir – a spy story set in Berlin in 1956 – is shown on a large screen, beneath which three actors stand at microphones on the stage, speaking the lines of dialogue for the film. Initially this appears just to be a very impressive gimmick: the lip-synching with the film is spot-on and it’s difficult for the audience to know whether to watch the film or the live actors. But gradually you realise something more clever is going on. As the two lead actors attempt to deviate from the written script with the occasional improvisation, the third person on the stage forces them back onto the proper text. Meanwhile the film begins to jump and distort in response to the disruptions on the stage. And the audience begins to realise that every line of dialogue can be taken either as part of the filmed story or as a comment on what is happening on stage. This ambiguity is strangely unsettling. Indeed the whole performance is a very strange experience. Like Pirandello’s ‘Six Characters in Search of an Author’, the characters Harry and Amy (played on stage and screen by Laura Atherton and Matt Prendergast) are aware they are trapped in a drama and become desperate to escape. ‘Nocturnes’ is an unusual and compelling theatrical experience.
Labels: Drama, Film, Theatre
Heliotrope Chamber Ensemble concert
26 September 2017
Performing a large chamber work with the Heliotrope Chamber Ensemble has become an annual treat, with last Saturday’s ‘Monumental Chamber Music’ concert, at Abington Avenue United Reformed Church in Northampton, marking my fourth appearance with the ensemble. After playing the 'Sonatina no. 2 for 16 Winds' by Richard Strauss ('From the Happy Workshop') last year (reviewed here in April 2016) I was really looking forward to tackling the Strauss ‘Sonatine no. 1 (‘From an Invalid’s Workshop’)’. It’s a similarly entertaining work with another incredibly challenging first horn part – brilliantly played by Meghan McCrimmon. The concert also included the ‘Divertissment’ for wind dectet by the French composer Emile Bernard, conducted by Catherine Rose, which featured a beautiful unaccompanied bassoon solo by Frank Jordan at the opening of the slow movement. But, for me, the highlight of the evening was a performance of Aaron Copland’s ballet suite ‘Appalachian Spring’ in its original scoring for flute, clarinet, bassoon, piano, double string quartet and double bass. Copland is one of a small number of composers whose style is so distinct you can identify a piece as one of his from hearing the merest fragment of a bar. ‘Appalachian Spring’ is peak Copland, creating an eerie, sparse beauty. Conducted by Stephen Bell (who also led the Strauss) the Heliotrope performance was delicate and haunting with particularly beautiful playing by Mara Griffiths (flute) and Michelle Yates (clarinet). It was another great Heliotrope chamber concert.
Labels: Concerts, Music
'The Box Garden' by Carol Shields
22 September 2017
I had forgotten how much I like the work of the Canadian novelist Carol Shields. Very much like Anne Tyler, Carol Shields (who died in 2003) wrote domestic dramas where something threatens to disrupt the pattern of day-to-day family life forcing the main character to reflect on her life and her future. I have just read ‘The Box Garden’ - a 1977 novel by Carol Shields which I found in a charity shop and it has rekindled my enthusiasm for her books. It is a very subtly but cleverly plotted novel. You are not sure where it is going to take you but by the time something dramatic happens to challenge the status quo the various members of the family at the heart of the story have been so well drawn that you can predict how each of them will react to the situation. It’s a beautifully written tale and has made me want to return to some of my favourite Carol Shields novels such as ‘Larry’s Party’ and ‘The Stone Diaries’.
Labels: Books
‘Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World’ by Haruki Murakami
22 September 2017
Regular readers will know I am a big fan of the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami. Earlier this year I spotted a couple of early Murakami novels I hadn’t read in a charity shop in Great Malvern. One of these was his 1985 novel ‘Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World’ which I have just finished reading. This book has all the usual Murakami elements – a contemporary real-world Japan setting into which magical realism starts to intrude, a parallel fantasy world and a host of Western cultural references. Murakami is probably an acquired taste – particularly in relation to his reluctance to tie up the loose ends of his incredibly weird plots. ‘Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World’ resolves more satisfyingly that many of his books but it’s still a very peculiar plot. I love the quirkiness and unpredictability of a Murakami novel and the seriousness with which he, and his characters, take their musical references – in this case, for example, discussing the merits of various different recordings of the ‘Brandenburg Concertos’. But if you are new to Haruki Murakami I would still suggest starting by reading 'Kafka on the Shore' (reviewed here in October 2006).
Labels: Books
Canary Islands Cruise
22 September 2017
We had a lovely cruise on the new P&O ship Britannia, visiting Spain, Madeira and the Canary Islands. We enjoyed lovely weather and fairly calm seas. Lanzarote was our favourite of the islands we visited but the highlight of our holiday was a return to the lovely city of Cadiz, which we visited last year on our previous cruise. On board the ship we did a lot of ballroom dancing: it’s wonderful to be able to dance to an excellent live band every night. And I took my first ever tap dancing lessons – something I have wanted to do for years and really enjoyed.
You can see a selection of my holiday photos at:
https://culturaloutlook.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/CanariesSept2017Labels: Holidays
'Stay With Me' by Ayobami Adebayo
1 September 2017
It was interesting to see ‘Yerma’ in the week I finished reading Ayobami Adebayo’s novel ‘Stay With Me’ (which I read as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Adjoa Andoh). This is another story of a couple’s desperation to have children – but in a very different context. Set in Nigeria in the 1980s and 1990s, ‘Stay With Me’ reveals a society which feels shockingly alien. The gender divide is stark, with polygamy the norm – and the reason for a husband to take multiple wives is entirely about providing the family with sufficient offspring. ‘Stay With Me’ tells its family saga through first person narration from the point of view of both Yejide and her husband Akin. It’s not a happy story – and it is set against a backdrop of military coups and armed robberies. But it provides a fascinating insight into what feels like a very old-fashioned, family focussed society but is actually a fairly recent period in Nigeria’s history.
Labels: Books
'Yerma' by Simon Stone after Federico García Lorca
1 September 2017
On Thursday we were at Leighton Buzzard Theatre to see the live screening of Simon Stone’s production of ‘Yerma’ from the Young Vic in London. Adapted by 31-year-old Australian director and writer Simon Stone from the 1934 play by Federico García Lorca, this ‘Yerma’ is set in contemporary London and features an amazing performance by Billie Piper. The play tells the story of a young couple (played by Billie Piper and Brendan Cowell) trying to start a family. We piece together their journey through a rapid series of short scenes, each separated by a passage of time (48 hours, a few months, two years) indicated by captions in a way that reminded me of Harold Pinter’s ‘Betrayal’. The dialogue is smart, hip and often overlapping and it took me a while to ‘tune in’ but the effect is very realistic. Indeed Stone does a remarkable job of making an old-fashioned brutal tragedy completely believable in this modern context. The set, by Lizzie Clachan encases the stage in a massive glass box, giving the impression that we are watching specimens in some scientific experiment and creating spooky effects with multiple reflections of the actors in the glass – in a similar way to the set for Polly Findlay's RSC production of 'The Merchant of Venice' (reviewed here in August 2015). The acting is excellent throughout: I particularly enjoyed Maureen Beattie as the unemotional, determinedly rational mother. The script is incredibly witty and the play is often very funny but, ultimately, it tells a grim tale. And Billie Piper, on stage for almost every minute of the play, gives an achingly real portrayal of a life gradually falling apart.
Labels: Drama, Film, Theatre
