21 December 2018
I’ve just finished reading ‘Lethal White’, the fourth Cormoran Strike detective novel by J K Rowling (writing as Robert Galbraith) – as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Robert Glenister. As with the previous Cormoran Strike novels, it has a gripping, complex plot and a great cast of well-drawn characters but suffers from some clunky writing and a host of annoying inaccuracies in its deliberately real-world setting. Once again Strike sees some football matches on television that it would have been impossible for him to watch. ‘Lethal White’ is set in 2012 against the backdrop of the London Olympics and Paralympics and involves a cast of Government Ministers and civil servants. From personal experience I can say that, while many of the details of the Houses of Parliament are clearly meticulously researched, the descriptions of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are completely fictional. In terms of the plot this doesn’t really matter but it continues to puzzle me why you would go to the bother of setting your novel at a very specific time in a very specific place – and referencing so many tiny details to make it seem realistic – but constantly get some of these details wrong. Having said all that, I did enjoy the ride and the satisfying resolution of a complicated jigsaw puzzle plot.
Friday, December 21, 2018
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens, adapted by David Edgar
12 December 2018
The Ghost of Christmas Future in ‘A Christmas Carol’ always makes me think of ‘A Prayer for Owen Meany’ by John Irving (reviewed here in May 2010) and Owen Meany’s bony finger pointing ominously at Scrooge’s grave. So I was a little disappointed that David Edgar’s adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’ for the Royal Shakespeare Company, which we saw at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon on Tuesday – although otherwise extremely faithful to Charles Dickens – omits that moment at the graveside. Rachel Kavanaugh’s production focuses on the social justice messages of the novel, creating an entertaining show with a serious purpose. Aden Gillett’s Scrooge is appropriately believable in this context and much less of a caricature than he is often portrayed. There is some great stagecraft in the realisation of the ghosts and the journeys on which they take Scrooge, making use of the amazing technical capabilities of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage, together with a mixture of digital projection and more traditional stage magic. This isn’t a musical but there are a few songs and some wonderful ensemble dance numbers with very impressive choreography by Georgina Lamb.
The Ghost of Christmas Future in ‘A Christmas Carol’ always makes me think of ‘A Prayer for Owen Meany’ by John Irving (reviewed here in May 2010) and Owen Meany’s bony finger pointing ominously at Scrooge’s grave. So I was a little disappointed that David Edgar’s adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’ for the Royal Shakespeare Company, which we saw at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon on Tuesday – although otherwise extremely faithful to Charles Dickens – omits that moment at the graveside. Rachel Kavanaugh’s production focuses on the social justice messages of the novel, creating an entertaining show with a serious purpose. Aden Gillett’s Scrooge is appropriately believable in this context and much less of a caricature than he is often portrayed. There is some great stagecraft in the realisation of the ghosts and the journeys on which they take Scrooge, making use of the amazing technical capabilities of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage, together with a mixture of digital projection and more traditional stage magic. This isn’t a musical but there are a few songs and some wonderful ensemble dance numbers with very impressive choreography by Georgina Lamb.
Andy Kershaw
12 December 2018
On Sunday evening we were at The Stables in Wavendon to see the remarkable broadcaster and journalist Andy Kershaw. Long time readers may remember my enthusiasm for Andy Kershaw’s much missed Radio 3 show (see my review of his appearance on Desert Island Discs in March 2007). Largely absent from the airwaves these days, he is touring to promote his autobiography, ‘No Off Switch’. As he nears his 60th birthday, Andy Kershaw’s encyclopaedic memory, natural eloquence and strong Rochdale accent remain undimmed. He is a consummate story-teller and his encounters around the world with some of the greatest musicians of the past half century make for some wonderful stories. Using a series of personal photographs on his laptop as prompts, he started to take us through his life. Restlessly wandering around the stage with a focussed determination he explained how happen stance had taken him from student concert promoter to being Billy Bragg’s tour manager, to the Whistle Test on BBC television, to presenting the TV coverage of Live Aid, to becoming a Radio 1 DJ and latterly a BBC foreign correspondent visiting some of the most troubled parts of the world. Very like Danny Baker (reviewed here in May 2018) Andy Kershaw has an obsessive need to cram in as much as possible, taking more than three hours on stage to only get as far as 1987. He promised to return to complete his story and I really look forward to that. In the meantime many of his best radio documentaries are available via his website at https://www.andykershaw.co.uk/ (try his 2005 visit to Turkmenistan – an incredible piece of journalism).
On Sunday evening we were at The Stables in Wavendon to see the remarkable broadcaster and journalist Andy Kershaw. Long time readers may remember my enthusiasm for Andy Kershaw’s much missed Radio 3 show (see my review of his appearance on Desert Island Discs in March 2007). Largely absent from the airwaves these days, he is touring to promote his autobiography, ‘No Off Switch’. As he nears his 60th birthday, Andy Kershaw’s encyclopaedic memory, natural eloquence and strong Rochdale accent remain undimmed. He is a consummate story-teller and his encounters around the world with some of the greatest musicians of the past half century make for some wonderful stories. Using a series of personal photographs on his laptop as prompts, he started to take us through his life. Restlessly wandering around the stage with a focussed determination he explained how happen stance had taken him from student concert promoter to being Billy Bragg’s tour manager, to the Whistle Test on BBC television, to presenting the TV coverage of Live Aid, to becoming a Radio 1 DJ and latterly a BBC foreign correspondent visiting some of the most troubled parts of the world. Very like Danny Baker (reviewed here in May 2018) Andy Kershaw has an obsessive need to cram in as much as possible, taking more than three hours on stage to only get as far as 1987. He promised to return to complete his story and I really look forward to that. In the meantime many of his best radio documentaries are available via his website at https://www.andykershaw.co.uk/ (try his 2005 visit to Turkmenistan – an incredible piece of journalism).
Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert
12 December 2018
Regular readers will remember my disappointment twelve months ago when that traditional harbinger of the festive season, the Northampton Symphony Orchestra’s Christmas Cracker concert, was cancelled because of snow. Thankfully last Sunday normality was restored and we gathered at the Spinney Theatre in Northampton, in front of a large, enthusiastic audience of all ages, for an afternoon of Christmas music. To mark the NSO’s 125th anniversary season, this year’s Christmas concert had a Victorian theme, featuring Humperdinck’s ‘Overture to Hansel and Gretel’, ‘Selections from Oliver!’ by Lionel Bart and ‘Dances from The Nutcracker’ by Tchaikovsky – the last narrated by our excellent compere, Alan Bell, and featuring beautiful solos from Alexander Thomas on harp and William Thallon on celeste. Alan also performed the role of narrator (and almost all the characters) in Bryan Kelly’s ‘Scrooge’, with words taken directly from Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’, ably assisted by our conductor John Gibbons who made a very sinister ghost of Jacob Marley. Given its ubiquity in NSO Christmas Cracker concerts, it seems hard to believe that the Northampton Symphony Orchestra hasn’t been playing Leroy Anderson’s ‘Sleigh Ride’ every year since 1893, but as it wasn’t written until 1946 that seems unlikely. After last year’s cancellation it was wonderful to see the return of the orchestra’s silly hats, mulled wine and mince pies. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Regular readers will remember my disappointment twelve months ago when that traditional harbinger of the festive season, the Northampton Symphony Orchestra’s Christmas Cracker concert, was cancelled because of snow. Thankfully last Sunday normality was restored and we gathered at the Spinney Theatre in Northampton, in front of a large, enthusiastic audience of all ages, for an afternoon of Christmas music. To mark the NSO’s 125th anniversary season, this year’s Christmas concert had a Victorian theme, featuring Humperdinck’s ‘Overture to Hansel and Gretel’, ‘Selections from Oliver!’ by Lionel Bart and ‘Dances from The Nutcracker’ by Tchaikovsky – the last narrated by our excellent compere, Alan Bell, and featuring beautiful solos from Alexander Thomas on harp and William Thallon on celeste. Alan also performed the role of narrator (and almost all the characters) in Bryan Kelly’s ‘Scrooge’, with words taken directly from Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’, ably assisted by our conductor John Gibbons who made a very sinister ghost of Jacob Marley. Given its ubiquity in NSO Christmas Cracker concerts, it seems hard to believe that the Northampton Symphony Orchestra hasn’t been playing Leroy Anderson’s ‘Sleigh Ride’ every year since 1893, but as it wasn’t written until 1946 that seems unlikely. After last year’s cancellation it was wonderful to see the return of the orchestra’s silly hats, mulled wine and mince pies. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Friday, December 07, 2018
'Antony & Cleopatra' by William Shakespeare
7 December 2018
It is almost exactly a year since I first saw Shakespeare’s ‘Antony & Cleopatra’, in the Royal Shakespeare Company production starring Josette Simon (reviewed here in December 2017). The new National Theatre production, which we saw on Thursday via the NT Live screening at the Odeon in Milton Keynes, is a very different version of the play. Regular readers will know that Simon Godwin is one of my favourite theatre directors (see my review of his ‘Twelfth Night’ here in April 2017) and I really liked his take on ‘Antony & Cleopatra’. He uses the vast stage of the Olivier Theatre to great effect, particularly the huge revolve. Hildegard Bechtler’s set is stunning, giving the play a beautiful contemporary backdrop and Evie Gurney’s costumes are equally impressive. ‘Antony & Cleopatra’ reunites Simon Godwin with Ralph Fiennes who was such a compelling presence on stage in Godwin’s production of ‘Man and Superman’ (reviewed here in May 2015). Ralph Fiennes is an incredibly physical actor, giving Mark Antony a middle-aged gait and making him a restless, capricious character. Sophie Okonedo is a brilliant Cleopatra – in turns playful, passionate, angry and distraught. ‘Antony & Cleopatra’ is a long play but it kept my attention and the tableau created by set, lighting, costumes and actors will live long in my memory.
It is almost exactly a year since I first saw Shakespeare’s ‘Antony & Cleopatra’, in the Royal Shakespeare Company production starring Josette Simon (reviewed here in December 2017). The new National Theatre production, which we saw on Thursday via the NT Live screening at the Odeon in Milton Keynes, is a very different version of the play. Regular readers will know that Simon Godwin is one of my favourite theatre directors (see my review of his ‘Twelfth Night’ here in April 2017) and I really liked his take on ‘Antony & Cleopatra’. He uses the vast stage of the Olivier Theatre to great effect, particularly the huge revolve. Hildegard Bechtler’s set is stunning, giving the play a beautiful contemporary backdrop and Evie Gurney’s costumes are equally impressive. ‘Antony & Cleopatra’ reunites Simon Godwin with Ralph Fiennes who was such a compelling presence on stage in Godwin’s production of ‘Man and Superman’ (reviewed here in May 2015). Ralph Fiennes is an incredibly physical actor, giving Mark Antony a middle-aged gait and making him a restless, capricious character. Sophie Okonedo is a brilliant Cleopatra – in turns playful, passionate, angry and distraught. ‘Antony & Cleopatra’ is a long play but it kept my attention and the tableau created by set, lighting, costumes and actors will live long in my memory.
‘Being Mortal: Medicine & What Matters in the End’ by Atul Gawande
7 December 2018
I am very grateful to Nick Ewbank for lending me his copy of Atul Gawande’s remarkable book ‘Being Mortal: Medicine & What Matters in the End’. I was fascinated by Atul Gawande’s Reith Lectures on BBC Radio 4 in 2014 (which you can still listen to at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04bsgvm) and his appearance on ‘Desert Island Discs’ (in December 2015, available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06r0vsn) so I was keen to read his book. ‘Being Mortal’ suggests that we make the mistake of treating dying as an illness to be cured, making the end of life a medical problem and seeing death as failure. Gawande argues that death is a natural (and inevitable) occurrence and we should focus more on managing the dying process to maintain quality of life rather than simply prioritising keeping someone alive for as long as possible. Though this doesn’t sound like a cheery subject ‘Being Mortal’ is an uplifting read, featuring the stories of many of Dr Gawande’s patients together with some of the pioneers in the fields of hospice, assisted living and innovative approaches to nursing homes. The book also movingly tells the story of Atul Gawande’s father as he and his family have to address the impossibly difficult challenges caused by his declining health. At the end of the book Atul Gawande concludes: “We’ve been wrong about what our job is in medicine. We think our job is to ensure health and survival. But really it is larger than that. It is to enable well-being. And well-being is about the reasons one wishes to be alive.” Everyone should read this book.
I am very grateful to Nick Ewbank for lending me his copy of Atul Gawande’s remarkable book ‘Being Mortal: Medicine & What Matters in the End’. I was fascinated by Atul Gawande’s Reith Lectures on BBC Radio 4 in 2014 (which you can still listen to at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04bsgvm) and his appearance on ‘Desert Island Discs’ (in December 2015, available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06r0vsn) so I was keen to read his book. ‘Being Mortal’ suggests that we make the mistake of treating dying as an illness to be cured, making the end of life a medical problem and seeing death as failure. Gawande argues that death is a natural (and inevitable) occurrence and we should focus more on managing the dying process to maintain quality of life rather than simply prioritising keeping someone alive for as long as possible. Though this doesn’t sound like a cheery subject ‘Being Mortal’ is an uplifting read, featuring the stories of many of Dr Gawande’s patients together with some of the pioneers in the fields of hospice, assisted living and innovative approaches to nursing homes. The book also movingly tells the story of Atul Gawande’s father as he and his family have to address the impossibly difficult challenges caused by his declining health. At the end of the book Atul Gawande concludes: “We’ve been wrong about what our job is in medicine. We think our job is to ensure health and survival. But really it is larger than that. It is to enable well-being. And well-being is about the reasons one wishes to be alive.” Everyone should read this book.
Monday, December 03, 2018
Milton Keynes Sinfonia concert
3 December 2018
When I played Gustav Mahler’s ‘Symphony No 1’ with Northampton Symphony Orchestra in 2016, I wrote here (in March 2016) that, for horn players, tackling a Mahler symphony is the equivalent of running a marathon, requiring extensive training to build your stamina. I said then “it was a brilliant experience but one I would be happy not to repeat for a while!” Well, just over two and a half years later, I was thrilled to get the chance to do it again, this time with Milton Keynes Sinfonia at a concert at the Chrysalis Theatre in Milton Keynes last Saturday. This concert was a musical trip to Vienna, opening with Franz Lehar’s overture to ‘The Merry Widow’, followed by Mahler’s orchestral song cycle ‘Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen’ (Songs of a Wayfarer’, sung by the impressive young British baritone, Andrew Hamilton. It was fascinating to hear the songs, the melodies of two of which Mahler also uses in the first and third movements of his First Symphony. The concert was dominated by that Symphony – a dramatic, grandiose, programmatic, playful and powerful epic. Given the stamina and concentration required to perform it, it’s amazing to realise that it is actually one of Mahler’s shortest symphonies. It was great fun to be part of a strong team of nine horn players, wonderfully led by Kate Knight: at one of the rehearsals we outnumbered the first violins! In the concert, when we reached the climax at the end of the first movement, with all nine of us playing together, I thought to myself “this is going to be brilliant!”. It was really enjoyable to be able to play the symphony without the stress of worrying about the first horn solos – which Kate played beautifully. Our conductor, David Knight, coaxed a thrilling performance from the large orchestra and Jenny Brown’s double bass solo at the beginning of the slow movement was exquisite. But it is the finale that will live long in my memory with the horn chorus soaring triumphantly over the orchestra: it was so exciting to be a part of it.
When I played Gustav Mahler’s ‘Symphony No 1’ with Northampton Symphony Orchestra in 2016, I wrote here (in March 2016) that, for horn players, tackling a Mahler symphony is the equivalent of running a marathon, requiring extensive training to build your stamina. I said then “it was a brilliant experience but one I would be happy not to repeat for a while!” Well, just over two and a half years later, I was thrilled to get the chance to do it again, this time with Milton Keynes Sinfonia at a concert at the Chrysalis Theatre in Milton Keynes last Saturday. This concert was a musical trip to Vienna, opening with Franz Lehar’s overture to ‘The Merry Widow’, followed by Mahler’s orchestral song cycle ‘Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen’ (Songs of a Wayfarer’, sung by the impressive young British baritone, Andrew Hamilton. It was fascinating to hear the songs, the melodies of two of which Mahler also uses in the first and third movements of his First Symphony. The concert was dominated by that Symphony – a dramatic, grandiose, programmatic, playful and powerful epic. Given the stamina and concentration required to perform it, it’s amazing to realise that it is actually one of Mahler’s shortest symphonies. It was great fun to be part of a strong team of nine horn players, wonderfully led by Kate Knight: at one of the rehearsals we outnumbered the first violins! In the concert, when we reached the climax at the end of the first movement, with all nine of us playing together, I thought to myself “this is going to be brilliant!”. It was really enjoyable to be able to play the symphony without the stress of worrying about the first horn solos – which Kate played beautifully. Our conductor, David Knight, coaxed a thrilling performance from the large orchestra and Jenny Brown’s double bass solo at the beginning of the slow movement was exquisite. But it is the finale that will live long in my memory with the horn chorus soaring triumphantly over the orchestra: it was so exciting to be a part of it.
Friday, November 30, 2018
'Förgänglighet' by Åkervinda
30 November 2018
One of my highlights of this year’s WOMAD Festival (reviewed here in July 2018) was seeing the Finnish female a cappella quartet Tuuletar (whose album 'Tules Maas Vedes Taivaal' I reviewed here in January 2017). The distinctive sound of Scandinavian female vocal harmonies is a favourite of mine, from Tuuletar to Danish folk duo Vingefang (reviewed here in September 2018) to the legendary Finnish group Värttinä (reviewed here in August 2017). So I am enjoying listening to ‘Förgänglighet’ - the new album by Swedish and Danish female vocal quartet Åkervinda, which is completely unaccompanied voices. It’s fascinating to see the similarities between folk music traditions in geographically adjacent areas and you can clearly hear echoes of Scottish folk singing in these Swedish/Danish songs, as well as examples of the scrunchy vocal harmonies that characterise Finnish traditional music, which themselves have much in common with the Estonian choral sound and the famous female choirs of Bulgaria. ‘Förgänglighet’ is an interestingly varied collections of songs, with some delicate, whispered passages alongside the more rousing choruses – best listened to intently and intimately on headphones.
One of my highlights of this year’s WOMAD Festival (reviewed here in July 2018) was seeing the Finnish female a cappella quartet Tuuletar (whose album 'Tules Maas Vedes Taivaal' I reviewed here in January 2017). The distinctive sound of Scandinavian female vocal harmonies is a favourite of mine, from Tuuletar to Danish folk duo Vingefang (reviewed here in September 2018) to the legendary Finnish group Värttinä (reviewed here in August 2017). So I am enjoying listening to ‘Förgänglighet’ - the new album by Swedish and Danish female vocal quartet Åkervinda, which is completely unaccompanied voices. It’s fascinating to see the similarities between folk music traditions in geographically adjacent areas and you can clearly hear echoes of Scottish folk singing in these Swedish/Danish songs, as well as examples of the scrunchy vocal harmonies that characterise Finnish traditional music, which themselves have much in common with the Estonian choral sound and the famous female choirs of Bulgaria. ‘Förgänglighet’ is an interestingly varied collections of songs, with some delicate, whispered passages alongside the more rousing choruses – best listened to intently and intimately on headphones.
