The Anniversary Games 2019

24 July 2019

On Saturday we made our first return, seven years after London 2012, to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London to watch the Anniversary Games IAAF Diamond League Athletics meeting in the Olympic Stadium. It was great to be back, and wonderful to see some high quality, competitive international athletics. Athletics competitions always seem to be meticulously choreographed, slickly alternating between track races and field events so there is always something to watch. Some of the highlights for me from Saturday were watching a magnificent Laura Muir win an impressive 1500, seeing one of the stars of the 2012 Paralympics, Jonnie Peacock, back to winning ways, Norwegian Karsten Warholm setting a new European record in the 400m hurdles, and the Jamaican sprinter Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce running a storming final leg to dip ahead of the Great Britain team in the 4x100m relay. You can see a selection of my photos from the Anniversary Games at: https://culturaloutlook.blogspot.com/search/label/AnniversaryGames2019

'A Midsummer Night's Dream' by William Shakespeare

18 July 2019

We last saw the Lord Chamberlain’s Men when they performed ‘Twelfth Night’ in the gardens of Woburn Abbey in 2009 (reviewed here in August 2009). This all male outdoor theatre company, a re-creation of Shakespeare’s original troupe of travelling players, specialises 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. On Wednesday we were back at Woburn Abbey to see the Lord Chamberlain’s Men in Peter Stickney’s excellent production of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. It was another high quality performance that really gives you an idea of what it might have been like to see the play in Shakespeare’s time. Unlike many of the touring outdoor theatre companies, there is no breaking of the fourth wall, ad-libbing with the audience or pinching food from people’s picnics – just good acting which takes you into the imaginary world of the play and reminds you how good it is, and how funny.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

16 July 2019

On Sunday I played in the Northampton Symphony Orchestra’s annual Friends’ Concert, bringing to an end our 125th anniversary concert season. This end of season party is an exclusive concert for the Friends of the Orchestra who have supported NSO over the past year. It gives the orchestra the chance to play a variety of shorter pieces that wouldn’t fit into a standard concert programme, and finishes with a buffet for the Friends and the orchestra. This year our conductor, John Gibbons, programmed two English folk songs delightfully arranged for strings by Frank Bridge (‘Sally in Our Alley’ and ‘Cherry Ripe’) followed by the ‘Capriol Suite’ by Peter Warlock, not in the original version for string orchestra but alternating between two arrangements for brass and woodwind. The main focus of the concert was a performance of the two suites from Edvard Grieg’s incidental music to ‘Peer Gynt’, which we played in the order they appear in Ibsen’s play so that John could give the audience his personal interpretation of the story of Peer Gynt (a play he admitted he has never seen!) between the movements. It is a bonkers story – worth watching this excellent Classics Explained YouTube video if you aren’t familiar with it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBgPqhBUE2o The orchestra played beautifully, with woodwind impressing in ‘Morning’, strings showing precision in the chromatic challenges of ‘Anitra’s Dance’ and brass powering us through ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’. But the stars of the show were the tuba and trombone players joining the percussion section for the ‘Arabian Dance’! We finished the concert with the third movement of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Symphony No 6 (Pathétique)’ - that famous glorious march that is usually punctured by the angst of the symphony’s final movement, but here was allowed to remain as a triumphant finale to our concert and our anniversary season.

Wimbledon 2019

12 July 2019

On Wednesday we were very lucky to have tickets for Wimbledon Centre Court where we saw the men’s singles quarter finals between Novak Djokovic and David Goffin & Roger Federer and Kei Nishikori. It was a hot, sunny day and we had great seats quite close to the court. After a close and entertaining first set Djokovic ran away with the first match in straight sets but the four-set tussle between Federer and Nishikori was much closer. It always looked like Federer would triumph but Nishikori never gave up and played some wonderful tennis. At the end of the afternoon we were treated to a ladies’ doubles invitation match featuring Martina Navratilova which was great fun, with Martina (now 62 years old) still playing brilliantly (and winning).

'Measure for Measure' by William Shakespeare

12 July 2019

‘Measure for Measure’ has never been one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. I last saw it at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2012 (reviewed here in January 2012) which was the first time it really held my attention. But Gregory Doran’s new production for the Royal Shakespeare Company, which we saw at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon last Thursday, has finally won me over to the play. Apart from moving the setting to 1900s Vienna, this is a very straightforward production which concentrates on the acting. Antony Byrne (who I saw as Antony in the RSC production of ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ reviewed here in December 2017) commands the stage as the Duke and Claire Price (who was so brilliant as Petruchia in Justin Audibert’s RSC production of ‘The Taming of The Shrew’, reviewed here in March 2019) provides the moral voice of conscience as Escalus. Sandy Grierson (Touchstone in ‘As You Like It’, reviewed here in April 2019) manages to make Angelo both loathsome and sympathetic, and Lucy Phelps (Rosalind in that same recent production of ‘As You Like It’) brings an earnest disbelief to Isabella’s reaction to Angelo’s indecent proposal that makes us see the play in a post #metoo context.

