'The Secret Commonwealth' by Philip Pullman
11 December 2019
It must have been daunting for Philip Pullman to attempt to follow his acclaimed trilogy of ‘His Dark Materials’ novels with a similarly ambitious trio, ‘The Book of Dust’. But, so far, this second series of books about Lyra Silvertongue and a parallel-world Oxford populated by people with animal daemons is shaping up to surpass the original. Some are saying the latest novel, ‘The Secret Commonwealth’ (the middle volume of ‘The Book of Dust’), is the best of all. It’s hard to compare it with ‘Northern Lights’ which felt like an instant classic of children’s literature but ‘The Secret Commonwealth’, which I’ve just finished reading as an unabridged audio book narrated by Michael Sheen, is a stunning thriller. Lyra is now 20 years old and although the events in this novel happen after her journey to the North (and beyond) in the ‘His Dark Materials’ books, ‘The Secret Commonwealth’ has more in common with the prequel ‘La Belle Sauvage’ (reviewed here in November 2017), with the events of the great flood that happened when Lyra was a baby coming back to affect the adult Lyra. ‘The Book of Dust’ takes Spenser's ‘The Faerie Queene’ as its underlying theme and ‘The Secret Commonwealth’ starts to take us further into the faerie realm. This is a much more grown-up book with some scenes of extreme violence and sexual assault. It has the feeling of a cold war spy thriller, with the action moving across Europe and into Central Asia. The stakes seem even higher than in the previous novels and no character feels entirely safe. Pullman is very good at the high-level political scheming and his targets here include multi-national corporations and people-trafficking as well as organised religion. I really enjoyed ‘The Secret Commonwealth’. It ends rather abruptly with ‘to be continued’ and I can’t wait for the final volume of ‘The Book of Dust’.
Labels: Books
Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert
10 December 2019
As regular readers will remember, the official start of Christmas is the annual Northampton Symphony Orchestra Christmas Cracker concert. After last year’s Victorian-themed concert (as part of our 125th anniversary season) on Sunday afternoon we finally got to play the ‘Heroes and Villains’ concert that we had to cancel at the last minute two years ago because of snow. A large, enthusiastic audience of all ages joined us at the Spinney Theatre in Northampton – many of them dressed as their favourite heroes or villains. There were some amazing costumes on display in the orchestra as well – a few of which were quite disturbing! Alongside the usual Christmas carols and festive medleys, we saluted heroes and villains with music including John Williams’ ‘Superman March’, the ‘Overture to The Crimson Pirate’ by William Alwyn, ‘Men of Sherwood Forest’ by Doreen Carwithen (which we had played at our concert in Clifton Cathedral in Bristol in November), ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’ arranged by Jerry Brubaker and ‘Music from Frozen’ by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, arranged by Bob Krogstad. ‘Frozen’ was a particular hit with the younger members of our audience, and featured a beautiful violin solo by Scott Blundell. Scott had been called in at the eleventh hour to deputise for NSO leader Stephen Hague after Stephen was suddenly taken ill last Thursday. He is now recovering well but Scott did a wonderful job as leader in his absence. The centrepiece of the concert was Carl Nielsen's ‘Aladdin’ suite, originally written 100 years ago in 1919 as incidental music for a production of ‘Aladdin’ at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen. For the NSO Christmas Cracker concert Graham Tear wrote a new narration which was woven into Nielsen’s music with the help of NSO conductor John Gibbons and theatrically performed by our compère, Alan Bell. It was great fun and a clear highlight of the concert for many members of our audience.
Labels: Concerts, Music
‘Constitution Street' by Jemma Neville
3 December 2019
In 2017 Jemma Neville took a 9-month sabbatical from her role as Director of Voluntary Arts Scotland to write her first book. Responding to issues raised by both the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, and drawing on her own background in human rights law, Jemma wanted to explore the potential for a rights framework in the form of a written constitution. She did so, rather brilliantly, by looking at the national (and international) picture through a very local lens, setting out from her home in Constitution Street in Leith to walk and talk with her neighbours – literally taking a constitutional. The resulting book ‘Constitution Street: finding hope in an age of anxiety’ is a compelling read. Through 60 interviews with residents of Constitution Street Jemma examines the reality of human rights in our everyday lives. The stories of the people she gets to know are beautifully told. The structure of the book follows the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but the focus is always on the individual people, with the underlying message subtly in the background. Jemma is an incredibly generous narrator, giving ample room even to views she clearly doesn’t share. ‘Constitution Street’ is a deeply personal work, taking the reader through Jemma’s own moments of joy, confusion and grief. Although the book draws mainly on Jemma’s expertise in human rights law it was good to spot some small influences from Voluntary Arts – both in a focus on ‘the commons’ and on the use of exploratory ‘open conversations’. At this worryingly unsettling time in national and international politics ‘Constitution Street’ is an important book, gently persuasive and refreshingly human. It’s also a fascinating social history of a particular community and a really entertaining and enjoyable read. Last Thursday, having almost finished reading the book, I found myself walking along Constitution Street to visit Jemma in the new Voluntary Arts Scotland office on Customs Lane. I had walked down Constitution Street many times before, but now I was seeing it differently, recognising particular buildings from the book and imagining particular individuals behind the doors. The street itself is currently closed to traffic during the construction of the extension to Edinburgh’s tram system. With the road surface inaccessible behind high metal fences along the edge of the pavement and subject to excavation and resurfacing, and the closing chapters of the book fresh in my mind, Constitution Street felt like a film set being dismantled after shooting had finished. Or maybe a community being prepared for the next chapter in its history. ‘Constitution Street’ is an amazing achievement: if you haven’t bought your copy yet go straight to:
https://www.404ink.com/store/constitution-street-jemma-neville Labels: Books
‘The Season’ by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan
2 December 2019
On Saturday we were at the Royal Theatre in Northampton to see ‘The Season’ – a new chamber musical by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan. This lovely two-hander features Tori Allen-Martin and Alex Cardall as an odd couple, meeting in New York on Christmas Eve, discussing all the terrible clichés of New York Christmas romcom movies and then proceeding to act out those same clichés. It’s a very knowing take on the schmaltzy Christmas romance which manages to rise above the cynicism to be genuinely charming. The story of the musical’s development is also heart-warming, with Barnes and Buchan getting their break to stage their first musical after winning the 2018 Stiles & Drewe mentorship award which gave them a year’s mentorship from the successful musicals writing partnership George Stiles and Anthony Drewe (whose works include 'Betty Blue Eyes', reviewed here in July 2011). ‘The Season’ – a Royal & Derngate, Northampton and New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich co-production, directed by Tim Jackson – is witty, sweet, moving and great fun. It has been playing to packed houses in Northampton and Saturday’s audience gave the show an enthusiastic standing ovation.
Labels: Musicals, Theatre