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
'The Madness of George III' by Alan Bennett
21 November 2018
On Tuesday we fought our way through the crowds to the Odeon at Milton Keynes Stadium (not having realised that Brazil were playing Cameroon in an international friendly football match at Stadium MK!) to see the live broadcast of Adam Penford’s new production of ‘The Madness of George III’ from Nottingham Playhouse. Alan Bennett’s play was written in 1991 and, although I had seen Nicholas Hytner’s 1994 film ‘The Madness of King George’ starring Nigel Hawthorne, I had not previously seen the original play. It’s a darker, more serious play than I had realised and it’s interesting to consider how our attitudes to mental illness have changed in the 27 years since it was first performed. It is not without humour but Alan Bennett allows this to come from characterisation rather than witty wordplay. The Nottingham Playhouse production has a strong cast, with Adrian Scarborough determined and dour as the unconventional doctor brought in to treat the King. But the play is a star vehicle and Mark Gatiss is superb as George III, showing his descent into mental illness through an incremental accumulation of small tics and mannerisms. He has the ability to turn his mood on a sixpence – even more evident in the close-ups provided by the live screening. His King is simultaneously funny, petulant, intelligent, domineering and incredibly sympathetic.
On Tuesday we fought our way through the crowds to the Odeon at Milton Keynes Stadium (not having realised that Brazil were playing Cameroon in an international friendly football match at Stadium MK!) to see the live broadcast of Adam Penford’s new production of ‘The Madness of George III’ from Nottingham Playhouse. Alan Bennett’s play was written in 1991 and, although I had seen Nicholas Hytner’s 1994 film ‘The Madness of King George’ starring Nigel Hawthorne, I had not previously seen the original play. It’s a darker, more serious play than I had realised and it’s interesting to consider how our attitudes to mental illness have changed in the 27 years since it was first performed. It is not without humour but Alan Bennett allows this to come from characterisation rather than witty wordplay. The Nottingham Playhouse production has a strong cast, with Adrian Scarborough determined and dour as the unconventional doctor brought in to treat the King. But the play is a star vehicle and Mark Gatiss is superb as George III, showing his descent into mental illness through an incremental accumulation of small tics and mannerisms. He has the ability to turn his mood on a sixpence – even more evident in the close-ups provided by the live screening. His King is simultaneously funny, petulant, intelligent, domineering and incredibly sympathetic.
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Horse McDonald
20 November 2018
One of the best ways of seeing the pick of the Edinburgh Fringe is to attend recordings of the BBC Radio Scotland Afternoon Show, which always feature a selection of comedians, actors and musicians who are appearing at the Fringe. At one of the BBC Radio Scotland recordings this August we discovered the Scottish singer/songwriter Horse McDonald who was promoting her Fringe show – a tribute to Dusty Springfield. Horse was clearly well-known to the mostly local audience. We had not previously heard of her at all but were bowled over by her amazing voice – a beautiful, powerful, soulful instrument. Last Saturday we were at The Stables in Milton Keynes to see Horse perform her seminal album ‘God’s Home Movie’ in its entirety. She is touring to celebrate the 25th anniversary of this album and the successful conclusion of her legal battle with the record company to have it reissued. The remastered vinyl and CD should be available in the next few weeks. It was strange being part of an adoring audience who clearly knew all the words to all the tracks on ‘God’s Home Movie’ when we hadn’t heard any of these songs before. But we had a great time. The album encompasses a range of styles, from 1980s rock to soul to gentle ballads. And Horse’s vocal range is incredible. She’s also a very likeable raconteur, speaking about the writing of the songs, her fight with the record company and much more. You can listen to the title track of ‘God’s Home Movie’ at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5c2SUQyRRM
One of the best ways of seeing the pick of the Edinburgh Fringe is to attend recordings of the BBC Radio Scotland Afternoon Show, which always feature a selection of comedians, actors and musicians who are appearing at the Fringe. At one of the BBC Radio Scotland recordings this August we discovered the Scottish singer/songwriter Horse McDonald who was promoting her Fringe show – a tribute to Dusty Springfield. Horse was clearly well-known to the mostly local audience. We had not previously heard of her at all but were bowled over by her amazing voice – a beautiful, powerful, soulful instrument. Last Saturday we were at The Stables in Milton Keynes to see Horse perform her seminal album ‘God’s Home Movie’ in its entirety. She is touring to celebrate the 25th anniversary of this album and the successful conclusion of her legal battle with the record company to have it reissued. The remastered vinyl and CD should be available in the next few weeks. It was strange being part of an adoring audience who clearly knew all the words to all the tracks on ‘God’s Home Movie’ when we hadn’t heard any of these songs before. But we had a great time. The album encompasses a range of styles, from 1980s rock to soul to gentle ballads. And Horse’s vocal range is incredible. She’s also a very likeable raconteur, speaking about the writing of the songs, her fight with the record company and much more. You can listen to the title track of ‘God’s Home Movie’ at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5c2SUQyRRM
Monday, November 12, 2018
Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert
12 November 2018
On Saturday we launched the 125th anniversary season of the Northampton Symphony Orchestra with a piece written in 1893 – the year the orchestra was founded: ‘Entry March of the Boyars’ by the Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen. This was followed by the ever-popular ‘Cello Concerto’ by Antonin Dvorak, written soon afterwards and premiered in 1896. Our soloist was the wonderful young Ukrainian ‘cellist Yaroslava Trofymchuk who gave a stunning performance of this incredibly romantic piece. Dvorak wrote the concerto during his stay in America and you can hear the similarities with his ‘New World Symphony’, which we are due to perform in February 2019. We finished Saturday’s concert with Aaron Copland’s ‘Third Symphony’, written to celebrate the end of the Second World War. It’s an optimistic piece which paints a picture of a forward-looking America. The final movement uses Copland’s ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’, written in 1942 to mark America’s entry into the war but reworked here as a poignant reflection. The symphony is full of Copland’s distinctive sparse orchestral sound, with recognisable echoes of ‘Rodeo’ and ‘Appalachian Spring’. It is a considerable test of stamina, particularly for the brass section in the mammoth final movement. I really enjoyed getting to know the symphony and I think our performance was pretty impressive, with brass and percussion excelling in the famous fanfare and some great delicacy from the strings, woodwind, keyboards and harps in the quieter sections.
On Saturday we launched the 125th anniversary season of the Northampton Symphony Orchestra with a piece written in 1893 – the year the orchestra was founded: ‘Entry March of the Boyars’ by the Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen. This was followed by the ever-popular ‘Cello Concerto’ by Antonin Dvorak, written soon afterwards and premiered in 1896. Our soloist was the wonderful young Ukrainian ‘cellist Yaroslava Trofymchuk who gave a stunning performance of this incredibly romantic piece. Dvorak wrote the concerto during his stay in America and you can hear the similarities with his ‘New World Symphony’, which we are due to perform in February 2019. We finished Saturday’s concert with Aaron Copland’s ‘Third Symphony’, written to celebrate the end of the Second World War. It’s an optimistic piece which paints a picture of a forward-looking America. The final movement uses Copland’s ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’, written in 1942 to mark America’s entry into the war but reworked here as a poignant reflection. The symphony is full of Copland’s distinctive sparse orchestral sound, with recognisable echoes of ‘Rodeo’ and ‘Appalachian Spring’. It is a considerable test of stamina, particularly for the brass section in the mammoth final movement. I really enjoyed getting to know the symphony and I think our performance was pretty impressive, with brass and percussion excelling in the famous fanfare and some great delicacy from the strings, woodwind, keyboards and harps in the quieter sections.
Friday, November 09, 2018
'Whorls' by Kittel & Co
9 November 2018
I’ve been enjoying ‘Whorls’, the debut album by Brooklyn-based fiddler Jeremy Kittel’s new string quintet Kittel & Co. The band consists of Kittel’s violin plus mandolin, guitar, ‘cello and hammer-dulcimer. The mostly instrumental tracks are mixture of bluegrass, Celtic folk, jazz and classical. This is gentle, thoughtful music, excellently played – folk chamber music rather than dance music. See this 3-minute video about the making of ‘Whorls’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPttBkXQ5Io
I’ve been enjoying ‘Whorls’, the debut album by Brooklyn-based fiddler Jeremy Kittel’s new string quintet Kittel & Co. The band consists of Kittel’s violin plus mandolin, guitar, ‘cello and hammer-dulcimer. The mostly instrumental tracks are mixture of bluegrass, Celtic folk, jazz and classical. This is gentle, thoughtful music, excellently played – folk chamber music rather than dance music. See this 3-minute video about the making of ‘Whorls’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPttBkXQ5Io
Friday, November 02, 2018
'The Giant Killers' by Andrew and Eve Pearson-Wright
2 November 2018
On Sunday we were at the Stantonbury Theatre in Milton Keynes to see the Long Lane Theatre Company production of ‘The Giant Killers’ by Andrew and Eve Pearson-Wright. This is the true story of Darwen Football Club, the first working-class team to play in the FA Cup. In 1879 they took on the “poshest team of all” – The Old Etonians. The play is ‘The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists’ with added football, looking at working conditions in the cotton mills of Lancashire and the clashes between unions and management as well as the early development of Association Football. It’s a fascinating and inspiring story, told with gusto by a cast of four as a kind of dramatised lecture. Some of the language (particularly the swearing) felt a bit too contemporary for 1879 but this didn’t detract from the rousing David vs Goliath narrative which had us all shouting “Darwen, Darwen” by the end.
On Sunday we were at the Stantonbury Theatre in Milton Keynes to see the Long Lane Theatre Company production of ‘The Giant Killers’ by Andrew and Eve Pearson-Wright. This is the true story of Darwen Football Club, the first working-class team to play in the FA Cup. In 1879 they took on the “poshest team of all” – The Old Etonians. The play is ‘The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists’ with added football, looking at working conditions in the cotton mills of Lancashire and the clashes between unions and management as well as the early development of Association Football. It’s a fascinating and inspiring story, told with gusto by a cast of four as a kind of dramatised lecture. Some of the language (particularly the swearing) felt a bit too contemporary for 1879 but this didn’t detract from the rousing David vs Goliath narrative which had us all shouting “Darwen, Darwen” by the end.
Andy Hamilton
2 November 2018
I’ve long been a fan of the comedian and writer Andy Hamilton but had not had the chance to see him perform live until Saturday when we were at the Harpenden Public Halls for ‘An Audience with Andy Hamilton’. It’s a brave move for a comedian to genuinely base a whole performance around answering audience questions but Andy Hamilton is a great raconteur and the slightest of prompts set him off on a multitude of entertaining anecdotes. It helps that he has such a huge back catalogue of comedy successes – from writing for ‘Weekending’ in the 1980s to ‘Drop the Dead Donkey’, ‘Old Harry’s Game’, ‘Revolting People’ and ‘Outnumbered’, as well as regular appearances on ‘The News Quiz’, ‘Have I Got News For You?’ and ‘QI’. Andy Hamilton is a very gentle, likeable comedian and an evening based on audience participation never felt threatening in the way it might in other hands.
I’ve long been a fan of the comedian and writer Andy Hamilton but had not had the chance to see him perform live until Saturday when we were at the Harpenden Public Halls for ‘An Audience with Andy Hamilton’. It’s a brave move for a comedian to genuinely base a whole performance around answering audience questions but Andy Hamilton is a great raconteur and the slightest of prompts set him off on a multitude of entertaining anecdotes. It helps that he has such a huge back catalogue of comedy successes – from writing for ‘Weekending’ in the 1980s to ‘Drop the Dead Donkey’, ‘Old Harry’s Game’, ‘Revolting People’ and ‘Outnumbered’, as well as regular appearances on ‘The News Quiz’, ‘Have I Got News For You?’ and ‘QI’. Andy Hamilton is a very gentle, likeable comedian and an evening based on audience participation never felt threatening in the way it might in other hands.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
'Early Riser' by Jasper Fforde
25 October 2018
Regular readers may remember my enthusiasm for Jasper Fforde’s silly fantasy novels, particularly the Nursery Crimes series (reviewed here in April and October 2007), his Thursday Next literary detective series (reviewed here in August, September and October 2008, February and April 2009 and April 2012) and his 'Dragonslayer' young-adult fantasy novels (‘The Last Dragonslayer’ reviewed here in August 2014). I was less taken with his more serious post-apocalyptic dystopian novel ‘Shades of Grey’ (no, not that one! – reviewed here in April 2011), intended as the first in a series but not yet followed up. Jasper Fforde’s new novel ‘Early Riser’, which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Thomas Hunt, is his first deliberately stand-alone novel. And this feels like a successful blend of what he was trying to achieve with ‘Shades of Grey’ and the comic parallel-world versions of real places from his earlier series. After his bizarre alternative-reality versions of Reading (Nursery Crimes), Swindon (Thursday Next) and Hereford (Dragonslayer), ‘Early Riser’ is set in weirdly recognisable but significantly different Wales. In this reality severe five-month winters (caused by some catastrophic but unexplained climate change) mean the majority of the population have to hibernate in order to survive. Only a few hardy ‘consuls’ stay awake to police the savage winter months. It’s a high concept novel, drawn in intricate detail but with enough reference to the real world to make it relatively easy to follow. I missed the silly humour of Fforde’s earlier novels but I enjoyed the unravelling mystery plot and the cast of eccentric but loveable characters. (You’ve got to love the night-walker zombie Mrs Tiffin, doomed to endlessly play ‘Help Yourself’ by Tom Jones on the bouzouki!). It was lovely to see a reprise (from the Thursday Next novels) of the Wales Tourist Board slogan ‘Wales: not always raining’. And interesting to see the parallel between the parts of the action that take place within fictional books in the Thursday Next series and within dreams in ‘Early Riser’. It was also nice to have a self-contained plot which properly resolves itself rather than just preparing for a sequel – though I will miss Charlie ‘Wonky’ Worthing and his friends. But “we’ll always have the Gower”.
Regular readers may remember my enthusiasm for Jasper Fforde’s silly fantasy novels, particularly the Nursery Crimes series (reviewed here in April and October 2007), his Thursday Next literary detective series (reviewed here in August, September and October 2008, February and April 2009 and April 2012) and his 'Dragonslayer' young-adult fantasy novels (‘The Last Dragonslayer’ reviewed here in August 2014). I was less taken with his more serious post-apocalyptic dystopian novel ‘Shades of Grey’ (no, not that one! – reviewed here in April 2011), intended as the first in a series but not yet followed up. Jasper Fforde’s new novel ‘Early Riser’, which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Thomas Hunt, is his first deliberately stand-alone novel. And this feels like a successful blend of what he was trying to achieve with ‘Shades of Grey’ and the comic parallel-world versions of real places from his earlier series. After his bizarre alternative-reality versions of Reading (Nursery Crimes), Swindon (Thursday Next) and Hereford (Dragonslayer), ‘Early Riser’ is set in weirdly recognisable but significantly different Wales. In this reality severe five-month winters (caused by some catastrophic but unexplained climate change) mean the majority of the population have to hibernate in order to survive. Only a few hardy ‘consuls’ stay awake to police the savage winter months. It’s a high concept novel, drawn in intricate detail but with enough reference to the real world to make it relatively easy to follow. I missed the silly humour of Fforde’s earlier novels but I enjoyed the unravelling mystery plot and the cast of eccentric but loveable characters. (You’ve got to love the night-walker zombie Mrs Tiffin, doomed to endlessly play ‘Help Yourself’ by Tom Jones on the bouzouki!). It was lovely to see a reprise (from the Thursday Next novels) of the Wales Tourist Board slogan ‘Wales: not always raining’. And interesting to see the parallel between the parts of the action that take place within fictional books in the Thursday Next series and within dreams in ‘Early Riser’. It was also nice to have a self-contained plot which properly resolves itself rather than just preparing for a sequel – though I will miss Charlie ‘Wonky’ Worthing and his friends. But “we’ll always have the Gower”.
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
'Touching the Void' adapted by David Greig from the book by Joe Simpson
24 October 2018
In 1985, while climbing in the Peruvian Andes, Joe Simpson slipped down an ice cliff and broke his leg. His climbing partner Simon Yates attempted to lower him down the mountain but inadvertently lowered Simpson off a cliff. Suddenly the rope tying the two men together threatened both their lives and Yates took the horrible decision to cut the rope to save himself while Simpson plunged to almost certain death. I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler to reveal that Simpson didn’t die, as his incredible tale of survival against all the odds became an award-winning book and film. Now playwright David Greig and director Tom Morris have adapted ‘Touching the Void’ for the stage, in a joint production by Bristol Old Vic, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Royal & Derngate Northampton and Fuel, which we saw in Northampton on Saturday. Their creative approaches to dramatising Joe Simpson’s interior monologue and staging the mountaineering are very innovative and impressive – helped by Ti Green’s amazing set which creates a very theatrical version of the story. The cast of four actors take on some incredibly physical challenges and David Greig’s framing of the tale, beginning with a wake for Simpson in a Scottish climbers’ pub, is very clever. And I liked that the play’s musical soundtrack used tracks chosen by Joe Simpson when he appeared on ‘Desert Island Discs’ in 2004. But I felt they missed a trick by ending the play with the ‘revelation’ of Simpson’s survival rather than going on to explore the subsequent relationship between him and Simon Yates and that painful question of whether he should have cut the rope.
In 1985, while climbing in the Peruvian Andes, Joe Simpson slipped down an ice cliff and broke his leg. His climbing partner Simon Yates attempted to lower him down the mountain but inadvertently lowered Simpson off a cliff. Suddenly the rope tying the two men together threatened both their lives and Yates took the horrible decision to cut the rope to save himself while Simpson plunged to almost certain death. I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler to reveal that Simpson didn’t die, as his incredible tale of survival against all the odds became an award-winning book and film. Now playwright David Greig and director Tom Morris have adapted ‘Touching the Void’ for the stage, in a joint production by Bristol Old Vic, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Royal & Derngate Northampton and Fuel, which we saw in Northampton on Saturday. Their creative approaches to dramatising Joe Simpson’s interior monologue and staging the mountaineering are very innovative and impressive – helped by Ti Green’s amazing set which creates a very theatrical version of the story. The cast of four actors take on some incredibly physical challenges and David Greig’s framing of the tale, beginning with a wake for Simpson in a Scottish climbers’ pub, is very clever. And I liked that the play’s musical soundtrack used tracks chosen by Joe Simpson when he appeared on ‘Desert Island Discs’ in 2004. But I felt they missed a trick by ending the play with the ‘revelation’ of Simpson’s survival rather than going on to explore the subsequent relationship between him and Simon Yates and that painful question of whether he should have cut the rope.