'Much Ado About Nothing' by William Shakespeare

12 July 2019

We first encountered the Handlebards at the 2018 Milton Keynes International Festival, where we saw their all-female troupe performing ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (reviewed here in July 2018). The Handlebards are “cycling actors who carry all the set, props and costume needed to perform extremely energetic, charmingly chaotic and environmentally sustainable Shakespeare plays across the globe”. Last Monday we were in the garden of the Quarry Theatre in Bedford to see the Handlebards’ all-male troupe performing ‘Much Ado About Nothing’. It was a really enjoyable show, with a well-judged mixture of silliness and impressive acting. There was lots of audience interaction, good use of bicycle handlebars and bells and much fun had with the challenges of four actors playing multiple parts in the same scene.

'Small Island' based on the novel by Andrea Levy, adapted by Helen Edmundson

28 June 2019

I have written here before about Andrea Levy’s ‘Small Island’ – one of my favourite novels of recent years – a moving tale of Caribbean immigrants to the UK after the Second World War which manages to show you events through the eyes of each of the main protagonists so that you amazingly find yourself simultaneously sympathising with both sides of the racial prejudice at the heart of the story. It’s a brilliant novel and I had some trepidation about going to see the NTLive screening of Rufus Norris’s National Theatre production of Helen Edmundson’s stage adaptation of ‘Small Island’ at the Odeon in Milton Keynes on Thursday. Much as I knew I would enjoy revisiting Andrea Levy’s rich characters, I worried that the theatrical version would have to reduce a long and complex book so much that the best aspects might be lost. I need not have worried. Helen Edmundson has created a very inventive play of two halves which works extremely well. Whereas the novel starts with the arrival in post-war London, from Jamaica, of Hortense and Gilbert and then fills in the back story of each of the main characters through lengthy flashbacks, the stage version uses the flashbacks to create a linear, chronological first half. Rufus Norris uses the vast stage of the Olivier Theatre to create an epic, cinematic story, spanning decades and continents. After the interval the second half of the play starts with Hortense and Gilbert arriving in London and tells their ‘present day’ story as a more straightforward play-within-the-play, claustrophobically focussed on two rooms in Queenie’s house. By the time we get to this main story of West Indian immigrants coping with the harsh realities of 1940s London, we already know each character well. It’s an incredibly emotional story – funny, moving and shocking. It was great to be in a packed cinema to experience the collective gasps of the audience at some of the viciously racist language. And the acting was excellent, with the two female leads – Leah Harvey as Hortense and Aisling Loftus as Queenie – both outstanding. My only slight disappointment was with the portrayal of Queenie’s husband, Bernard. I think Andrea Levy’s greatest achievement in the novel was to allow the reader despise this most horribly racist bully, before filling in his backstory (particularly his experiences in the RAF in Burma and India) and making us shocked to find we can begin to find some sympathy for Bernard. In the play I felt the actor playing Bernard was too young: in the early scenes he came across as a socially awkward young man who was slightly too likeable. And because Bernard’s wartime experiences are cut from the play, and only briefly referred to in passing, we don’t really get the chance to see events from his point of view, making him seem jarringly unredeemed at the end. But apart from this slightly missed opportunity, the National Theatre production of ‘Small Island’ was truly excellent and it was wonderful to see it attracting a truly diverse audience – both in the theatre and the cinema.

Fever-Tree Tennis Championships 2019 at Queen's Club, London

21 June 2019

On Thursday we made a first-ever visit to the Queen’s Club in West London to see the pre-Wimbledon Fever-Tree Championships. After most of the matches scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday were postponed by rain, we were extremely lucky to see more than nine hours of uninterrupted tennis on Centre Court. The Argentinian clay-court specialist Diego Schwartzman played brilliantly to beat reigning champion Marin Čilić in straight sets. We saw two extremely close matches decided by final set tie breaks, with Nicolas Mahut triumphing over Stan Wawrinka (in the best match of the day) and the top seed, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, finally beating Jérémy Chardy of France after both men had succumbed to nerves when serving for the match. Finally we were thrilled to see the return to competitive tennis of Andy Murray, playing doubles with Feliciano López. Murray got an incredible reception from the Centre Court crowd and he and Lopez won a thrilling match against the top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah at the end of a wonderful day of tennis at Queen’s.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

18 June 2019

The Northampton Symphony Orchestra held its first rehearsal on 24 October 1893 with 21 members and gave its first concert in a crowded Northampton Town Hall on 20 January 1894, having grown to 40 players. The programme consisted of a large number of short ‘light’ pieces, including songs. The orchestra’s second concert the following November was a ‘grand success’ and the £10 surplus from the concert was used to buy 31 music stands and a cupboard to keep them in. In the following 125 years the Northampton Symphony Orchestra has gone through many changes but, in celebrating this momentous anniversary with a gala concert at the Derngate in Northampton last Saturday, I think we showed that the orchestra is arguably the biggest and best it has ever been. We had assembled a mammoth orchestra (116 players) for a mammoth programme.

