'A Midsummer Night's Dream' by William Shakespeare
26 August 2021
Of all the touring companies presenting summer open-air theatre, I think we have seen more Chapterhouse productions than any of the others. I’ve reviewed 8 of their performances here, including my first ever experience of watching ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (reviewed here in July 2009). Last Friday we saw the latest Chapterhouse production of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in the beautiful setting of the Swiss Garden at Shuttleworth, Old Warden. It was a lovely evening and a really enjoyable performance - a straightforward but high-quality presentation of the play with some excellent acting. But the highlight (ironically) was the moment, minutes from the end, when the power was lost and the floodlights went out, plunging us all into darkness. The audience instantly produced torches and mobile phones to illuminate the stage and the actors finished their comic dance, humming in place of the recorded music. Puck’s epilogue, which begins “If we shadows have offended …” got a big laugh and then we picked up our garden chairs and the remnants of our picnics and carefully found our way out of the Swiss Garden by torchlight after a magical evening.
Labels: Drama, Theatre
'Blast from the Past' by Ben Elton
20 August 2021
Having enjoyed ‘Time and Time Again’ (reviewed here in January 2021) I have been reading another Ben Elton novel, ‘Blast from the Past’ - a gripping thriller published in 1998. It’s not always a comfortable read - dealing with themes of sexual politics and sexual violence - but I certainly wanted to know what happened. The structure of the book feels more like a stage play, set mostly in a single room on a single night, with flashbacks to fill in the characters and how they came to know each other. The chapters are incredibly short, creating a fast-paced story which starts intriguing and builds to genuinely thrilling, with a series of great plot twists. It’s not entirely believable and the characters are not that sympathetic but it’s an exciting and unpredictable read.
Labels: Books
'Macbeth' by William Shakespeare
12 August 2021
Last Saturday we returned to Wrest Park in Silsoe to see an open-air production of ‘Macbeth’ by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. We’ve seen this company twice before, performing ‘Twelfth Night’ (reviewed here in August 2009) and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (reviewed here in July 2019). The Lord Chamberlain’s Men is an all male outdoor theatre company, a re-creation of Shakespeare’s original troupe of travelling players. They specialise in traditional performances of Shakespeare plays. There are no modern references, props or gimmicks, just a group of excellent actors in full Elizabethan costume – with all the female parts played by men. Their ‘Macbeth’ was therefore a very different version to the production by the Handlebards that we saw in June at Luton Hoo Estate (reviewed here in June 2021) - a charmingly silly romp by three female actors. Saturday’s performance was conventional, clear, extremely well-acted and gripping. It was slickly presented at a fair pace, without any gaps between scenes, taking us through the story (with some sensible cuts) in a mere 95 minutes without an interval. It was lovely to be part of a huge audience for some great live theatre in a beautiful setting.
Labels: Drama, Theatre
'The Eternal Rocks Beneath' by Katherine Priddy
5 August 2021
I’ve been enjoying ‘The Eternal Rocks Beneath’, the debut album by English folk singer/songwriter Katherine Priddy. This is a varied collection of original songs which includes traditional English folk, acoustic pop and Celtic styles. She is a fan of Nick Drake and you can hear his influence in her delicate vocals over gentle guitar arpeggios. Many of the songs are backed by string quartet, with some guest contributions on folk fiddle and tin whistle. Some of her writing and her vocal delivery reminded me of the great Kirsty MacColl (particularly on the upbeat ‘Letters from a Travelling Man’, accompanied by swinging double bass and banjo) and there is a also a flavour of my favourite English folk singer Ruth Notman (last reviewed here in November 2019) to the album (especially in the higher range vocals on ‘The Isle of Eigg’). ‘The Eternal Rocks Beneath’ is a lovely album - here is a sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJW3bjff02I
Labels: Albums, Music