Friday, October 19, 2018
'Troilus and Cressida' by William Shakespeare
19 October 2018
This week I ticked off one of the diminishing number of Shakespeare plays I had never seen, with Gregory Doran’s new RSC production of ‘Troilus and Cressida’ which we saw at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon on Thursday. Shakespeare throws us straight into the Trojan War with the Prologue explaining that we are “beginning in the middle”. He manages to incorporate almost every ancient Greek character you have heard of: Agamemnon, Menelaus, Ulysses, Paris, Hector, Priam, Achilles, Patroclus, Cassandra, Helen et al. Doran’s production is set in a steampunk, ‘Mad Max’ version of Troy, complete with motorbikes and shipping containers (standing in for the Greek army’s tents). He squeezes as much comedy as possible from this brutal tale of war, with Sheila Reid’s Thersites as a Janette Krankie Shakespearean Fool, somewhat incongruous amongst the Greek warriors. ‘Troilus and Cressida’ is an odd play – a mixture of history, comedy and tragedy with recognisable elements of other Shakespeare plays (‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘Henry IV Part One’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ etc) transposed to ancient Greece. It’s not his greatest work but the RSC production is impressive, with an original musical score for four percussionists by Evelyn Glennie (her first composition for the stage). And RSC veteran Oliver Ford Davies steals the show as Pandarus – a very funny performance as the kind of bumbling old fool that he specialises in: nobody does Oliver Ford Davies better than Oliver Ford Davies!
'Troilus and Cressida' will be broadcast live from Stratford-upon-Avon to cinemas on 14 November.
This week I ticked off one of the diminishing number of Shakespeare plays I had never seen, with Gregory Doran’s new RSC production of ‘Troilus and Cressida’ which we saw at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon on Thursday. Shakespeare throws us straight into the Trojan War with the Prologue explaining that we are “beginning in the middle”. He manages to incorporate almost every ancient Greek character you have heard of: Agamemnon, Menelaus, Ulysses, Paris, Hector, Priam, Achilles, Patroclus, Cassandra, Helen et al. Doran’s production is set in a steampunk, ‘Mad Max’ version of Troy, complete with motorbikes and shipping containers (standing in for the Greek army’s tents). He squeezes as much comedy as possible from this brutal tale of war, with Sheila Reid’s Thersites as a Janette Krankie Shakespearean Fool, somewhat incongruous amongst the Greek warriors. ‘Troilus and Cressida’ is an odd play – a mixture of history, comedy and tragedy with recognisable elements of other Shakespeare plays (‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘Henry IV Part One’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ etc) transposed to ancient Greece. It’s not his greatest work but the RSC production is impressive, with an original musical score for four percussionists by Evelyn Glennie (her first composition for the stage). And RSC veteran Oliver Ford Davies steals the show as Pandarus – a very funny performance as the kind of bumbling old fool that he specialises in: nobody does Oliver Ford Davies better than Oliver Ford Davies!
'Troilus and Cressida' will be broadcast live from Stratford-upon-Avon to cinemas on 14 November.
Monday, October 15, 2018
'Dangerous Corner' by J B Priestley
15 October 2018
On Saturday we were at the Abbey Theatre in St Albans to see ‘Dangerous Corner’ by J B Priestley, presented by the very impressive local amateur theatre group ‘Company of Ten’. Written in 1932, ‘Dangerous Corner’ was Priestley’s first solo play. It is a drawing-room drama that reflects its period and is a very clever, slowly revealing thriller. Priestley’s intricate web of unrequited attractions is maybe a little too neat but makes for a very satisfying puzzle. Tina Swain’s production managed to unveil each hidden connection without descending into melodrama. She was aided by an excellent amateur cast: all seven actors were very strong but Andrew Baird as the knowingly cynical Stanton was the pick of the bunch.
On Saturday we were at the Abbey Theatre in St Albans to see ‘Dangerous Corner’ by J B Priestley, presented by the very impressive local amateur theatre group ‘Company of Ten’. Written in 1932, ‘Dangerous Corner’ was Priestley’s first solo play. It is a drawing-room drama that reflects its period and is a very clever, slowly revealing thriller. Priestley’s intricate web of unrequited attractions is maybe a little too neat but makes for a very satisfying puzzle. Tina Swain’s production managed to unveil each hidden connection without descending into melodrama. She was aided by an excellent amateur cast: all seven actors were very strong but Andrew Baird as the knowingly cynical Stanton was the pick of the bunch.
Friday, October 12, 2018
'Killing Eve' by Phoebe Waller-Bridge
12 October 2018
We’ve just finished watching Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s brilliant eight-part spy thriller ‘Killing Eve’ on BBC Three. Based on the Villanelle novels by Luke Jennings, ‘Killing Eve’ is the story of a MI5 agent, played by Sandra Oh, on the trail of a young female assassin linked to a series of contract killings across Europe. It is a scary and brutally violent story which is quirky and incredibly funny without ever descending into spoof. ‘Bodyguard’ creator Jed Mercurio recently said there’s no such thing as a “can’t-die” character and Phoebe Waller-Bridge seems to have taken his advice to heart, constantly shocking us by killing off someone we had assumed was one of the main characters in almost every episode. In this aspect, and in its particularly black violent humour ‘Killing Eve’ has much in common with Noah Hawley’s splendid ‘Fargo’ TV series (reviewed here in October 2017). There is a great cast: it was particularly good to see the Danish star of ‘The Bridge’ (reviewed here in January 2014), Kim Bodnia, who is a wonderful comic actor. But the star of the show, without any doubt, is Jodie Comer who is fantastic as Villanelle, making you fall completely in love with a callous, merciless killer. Her playful smirk is one of the most compelling and chilling things on television. ‘Killing Eve’ is being broadcast on BBC Two on Saturday evenings but you can watch the whole series now on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p06kbg8t/killing-eve-series-1-1-nice-face
We’ve just finished watching Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s brilliant eight-part spy thriller ‘Killing Eve’ on BBC Three. Based on the Villanelle novels by Luke Jennings, ‘Killing Eve’ is the story of a MI5 agent, played by Sandra Oh, on the trail of a young female assassin linked to a series of contract killings across Europe. It is a scary and brutally violent story which is quirky and incredibly funny without ever descending into spoof. ‘Bodyguard’ creator Jed Mercurio recently said there’s no such thing as a “can’t-die” character and Phoebe Waller-Bridge seems to have taken his advice to heart, constantly shocking us by killing off someone we had assumed was one of the main characters in almost every episode. In this aspect, and in its particularly black violent humour ‘Killing Eve’ has much in common with Noah Hawley’s splendid ‘Fargo’ TV series (reviewed here in October 2017). There is a great cast: it was particularly good to see the Danish star of ‘The Bridge’ (reviewed here in January 2014), Kim Bodnia, who is a wonderful comic actor. But the star of the show, without any doubt, is Jodie Comer who is fantastic as Villanelle, making you fall completely in love with a callous, merciless killer. Her playful smirk is one of the most compelling and chilling things on television. ‘Killing Eve’ is being broadcast on BBC Two on Saturday evenings but you can watch the whole series now on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p06kbg8t/killing-eve-series-1-1-nice-face
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
'The Importance of Being Earnest' by Oscar Wilde
10 October 2018
On Tuesday we were at the Odeon in Milton Keynes to watch the live broadcast of the Classic Spring Theatre Company’s production of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ by Oscar Wilde from the Vaudeville Theatre in London’s West End. ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is such a perfect play you really don’t need to do much to it and Michael Fentiman’s production was thankfully sparing in terms of tricksy interpretations or additions. Sophie Thompson was a great Lady Bracknell – all the more menacing for being a little under-stated. Her “a handbag!” neatly avoided Edith Evans by almost swallowing the words in stunned disbelief (though she did try to have her cake and eat it by allowing herself the full Evans every other time the word “handbag” occurred!). My favourite scene is always the first encounter between Cecily and Gwendolen in the garden, and Fiona Button and Pippa Nixon did not disappoint. The play is full of wonderful quotable lines but you can’t beat: “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is always a delight and it is particularly lovely to hear the reaction of people in the audience who clearly haven’t seen the play before.
On Tuesday we were at the Odeon in Milton Keynes to watch the live broadcast of the Classic Spring Theatre Company’s production of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ by Oscar Wilde from the Vaudeville Theatre in London’s West End. ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is such a perfect play you really don’t need to do much to it and Michael Fentiman’s production was thankfully sparing in terms of tricksy interpretations or additions. Sophie Thompson was a great Lady Bracknell – all the more menacing for being a little under-stated. Her “a handbag!” neatly avoided Edith Evans by almost swallowing the words in stunned disbelief (though she did try to have her cake and eat it by allowing herself the full Evans every other time the word “handbag” occurred!). My favourite scene is always the first encounter between Cecily and Gwendolen in the garden, and Fiona Button and Pippa Nixon did not disappoint. The play is full of wonderful quotable lines but you can’t beat: “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is always a delight and it is particularly lovely to hear the reaction of people in the audience who clearly haven’t seen the play before.
Wednesday, October 03, 2018
'Bismillah' by Matthew Greenhough
3 October 2018
On Tuesday we were at the Stantonbury Theatre in Milton Keynes to see Wound Up Theatre’s production of ‘Bismillah’, written and performed by Matthew Greenhough. Somewhere in Iraq a British solider is is being held prisoner by ISIS, chained to a metal pole. But when he discovers his captor comes from London and speaks English they embark on a conversation that becomes a very black comedy. Directed by Jonny Kelly, this two-hander is a really good example of fringe theatre, with the audience on the stage, surrounding and very close to the actors. This creates a claustrophobic atmosphere – making us feel inside the prison cell. Matthew Greenhough’s script is very funny, while never forgetting the brutality of the situation. He does a great job of showing how soldiers on both sides often only have a fairly hazy grasp of what they are fighting for. The play manages to be gripping, laugh-out-loud funny and very frightening and is excellently acted by Matthew Greenhough and Elliot Liburd. It’s often uncomfortable to watch but completely compelling.
On Tuesday we were at the Stantonbury Theatre in Milton Keynes to see Wound Up Theatre’s production of ‘Bismillah’, written and performed by Matthew Greenhough. Somewhere in Iraq a British solider is is being held prisoner by ISIS, chained to a metal pole. But when he discovers his captor comes from London and speaks English they embark on a conversation that becomes a very black comedy. Directed by Jonny Kelly, this two-hander is a really good example of fringe theatre, with the audience on the stage, surrounding and very close to the actors. This creates a claustrophobic atmosphere – making us feel inside the prison cell. Matthew Greenhough’s script is very funny, while never forgetting the brutality of the situation. He does a great job of showing how soldiers on both sides often only have a fairly hazy grasp of what they are fighting for. The play manages to be gripping, laugh-out-loud funny and very frightening and is excellently acted by Matthew Greenhough and Elliot Liburd. It’s often uncomfortable to watch but completely compelling.
Friday, September 28, 2018
'Much Ado About Nothing' by William Shakespeare
28 September 2018
On Thursday I was at Stantonbury Theatre in Milton Keynes to see Merely Theatre’s production of ‘Much Ado About Nothing’. This was an enjoyable, energetic performance of Shakespeare’s comedy, with the feel of a summer outdoor production and a very impressive cast. At first I worried that they were playing the comedy too broadly: the war of words between Beatrice and Benedick should be a battle of wits to contrast with the clowning comedy of Dogberry and the Watch – like the contrast between the lovers and the rude mechanicals in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. But in the more serious moments the quality of acting shone through. And the scenes with the Watch, who appeared during the interval in hi-vis jackets to check the health and safety of the audience, were genuinely funny. There were some neat adjustments to the script to get round the challenges presented by six actors trying to play all the parts, making good use of audience members. And I loved the ensemble singing and dancing, using acoustic versions of modern pop songs to create a joyous feel to this sunny play.
On Thursday I was at Stantonbury Theatre in Milton Keynes to see Merely Theatre’s production of ‘Much Ado About Nothing’. This was an enjoyable, energetic performance of Shakespeare’s comedy, with the feel of a summer outdoor production and a very impressive cast. At first I worried that they were playing the comedy too broadly: the war of words between Beatrice and Benedick should be a battle of wits to contrast with the clowning comedy of Dogberry and the Watch – like the contrast between the lovers and the rude mechanicals in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. But in the more serious moments the quality of acting shone through. And the scenes with the Watch, who appeared during the interval in hi-vis jackets to check the health and safety of the audience, were genuinely funny. There were some neat adjustments to the script to get round the challenges presented by six actors trying to play all the parts, making good use of audience members. And I loved the ensemble singing and dancing, using acoustic versions of modern pop songs to create a joyous feel to this sunny play.
'Labyrinth' by Kate Mosse
28 September 2018
I particularly enjoyed reading Kate Mosse’s best-selling historical novel ‘Labyrinth’ while staying in Carcassonne, where it is set. Her dual narrative contrasts the real story of the siege of Carcassonne in 1209 – when the crusading army of the Papal Legate, Abbot Arnaud Amalric, sought to expel the local Occitan Cathars – with a contemporary thriller intertwined with the events in 13th century Languedoc. It was fascinating to be walking the same streets as the characters in the novel and being able to envisage the scenes within the Château Comtal where we had just been. A summary of the plot of ‘Labyrinth’ might sound reminiscent of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ but Kate Mosse’s novel is a much more literary thriller. It’s a gripping read which manages to provide masses of historical detail without ever sacrificing the pace of the plot.
I particularly enjoyed reading Kate Mosse’s best-selling historical novel ‘Labyrinth’ while staying in Carcassonne, where it is set. Her dual narrative contrasts the real story of the siege of Carcassonne in 1209 – when the crusading army of the Papal Legate, Abbot Arnaud Amalric, sought to expel the local Occitan Cathars – with a contemporary thriller intertwined with the events in 13th century Languedoc. It was fascinating to be walking the same streets as the characters in the novel and being able to envisage the scenes within the Château Comtal where we had just been. A summary of the plot of ‘Labyrinth’ might sound reminiscent of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ but Kate Mosse’s novel is a much more literary thriller. It’s a gripping read which manages to provide masses of historical detail without ever sacrificing the pace of the plot.
Carcassonne, France
28 September 2018
We had a lovely week in Carcassonne in the South of France. The medieval walled city is a stunning sight – even if its fairytale character isn’t 100% authentic, having been lovingly restored in the 19th century by Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc. Wandering around the narrow alleyways of the citadel and walking along the city walls reminded us of our visit to Dubrovnik, Croatia, in May 2017. We were fortunate to be in Carcassonne just in time to see ‘Concentric, eccentric’ – an artwork by the Swiss artist Felice Varini, who is famed for creating illusions of flat graphics superimposed on three dimensional spaces: a series of thin aluminium strips painted yellow were stuck to the walls of the medieval city to create an amazing effect when viewed from one of the city gates. Away from the citadel, Carcassonne’s ‘new town’ (built in the 13th century) Bastide Saint Louis is also very pretty, with several large open squares interrupting its grid of streets and avenues. We took a boat trip on the Canal du Midi – the canal built in the 17th century to link the Atlantic and Mediterranean. We also visited nearby Narbonne which had been the Roman provincial capital and the beautiful city of Toulouse. You can see a selection of our photos at: https://culturaloutlook.blogspot.com/search/label/Carcassonne2018
We had a lovely week in Carcassonne in the South of France. The medieval walled city is a stunning sight – even if its fairytale character isn’t 100% authentic, having been lovingly restored in the 19th century by Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc. Wandering around the narrow alleyways of the citadel and walking along the city walls reminded us of our visit to Dubrovnik, Croatia, in May 2017. We were fortunate to be in Carcassonne just in time to see ‘Concentric, eccentric’ – an artwork by the Swiss artist Felice Varini, who is famed for creating illusions of flat graphics superimposed on three dimensional spaces: a series of thin aluminium strips painted yellow were stuck to the walls of the medieval city to create an amazing effect when viewed from one of the city gates. Away from the citadel, Carcassonne’s ‘new town’ (built in the 13th century) Bastide Saint Louis is also very pretty, with several large open squares interrupting its grid of streets and avenues. We took a boat trip on the Canal du Midi – the canal built in the 17th century to link the Atlantic and Mediterranean. We also visited nearby Narbonne which had been the Roman provincial capital and the beautiful city of Toulouse. You can see a selection of our photos at: https://culturaloutlook.blogspot.com/search/label/Carcassonne2018
Thursday, September 13, 2018
‘Tidens Ekko’ by Vingefang
13 September 2018
I’ve been enjoying the debut album by Danish folk duo Vingefang, which uses distinctive Scandinavian female vocal harmonies to explore music from France, Denmark, Sweden and Brazil. ‘Tidens Ekko’ is an entertainingly varied album from Miriam Ariana (voice and strings) and Lene Høst (voice, guitar and percussion). Their singing reminded me of the Finnish groups Tuuletaar (reviewed here in January 2017 and July 2018) and Värttinä (reviewed here in August 2017). Gentle, acoustic folk with a particularly Scandinavian flavour.
I’ve been enjoying the debut album by Danish folk duo Vingefang, which uses distinctive Scandinavian female vocal harmonies to explore music from France, Denmark, Sweden and Brazil. ‘Tidens Ekko’ is an entertainingly varied album from Miriam Ariana (voice and strings) and Lene Høst (voice, guitar and percussion). Their singing reminded me of the Finnish groups Tuuletaar (reviewed here in January 2017 and July 2018) and Värttinä (reviewed here in August 2017). Gentle, acoustic folk with a particularly Scandinavian flavour.
Friday, September 07, 2018
'Julie' by Polly Stenham
7 September 2018
On Thursday we were at the Odeon in Milton Keynes to watch the NT Live broadcast of ‘Julie’ - Polly Stenham’s contemporary updating of ‘Miss Julie’ by August Strindberg, live from the National Theatre in London. I haven’t seen the original play so I’m not sure how closely this version follows Strindberg but Polly Stenham had definitely created a believable modern setting for this tale of class, power and sex. All three actors – Vanessa Kirby, Eric Kofi Abrefa and Thalissa Teixeira – were magnificent, and the NT Live camera close-ups made for an often uncomfortably intimate examination of their emotional journeys. Vanessa Kirby – best known for playing Princess Margaret in ‘The Crown’ – made Julie more than the simple, spoiled rich woman who has never grown up that she first appears. And Stenham’s script found much humour and wit amongst the bleakness of the characters’ lives. I enjoyed the way each of the characters constantly undercut our expectations of them, demonstrating a greater awareness and understanding than we had assumed. ‘Julie’ is a fairly bleak drama but it’s a powerful and intriguing production with some very impressive acting.