The concert opened with a new piece commissioned by NSO to mark its 125th anniversary. ‘Overture: From the Heart of the Rose’ by the young composer Alga Mau, paints a picture of Northampton and the surrounding countryside from the bustling Victorian town of 1893 to the present day. It is, in part, a deliberate homage to the music of Eric Coates, whose ‘London Suite’ Alga Mau remembers playing during his time in the Northamptonshire County Training Orchestra. The overture is a tuneful, jolly piece which deserves many more performances. It was followed by a rousing performance of William Walton’s ‘Crown Imperial’, written for the coronation of King George VI in 1937, perhaps the best known piece on the programme.

The climax of the first half of the concert was Tchaikovsky’s ‘Piano Concerto No 2’ played by Peter Donohoe, who has been one of the UK’s best known pianists since winning the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow in 1982. I have fond memories of performing the Grieg Piano Concerto with Peter Donohoe in a youth orchestra concert in Manchester when I was still at school and it was amazing to see him again so many years later with the same virtuoso technique, thrilling style and showmanship. Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto is a huge and fascinating work but is much less often performed than its more famous predecessor. The first movement lasts more than twenty minutes and feels almost like a complete work in itself: applause from our audience in the Derngate felt natural and deserved, and was smilingly acknowledged by Peter Donohoe. The second movement of the concerto is a beautiful and surprising triple concerto for violin, ‘cello and piano. In Saturday’s concert the orchestra’s Leader, Stephen Hague, and Principal ‘Cellist, Corinne Malitskie, played the solo parts stunningly. It was a mesmerising performance which transfixed the large Derngate audience – a real highpoint of the evening. The final movement of the concerto was a frenetic romp with Peter Donohoe racing the orchestra to a thrilling finish. He then treated us to an encore, playing the teasingly contemplative ‘Dumka’ by Tchaikovsky.

In the second half of the concert we played ‘An Alpine Symphony’ by Richard Strauss – a piece most French horn players dream of playing but rarely have the opportunity. The symphony is scored for 20 horns – 8 horns on stage (including 4 also playing Wagner tubas) and 12 offstage horns (4 playing each of 3 parts). Given that most orchestras usually have 4 horn players it is a major challenge to amass sufficient forces. We managed to bring together 17 horn players (from orchestras in Northampton, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Luton and Windsor & Maidenhead) which allowed us to cover all the parts and sounded fantastic. ‘An Alpine Symphony’ was one of the first pieces I played with NSO – in a one-day workshop with members of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 2000 – and it was amazing to finally get the chance to perform the symphony in a concert 19 years later, as part of this massive horn section.

Richard Strauss’s programmatic symphony tells the story, in 22 short movements, of a mountain climb in the Alps. The trek begins before dawn, witnesses sunrise before embarking on the main ascent, travels through woods, by a brook and past a waterfall. It continues through flowering meadows, past cattle grazing on high pasture, emerging into bright sunlight on the glacier then reaching the summit. In the descent the party are caught in a furious storm before the symphony finishes back at the foot of the mountain with sunset and a return to night.

One of the most memorable moments of the symphony is the sound of a hunt in the distance, created by an offstage brass section. This offstage section only lasts about 40 seconds, and happens about 6 minutes after the start of this long symphony, so I am particularly grateful to everyone who joined us on Saturday just to create this brief but vital musical moment. I think the offstage section went even better in performance than it had in rehearsal, perfectly co-ordinated with the orchestra on stage, and it sounded fantastic.

The Alpine Symphony was a considerable challenge for the orchestra but I think our performance was really special. NSO conductor John Gibbons, who was deservedly awarded a British Empire Medal, for services to music, in the Queen’s Birthday Honours last week, managed to create a moving, disciplined and powerful performance from the mass of performers on and off stage. There were so many highlights it would be impossible to mention them all but I particularly loved our brilliant percussion section who created a terrifying storm, and the brass section were outstanding with amazingly piercing high notes from the trumpets. For me, however, there was nothing better than that magical moment, at the summit of the mountain, when the 12 onstage horns all played together for the first time. It was incredible to be part of this huge team effort, and it was a wonderful way to celebrate 125 years of the Northampton Symphony Orchestra.