On Thursday we were at the Odeon in Milton Keynes to watch the NT Live broadcast of ‘Julie’ - Polly Stenham’s contemporary updating of ‘Miss Julie’ by August Strindberg, live from the National Theatre in London. I haven’t seen the original play so I’m not sure how closely this version follows Strindberg but Polly Stenham had definitely created a believable modern setting for this tale of class, power and sex. All three actors – Vanessa Kirby, Eric Kofi Abrefa and Thalissa Teixeira – were magnificent, and the NT Live camera close-ups made for an often uncomfortably intimate examination of their emotional journeys. Vanessa Kirby – best known for playing Princess Margaret in ‘The Crown’ – made Julie more than the simple, spoiled rich woman who has never grown up that she first appears. And Stenham’s script found much humour and wit amongst the bleakness of the characters’ lives. I enjoyed the way each of the characters constantly undercut our expectations of them, demonstrating a greater awareness and understanding than we had assumed. ‘Julie’ is a fairly bleak drama but it’s a powerful and intriguing production with some very impressive acting.
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Edinburgh Festivals 2018
30 August 2018
We had a wonderful time at the Edinburgh Festivals last week, seeing 26 shows including theatre, music, comedy and poetry. We enjoyed catching up with some old favourites such as the comedians Simon Munnery (recounting his experience of working as a cleaner in a Bedfordshire chicken factory) and Owen O’Neill (with ‘Ten Songs to Die For’ - another beautifully constructed and brilliantly performed piece of theatrical storytelling). It was also good to see another play by the impressive young duo Roxy Dunn and Alys Metcalf, whose previous work ‘In Tents and Purposes’ we really enjoyed at the Edinburgh Fringe two years ago. Their new show, ‘You Only Live Forever’, featured the same comic meta-dissection of the writing process and squabbling between the performers, bearing some resemblance to the marvellous National Theatre of Brent. Our musical highlight was an incredibly exciting Edinburgh International Festival debut by the Colbourn Orchestra – a youth orchestra from the Colbourn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles. Conductor Stéphane Denève drew a thrilling performance from the young musicians, starting with Esa-Pekka Salonen’s highly entertaining ‘Nyx’. The orchestra were joined by fellow Colbourn student Simone Porter for the gorgeous ‘Violin Concerto’ by Samuel Barber, galloping through the seemingly impossible final movement with ease. Rachmaninov’s ‘Symphonic Dances’ had audience and orchestra on the edge of their seats and an encore of Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Overture to Candide’ provided a stunning finish to a wonderful concert. Our theatrical highlights included Lily Bevan’s new two-hander ‘Zoo’ - a funny and poignant story of a cross-Atlantic friendship, natural disaster and bats. We really enjoyed Alison Skilbeck’s one-woman play 'Are There More of You' – only realising afterwards that we had seen her perform it before at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008 (reviewed here in August 2008)! We also liked Mark O’Rowe’s triptych cycle of friendship and estrangement in contemporary Dublin, ‘The Approach’, and the descent into farce in Brian Parks’ play ‘The House’ had us laughing uncontrollably. But our best discovery was the young actor Kizzy Dunn who was performing two Shakespearean adaptations by Nick Hennegan. At the end of ‘Hamlet’ the dying prince says “Oh God, Horatio, what a damaged reputation I’m leaving behind me, as no one knows the truth. If you ever loved me, then please postpone the sweet relief of death awhile, and stay in this harsh world long enough to tell my story.” In ‘Hamlet: Horatio’s Tale’ Kizzy Dunn played Horatio recounting the tragedy of his friend, in effect giving us a one-woman rendition of ‘Hamlet’ in an hour. It was a stunning performance which made us immediately book tickets for her other show, ‘Henry V: Lion of England’. Kizzy Dunn’s performance of ‘Henry V’ (again in one hour) was even more impressive: it’s the first time the St Crispin’s Day speech has actually made me cry. She is definitely a name to watch and these solo shows in a small venue where everyone is close to the action demonstrated the very best of fringe theatre.
We had a wonderful time at the Edinburgh Festivals last week, seeing 26 shows including theatre, music, comedy and poetry. We enjoyed catching up with some old favourites such as the comedians Simon Munnery (recounting his experience of working as a cleaner in a Bedfordshire chicken factory) and Owen O’Neill (with ‘Ten Songs to Die For’ - another beautifully constructed and brilliantly performed piece of theatrical storytelling). It was also good to see another play by the impressive young duo Roxy Dunn and Alys Metcalf, whose previous work ‘In Tents and Purposes’ we really enjoyed at the Edinburgh Fringe two years ago. Their new show, ‘You Only Live Forever’, featured the same comic meta-dissection of the writing process and squabbling between the performers, bearing some resemblance to the marvellous National Theatre of Brent. Our musical highlight was an incredibly exciting Edinburgh International Festival debut by the Colbourn Orchestra – a youth orchestra from the Colbourn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles. Conductor Stéphane Denève drew a thrilling performance from the young musicians, starting with Esa-Pekka Salonen’s highly entertaining ‘Nyx’. The orchestra were joined by fellow Colbourn student Simone Porter for the gorgeous ‘Violin Concerto’ by Samuel Barber, galloping through the seemingly impossible final movement with ease. Rachmaninov’s ‘Symphonic Dances’ had audience and orchestra on the edge of their seats and an encore of Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Overture to Candide’ provided a stunning finish to a wonderful concert. Our theatrical highlights included Lily Bevan’s new two-hander ‘Zoo’ - a funny and poignant story of a cross-Atlantic friendship, natural disaster and bats. We really enjoyed Alison Skilbeck’s one-woman play 'Are There More of You' – only realising afterwards that we had seen her perform it before at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008 (reviewed here in August 2008)! We also liked Mark O’Rowe’s triptych cycle of friendship and estrangement in contemporary Dublin, ‘The Approach’, and the descent into farce in Brian Parks’ play ‘The House’ had us laughing uncontrollably. But our best discovery was the young actor Kizzy Dunn who was performing two Shakespearean adaptations by Nick Hennegan. At the end of ‘Hamlet’ the dying prince says “Oh God, Horatio, what a damaged reputation I’m leaving behind me, as no one knows the truth. If you ever loved me, then please postpone the sweet relief of death awhile, and stay in this harsh world long enough to tell my story.” In ‘Hamlet: Horatio’s Tale’ Kizzy Dunn played Horatio recounting the tragedy of his friend, in effect giving us a one-woman rendition of ‘Hamlet’ in an hour. It was a stunning performance which made us immediately book tickets for her other show, ‘Henry V: Lion of England’. Kizzy Dunn’s performance of ‘Henry V’ (again in one hour) was even more impressive: it’s the first time the St Crispin’s Day speech has actually made me cry. She is definitely a name to watch and these solo shows in a small venue where everyone is close to the action demonstrated the very best of fringe theatre.
Friday, August 17, 2018
'The Long Earth' by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
17 August 2018
I am a relatively recent convert to the books of Terry Pratchett and have enjoyed starting to plough through his catalogue of gloriously silly Discworld novels. ‘The Long Earth’ is a very different Terry Pratchett book. Written with Stephen Baxter, this is more serious science fiction rather than fantasy. The premise is that there are millions of parallel Earths, each of which has evolved in slightly different ways, and suddenly mankind discovers the ability to ‘step’ between these alternative worlds at will. It’s a great thought experiment, showing different ways in which the history of our planet might have developed as a result of countless ‘sliding doors’ moments. The alternative evolutionary paths for humans reminded me of HG Wells’ ‘The Time Machine’ – not surprising perhaps as Stephen Baxter is clearly a student of Wells, having previously written the meticulously crafted homage/sequel to ‘The War of the Worlds’, 'The Massacre of Mankind' (reviewed here in February 2017). The thought experiment also explores how mankind would make use of this sudden availability of endless alternative Earths, reminding me of other science fiction about pioneers settling new worlds – such as ‘The Martian Chronicles’ by Ray Bradbury and Harry Harrison’s ‘To The Stars’ trilogy. ‘The Long Earth’ is an enthralling concept but I felt the novel needed a stronger driving narrative. It is, however, the first in a 5-book series by Pratchett and Baxter so maybe this was the necessary set-up for what follows. I look forward to finding out.
I am a relatively recent convert to the books of Terry Pratchett and have enjoyed starting to plough through his catalogue of gloriously silly Discworld novels. ‘The Long Earth’ is a very different Terry Pratchett book. Written with Stephen Baxter, this is more serious science fiction rather than fantasy. The premise is that there are millions of parallel Earths, each of which has evolved in slightly different ways, and suddenly mankind discovers the ability to ‘step’ between these alternative worlds at will. It’s a great thought experiment, showing different ways in which the history of our planet might have developed as a result of countless ‘sliding doors’ moments. The alternative evolutionary paths for humans reminded me of HG Wells’ ‘The Time Machine’ – not surprising perhaps as Stephen Baxter is clearly a student of Wells, having previously written the meticulously crafted homage/sequel to ‘The War of the Worlds’, 'The Massacre of Mankind' (reviewed here in February 2017). The thought experiment also explores how mankind would make use of this sudden availability of endless alternative Earths, reminding me of other science fiction about pioneers settling new worlds – such as ‘The Martian Chronicles’ by Ray Bradbury and Harry Harrison’s ‘To The Stars’ trilogy. ‘The Long Earth’ is an enthralling concept but I felt the novel needed a stronger driving narrative. It is, however, the first in a 5-book series by Pratchett and Baxter so maybe this was the necessary set-up for what follows. I look forward to finding out.
Friday, August 10, 2018
'The Darkness' by Ragnar Jónasson
10 August 2018
Regular readers will know of my enthusiasm for all things Icelandic and this led me to a new crime novel by Ragnar Jónasson. I have just finished reading ‘The Darkness’, translated by Victoria Cribb, as an unabridged audio book narrated by Amanda Redman. ‘The Darkness’ introduces Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir, a 64-year old police officer who is about to retire but determined to solve one final case before she hands in her badge. It is a cleverly plotted mystery and I recognised many of the places involved, from our two visits to Iceland in 2015. But it’s a very grim tale, without much light relief. Hulda has endured personal tragedy and is worried about the loneliness of retirement, and she is investigating the death of a Russian asylum seeker that is a sad and distressing tale.
Regular readers will know of my enthusiasm for all things Icelandic and this led me to a new crime novel by Ragnar Jónasson. I have just finished reading ‘The Darkness’, translated by Victoria Cribb, as an unabridged audio book narrated by Amanda Redman. ‘The Darkness’ introduces Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir, a 64-year old police officer who is about to retire but determined to solve one final case before she hands in her badge. It is a cleverly plotted mystery and I recognised many of the places involved, from our two visits to Iceland in 2015. But it’s a very grim tale, without much light relief. Hulda has endured personal tragedy and is worried about the loneliness of retirement, and she is investigating the death of a Russian asylum seeker that is a sad and distressing tale.
Thursday, August 02, 2018
‘Little Women’ by Louisa May Alcott, adapted by Laura Turner
2 August 2018
I haven’t read ‘Little Women’ by Louisa May Alcott, and had somehow previously managed to avoid its many adaptations, so I came completely fresh to the story as I watched Chapterhouse Theatre Company’s open-air production, adapted by Laura Turner, in the beautiful gardens of Wrest Park, Silsoe, on Tuesday. We saw the same Chapterhouse cast perform ‘Sense & Sensibility’ at Claydon House near Buckingham a few weeks ago and it was interesting to see the parallels between Jane Austen and ‘Little Women’. It was also nice to have that ‘repertory company’ experience of recognising the actors, with Alexandra Lansdale and Hannah Lawrence stealing the show in the two plays as the youngest siblings (Amy in ‘Little Women’ and Margaret Dashwood in ‘Sense and Sensibility’). ‘Little Women’ was an enjoyable and moving story, clearly bringing out the different personalities of the four March sisters. And it was refreshing to see an open-air theatre production of something other than Shakespeare or Austen – and not to know in advance how it was going to end!
I haven’t read ‘Little Women’ by Louisa May Alcott, and had somehow previously managed to avoid its many adaptations, so I came completely fresh to the story as I watched Chapterhouse Theatre Company’s open-air production, adapted by Laura Turner, in the beautiful gardens of Wrest Park, Silsoe, on Tuesday. We saw the same Chapterhouse cast perform ‘Sense & Sensibility’ at Claydon House near Buckingham a few weeks ago and it was interesting to see the parallels between Jane Austen and ‘Little Women’. It was also nice to have that ‘repertory company’ experience of recognising the actors, with Alexandra Lansdale and Hannah Lawrence stealing the show in the two plays as the youngest siblings (Amy in ‘Little Women’ and Margaret Dashwood in ‘Sense and Sensibility’). ‘Little Women’ was an enjoyable and moving story, clearly bringing out the different personalities of the four March sisters. And it was refreshing to see an open-air theatre production of something other than Shakespeare or Austen – and not to know in advance how it was going to end!
Monday, July 30, 2018
WOMAD 2018
30 July 2018
This year’s WOMAD Festival at Charlton Park in Wiltshire had mixed weather but the threatened torrential downpours failed to materialise and we only had a little light rain on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. The music was eclectic as ever. My personal highlights, from the 17 full performances I saw, included gentle acoustic songs from Estonian singer Mari Kalkun, the pan-American female quartet LADAMA (from Columbia, Brazil, Venezuela and the USA) and a long-overdue opportunity to see the wonderful Amparo Sanchez and her band Amparanoia. This was a WOMAD for catching up with artists I have enjoyed listening to for years but never before had the chance to see perform live. French vocal gymnast Camille (reviewed here in May 2008) proved as impressive, bizarre and compelling as I had hoped, with a stunning show on the main Open Air Stage on Saturday evening, featuring some great dancing. And the young, female, a cappella, Finnish folk hop quartet Tuuletar (reviewed here in January 2017 when I compared them to Camille) were stunning live performers as well as being hilarious and charming in their appearance at the Taste the World stage (where they demonstrated how to make traditional Karelian pie). But my favourite performance of WOMAD 2018 was the Bollywood Brass Band with the South Indian violinist Jyotsna Srikanth. I loved Sarha Moore and Kay Charlton’s new soundtrack for the finale of the amazing 1948 film 'Chandralekha’ which the band performed live with the film on Saturday afternoon. It starts with the epic scene where 400 dancers perform on top of enormous drums: suddenly the drums open up to reveal armies of soldiers who attack the stronghold – it’s an incredible spectacle. Then the Bollywood Brass Band played their new four-movement ‘Carnatic Suite: A Day In Bangalore’, composed with Jyotsna Srikanth and featuring the amazing South Indian percussionist and vocalist RN Prakash. It was a great performance from a really enjoyable festival. You can see a selection of my photos from WOMAD 2018 at: https://culturaloutlook.blogspot.com/search/label/WOMAD2018
This year’s WOMAD Festival at Charlton Park in Wiltshire had mixed weather but the threatened torrential downpours failed to materialise and we only had a little light rain on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. The music was eclectic as ever. My personal highlights, from the 17 full performances I saw, included gentle acoustic songs from Estonian singer Mari Kalkun, the pan-American female quartet LADAMA (from Columbia, Brazil, Venezuela and the USA) and a long-overdue opportunity to see the wonderful Amparo Sanchez and her band Amparanoia. This was a WOMAD for catching up with artists I have enjoyed listening to for years but never before had the chance to see perform live. French vocal gymnast Camille (reviewed here in May 2008) proved as impressive, bizarre and compelling as I had hoped, with a stunning show on the main Open Air Stage on Saturday evening, featuring some great dancing. And the young, female, a cappella, Finnish folk hop quartet Tuuletar (reviewed here in January 2017 when I compared them to Camille) were stunning live performers as well as being hilarious and charming in their appearance at the Taste the World stage (where they demonstrated how to make traditional Karelian pie). But my favourite performance of WOMAD 2018 was the Bollywood Brass Band with the South Indian violinist Jyotsna Srikanth. I loved Sarha Moore and Kay Charlton’s new soundtrack for the finale of the amazing 1948 film 'Chandralekha’ which the band performed live with the film on Saturday afternoon. It starts with the epic scene where 400 dancers perform on top of enormous drums: suddenly the drums open up to reveal armies of soldiers who attack the stronghold – it’s an incredible spectacle. Then the Bollywood Brass Band played their new four-movement ‘Carnatic Suite: A Day In Bangalore’, composed with Jyotsna Srikanth and featuring the amazing South Indian percussionist and vocalist RN Prakash. It was a great performance from a really enjoyable festival. You can see a selection of my photos from WOMAD 2018 at: https://culturaloutlook.blogspot.com/search/label/WOMAD2018
Thursday, July 26, 2018
'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare
26 July 2018
Last weekend saw the start of the 2018 Milton Keynes International Festival. On Saturday afternoon we were at Fred Roche Gardens in central Milton Keynes to see an open-air production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by the Handlebards. In a similar vein to the Pantaloons (reviewed here in August 2013 and August 2015) the Handlebards use a very broad, silly approach to open-air theatre – helping themselves to food from the audience’s picnics and coming out of character to comment on each other’s performances. The Handlebards take Shakespeare around the country on bicycles and make good use of bicycle bells throughout the performance. The four young female actors each play multiple parts (sometimes within the same scene) but they are extremely easy to follow. Despite the silliness the acting is very impressive and they maintain the integrity of the play, finding real emotion amongst the fun. In the programme they point out that Shakespeare’s legendary romance “centres around what is, essentially, a three-day fling between two Year 9 students” and Sian Eleanor Green and Lucy Green give Romeo and Juliet a touching earnestness alongside their incompetent naivety.
Last weekend saw the start of the 2018 Milton Keynes International Festival. On Saturday afternoon we were at Fred Roche Gardens in central Milton Keynes to see an open-air production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by the Handlebards. In a similar vein to the Pantaloons (reviewed here in August 2013 and August 2015) the Handlebards use a very broad, silly approach to open-air theatre – helping themselves to food from the audience’s picnics and coming out of character to comment on each other’s performances. The Handlebards take Shakespeare around the country on bicycles and make good use of bicycle bells throughout the performance. The four young female actors each play multiple parts (sometimes within the same scene) but they are extremely easy to follow. Despite the silliness the acting is very impressive and they maintain the integrity of the play, finding real emotion amongst the fun. In the programme they point out that Shakespeare’s legendary romance “centres around what is, essentially, a three-day fling between two Year 9 students” and Sian Eleanor Green and Lucy Green give Romeo and Juliet a touching earnestness alongside their incompetent naivety.
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert
18 July 2018
The Northampton Symphony Orchestra Friends’ Concert is a thank you to the Friends of the Orchestra at the end of our concert season – a short Sunday afternoon concert, followed by a buffet, which always feels like the proper start of summer. It is also a chance for the orchestra to play a selection of shorter pieces that wouldn’t fit within our main concert programmes. This year we concluded our season of works inspired by visual art by playing Respighi’s ‘Trittico Botticelliano’ – three pieces based on paintings by Botticelli. We also played Ravel’s suite of dances, ‘Le Tombeau de Couperin’ and the ‘Ritual Fire Dance’ by Manuel de Falla. There was a beautiful flute solo by Graham Tear in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ ‘Fantasia on Greensleeves’ and we finished with ‘Tangazo – Variations on Buenos Aires’ by Astor Piazzolla – a fun piece with a challenging horn solo which I’ve been practising hard over the past few weeks. Despite it coming at the end of the concert it seemed to go fairly well and was very enjoyable to play. Finally we said thank you to Nick Bunker who is about to step down as Chairman of the NSO after more than 25 years on the committee. Nick has been the driving force behind the orchestra for all the years I have played in it and has kept us going through some difficult times.
The Northampton Symphony Orchestra Friends’ Concert is a thank you to the Friends of the Orchestra at the end of our concert season – a short Sunday afternoon concert, followed by a buffet, which always feels like the proper start of summer. It is also a chance for the orchestra to play a selection of shorter pieces that wouldn’t fit within our main concert programmes. This year we concluded our season of works inspired by visual art by playing Respighi’s ‘Trittico Botticelliano’ – three pieces based on paintings by Botticelli. We also played Ravel’s suite of dances, ‘Le Tombeau de Couperin’ and the ‘Ritual Fire Dance’ by Manuel de Falla. There was a beautiful flute solo by Graham Tear in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ ‘Fantasia on Greensleeves’ and we finished with ‘Tangazo – Variations on Buenos Aires’ by Astor Piazzolla – a fun piece with a challenging horn solo which I’ve been practising hard over the past few weeks. Despite it coming at the end of the concert it seemed to go fairly well and was very enjoyable to play. Finally we said thank you to Nick Bunker who is about to step down as Chairman of the NSO after more than 25 years on the committee. Nick has been the driving force behind the orchestra for all the years I have played in it and has kept us going through some difficult times.
Friday, July 06, 2018
Wimbledon 2018
6 July 2018
On Thursday we were lucky enough to have tickets for Centre Court at Wimbledon. It was an incredibly hot and we were quite near the front in the fierce sunshine, but it was worth it to see three really entertaining, if a little one-sided, matches. We saw Rafael Nadal, for the first time since 2011, beating Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets to reach the third round. We then watched Johanna Konta lose to Dominika Cibulkova. Finally we enjoyed seeing Kyle Edmund defeat the American Bradley Klahn to set up a meeting with Novak Djokovic on Saturday.
On Thursday we were lucky enough to have tickets for Centre Court at Wimbledon. It was an incredibly hot and we were quite near the front in the fierce sunshine, but it was worth it to see three really entertaining, if a little one-sided, matches. We saw Rafael Nadal, for the first time since 2011, beating Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets to reach the third round. We then watched Johanna Konta lose to Dominika Cibulkova. Finally we enjoyed seeing Kyle Edmund defeat the American Bradley Klahn to set up a meeting with Novak Djokovic on Saturday.
Thursday, June 28, 2018
'Rivers of London' by Ben Aaronovitch
28 June 2018
I’ve really enjoyed reading Ben Aaronovitch’s novel, ‘Rivers of London’, which I read as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Kobna Holdrook-Smith. This is a contemporary, carefully-researched and realistic police procedural detective story, told by a London police constable who is seconded to the Metropolitan Police’s secret division of wizards dealing with magic and supernatural crimes. The blend of real-world policing and fantasy is clever, thrilling and very funny. ‘Rivers of London’ acknowledges the influence of Harry Potter but this is a very knowing, adult novel with sex, violence, bad language and ghosts. PC Peter Grant is a droll first person narrator, thrust into a baffling world of magic and desperately trying to apply all his standard police training to increasingly impossible situations. It’s a very entertaining tale, with a literary link between the serial killer’s seemingly random crimes that is very satisfying when you discover it. Best of all this is the first in a series of Peter Grant novels by Ben Aaronovitch: I’m looking forward to reading them all.
I’ve really enjoyed reading Ben Aaronovitch’s novel, ‘Rivers of London’, which I read as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Kobna Holdrook-Smith. This is a contemporary, carefully-researched and realistic police procedural detective story, told by a London police constable who is seconded to the Metropolitan Police’s secret division of wizards dealing with magic and supernatural crimes. The blend of real-world policing and fantasy is clever, thrilling and very funny. ‘Rivers of London’ acknowledges the influence of Harry Potter but this is a very knowing, adult novel with sex, violence, bad language and ghosts. PC Peter Grant is a droll first person narrator, thrust into a baffling world of magic and desperately trying to apply all his standard police training to increasingly impossible situations. It’s a very entertaining tale, with a literary link between the serial killer’s seemingly random crimes that is very satisfying when you discover it. Best of all this is the first in a series of Peter Grant novels by Ben Aaronovitch: I’m looking forward to reading them all.
Baltic Cruise
28 June 2018
We spent the last two weeks on the Cunard ship Queen Elizabeth on a wonderful Baltic cruise – with calm seas and glorious weather almost the whole time. We visited seven countries, calling at capital cities (Oslo, Helsinki and Riga), small towns and countryside (Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland and Klaipeda in Lithuania), the spectacle of St Petersburg and the beautiful medieval city of Gdansk in Poland. It was fascinating to be in Russia during the early stages of the World Cup: visiting some of the royal palaces outside St Petersburg we saw football fans from a variety of countries, and we drove past the stunning new football stadium in St Petersburg. We enjoyed all the places we visited but we were particularly taken by the pretty old town in Gdansk – much of which was carefully recreated after the destruction of World War II. You can see a small selection of my holiday photos at: http://culturaloutlook.blogspot.com/search/label/Baltic2018
We spent the last two weeks on the Cunard ship Queen Elizabeth on a wonderful Baltic cruise – with calm seas and glorious weather almost the whole time. We visited seven countries, calling at capital cities (Oslo, Helsinki and Riga), small towns and countryside (Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland and Klaipeda in Lithuania), the spectacle of St Petersburg and the beautiful medieval city of Gdansk in Poland. It was fascinating to be in Russia during the early stages of the World Cup: visiting some of the royal palaces outside St Petersburg we saw football fans from a variety of countries, and we drove past the stunning new football stadium in St Petersburg. We enjoyed all the places we visited but we were particularly taken by the pretty old town in Gdansk – much of which was carefully recreated after the destruction of World War II. You can see a small selection of my holiday photos at: http://culturaloutlook.blogspot.com/search/label/Baltic2018
Friday, June 08, 2018
'Orchestral Music, Volume One’ by William Wordsworth
8 June 2018
It’s been a good day for Northampton Symphony Orchestra conductor John Gibbons. A tireless champion of under-rated British composers, John has programmed Charles Villiers Stanford’s ‘Symphony No 6’ for our NSO concert next Saturday, 16 June, at St Matthews Church in Northampton. Remarkably, it appears this may be the first public performance of this lovely symphony for more than 100 years. It’s a really enjoyable piece – reminiscent of Glazunov’s ‘Symphony No 5 (The Heroic)’ which we played with NSO last year (reviewed here in March 2017) and with elements of Richard Strauss. It has been great to get to know the symphony over the last few weeks, even though I am not able to play in the concert (the first NSO concert I have missed for some years). This morning Petroc Trelawny played the first movement of Stanford ‘Symphony No 6’ on BBC Radio 3 and gave the NSO concert a plug. Coincidentally John Gibbons’ new CD with the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra was favourably reviewed by Andrew Clements in today’s Guardian, see: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jun/07/william-wordsworth-orchestral-music-volume-i-cd-review-forgotten-voice-of-quiet-assurance. ‘William Wordsworth: Orchestral Music, Volume One’ is the first in a new series of recordings from Toccata Classics. This William Wordsworth (1908-88) was the great-great-grandson of the poet’s brother Christopher. John’s CD features Wordsworth’s 4th and 8th symphonies together with his ‘Divertimento in D Major’ and the playful ‘Variations on a Scottish Theme’. Wordsworth’s music is tuneful and romantic – easy to listen to but with enough complexity and depth to be worth getting to know. Sounds like it would be fun to play ...
It’s been a good day for Northampton Symphony Orchestra conductor John Gibbons. A tireless champion of under-rated British composers, John has programmed Charles Villiers Stanford’s ‘Symphony No 6’ for our NSO concert next Saturday, 16 June, at St Matthews Church in Northampton. Remarkably, it appears this may be the first public performance of this lovely symphony for more than 100 years. It’s a really enjoyable piece – reminiscent of Glazunov’s ‘Symphony No 5 (The Heroic)’ which we played with NSO last year (reviewed here in March 2017) and with elements of Richard Strauss. It has been great to get to know the symphony over the last few weeks, even though I am not able to play in the concert (the first NSO concert I have missed for some years). This morning Petroc Trelawny played the first movement of Stanford ‘Symphony No 6’ on BBC Radio 3 and gave the NSO concert a plug. Coincidentally John Gibbons’ new CD with the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra was favourably reviewed by Andrew Clements in today’s Guardian, see: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jun/07/william-wordsworth-orchestral-music-volume-i-cd-review-forgotten-voice-of-quiet-assurance. ‘William Wordsworth: Orchestral Music, Volume One’ is the first in a new series of recordings from Toccata Classics. This William Wordsworth (1908-88) was the great-great-grandson of the poet’s brother Christopher. John’s CD features Wordsworth’s 4th and 8th symphonies together with his ‘Divertimento in D Major’ and the playful ‘Variations on a Scottish Theme’. Wordsworth’s music is tuneful and romantic – easy to listen to but with enough complexity and depth to be worth getting to know. Sounds like it would be fun to play ...
Friday, June 01, 2018
‘Education, Education, Education’ by The Wardrobe Ensemble
1 June 2018
On Tuesday we were at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton to see ‘Education, Education, Education’ by The Wardrobe Ensemble. This play takes place in a comprehensive school on the day after Labour’s landslide general election win in May 1997. Looking forward to the prospect of massive new funding for schools, it highlights the state of education at the time and enjoys its 1990s pop-culture references. With a cast of seven playing both the teachers and the pupils, often talking directly to the audience, it reminded me of John Godber’s ‘Teechers’ (reviewed here in September 2010). The adults playing children was also similar to 'Blue Remembered Hills' by Dennis Potter (reviewed here in June 2013). While the script of ‘Education, Education, Education’ wasn’t as sophisticated as either of those other plays, The Wardrobe Ensemble’s physical movement was excellent. It was a really slick ensemble performance with brilliant timing. In the end it felt more like a fairly conventional school story, rather than having much to save about the politics of education funding, but it was really enjoyable and drew a ratpurous reception from the Royal Theatre audience.
On Tuesday we were at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton to see ‘Education, Education, Education’ by The Wardrobe Ensemble. This play takes place in a comprehensive school on the day after Labour’s landslide general election win in May 1997. Looking forward to the prospect of massive new funding for schools, it highlights the state of education at the time and enjoys its 1990s pop-culture references. With a cast of seven playing both the teachers and the pupils, often talking directly to the audience, it reminded me of John Godber’s ‘Teechers’ (reviewed here in September 2010). The adults playing children was also similar to 'Blue Remembered Hills' by Dennis Potter (reviewed here in June 2013). While the script of ‘Education, Education, Education’ wasn’t as sophisticated as either of those other plays, The Wardrobe Ensemble’s physical movement was excellent. It was a really slick ensemble performance with brilliant timing. In the end it felt more like a fairly conventional school story, rather than having much to save about the politics of education funding, but it was really enjoyable and drew a ratpurous reception from the Royal Theatre audience.
'Nigel Slater's Toast' by Henry Filloux-Bennett
1 June 2018
On Saturday we were at The Lowry in Salford for Week 53 – The Lowry’s ‘Festival for the Compulsively Curious’ which focuses on using the building in unusual ways and giving the audience access to areas that are normally out of bounds. We were there to see Henry Filloux-Bennett’s new adaptation of Nigel Slater’s ‘Toast’ – the chef’s ever-popular childhood memoir, told through a series of short food-based episodes (reviewed here in November 2009). This fringe-scale drama was being performed in the main Lyric Theatre but with the auditorium closed off and both audience and actors on the stage (much like the Royal Theatre Northampton production of ‘Private Fears in Public Places’ by Alan Ayckbourn, reviewed here in July 2009). Unfortunately technical problems delayed the start of the performance for more than an hour, testing the patience of the audience. This late start, combined with the interval taking place in a pop-up bar in the theatre’s scene dock which meant a visit to the toilets required a long walk out of The Lowry, along the quay and back into a deserted part of the building – made for a bizarre evening at the theatre. Fortunately Jonnie Riordan’s production of ‘Toast’ brilliantly won us over – not least by feeding the audience with a constant supply of sweets and cakes (all carefully chosen to relate to particular moments in Nigel Slater’s story). The energetic cast of five playing multiple parts really brought this evocation of childhood to life. The cartoon kitchen set (by Libby Watson) added to the dreamlike recollections from the perspective of the nine-year old Nigel (excellently played by Sam Newton). And the mixture of humour and poignancy was nicely judged, with the actors occasionally breaking the fourth wall but not over-using this device. This was a very physical production with some beautifully choreographed movement. ‘Toast’ is a charming, sad, funny book and the stage adaptation really did it justice.
On Saturday we were at The Lowry in Salford for Week 53 – The Lowry’s ‘Festival for the Compulsively Curious’ which focuses on using the building in unusual ways and giving the audience access to areas that are normally out of bounds. We were there to see Henry Filloux-Bennett’s new adaptation of Nigel Slater’s ‘Toast’ – the chef’s ever-popular childhood memoir, told through a series of short food-based episodes (reviewed here in November 2009). This fringe-scale drama was being performed in the main Lyric Theatre but with the auditorium closed off and both audience and actors on the stage (much like the Royal Theatre Northampton production of ‘Private Fears in Public Places’ by Alan Ayckbourn, reviewed here in July 2009). Unfortunately technical problems delayed the start of the performance for more than an hour, testing the patience of the audience. This late start, combined with the interval taking place in a pop-up bar in the theatre’s scene dock which meant a visit to the toilets required a long walk out of The Lowry, along the quay and back into a deserted part of the building – made for a bizarre evening at the theatre. Fortunately Jonnie Riordan’s production of ‘Toast’ brilliantly won us over – not least by feeding the audience with a constant supply of sweets and cakes (all carefully chosen to relate to particular moments in Nigel Slater’s story). The energetic cast of five playing multiple parts really brought this evocation of childhood to life. The cartoon kitchen set (by Libby Watson) added to the dreamlike recollections from the perspective of the nine-year old Nigel (excellently played by Sam Newton). And the mixture of humour and poignancy was nicely judged, with the actors occasionally breaking the fourth wall but not over-using this device. This was a very physical production with some beautifully choreographed movement. ‘Toast’ is a charming, sad, funny book and the stage adaptation really did it justice.
Friday, May 25, 2018
'Sandra' by Kevin Moffett and Matthew Derby
25 May 2018
I’ve just finished listening to ‘Sandra’ – the new audio drama from the American podcast powerhouse Gimlet Media. Written by Kevin Moffett and Matthew Derby and directed by Sebastian Silva, ‘Sandra’ is a comedy-drama about an Alexa/Siri-type digital assistant that is actually operated by an army of real human beings in a call centre. It stars Kristen Wiig as Sandra and Alia Shawkat as Helen who hopes to transform her life after she lands a new job with the company that makes Sandra. Through seven half-hour podcasts, it addresses very current issues of privacy, artificial intelligence and loneliness. But it’s also very funny, with some great characters. I particularly liked Delia, Helen’s cranky, quirky mother-in-law, played by Madonna Cacciatore. You can listen to all seven episodes now, see: https://www.gimletmedia.com/sandra
I’ve just finished listening to ‘Sandra’ – the new audio drama from the American podcast powerhouse Gimlet Media. Written by Kevin Moffett and Matthew Derby and directed by Sebastian Silva, ‘Sandra’ is a comedy-drama about an Alexa/Siri-type digital assistant that is actually operated by an army of real human beings in a call centre. It stars Kristen Wiig as Sandra and Alia Shawkat as Helen who hopes to transform her life after she lands a new job with the company that makes Sandra. Through seven half-hour podcasts, it addresses very current issues of privacy, artificial intelligence and loneliness. But it’s also very funny, with some great characters. I particularly liked Delia, Helen’s cranky, quirky mother-in-law, played by Madonna Cacciatore. You can listen to all seven episodes now, see: https://www.gimletmedia.com/sandra
Friday, May 18, 2018
BBC Young Musician 2018
18 May 2018
2018 is the 40th anniversary of the BBC Young Musician competition, making me feel very old as I can remember the first one in 1978 (and most of the subsequent biennial competitions). I have written here about the past six finals (see: http://culturaldessert.blogspot.com/search/label/BBCYoungMusician) and I think the 2016 Concerto Final (reviewed here in May 2016) may have been the best ever. It was always going to be difficult for this year’s Concerto Final, at Symphony Hall in Birmingham last Sunday, to match the level of its predecessor but it did feature another astounding winner. Most of my writing about BBC Young Musician seems to relate to my own degree of success in predicting the winners. This time I must admit I initially misjudged the eventual winner Lauren Zhang. She didn’t even feature in my top three of the five competitors in the keyboards category final as I mistook her shyness and intensity for a lack of musical personality. By the time I had seen her perform again in the semi-final last Friday I realised my mistake and became convinced she would emerge as the overall winner of this year’s competition. Her performance in Sunday’s final of Prokofiev’s ‘Piano Concerto No 2’ was astounding: I think she could have won on the basis of the remarkable first movement cadenza alone. It was a good example of how the competition often seems to unearth someone really special. After a few years in the wilderness the BBC has now got its coverage of Young Musician just about perfect – restrained, respectful and very focussed on the music. So it was a real shame to end the final by pointing a microphone at Lauren Zhang at her moment of triumph to ask her “how do you feel?” – just don’t do that. But otherwise it was a lovely final with excellent performances by ‘cellist Maxim Calver and saxophone player Rob Burton before Lauren Zhang’s Prokofiev took us to a different level.