[Many thanks to Graham Tear's excellent programme notes from which I have blatantly pinched!]

'The Pope' by Anthony McCarten

14 June 2019

The Royal Theatre in Northampton is on an impressive run of form. The last three home-grown productions we have seen there have all been excellent ('Ghosts' by Henrik Ibsen, reviewed here in April 2019, 'The Remains of the Day' by Kazuo Ishiguro, reviewed here in March 2019, and 'Our Lady of Kibeho' by Katori Hall, reviewed here in January 2019). Royal and Derngate Artistic Director James Dacre’s production of Anthony McCarten’s new play ‘The Pope’, which we saw at the Royal Theatre on Thursday, maintains this glowing track record. Anthony McCarten is an award-winning screenwriter and film producer whose credits include ‘The Theory of Everything’, ‘Darkest Hour’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ – all fictionalised versions of relatively recent events. ‘The Pope’ is an even more contemporary tale, looking at the decision  in 2013 of Pope Benedict XVI to resign – the first Pope to do so for more than 700 years. Anton Lesser plays Pope Benedict with Nicholas Woodeson as Cardinal Bergoglio (the future Pope Francis). The play has a simple and very effective structure, with mirrored scenes in the first half in which both men explain their intentions to female confidantes before the two of them come together for an extended dialogue to attempt to resolve their impasse. The script is remarkably witty – very funny without ever being disrespectful – and the play focuses on the contrasting characters of two men with a common purpose. Anton Lesser and Nicholas Woodeson are wonderful – it’s a great two-hander.

‘Mum’ by Stefan Golaszewski

7 June 2019

I’ve written here before about ‘Mum’, Stefan Golaszewski’s brilliantly bittersweet TV sitcom starring Lesley Manville (reviewed here in March 2018). As the third and final series comes to an end on BBC2, I have to reinforce my earlier praise. Over the three short series, every one of the seemingly ridiculous characters becomes completely sympathetic, without ever losing their obnoxious traits. It is beautifully written and wonderfully acted drama. All the actors are fantastic but Karl Johnson and Marlene Sidaway’s foul-mouthed grandparents deserve a series of their own! In this golden age of television, ‘Mum’ is one of the most precious gems.

‘The Affinity Bridge’ by George Mann

7 June 2019

I’ve just finished reading ‘The Affinity Bridge’ by George Mann (as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Simon Taylor) – the first book in the ‘Newbury and Hobbes’ series of Victorian detective/fantasy/science fiction novels. Despite being set in a strange parallel universe where the streets of Victorian London are dominated by steampunk vehicles and giant airships and the fog hides armies of zombie ‘revenants’, ‘The Affinity Bridge’ is a surprisingly believable period piece (including the attitudes to gender, race and class). Sir Maurice Newbury and his assistant Miss Veronica Hobbes are unfailingly politely spoken, even in the most harrowing encounters with the forces of evil. And the amount of Earl Grey tea they manage to drink beggars belief! The book reminded me of 'Rivers of London' by Ben Aaronovitch (reviewed here in June 2018), ‘The House of Silk’ – Anthony Horowitz’s Sherlock Holmes novel (reviewed here in January 2012) and 'The Massacre of Mankind' – Stephen Baxter’s sequel to ‘The War of the Worlds’ (reviewed here in February 2017). ‘The Affinity Bridge’ is a very stiff-upper-lip, jolly-hockey-sticks tale, and its a ripping yarn.

Govan Craft Cafe 'Colour Workshop' by Impact Arts

14 May 2019

On Tuesday afternoon I was at Elderpark Community Centre in Govan for the Govan Craft Cafe Colour Workshop. The Craft Cafe is a regular free creative programme for people aged 60+, delivered by Impact Arts every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The Colour Workshop, part of the 2019 Luminate Festival, had attracted several newcomers as well as many Craft Cafe regulars. When I arrived at the all-day drop-in session there were about 30 people busy exploring colour through a range of visual art techniques. Charlotte Craig and her team were helping the participants to make circular mandalas to experiment with colour mixing. I joined in with a group making a giant mandala in the sunshine outside the Community Centre, wetting a large circular piece of paper with water before sprinkling powdered pigment on it to create a beautiful array of swirling patterns. It was interesting how this group creative activity naturally led to a rich conversation. The companionship and fun that people get from taking part in the Craft cafe was plainly evident.