2018 is the 40th anniversary of the BBC Young Musician competition, making me feel very old as I can remember the first one in 1978 (and most of the subsequent biennial competitions). I have written here about the past six finals (see: http://culturaldessert.blogspot.com/search/label/BBCYoungMusician) and I think the 2016 Concerto Final (reviewed here in May 2016) may have been the best ever. It was always going to be difficult for this year’s Concerto Final, at Symphony Hall in Birmingham last Sunday, to match the level of its predecessor but it did feature another astounding winner. Most of my writing about BBC Young Musician seems to relate to my own degree of success in predicting the winners. This time I must admit I initially misjudged the eventual winner Lauren Zhang. She didn’t even feature in my top three of the five competitors in the keyboards category final as I mistook her shyness and intensity for a lack of musical personality. By the time I had seen her perform again in the semi-final last Friday I realised my mistake and became convinced she would emerge as the overall winner of this year’s competition. Her performance in Sunday’s final of Prokofiev’s ‘Piano Concerto No 2’ was astounding: I think she could have won on the basis of the remarkable first movement cadenza alone. It was a good example of how the competition often seems to unearth someone really special. After a few years in the wilderness the BBC has now got its coverage of Young Musician just about perfect – restrained, respectful and very focussed on the music. So it was a real shame to end the final by pointing a microphone at Lauren Zhang at her moment of triumph to ask her “how do you feel?” – just don’t do that. But otherwise it was a lovely final with excellent performances by ‘cellist Maxim Calver and saxophone player Rob Burton before Lauren Zhang’s Prokofiev took us to a different level.
Jeremy Hardy
18 May 2018
I have written here before of my admiration for Jeremy Hardy (in March 2007 and October 2013), but seeing him at The Stables in Milton Keynes last Saturday confirmed to me that he really is a comedian at the top of his game. His apparently casual, stream-of-consciousness delivery is actually incredibly cleverly constructed. He didn’t spend quite as long on stage as Danny Baker (who we saw the week before at Warwick Arts Centre) but Jeremy Hardy similarly barely paused for breath and talked through the many laughs rather than attempting to milk them. As usual there was a lot of politics and he didn’t shy away from uncomfortable subjects including Syria, Brexit, the Skripal poisoning and anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. But Jeremy Hardy always manages to cover such heavy topics with a lightness of touch, and also found time for plenty of middle class anxiety (not realising that the National Trust and English Heritage are separate organisations) and middle-aged frustration (being mistaken for someone taking a selfie when he was just holding his phone at arm’s length to read a text message without his reading glasses).
I have written here before of my admiration for Jeremy Hardy (in March 2007 and October 2013), but seeing him at The Stables in Milton Keynes last Saturday confirmed to me that he really is a comedian at the top of his game. His apparently casual, stream-of-consciousness delivery is actually incredibly cleverly constructed. He didn’t spend quite as long on stage as Danny Baker (who we saw the week before at Warwick Arts Centre) but Jeremy Hardy similarly barely paused for breath and talked through the many laughs rather than attempting to milk them. As usual there was a lot of politics and he didn’t shy away from uncomfortable subjects including Syria, Brexit, the Skripal poisoning and anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. But Jeremy Hardy always manages to cover such heavy topics with a lightness of touch, and also found time for plenty of middle class anxiety (not realising that the National Trust and English Heritage are separate organisations) and middle-aged frustration (being mistaken for someone taking a selfie when he was just holding his phone at arm’s length to read a text message without his reading glasses).
Friday, May 11, 2018
‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ by Tennessee Williams
11 May 2018
We last saw ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ by Tennessee Williams at the Novello Theatre in London’s West End in 2010 (reviewed here in February 2010) – a production memorable for James Earl Jones’ show-stealing performance as Big Daddy. On Tuesday we were at the Quarry Theatre in Bedford to see an encore screening of the NT Live broadcast of the Young Vic production of the play directed by Benedict Andrews. It was a gripping and powerfully acted performance with Sienna Miller very impressive as Maggie and Jack O’Connell a weary, muscular, ever-present Brick. Colm Meaney was great as Big Daddy – his expressive face betraying his constant frustration with his family and demonstrating a comic double-take that Oliver Hardy would have been proud of. Seeing the broadcast on a hot stuffy day in Bedford only helped to emphasise the stifling feel of the play.
We last saw ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ by Tennessee Williams at the Novello Theatre in London’s West End in 2010 (reviewed here in February 2010) – a production memorable for James Earl Jones’ show-stealing performance as Big Daddy. On Tuesday we were at the Quarry Theatre in Bedford to see an encore screening of the NT Live broadcast of the Young Vic production of the play directed by Benedict Andrews. It was a gripping and powerfully acted performance with Sienna Miller very impressive as Maggie and Jack O’Connell a weary, muscular, ever-present Brick. Colm Meaney was great as Big Daddy – his expressive face betraying his constant frustration with his family and demonstrating a comic double-take that Oliver Hardy would have been proud of. Seeing the broadcast on a hot stuffy day in Bedford only helped to emphasise the stifling feel of the play.
Danny Baker
11 May 2018
I have written here before of my admiration for the writer and broadcaster Danny Baker (reviewing the first two volumes of his autobiography here in July 2013 and April 2016). On Saturday we had the privilege of seeing him live at Warwick Arts Centre, on his second tour of anecdotes and reminiscences. Danny Baker is a brilliant storyteller – completely engaging and incredibly funny. He has a manic energy and an obsessive need to cram in as much as possible. Constantly pacing up and down and maintaining a rapid fire delivery with hardly a pause for breath, he came on stage at 7.30 pm and finished just after 11.00 pm, having failed to get through most of what he had planned to say. This was partly because he felt obliged to fill in most of the backstory of his childhood for the benefit of anyone who had missed his first tour a year ago (saying, with hindsight, “I should have done an early show at 5 pm for those of you who need to catch up”). He eventually got to ‘the rock ‘n’ roll years’ – recounting his experiences of working as a journalist at the NME and getting his break as a television presenter. But there is clearly much still left to tell and I can’t wait for the next instalment.
I have written here before of my admiration for the writer and broadcaster Danny Baker (reviewing the first two volumes of his autobiography here in July 2013 and April 2016). On Saturday we had the privilege of seeing him live at Warwick Arts Centre, on his second tour of anecdotes and reminiscences. Danny Baker is a brilliant storyteller – completely engaging and incredibly funny. He has a manic energy and an obsessive need to cram in as much as possible. Constantly pacing up and down and maintaining a rapid fire delivery with hardly a pause for breath, he came on stage at 7.30 pm and finished just after 11.00 pm, having failed to get through most of what he had planned to say. This was partly because he felt obliged to fill in most of the backstory of his childhood for the benefit of anyone who had missed his first tour a year ago (saying, with hindsight, “I should have done an early show at 5 pm for those of you who need to catch up”). He eventually got to ‘the rock ‘n’ roll years’ – recounting his experiences of working as a journalist at the NME and getting his break as a television presenter. But there is clearly much still left to tell and I can’t wait for the next instalment.
Thursday, May 03, 2018
'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare
3 May 2018
The last play I saw directed by the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Deputy Artistic Director, Erica Whyman, was ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Play for the Nation’ (reviewed here in May 2016) which featured local actors from amateur theatre companies playing the rude mechanicals alongside a professional RSC cast, with children from local schools playing Titania's fairies. So it was fascinating to see Erica Whyman building on this experience in her new production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ which we saw at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon on Tuesday. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a play about young people but I don’t think I have ever seen it performed with such a young cast: a host of excellent early career professionals made the lead parts incredibly believable while young people from schools across the UK added to the ensemble on stage. Juliet is supposed to be 13 years-old at the start of the play and, while she is a few years older than that, the young Scottish actor Karen Fishwick – who we had previously seen as one of the schoolgirls in Lee Hall’s ‘Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour’ (reviewed here in May 2017) – did seem very young. Bally Gill as Romeo had a streetwise bravado coupled with youthful naivety that helped to explain his character’s rapid lurches between passion and violence. Setting this young cast in a very contemporary world made the knife fights between the rival young gangs feel frighteningly realistic. But the emphasis on youth strangely helped to show that the often disastrous actions of the young characters in the play are entirely understandable reactions to the situations in which they find themselves. It is the adults in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ whose actions are less excusable: it is their rush to support or condemn the youngsters that leads to tragedy. Erica Whyman interestingly also cast the adult parts with age-appropriate actors: it’s the first production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ I have seen where both Montague and Capulet were younger than me! And this is a production that celebrates diversity in many ways, gender-swapping several characters and exploring sexuality and ethnicity. It was a confident, funny and thrilling production which felt completely gripping and it was wonderful to experience the reactions of the many young people in an enthralled audience.
The last play I saw directed by the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Deputy Artistic Director, Erica Whyman, was ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Play for the Nation’ (reviewed here in May 2016) which featured local actors from amateur theatre companies playing the rude mechanicals alongside a professional RSC cast, with children from local schools playing Titania's fairies. So it was fascinating to see Erica Whyman building on this experience in her new production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ which we saw at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon on Tuesday. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a play about young people but I don’t think I have ever seen it performed with such a young cast: a host of excellent early career professionals made the lead parts incredibly believable while young people from schools across the UK added to the ensemble on stage. Juliet is supposed to be 13 years-old at the start of the play and, while she is a few years older than that, the young Scottish actor Karen Fishwick – who we had previously seen as one of the schoolgirls in Lee Hall’s ‘Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour’ (reviewed here in May 2017) – did seem very young. Bally Gill as Romeo had a streetwise bravado coupled with youthful naivety that helped to explain his character’s rapid lurches between passion and violence. Setting this young cast in a very contemporary world made the knife fights between the rival young gangs feel frighteningly realistic. But the emphasis on youth strangely helped to show that the often disastrous actions of the young characters in the play are entirely understandable reactions to the situations in which they find themselves. It is the adults in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ whose actions are less excusable: it is their rush to support or condemn the youngsters that leads to tragedy. Erica Whyman interestingly also cast the adult parts with age-appropriate actors: it’s the first production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ I have seen where both Montague and Capulet were younger than me! And this is a production that celebrates diversity in many ways, gender-swapping several characters and exploring sexuality and ethnicity. It was a confident, funny and thrilling production which felt completely gripping and it was wonderful to experience the reactions of the many young people in an enthralled audience.
Friday, April 27, 2018
'The Last Ship' by Sting
27 April 2018
On Thursday we were at the Derngate in Northampton to see 'The Last Ship' - Sting's musical about the fight to prevent closure of a Wallsend shipyard in the 1980s. Originally produced on Broadway in 2014, this completely revised version, with a new book by Lorne Campbell (who also directs), has been getting great reviews. Its tale of a working community pulling together to oppose the forces of capitalism has been compared to 'The Full Monty' and 'Brassed Off' but 'The Last Ship' is a bleaker show. A little slow to get started, the second half of the musical increases the narrative pace and builds to a powerful emotional climax. Sting's music very effectively blends North East folk styles with pop, alluding in places to the clog tradition (though I would have loved to see a proper clog dancing number in the show). Joe McGann leads an impressive cast in this touring Northern Stage production, with particularly fine singing from Frances McNamee and Richard Fleeshman (you could imagine Sting himself signing some of Fleeshman's ballads). The ensemble choral singing was very strong, making the most of the distinctive North East accents. But the real star of the show was the amazing set and design by 59 Productions which makes very effective use of projection to create the massive scale of the shipyard on the large Derngate stage. The visual effects, blending live action and the physical set with video and lighting, were stunning.
On Thursday we were at the Derngate in Northampton to see 'The Last Ship' - Sting's musical about the fight to prevent closure of a Wallsend shipyard in the 1980s. Originally produced on Broadway in 2014, this completely revised version, with a new book by Lorne Campbell (who also directs), has been getting great reviews. Its tale of a working community pulling together to oppose the forces of capitalism has been compared to 'The Full Monty' and 'Brassed Off' but 'The Last Ship' is a bleaker show. A little slow to get started, the second half of the musical increases the narrative pace and builds to a powerful emotional climax. Sting's music very effectively blends North East folk styles with pop, alluding in places to the clog tradition (though I would have loved to see a proper clog dancing number in the show). Joe McGann leads an impressive cast in this touring Northern Stage production, with particularly fine singing from Frances McNamee and Richard Fleeshman (you could imagine Sting himself signing some of Fleeshman's ballads). The ensemble choral singing was very strong, making the most of the distinctive North East accents. But the real star of the show was the amazing set and design by 59 Productions which makes very effective use of projection to create the massive scale of the shipyard on the large Derngate stage. The visual effects, blending live action and the physical set with video and lighting, were stunning.
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert
24 April 2018
There seems to be an increasing trend for football players missing games because they get injured in the warm-up but this sort of thing is still thankfully rare amongst orchestral musicians. So it was a shock when the start of our Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert last Saturday was delayed after one of our oboe players was stung on the lip by a wasp while the orchestra was tuning-up. Sadly she was unable to play in the concert – as was our principal ‘cellist who had been taken ill a few days before. Nevertheless, the orchestra managed a fine performance of a challenging programme with Philip Luck’s ‘cello solos proving a particularly impressive highlight. Continuing our season of music inspired by the visual arts, for this concert NSO conductor John Gibbons had selected a series of pieces evoking the sea. ‘The Garden of Fand’ by Arnold Bax is based on an Irish mythical figure, Fand, the daughter of the Lord of the Ocean. It is an ethereal piece underpinned by the constant swelling of the waves. Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic poem ‘Sadko’ also draws inspiration from legend, being based on an epic Russian poem in which the hero Sadko is transported to the realm of the Sea King. The best known piece in the programme was ‘La Mer’ by Claude Debussy – a three-movement impressionist picture of the sea that requires a mixture of concentration, delicacy and power from the orchestra. There was fine playing from all sections of the NSO, particularly the woodwind and Nick Bunker’s excellent trumpet solos. But the highlight of the concert was undoubtedly Richard Peaslee’s trombone concerto ‘Arrows of Time’, magnificently played by Carol Jarvis. ‘Arrows of Time’ is an accessibly tuneful modern piece with playful syncopated rhythms. Carol Jarvis gave a virtuoso performance, demonstrating an amazing dexterity in the fast passages and a beautiful tone in the slow movement.
There seems to be an increasing trend for football players missing games because they get injured in the warm-up but this sort of thing is still thankfully rare amongst orchestral musicians. So it was a shock when the start of our Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert last Saturday was delayed after one of our oboe players was stung on the lip by a wasp while the orchestra was tuning-up. Sadly she was unable to play in the concert – as was our principal ‘cellist who had been taken ill a few days before. Nevertheless, the orchestra managed a fine performance of a challenging programme with Philip Luck’s ‘cello solos proving a particularly impressive highlight. Continuing our season of music inspired by the visual arts, for this concert NSO conductor John Gibbons had selected a series of pieces evoking the sea. ‘The Garden of Fand’ by Arnold Bax is based on an Irish mythical figure, Fand, the daughter of the Lord of the Ocean. It is an ethereal piece underpinned by the constant swelling of the waves. Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic poem ‘Sadko’ also draws inspiration from legend, being based on an epic Russian poem in which the hero Sadko is transported to the realm of the Sea King. The best known piece in the programme was ‘La Mer’ by Claude Debussy – a three-movement impressionist picture of the sea that requires a mixture of concentration, delicacy and power from the orchestra. There was fine playing from all sections of the NSO, particularly the woodwind and Nick Bunker’s excellent trumpet solos. But the highlight of the concert was undoubtedly Richard Peaslee’s trombone concerto ‘Arrows of Time’, magnificently played by Carol Jarvis. ‘Arrows of Time’ is an accessibly tuneful modern piece with playful syncopated rhythms. Carol Jarvis gave a virtuoso performance, demonstrating an amazing dexterity in the fast passages and a beautiful tone in the slow movement.
Friday, April 20, 2018
BBC Young Musician podcast
20 April 2018
Regular readers will be familiar with my enthusiasm for the biennial BBC Young Musician competition which I have written extensively about here since 2006. I am really enjoying watching the category finals of the 2018 competition (currently being shown on Friday evenings on BBC4) and I will share my thoughts after the concerto final on 13 May. I am also really enjoying the new BBC Young Musician weekly podcast which accompanies this year’s competition. Hosted by 2016 BBC Young Musician finalist, saxophonist Jess Gillam, it’s a really engaging discussion about what it is like to learn an instrument, practice, perform in public and develop a musical career. Each week Jess and her friends discuss their own experiences and interview former BBC Young Musician winners. Jess Gillam – who performed twice with the Northampton Symphony Orchestra last year (reviewed here in March 2017 and July 2017) – is a natural presenter: open, engaging and enthusiastic. The podcasts, which have so far covered topics including stage fright, practice and getting into music, are interesting and amusing. There don’t refer directly to this year’s BBC Young Musician competition so there are no spoilers. Well worth a listen. See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p062pf6x/episodes/downloads
Regular readers will be familiar with my enthusiasm for the biennial BBC Young Musician competition which I have written extensively about here since 2006. I am really enjoying watching the category finals of the 2018 competition (currently being shown on Friday evenings on BBC4) and I will share my thoughts after the concerto final on 13 May. I am also really enjoying the new BBC Young Musician weekly podcast which accompanies this year’s competition. Hosted by 2016 BBC Young Musician finalist, saxophonist Jess Gillam, it’s a really engaging discussion about what it is like to learn an instrument, practice, perform in public and develop a musical career. Each week Jess and her friends discuss their own experiences and interview former BBC Young Musician winners. Jess Gillam – who performed twice with the Northampton Symphony Orchestra last year (reviewed here in March 2017 and July 2017) – is a natural presenter: open, engaging and enthusiastic. The podcasts, which have so far covered topics including stage fright, practice and getting into music, are interesting and amusing. There don’t refer directly to this year’s BBC Young Musician competition so there are no spoilers. Well worth a listen. See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p062pf6x/episodes/downloads
Friday, April 13, 2018
'The Likeness' by Tana French
13 April 2018
Regular readers may remember that I have been working my way through the six Dublin Murder Squad novels by Tana French. As each novel features a different lead detective I have been able to read them out of order. I have now completed the set by reading novel 2: ‘The Likeness’ (as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Grainne Gillis). This is a sequel, of sorts, to ‘In the Woods’ (reviewed here in May 2017) in that its narrator is Detective Cassie Maddox, who was partner to the previous novel’s narrator Detective Rob Ryan, and the events of ‘The Likeness’ take place against the backdrop of the fallout from their previous case. But each novel stands alone as a murder mystery and ‘The Likeness’ is grippingly plotted. I found the premise that an undercover detective could pass herself off as the murder victim, resuming her life amongst her closest friends, a little too far-fetched – even if she happens to be a doppelgänger for the dead woman. But once you go with it, this premise sets up a thrilling undercover investigation to try to work out exactly what happened and who committed the murder. ‘The Likeness’ also introduces Detective Frank Mackey – a recurring character through several of the other Murder Squad novels. Now I’m waiting for the seventh novel in the series to be published.
Regular readers may remember that I have been working my way through the six Dublin Murder Squad novels by Tana French. As each novel features a different lead detective I have been able to read them out of order. I have now completed the set by reading novel 2: ‘The Likeness’ (as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Grainne Gillis). This is a sequel, of sorts, to ‘In the Woods’ (reviewed here in May 2017) in that its narrator is Detective Cassie Maddox, who was partner to the previous novel’s narrator Detective Rob Ryan, and the events of ‘The Likeness’ take place against the backdrop of the fallout from their previous case. But each novel stands alone as a murder mystery and ‘The Likeness’ is grippingly plotted. I found the premise that an undercover detective could pass herself off as the murder victim, resuming her life amongst her closest friends, a little too far-fetched – even if she happens to be a doppelgänger for the dead woman. But once you go with it, this premise sets up a thrilling undercover investigation to try to work out exactly what happened and who committed the murder. ‘The Likeness’ also introduces Detective Frank Mackey – a recurring character through several of the other Murder Squad novels. Now I’m waiting for the seventh novel in the series to be published.
Friday, April 06, 2018
'We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves’ by Karen Joy Fowler
6 April 2018
I really enjoyed reading Karen Joy Fowler’s 2013 novel ‘We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves’, particularly because I had heard nothing about it and didn’t know what to expect – so I will try to be careful not to give too much away here! Rosemary Cooke was a very talkative child: her parents encouraged her to limit her constant chatter by starting to tell stories from the middle, and only saying out loud one of each three things she wanted to say. So Rosemary’s first-person narration of this novel starts in the middle of her story and the reader only gradually pieces together the full dramatic picture. The book opens with a brilliantly attention-grabbing scene but this holds no clues to the unexpected direction the narrative takes. (Or rather there are some very small clues but they only become apparent in hindsight.) ‘We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves’ has a very cleverly constructed plot and is witty, funny and surprisingly fascinating. But I don’t want to say any more in case I spoil it for you ...
I really enjoyed reading Karen Joy Fowler’s 2013 novel ‘We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves’, particularly because I had heard nothing about it and didn’t know what to expect – so I will try to be careful not to give too much away here! Rosemary Cooke was a very talkative child: her parents encouraged her to limit her constant chatter by starting to tell stories from the middle, and only saying out loud one of each three things she wanted to say. So Rosemary’s first-person narration of this novel starts in the middle of her story and the reader only gradually pieces together the full dramatic picture. The book opens with a brilliantly attention-grabbing scene but this holds no clues to the unexpected direction the narrative takes. (Or rather there are some very small clues but they only become apparent in hindsight.) ‘We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves’ has a very cleverly constructed plot and is witty, funny and surprisingly fascinating. But I don’t want to say any more in case I spoil it for you ...
Wednesday, April 04, 2018
Monmouthshire
4 April 2018
We had a lovely holiday in Monmouthshire last week, staying at a cottage in a small village near Usk, on the edge of the Brecon Beacons national park. We had some great weather and enjoyed dramatic walks up Sugar Loaf mountain and Blorenge. We visited the spectacular castles at Raglan and Chepstow and the towns of Monmouth, Abergavenny and Brecon.
We had a lovely holiday in Monmouthshire last week, staying at a cottage in a small village near Usk, on the edge of the Brecon Beacons national park. We had some great weather and enjoyed dramatic walks up Sugar Loaf mountain and Blorenge. We visited the spectacular castles at Raglan and Chepstow and the towns of Monmouth, Abergavenny and Brecon.
'Julius Caesar' by William Shakespeare
4 April 2018
We really enjoyed the live screening of Nicholas Hytner’s production of ‘Julius Caesar’ at the new Bridge Theatre in London, which we watched at the Odeon in Milton Keynes a couple of weeks ago. The original reviews of this promenade production, where the audience form the Roman mob, were mixed but I thought it worked stunningly well as a live broadcast. Hand-held cameras gave you the feeling of being right in the middle of the crowd without missing any of the action. And the marshalling of the crowd was incredibly impressive, with discreetly positioned stewards making sure the mass of people parted at exactly the right moment to let the actors through. The cast were great, particularly David Calder as a Trumpian Caesar (complete with ‘Let’s Make Rome Great Again’ baseball cap), David Morrissey as Mark Antony (whose “And Brutus is an honourable man” speech was a political spin masterclass), Michelle Fairley as Cassius and the wonderful Ben Wishaw as Brutus. The modern dress production, which starts with a rock band entertaining the crowd at a political rally, is chillingly believable: the merciless slaughter of Cinna the Poet by the mob was genuinely horrifying. If you get an opportunity to see an ‘encore’ screening I would recommend it.
We really enjoyed the live screening of Nicholas Hytner’s production of ‘Julius Caesar’ at the new Bridge Theatre in London, which we watched at the Odeon in Milton Keynes a couple of weeks ago. The original reviews of this promenade production, where the audience form the Roman mob, were mixed but I thought it worked stunningly well as a live broadcast. Hand-held cameras gave you the feeling of being right in the middle of the crowd without missing any of the action. And the marshalling of the crowd was incredibly impressive, with discreetly positioned stewards making sure the mass of people parted at exactly the right moment to let the actors through. The cast were great, particularly David Calder as a Trumpian Caesar (complete with ‘Let’s Make Rome Great Again’ baseball cap), David Morrissey as Mark Antony (whose “And Brutus is an honourable man” speech was a political spin masterclass), Michelle Fairley as Cassius and the wonderful Ben Wishaw as Brutus. The modern dress production, which starts with a rock band entertaining the crowd at a political rally, is chillingly believable: the merciless slaughter of Cinna the Poet by the mob was genuinely horrifying. If you get an opportunity to see an ‘encore’ screening I would recommend it.
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
'Macbeth' by William Shakespeare
21 March 2018
We last saw Christopher Eccleston on stage (alongside Jodie Whittaker) in Polly Findlay’s production of ‘Antigone’ at the National Theatre in London (reviewed here in June 2012). As I wrote here, Eccleston was excellent as King Creon, giving a subtle and clever performance, turning his mood on a sixpence and discovering moments of humour amongst the angst of classical Greek tragedy, without resorting to sending it up. So I was fascinated to see what he made of another classical king, working with the same director on the new Royal Shakespeare Company production of ‘Macbeth’ which we saw in Stratford-upon-Avon on Tuesday. Christopher Eccleston was impressive again – a mixture of steely intensity and capricious mood swings, conveying much about the character’s inner turmoil through his movement and body shape. There was some great acting but otherwise I found Polly Findlay’s production strangely flat. The three young girls playing the witches were great – their synchronised speech perfectly co-ordinated – but cute rather than sinister. The idea of the witches reminding the Macbeths of their lost children was clever but its realisation wasn’t scary enough. Michael Hodgson’s ever-present Porter – a seedy janitor keeping an eye on the events of the play and chalking a body-count tally on the wall – was amusing but slightly out of kilter with the rest of the production. But Edward Bennett stood out as an excellent Macduff – an exasperated rational grown-up stranded amid a group of over-reacting adolescents. And Niamh Cusack stole the show as Lady Macbeth, giving a brilliantly physical performance with every muscle of her body betraying her thought processes.
We last saw Christopher Eccleston on stage (alongside Jodie Whittaker) in Polly Findlay’s production of ‘Antigone’ at the National Theatre in London (reviewed here in June 2012). As I wrote here, Eccleston was excellent as King Creon, giving a subtle and clever performance, turning his mood on a sixpence and discovering moments of humour amongst the angst of classical Greek tragedy, without resorting to sending it up. So I was fascinated to see what he made of another classical king, working with the same director on the new Royal Shakespeare Company production of ‘Macbeth’ which we saw in Stratford-upon-Avon on Tuesday. Christopher Eccleston was impressive again – a mixture of steely intensity and capricious mood swings, conveying much about the character’s inner turmoil through his movement and body shape. There was some great acting but otherwise I found Polly Findlay’s production strangely flat. The three young girls playing the witches were great – their synchronised speech perfectly co-ordinated – but cute rather than sinister. The idea of the witches reminding the Macbeths of their lost children was clever but its realisation wasn’t scary enough. Michael Hodgson’s ever-present Porter – a seedy janitor keeping an eye on the events of the play and chalking a body-count tally on the wall – was amusing but slightly out of kilter with the rest of the production. But Edward Bennett stood out as an excellent Macduff – an exasperated rational grown-up stranded amid a group of over-reacting adolescents. And Niamh Cusack stole the show as Lady Macbeth, giving a brilliantly physical performance with every muscle of her body betraying her thought processes.
Friday, March 16, 2018
'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Hexagonal Phase' by Dirk Maggs
16 March 2018
Long time readers with good memories may recall me writing here in October 2009 about the 30th anniversary of the original radio broadcast of Douglas Adams’ 'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' (which was to be marked by the publication of an authorised Hitch Hiker sequel by Eoin Colfer). Now, nearly nine years later, the BBC is marking the 40th anniversary (well time is a funny thing!) with a new series on BBC Radio 4. 'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Hexagonal Phase' (broadcast on Thursdays at 6.30 pm) is written and directed by Dirk Maggs and based on ‘And Another Thing...’ by Eoin Colfer – the sixth book in the famous Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy – with additional unpublished material by Douglas Adams. It’s a real treat for us HHGG fans, with the remaining members of the original cast reunited for another surreal journey through space and time. But for the uninitiated this is probably not the best place to start. 'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' has become increasingly self-reverential: although a convoluted explanation is provided for why there are now two Trillians, it is no secret that this is merely an excuse for involving both Susan Sheridan and Sandra Dickinson who respectively played Trillian in the original radio series and the 1981 TV adaptation. There are also some poignant tributes to those actors who are no longer available to reprise their roles: in the first episode of the new series we hear The Book explaining the concept of the Babel Fish in the voices of Peter Jones (from the original radio series), Stephen Fry (from the film) and John Lloyd (who co-wrote some of the original series with Douglas Adams). Jim Broadbent does a good job of filling the aching aluminium feet of Stephen Moore’s Marvin the Paranoid Android. And there is an added poignancy now to the appearance of the late Stephen Hawking as The Guide Mark II. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09th4hf
Long time readers with good memories may recall me writing here in October 2009 about the 30th anniversary of the original radio broadcast of Douglas Adams’ 'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' (which was to be marked by the publication of an authorised Hitch Hiker sequel by Eoin Colfer). Now, nearly nine years later, the BBC is marking the 40th anniversary (well time is a funny thing!) with a new series on BBC Radio 4. 'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Hexagonal Phase' (broadcast on Thursdays at 6.30 pm) is written and directed by Dirk Maggs and based on ‘And Another Thing...’ by Eoin Colfer – the sixth book in the famous Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy – with additional unpublished material by Douglas Adams. It’s a real treat for us HHGG fans, with the remaining members of the original cast reunited for another surreal journey through space and time. But for the uninitiated this is probably not the best place to start. 'The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' has become increasingly self-reverential: although a convoluted explanation is provided for why there are now two Trillians, it is no secret that this is merely an excuse for involving both Susan Sheridan and Sandra Dickinson who respectively played Trillian in the original radio series and the 1981 TV adaptation. There are also some poignant tributes to those actors who are no longer available to reprise their roles: in the first episode of the new series we hear The Book explaining the concept of the Babel Fish in the voices of Peter Jones (from the original radio series), Stephen Fry (from the film) and John Lloyd (who co-wrote some of the original series with Douglas Adams). Jim Broadbent does a good job of filling the aching aluminium feet of Stephen Moore’s Marvin the Paranoid Android. And there is an added poignancy now to the appearance of the late Stephen Hawking as The Guide Mark II. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09th4hf
Thursday, March 08, 2018
'Mum' by Stefan Golaszewski
8 March 2018
I am delighted to have belatedly discovered Stefan Golaszewski’s brilliant BBC Two sitcom, ‘Mum’. The second series is currently being broadcast but series one is still available to watch on BBC iPlayer, see: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b09sykkn. ‘Mum’ is a beautifully written, wonderfully acted, painfully poignant, incredibly funny show. Lesley Manville plays Cathy, recently widowed and surrounded by friends and family ostensibly trying to support her through her grief but clearly more in need of her support themselves. Peter Mullan is Michael – the old family friend who is desperately in love with Cathy but achingly unable to make the first move. Cathy and Michael are surrounded by a cast of ridiculously self-centred and annoying characters who Stefan Golaszewski somehow manages to make sympathetic. Lisa McGrillis is wonderful as Kelly – Cathy’s son’s dim but well-meaning girlfriend. And I loved Cathy’s foul-mouthed aged in-laws, played by Karl Johnson and Marlene Sidaway. ‘Mum’ is quite an old-fashioned sitcom: the action never moves away from Cathy’s house and garden. It has a similar gentle subtlety to Mackenzie Crook’s ‘Detectorists’ as well as the sad smiling feel of a Mike Leigh film. Highly recommended.
I am delighted to have belatedly discovered Stefan Golaszewski’s brilliant BBC Two sitcom, ‘Mum’. The second series is currently being broadcast but series one is still available to watch on BBC iPlayer, see: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b09sykkn. ‘Mum’ is a beautifully written, wonderfully acted, painfully poignant, incredibly funny show. Lesley Manville plays Cathy, recently widowed and surrounded by friends and family ostensibly trying to support her through her grief but clearly more in need of her support themselves. Peter Mullan is Michael – the old family friend who is desperately in love with Cathy but achingly unable to make the first move. Cathy and Michael are surrounded by a cast of ridiculously self-centred and annoying characters who Stefan Golaszewski somehow manages to make sympathetic. Lisa McGrillis is wonderful as Kelly – Cathy’s son’s dim but well-meaning girlfriend. And I loved Cathy’s foul-mouthed aged in-laws, played by Karl Johnson and Marlene Sidaway. ‘Mum’ is quite an old-fashioned sitcom: the action never moves away from Cathy’s house and garden. It has a similar gentle subtlety to Mackenzie Crook’s ‘Detectorists’ as well as the sad smiling feel of a Mike Leigh film. Highly recommended.
Monday, February 26, 2018
Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert
26 February 2018
In the 18 years I have been playing with the Northampton Symphony Orchestra I can’t remember us ever selling out a concert nearly a week in advance, but that’s what happened with last Saturday’s performance. Admittedly it was an appealing programme of film music timed to celebrate 40 years of ‘Star Wars’ and, although it is a grand building, Christchurch in Northampton doesn’t have the largest audience capacity. Nevertheless it was exciting to be playing to a full house. We opened the concert with John Williams’ suite from ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ – a substantial piece of music that shows Williams’ growing maturity as a composer, subtly referencing themes from the earlier ‘Star Wars’ films and playing with various musical forms (as in the ‘Scherzo for X-Wings’). This was the latest concert in our season of music inspired by the visual arts and featured Bernard Herrman’s chillingly familiar music for strings from Alfred Hitchcock’s film ‘Psycho’ which was inspired by Edward Hopper’s painting ‘House by the Railroad’. Apart from another work by John Williams, ‘Adventures on Earth’ from ‘ET’, the rest of the programme celebrated British composers writing for a golden age of British film in the 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s – including two Northampton-born composers. Malcolm Arnold’s music for ‘The Inn of the Sixth Happiness’ blends a typically bold Arnoldian theme with the children’s song ‘This Old Man’ which is sung in the film by 100 Chinese children as they walk through the mountains to escape the Japanese invasion of China. The other Northampton native was William Alwyn whose funeral march accompanies James Mason’s doomed battle through the Belfast snow in Carol Reed’s 1947 film noir ‘Odd Man Out’. It was fascinating to play Richard Rodney Bennett’s ‘Waltz from Murder on the Orient Express’ with NSO leader Stephen Hague – who played on the original soundtrack of Sidney Lumet’s 1974 film. We finished the concert with William Walton’s ‘Battle of Britain Suite’ – the inclusion of which in Guy Hamilton’s 1969 film was apparently due to the insistence of Laurence Olivier. It’s a brilliant piece of music which creates a series of effects in which different instruments mimic the engine noises of the planes, before ending with one of those glorious slow Walton marches. Saturday’s programme was a test of stamina for the orchestra which showcased each section of the NSO but felt like a particular triumph for the brass and percussion. It was an exhilarating concert of serious film music chosen by NSO Music Director John Gibbons to remind us of those many accomplished composers who wrote huge amounts of wonderful music for films that are now largely forgotten. It was great to discover some of this music for the first time and to give it a live performance to a packed audience.
In the 18 years I have been playing with the Northampton Symphony Orchestra I can’t remember us ever selling out a concert nearly a week in advance, but that’s what happened with last Saturday’s performance. Admittedly it was an appealing programme of film music timed to celebrate 40 years of ‘Star Wars’ and, although it is a grand building, Christchurch in Northampton doesn’t have the largest audience capacity. Nevertheless it was exciting to be playing to a full house. We opened the concert with John Williams’ suite from ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ – a substantial piece of music that shows Williams’ growing maturity as a composer, subtly referencing themes from the earlier ‘Star Wars’ films and playing with various musical forms (as in the ‘Scherzo for X-Wings’). This was the latest concert in our season of music inspired by the visual arts and featured Bernard Herrman’s chillingly familiar music for strings from Alfred Hitchcock’s film ‘Psycho’ which was inspired by Edward Hopper’s painting ‘House by the Railroad’. Apart from another work by John Williams, ‘Adventures on Earth’ from ‘ET’, the rest of the programme celebrated British composers writing for a golden age of British film in the 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s – including two Northampton-born composers. Malcolm Arnold’s music for ‘The Inn of the Sixth Happiness’ blends a typically bold Arnoldian theme with the children’s song ‘This Old Man’ which is sung in the film by 100 Chinese children as they walk through the mountains to escape the Japanese invasion of China. The other Northampton native was William Alwyn whose funeral march accompanies James Mason’s doomed battle through the Belfast snow in Carol Reed’s 1947 film noir ‘Odd Man Out’. It was fascinating to play Richard Rodney Bennett’s ‘Waltz from Murder on the Orient Express’ with NSO leader Stephen Hague – who played on the original soundtrack of Sidney Lumet’s 1974 film. We finished the concert with William Walton’s ‘Battle of Britain Suite’ – the inclusion of which in Guy Hamilton’s 1969 film was apparently due to the insistence of Laurence Olivier. It’s a brilliant piece of music which creates a series of effects in which different instruments mimic the engine noises of the planes, before ending with one of those glorious slow Walton marches. Saturday’s programme was a test of stamina for the orchestra which showcased each section of the NSO but felt like a particular triumph for the brass and percussion. It was an exhilarating concert of serious film music chosen by NSO Music Director John Gibbons to remind us of those many accomplished composers who wrote huge amounts of wonderful music for films that are now largely forgotten. It was great to discover some of this music for the first time and to give it a live performance to a packed audience.