‘The Museum of Hope in the Dark’ by Forest Fringe

14 May 2019

On Tuesday morning I was at Tramway in Glasgow to see ‘The Museum of Hope in the Dark’ by Forest Fringe, part of the 2019 Luminate Festival. Andy Field’s installation consists of a darkened room with six bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Each of the bulbs flickers on and off, apparently at random, but actually creating messages in Morse code, transcriptions of short texts about Hope by six older women: Lois Weaver, Jo Clifford, Geraldine Baird, Samshad Waheed Ghani, Tasneem Karim and MAC. You are provided with paper, pencils and a guide to Morse code and invited to decipher the messages but I found it impossible to follow any of the quickly pulsing lights, and was too distracted by the other five. Fortunately the full texts are also provided to visitors (in a sealed envelope). They address a range of topics, including depression and discrimination, in prose and poetry, finding hope in the darkest places.

‘Timefield’ by Ian Cameron, Kate Clayton, Frank McElhinney, Annie Peel and Lesley Wilson

13 May 2019

On Monday afternoon I was at the Platform Arts Centre at The Bridge in Easterhouse on the outskirts of Glasgow (where we held the 2014 Epic Awards Ceremony) to see ‘Timefield’ – a cross-art collaborative installation developed by five older artists, as part of the 2019 Luminate Festival. Ian Cameron, Kate Clayton, Frank McElhinney, Annie Peel and Lesley Wilson have created a fascinating, immersive experience about nature and ageing. As you enter the room you are surrounded by large painted wall-hangings and  encompassed by John Wills’ three-dimensional soundscape. Projections of long exposure photographs on two sides of the room display a montage of naked older bodies, showing the impact of time on the body. The soundscape and the projections are each on repeating loops of varying lengths and there is a hypnotic quality to the way they occasionally seem to coincide and reinforce each other. It was also interesting, when you accidentally walk through the beam of one of the projectors, to see your own shadow alongside the projected bodies and reflect on your own ageing – briefly becoming a participant in the piece.

'A Creative Century' by Voluntary Arts Scotland

13 May 2019

On Monday morning I was at Dance Base in Edinburgh to see ‘A Creative Century’ – Voluntary Arts Scotland’s exhibition exploring ten decades of creativity as part of the 2019 Luminate Festival. Kelly Donaldson has curated a fascinating series of portraits of ten Edinburgh residents and their creative pursuits, from a child under ten to a person in their 90s and every decade in-between. The stories are inspiring and Derek Anderson’s photographs are lovely, beautifully composed and showing the joy these people get from their creativity. Placing the exhibition in Dance Base is also very clever: Scotland’s national centre for dance runs hundreds of dance classes every week and huge numbers of people will see the pictures in passing and will undoubtedly be drawn in by the stories. You can see all the portraits and videos online at: https://www.voluntaryarts.org/creative-century 

'Northanger Abbey' by Jane Austen, adapted by Katherine Rigg

13 May 2019

On Saturday we were at The Place in Bedford to see the Cyphers Theatre Company’s production of ‘Northanger Abbey’ by Jane Austen. Katherine Rigg’s adaptation, directed by Marcus Bazley, is good fun, capturing the tone of Austen’s spoof gothic novel with the right balance between earnestness and mockery. The energetic young cast of five actors very effectively conjure up the genteel society of Bath and the disappointingly modernised Abbey with minimal scenery and props. The show is silly while still managing to find some real Austenian pathos and romance.

‘Placeless’ by Masha & Marjan Vahdat and the Kronos Quartet

10 May 2019

Of the many performances I have seen at the WOMAD Festival over the past fifteen years, one that has stuck in my memory was two sisters from Iran, Masha and Marjan Vahdat, who I saw at the 2014 festival (reviewed here in August 2014). Masha and Marjan Vahdat break Iranian law every time they perform in front of an audience that includes men, but proudly continue to do so around the world. Their haunting voices – usually taking turns to sing solo, only occasionally duetting – are both powerful and melancholic. I was fascinated to discover that they have now recorded an album with the Kronos Quartet – who feature on my favourite world music/string quartet collaboration  on the Malian singer Rokia Traoré’s 2003 album ‘Bowmboi’ (which I have written about here in December 2007 and September 2016). ‘Placeless’ is a collection of songs written by Mahsa Vahdat, with lyrics by the classic poets Rumi and Hafez as well as three contemporary writers. The Kronos Quartet provide an unobtrusive accompaniment to the sisters’ voices. It’s a beautiful, thoughtful, serious collection which blends Western classical music with the Iranian vocals. ‘Placeless’ is part of a bigger Kronos Quartet plan to highlight music from the seven Muslim-majority nations affected by President Trump’s US travel ban. You can see a video of one of the tracks from the album at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK2sHz8Rs5k

'Father of the Bride' by Vampire Weekend

3 May 2019

In February 2008 I wrote here that “my new favourite band is Vampire Weekend”. We’ve both come a long way since then but I’m enjoying listening to the first Vampire Weekend album for six years, ‘Father of the Bride’, which came out this week. It’s a sprawling, varied double album but the mood is mostly cheerful and upbeat. Ezra Koenig continues to combine an eclectic range of influences. ‘This Life’ returns to the jangling sunshine African guitars of ‘Oxford Comma’, ‘Married in a Gold Rush’, featuring Danielle Haim, has a country feel, while Alexis Petridis in The Guardian suggests ‘Sympathy’ is “equal parts flamenco and early Pet Shop Boys”. I hadn’t noticed before how much Koenig owes to Paul Simon but I can now hear that influence in many of the tracks. Try ‘This Life’ at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIGNNOZ0948

'The Odyssey' by Mark Hayward

26 April

On Thursday I was at The Place in Bedford to see The Pantaloons performing ‘The Odyssey’, co-written and directed by Mark Hayward. This is my sixth Pantaloons production but the first time I have seen them indoors: they have tended to specialise in summer outdoor shows, such as 'Much Ado About Nothing' and 'Pride and Prejudice' (both reviewed here in August 2015). Their approach is always charmingly silly and ‘The Odyssey’ follows the usual Pantaloons formula. It is written in modern rhyming verse with a multitude of contemporary references and no pretence of a fourth wall. There is much audience participation, competitive improvisation and occasional corpsing and it is a very funny show while somehow managing to actually stick to Homer’s tale. This trailer will give you a flavour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdTLad-AAbU

'Ghosts' by Henrik Ibsen in a new version by Mike Poulton

26 April 2019

Ibsen’s ‘Ghosts’ is a grim play: the Daily Telegraph review of the first London performance in 1891 called it “a wretched, deplorable, loathsome history”. It’s a tale of incest, betrayal and sexually transmitted infection but Mike Poulton’s new version, which we saw at the Royal Theatre in Northampton on Saturday, finds some welcome humour amongst the angst. Lucy Bailey’s Royal & Derngate production is simple and effective, with great acting from Penny Downie as Helen Alving and James Wilby who manages to make Pastor Manders both a scheming manipulator and a bumbling fool. Mike Britton’s set, inspired by the paintings of Vilhelm Hammershoi, is bold and clear and it was good to see the Royal & Derngate continuing its practice of using a Community Cast of local amateurs alongside the professional leads.

'Mary Queen of Scots' by Josie Rourke

26 April 2019

Last Friday we made a first visit to the new Curzon Cinema at Milton Keynes Gallery to see Josie Rourke’s film ‘Mary Queen of Scots’. Although the film plays fast and loose with history, as a study of the characters of the two Queens – Mary and Elizabeth I – it’s a gripping drama. Saoirse Ronan is stunning as Mary and dominates the film, but Margot Robbie makes Elizabeth surprisingly sympathetic. There’s also a great supporting cast, including Martin Compston from ‘Line of Duty’ deploying his natural Scottish accent for a change and David Tennant playing John Knox behind a beard that deserves its own Oscar!

'As You Like It' by William Shakespeare

18 April 2019

I first saw ‘As You Like It’ on our first visit to the old Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1992 when it was Samantha Bond as Rosalind who took the stage alone at the end of the play to say “It is not the fashion to see the lady the epilogue”. I’ve seen it many times since and really enjoyed Kimberley Sykes’ new Royal Shakespeare Company production which we saw this Wednesday at the Odeon in Milton Keynes, broadcast live from the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre. ‘As You Like It’ has some great comic scenes and is always fun, though there are parts of the play that often seem to drag. But it is a rare Shakespeare play to have such a dominant female lead and Lucy Phelps was fantastic as Rosalind. Her manic nervous energy in the Ganymede scenes was brilliantly done with an amazing rapid fire delivery of the lines. Sophie Stanton, who is wonderful in the current RSC production of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ (reviewed here in March 2019), played a female Jacques with a twinkle and a smirk that relieved the melancholy. David Ajao showed loveable vulnerability as a childlike Orlando, Sophie Khan Levy was a very funny Celia and Emily Johnstone gave a great comic turn as Le Beau. I have fond memories of a 1996 production of ‘As You Like It’ at Nottingham Playhouse in which Shaun Prendergast played Touchstone (the Fool) as Eric Morecambe – so it was fascinating this week to see Sandy Grierson’s Touchstone clearly channelling Billy Connolly.