Friday, February 23, 2018
'How to Stop Time' by Matt Haig
23 February 2018
Matt Haig’s novel ‘How to Stop Time’ (which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Mark Meadows) has a great premise. Its narrator is old: if you saw him you would probably think he was about forty but you would be very wrong. Tom Hazard was born well over 400 years ago on 3 March 1581 in a small French chateau. He seemed to be a normal boy, but from the age of 13 he started to age much more slowly than everyone around him. Tom is not alone: there are other people with his ‘condition’, living out a series of lives across centuries, constantly having to move to new places and reinvent themselves every few years to avoid being taken for witches. This sense of the same person living multiple lives reminded me of David Mitchell’s excellent 'The Bone Clocks' (reviewed here in October 2014). It’s an interesting narrative device: this a novel about time travel in which the traveller only moves through time in one direction, very slowly. Tom’s tale is told in flashback, gradually filling in his time in Shakespearean London, on Captain Cook’s voyages to the Pacific Islands and in Paris in the Roaring Twenties. But this time traveller never brings the hindsight of the future to these historical settings, just the accumulated experience of his long long past. Unfortunately Matt Haig lays out the whole premise in the first few pages of the novel rather than allowing the reader to piece it together. And, while he very effectively evokes the melancholy of being someone who outlives everyone he ever loves, ‘How to Stop Time’ feels like a short story expanded into a novel.
Matt Haig’s novel ‘How to Stop Time’ (which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Mark Meadows) has a great premise. Its narrator is old: if you saw him you would probably think he was about forty but you would be very wrong. Tom Hazard was born well over 400 years ago on 3 March 1581 in a small French chateau. He seemed to be a normal boy, but from the age of 13 he started to age much more slowly than everyone around him. Tom is not alone: there are other people with his ‘condition’, living out a series of lives across centuries, constantly having to move to new places and reinvent themselves every few years to avoid being taken for witches. This sense of the same person living multiple lives reminded me of David Mitchell’s excellent 'The Bone Clocks' (reviewed here in October 2014). It’s an interesting narrative device: this a novel about time travel in which the traveller only moves through time in one direction, very slowly. Tom’s tale is told in flashback, gradually filling in his time in Shakespearean London, on Captain Cook’s voyages to the Pacific Islands and in Paris in the Roaring Twenties. But this time traveller never brings the hindsight of the future to these historical settings, just the accumulated experience of his long long past. Unfortunately Matt Haig lays out the whole premise in the first few pages of the novel rather than allowing the reader to piece it together. And, while he very effectively evokes the melancholy of being someone who outlives everyone he ever loves, ‘How to Stop Time’ feels like a short story expanded into a novel.
Friday, February 16, 2018
'The Alternatives' by Aditya Chakrabortty
16 February 2018
‘The Alternatives’ is a new series of articles and podcasts from The Guardian which looks at communities who are working out their own answers. Two weeks ago Guardian journalist Aditya Chakrabortty interviewed Preston councillor Matthew Brown about how the city has successfully adopted ‘guerrilla localism’ (see: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/31/preston-hit-rock-bottom-took-back-control and: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/commentisfree/audio/2018/jan/31/the-alternatives-how-preston-took-back-control-podcast). And this week he spoke to Hazel Tilley, a long-time resident of the Liverpool neighbourhood of Granby, about the remarkable regeneration of the area sparked by a few individual citizens taking it upon themselves to clean up the street where they live. This led to the securing of substantial public and private investment, the development of a community land trust to take houses into collective community ownership and the involvement of architects Assemble – who went on to win the Turner Prize for their work on Granby Four Streets. (See: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/14/community-liverpool-residents-granby and https://www.theguardian.com/politics/commentisfree/audio/2018/feb/14/the-alternatives-how-liverpool-suburb-upended-housing-market-podcast.) It’s a fascinating story – all the more powerful for hearing it (on the podcast) through the voice of one of the local people who made it happen. And there are clearly many parallels with Voluntary Arts’ ‘Our Cultural Commons’ series of articles (see: https://www.voluntaryarts.org/Pages/Category/our-cultural-commons).
‘The Alternatives’ is a new series of articles and podcasts from The Guardian which looks at communities who are working out their own answers. Two weeks ago Guardian journalist Aditya Chakrabortty interviewed Preston councillor Matthew Brown about how the city has successfully adopted ‘guerrilla localism’ (see: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/31/preston-hit-rock-bottom-took-back-control and: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/commentisfree/audio/2018/jan/31/the-alternatives-how-preston-took-back-control-podcast). And this week he spoke to Hazel Tilley, a long-time resident of the Liverpool neighbourhood of Granby, about the remarkable regeneration of the area sparked by a few individual citizens taking it upon themselves to clean up the street where they live. This led to the securing of substantial public and private investment, the development of a community land trust to take houses into collective community ownership and the involvement of architects Assemble – who went on to win the Turner Prize for their work on Granby Four Streets. (See: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/14/community-liverpool-residents-granby and https://www.theguardian.com/politics/commentisfree/audio/2018/feb/14/the-alternatives-how-liverpool-suburb-upended-housing-market-podcast.) It’s a fascinating story – all the more powerful for hearing it (on the podcast) through the voice of one of the local people who made it happen. And there are clearly many parallels with Voluntary Arts’ ‘Our Cultural Commons’ series of articles (see: https://www.voluntaryarts.org/Pages/Category/our-cultural-commons).
Friday, February 09, 2018
'Novilunio' by Redi Hasa and Maria Mazzotta
9 February 2018
‘Novilunio’ is an intriguingly uncategorisable album by Albanian cellist Redi Hasa and southern Italian vocalist Maria Mazzotta. The ten songs suggest folk, jazz, classical, French chanson, pop and some Latin American rhythms. It’s a delightful mix – gentle, tuneful music with a melancholic air made distinctive by the ever-present ‘cello. You can get a flavour of the album at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=BBd-r6Ao3L0
‘Novilunio’ is an intriguingly uncategorisable album by Albanian cellist Redi Hasa and southern Italian vocalist Maria Mazzotta. The ten songs suggest folk, jazz, classical, French chanson, pop and some Latin American rhythms. It’s a delightful mix – gentle, tuneful music with a melancholic air made distinctive by the ever-present ‘cello. You can get a flavour of the album at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=BBd-r6Ao3L0
Friday, February 02, 2018
'Before the Fall' by Noah Hawley
2 February 2018
I’m a big fan of ‘Fargo’ – the TV series inspired by the 1996 Coen Brothers film (reviewed here in October 2017). So I was interested to see glowing reviews for ‘Before the Fall’, the latest novel by Noah Hawley who created and writes the TV series. ‘Before the Fall’ (which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book narrated by Jeff Harding) is an intriguing thriller. In August 2015 nine people board a private jet for the short flight from Martha’s Vineyard to New York. What happens next makes all of them potential suspects in a horrific crime. Hawley unspins his carefully constructed plot piece by piece, mixing the aftermath of a shocking event with the backstories of each of the protagonists in turn. Like the investigators in the story, the reader is quick to leap to a series of possible explanations before the truth gradually emerges. The characters are all very well drawn (and Jeff Harding’s narration brings each of them to life in the audio version). The fall from grace of the mega-rich and the resulting media frenzy reminded me of Tom Wolfe’s novels ‘The Bonfire of the Vanities’ and ‘A Man in Full’. ‘Before the Fall’ is a gripping page turner.
I’m a big fan of ‘Fargo’ – the TV series inspired by the 1996 Coen Brothers film (reviewed here in October 2017). So I was interested to see glowing reviews for ‘Before the Fall’, the latest novel by Noah Hawley who created and writes the TV series. ‘Before the Fall’ (which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book narrated by Jeff Harding) is an intriguing thriller. In August 2015 nine people board a private jet for the short flight from Martha’s Vineyard to New York. What happens next makes all of them potential suspects in a horrific crime. Hawley unspins his carefully constructed plot piece by piece, mixing the aftermath of a shocking event with the backstories of each of the protagonists in turn. Like the investigators in the story, the reader is quick to leap to a series of possible explanations before the truth gradually emerges. The characters are all very well drawn (and Jeff Harding’s narration brings each of them to life in the audio version). The fall from grace of the mega-rich and the resulting media frenzy reminded me of Tom Wolfe’s novels ‘The Bonfire of the Vanities’ and ‘A Man in Full’. ‘Before the Fall’ is a gripping page turner.
Friday, January 26, 2018
The Blockheads
26 January 2018
Last Friday we were back at the MK11 venue in Kiln Farm, Milton Keynes, to see The Blockheads. Regular readers who are keeping count will know this is the sixth time we have seen the band since our first encounter in July 2007, the last time also being at MK11 (reviewed here in December 2016). But this time the usual set-list of Ian Dury-era favourites was interspersed with songs from The Blockheads’ new album, ‘Beyond the Call of Dury’. At first listen the new songs sounded instantly and unmistakably Blockheads with catchy tunes, funky beats and those clever, dry, witty lyrics – but with occasional contemporary references to mobile phones etc. The Blockheads were on fine form – blending cheekiness, silliness and fun with incredibly slick musicianship. They always put on a great show and it’s always a pleasure to see them still going strong.
Last Friday we were back at the MK11 venue in Kiln Farm, Milton Keynes, to see The Blockheads. Regular readers who are keeping count will know this is the sixth time we have seen the band since our first encounter in July 2007, the last time also being at MK11 (reviewed here in December 2016). But this time the usual set-list of Ian Dury-era favourites was interspersed with songs from The Blockheads’ new album, ‘Beyond the Call of Dury’. At first listen the new songs sounded instantly and unmistakably Blockheads with catchy tunes, funky beats and those clever, dry, witty lyrics – but with occasional contemporary references to mobile phones etc. The Blockheads were on fine form – blending cheekiness, silliness and fun with incredibly slick musicianship. They always put on a great show and it’s always a pleasure to see them still going strong.
Monday, January 15, 2018
'A Passage to India' by E.M. Forster, adapted by Simon Dormandy
15 January 2018
On Saturday we were at the Royal Theatre in Northampton to see a new adaptation, by Simon Dormandy, of E.M. Forster’s ‘A Passage to India’ in a joint production by the Royal & Derngate and simple8, directed by Sebastian Armesto and Simon Dormandy. I have fond memories of a very good stage version of ‘A Passage to India’ by Shared Experience at Milton Keynes Theatre in 2002 and this new version was similarly impressive. With a minimal set, the focus was very much on the actors and this was a strong ensemble piece, with a large cast collectively becoming a carriage, a train, an elephant and the Marabar Caves. Original music by Kuljit Bhamra was performed live on the stage, with the combination of ‘cello and tabla emphasising the Anglo/Indian confrontations in the story. The cast were all very strong with particularly impressive performances by Asif Khan as Dr Aziz, Liz Crowther as Mrs Moore and Richard Goulding (who we last saw as Prince Harry in Mike Bartlett’s 'King Charles III', reviewed here in January 2015) as Fielding.
On Saturday we were at the Royal Theatre in Northampton to see a new adaptation, by Simon Dormandy, of E.M. Forster’s ‘A Passage to India’ in a joint production by the Royal & Derngate and simple8, directed by Sebastian Armesto and Simon Dormandy. I have fond memories of a very good stage version of ‘A Passage to India’ by Shared Experience at Milton Keynes Theatre in 2002 and this new version was similarly impressive. With a minimal set, the focus was very much on the actors and this was a strong ensemble piece, with a large cast collectively becoming a carriage, a train, an elephant and the Marabar Caves. Original music by Kuljit Bhamra was performed live on the stage, with the combination of ‘cello and tabla emphasising the Anglo/Indian confrontations in the story. The cast were all very strong with particularly impressive performances by Asif Khan as Dr Aziz, Liz Crowther as Mrs Moore and Richard Goulding (who we last saw as Prince Harry in Mike Bartlett’s 'King Charles III', reviewed here in January 2015) as Fielding.
Friday, January 12, 2018
‘Angstrom: The Man Who Wasn't Dead’ by Joel Morris and Jason Hazeley
12 January 2018
This week I stumbled across the first episode of an excellent new radio comedy series. ‘Angstrom: The Man Who Wasn't Dead’ (on BBC Radio 4 at 6.30 pm on Wednesdays) is a very silly parody of Scandi-crime TV series, written by Joel Morris and Jason Hazeley. Matthew Holness plays Knut Ångström – a brooding, alcoholic, maverick Swedish detective from the tough streets of Oslo. The absence of a body, or any evidence that anyone has been killed, doesn’t stop Angstrom treating every incident he encounters as a potential murder. It’s a loving pastiche of ‘The Killing’ (reviewed here in December 2011), ‘The Bridge’ (reviewed here in January 2014), ‘Wallander’ etc. Wonderfully childish and very funny – I’m really looking forward to Episode 2. You can listen to ‘Angstrom’ at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09l0ds8
This week I stumbled across the first episode of an excellent new radio comedy series. ‘Angstrom: The Man Who Wasn't Dead’ (on BBC Radio 4 at 6.30 pm on Wednesdays) is a very silly parody of Scandi-crime TV series, written by Joel Morris and Jason Hazeley. Matthew Holness plays Knut Ångström – a brooding, alcoholic, maverick Swedish detective from the tough streets of Oslo. The absence of a body, or any evidence that anyone has been killed, doesn’t stop Angstrom treating every incident he encounters as a potential murder. It’s a loving pastiche of ‘The Killing’ (reviewed here in December 2011), ‘The Bridge’ (reviewed here in January 2014), ‘Wallander’ etc. Wonderfully childish and very funny – I’m really looking forward to Episode 2. You can listen to ‘Angstrom’ at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09l0ds8
Friday, January 05, 2018
'Reservoir 13' by Jon McGregor
5 January 2018
One of my favourite episodes of ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’ is ‘The Missing Page’ (written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson in 1960). Tony Hancock is reading a salacious murder mystery (‘Lady, Don't Fall Backwards’ by Darcy Sarto) but when he gets to the end the last page has been torn out, depriving him of the identity of the killer. Desperate to know whodunnit, Hancock sets out on a quest to find the missing page. The idea of a crime novel without a solution feels inherently frustrating but Jon McGregor’s wonderful new novel ‘Reservoir 13’ very effectively subverts the genre. ‘Reservoir 13’ (which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Matt Bates) starts with the disappearance of a 13 year-old girl, Rebecca Shaw, who has been staying with her parents in a holiday cottage in a small Derbyshire village over the New Year. “When last seen she’d been wearing a white hooded top with a navy-blue body warmer, black jeans and canvas shoes. She was five feet tall, with straight, dark-blond, shoulder-length hair.” This description of the missing girl is one of several phrases that are repeated so often through the novel they become poetic mantras. As the villagers join forces to search the moors and the police investigation begins to probe into all aspects of village life, Jon McGregor plays with our expectations, suggesting all the familiar tropes of a crime novel. But soon it becomes clear that the disappearance of “Rebecca or Becky or Bex” is really just a hook for a beautifully drawn portrait of life in a small rural community. The seasons pass, and then the years, and we get to know many of the villagers, following the interlocking network of their personal stories in an elegant and completely believable soap opera. McGregor writes in short, simple sentences which have a poetic quality that reminded me of that other literary picture of a village and its inhabitants, Dylan Thomas’s ‘Under Milk Wood’. McGregor’s omniscient third-person narrative makes no judgements, merely reporting events as they happen in a flat, matter-of-fact tone which seems to make them strangely more poignant. Events are also presented with the assumption that we already know the protagonists: there is no backstory and time moves relentlessly forward throughout the novel. I don’t think it is too much of a spoiler to reveal that we never find out what happened to Becky Shaw (though there are plenty of hints about a range of possible explanations). But this doesn’t make ‘Reservoir 13’ a frustrating read: it is an unusual and compelling novel and I didn’t want to finish it. It was very exciting, therefore, to discover the companion podcast series ‘The Reservoir Tapes’, being broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and available to download as free podcasts. In the 15 episodes of ‘The Reservoir Tapes’ Jon McGregor has written individual perspectives (‘Charlotte’s Story’, ‘Vicky’s Story’, ‘Deepak’s Story’ etc) which cast light on events before and after Becky Shaw’s disappearance. The podcasts introduce some new characters that don’t appear in the novel and many of them relate to a period before the start of the novel. But they completely integrate with what we know from the novel, forming an elaborate jigsaw puzzle in which everything starts to become clear – apart from the one thing we really want to know: what happened to Becky Shaw? See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b097n5h3 or search for ‘The Reservoir Tapes’ in your podcast app.
One of my favourite episodes of ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’ is ‘The Missing Page’ (written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson in 1960). Tony Hancock is reading a salacious murder mystery (‘Lady, Don't Fall Backwards’ by Darcy Sarto) but when he gets to the end the last page has been torn out, depriving him of the identity of the killer. Desperate to know whodunnit, Hancock sets out on a quest to find the missing page. The idea of a crime novel without a solution feels inherently frustrating but Jon McGregor’s wonderful new novel ‘Reservoir 13’ very effectively subverts the genre. ‘Reservoir 13’ (which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Matt Bates) starts with the disappearance of a 13 year-old girl, Rebecca Shaw, who has been staying with her parents in a holiday cottage in a small Derbyshire village over the New Year. “When last seen she’d been wearing a white hooded top with a navy-blue body warmer, black jeans and canvas shoes. She was five feet tall, with straight, dark-blond, shoulder-length hair.” This description of the missing girl is one of several phrases that are repeated so often through the novel they become poetic mantras. As the villagers join forces to search the moors and the police investigation begins to probe into all aspects of village life, Jon McGregor plays with our expectations, suggesting all the familiar tropes of a crime novel. But soon it becomes clear that the disappearance of “Rebecca or Becky or Bex” is really just a hook for a beautifully drawn portrait of life in a small rural community. The seasons pass, and then the years, and we get to know many of the villagers, following the interlocking network of their personal stories in an elegant and completely believable soap opera. McGregor writes in short, simple sentences which have a poetic quality that reminded me of that other literary picture of a village and its inhabitants, Dylan Thomas’s ‘Under Milk Wood’. McGregor’s omniscient third-person narrative makes no judgements, merely reporting events as they happen in a flat, matter-of-fact tone which seems to make them strangely more poignant. Events are also presented with the assumption that we already know the protagonists: there is no backstory and time moves relentlessly forward throughout the novel. I don’t think it is too much of a spoiler to reveal that we never find out what happened to Becky Shaw (though there are plenty of hints about a range of possible explanations). But this doesn’t make ‘Reservoir 13’ a frustrating read: it is an unusual and compelling novel and I didn’t want to finish it. It was very exciting, therefore, to discover the companion podcast series ‘The Reservoir Tapes’, being broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and available to download as free podcasts. In the 15 episodes of ‘The Reservoir Tapes’ Jon McGregor has written individual perspectives (‘Charlotte’s Story’, ‘Vicky’s Story’, ‘Deepak’s Story’ etc) which cast light on events before and after Becky Shaw’s disappearance. The podcasts introduce some new characters that don’t appear in the novel and many of them relate to a period before the start of the novel. But they completely integrate with what we know from the novel, forming an elaborate jigsaw puzzle in which everything starts to become clear – apart from the one thing we really want to know: what happened to Becky Shaw? See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b097n5h3 or search for ‘The Reservoir Tapes’ in your podcast app.
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