'All About Eve' by Joseph L Makiewica, adapted by Ivo van Hove

12 April 2019

I’ve never seen the classic 1950 film ‘All About Eve’ so I came completely fresh to Ivo van Hove’s new stage adaptation, which we saw at the Odeon in Milton Keynes in a live screening from the Noel Coward Theatre in London on Thursday. Ivo van Hove is a fascinatingly innovative theatre director: I really enjoyed his production of 'A View From The Bridge' by Arthur Miller (reviewed here in April 2015). His version of ‘All About Eve’ draws on Joseph L Mankiewicz’s film but also on the play on which it was based – ‘ The Wisdom of Eve’ by Mary Orr. The story of an ageing star actress and the young fan who aspires to replace her mostly takes place backstage, in dressing rooms, kitchens and bathrooms. Jan Versweyveld’s set cleverly takes the audience into the theatre’s hidden nooks and crannies, using live video projection to give us access to the most intimate spaces. But in a play about actors, this inventive visual approach rightly feels secondary to the acting, with Gillian Anderson and Lily James giving brilliant performances as Margo and Eve. Gillian Anderson’s world-weary cynical drawl delivery is hilarious and Lily James manages to switch Eve’s mood on a sixpence. I loved the way the height of the two characters’ heels gradually shift, scene by scene, to reflect the growing or diminishing strength of their positions – with Eve appearing to grow taller as Margo literally shrinks. The script is incredibly witty and the plot twists were very satisfying. The original music by PJ Harvey captured the ominous mood of the story but felt a little too intrusive at times. Monica Dolan gave a wonderful performance as Karen Richards – for which she has just won the Olivier Award for best supporting actress.

‘The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle’ by Stuart Turton

5 April 2019

‘The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle’ is a remarkable debut novel by Stuart Turton. It has the appearance of an old fashioned remote country house murder mystery but our narrator appears to be reliving the day of the murder, each time inhabiting the body of a different member of the household. It’s like taking part in the same murder mystery role-play game over and over again, always wondering whether this time you might be the murderer. This high-concept device is ingenious, allowing narrator and reader to gradually piece together the jigsaw puzzle plot. It also becomes incredibly complicated but Turton kindly finds an occasional excuse to recap what we know so far. The book (which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Jot Davies) is also beautifully written. It is packed with wonderfully quotable similes that perfectly evoke the person being described in an economy of words. I look forward to seeing what Stuart Turton writes next.

Hannah James and Toby Kuhn

5 April 2019

On Saturday we were at the Bristol Folk House to see the young English folk singer, accordionist and clog dancer Hannah James, performing with the French ‘cellist Toby Kuhn. This newly formed duo played an interestingly varied range of songs and tunes, creating beautiful gentle acoustic music. Hannah James is an excellent singer and a very accomplished performer. She is a member of the English folk vocal harmony trio Lady Maisery and several duos as well as performing solo. Her own compositions are great examples of modern folk music, responding to contemporary events such as the 2018 Florida school shootings. She is also an enthusiastic champion for the art of ‘percussive dance’, using her clogs (and occasionally her bare feet) to provide intricate and complex rhythmic accompaniment. (This reminded me of the wonderful Tilly and the Wall (reviewed here in March 2007)). See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLZhTFvLKbI

Moya Brennan

5 April 2019

Last Wednesday we visited the beautiful manor house and grounds at Rhosygilwen in Pembrokeshire where a stunning modern glass-walled barn acts as a unique music venue. As the sun set across the wooded valley below, we watched the ‘First Lady of Celtic Music’, Moya Brennan, and her band perform a mixture of tracks from her solo albums, traditional Irish folk tunes and some very familiar Clannad numbers. Clannad was the Brennan family band and it was lovely to see Moya Brennan now playing alongside her daughter and son. It was also great to see two Irish harps on stage with Moya Brennan duetting with harpist Cormac de Barra – her collaborator on the series of ‘Voices & Harps’ albums.

Pembrokeshire

5 April 2019

We had a wonderful week in Pembrokeshire, with glorious weather throughout. We walked sections of the Coast Path every day, along spectacular cliffs overlooking peaceful turquoise seas. I particularly enjoyed the walk around Strumble Head where I actually managed to see a seal. We re-visited St David’s and Narberth and explored Fishguard and Newport. North Pembrokeshire has similar scenery to Cornwall but is much quieter – one of the most beautiful parts of the UK. You can see a few of my photos at: https://culturaloutlook.blogspot.com/search/label/Pembrokeshire2019

'The Taming of The Shrew' by William Shakespeare

20 March 2019

On Tuesday we were at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon to see Justin Audibert’s new RSC production of ‘The Taming of The Shrew’. This misogynistic play is particularly difficult to carry off: previously the most successful version I had seen was the Shakespeare’s Globe On Tour open air production, directed by Joe Murphy (reviewed here in July 2013), which showed the relationships in a new light by having all the parts played by women. Justin Audibert has created something even more interesting by reversing the gender of every character, setting the pay in a matriarchal society where Baptista Minola wants to marry off her sons to the highest bidder. Her older son, still called ‘Katherine’ (played by Joseph Arkley), is the sharp-tongued shrew who meets his match in the swaggering Petruchia (Claire Price) – determined to woo a rich husband. It’s a very funny production: the gender reversal allows us to enjoy the comedy of the play without it being quite so uncomfortable. Hannah Clark’s amazing costumes give the women enormous dresses that dominate each scene, emphasising their power in this society and allowing them (literally in one case!) to glide across the stage. There are brilliant comic performances from Sophie Stanton as Gremia, Laura Elsworthy as Trania and Amy Trigg as Biondella. I felt we didn’t see enough of Joseph Arkley’s Katherine in the early part of the play: we needed more evidence of his shrewishness before he is tamed. But this is clearly Petruchia’s play and Claire Price is wonderful – a bird’s nest of red hair, a wicked grin and a physical dominance of the stage (and of Katherine) creating a fascinating and compelling character.

'Changeable Heart' by Ruth Notman and Sam Kelly

15 March 2019

Long-time readers may remember my enthusiasm for the young Nottingham folk singer Ruth Notman, who was one of my favourite discoveries of 2008 (reviewed here in February 2008, April 2009, August 2009 and January 2010). Ruth took a break from music over the past few years to study to be a doctor but I’m delighted to be listening to her new album of duets with Sam Kelly, ‘Changeable Heart’, which is released today. It’s a mix of traditional songs and some original compositions by Notman and Kelly – a gentle, thoughtful, acoustic collection, beautifully sung by both singers. The album is produced by Irish folk singer, banjo player and guitarist Damien O'Kane (whose own excellent album ‘Areas of High Traffic’ I reviewed here in February 2016). There’s lots to enjoy about ‘Changeable Heart’ but it’s particularly lovely to hear Ruth Notman’s distinctively beautiful quivering voice again after a gap of several years. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hSzZQBGyUs

'Abigail's Party' by Mike Leigh

8 March 2018

On Thursday we were at the Derngate in Northampton to see Sarah Esdaile’s revival of ‘Abigail’s Party’. Mike Leigh’s 1977 play – and particularly the television version with Alison Steadman and the rest of the original stage cast – is so familiar I could have chanted along with much of the dialogue. It formed the template for the comedies of social embarrassment that are now such a familiar part of British culture – such as ‘The Office’, ‘The Thick of It’ and Alan Partridge. This production was excellently cast with Jodie Prenger making Beverley simultaneously monstrous, hilarious and sympathetic and perfectly capturing those nasal Essex vowels. And Rose Keegan was wonderful as Sue, the middle class neighbour (and mother of Abigail) who feels increasingly like a hostage, albeit an incredibly polite prisoner. On the 40th anniversary of ‘Abigail’s Party’, in February 2017, Mike Leigh wrote a great piece for The Guardian, reflecting on the origins of the play, which explains how the TV version replaced Elvis with Tom Jones, and José Feliciano with Demis Roussos. See: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/feb/24/mike-leigh-abigails-party-40

'The Remains of the Day' by Kazuo Ishiguro, adapted by Barney Norris

6 March 2019

On Tuesday we were at the Royal Theatre in Northampton to see a new dramatisation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel ‘The Remains of the Day’ - a Royal & Derngate joint production with Out of Joint, in association with Oxford Playhouse. Stephen Boxer gave a brilliant performance as Stevens, a constant presence, never leaving the stage. He perfectly maintained the butler’s stiff-upper-lip stoicism – the mask that never drops – whilst also managing to convey the simmering volcano of emotions that can never be expressed. Niamh Cusack was great as Miss Kenton, the housekeeper, determined to show she can match Stevens’ attention to detail but achingly frustrated by her inability to break through his over-formality. Adaptor Barney Norris finds a way of telling the story that is faithful to the book (and James Ivory’s 1993 film) but is distinctly theatrical, with Stevens’ post-war visit to the West Country sharing the stage with his memories of the pre-war Darlington House. It is a tribute to Christopher Haydon’s direction and Stephen Boxer’s performance that Stevens switches seamlessly between conversations with characters in the two time frames while the distinction is always perfectly clear to the audience. Lily Arnold’s wonderful set simply and effectively evokes the grand but decaying Darlington Hall, with incredibly realistic projected rain streaming down the windows and an enormous mirror at the back of the stage revealing unguarded reflections of characters trying to remain in the background. ‘The Remains of the Day’ examines the mid-twentieth century shifts in politics, class, gender and national identity – showing the refusal to acknowledge the end of an era. It’s an incredibly powerful, subtle and sad story and this stage version captures all its nuances brilliantly: one of the best things we have seen in the theatre for ages.

Dziļi Violets

28 February 2019

My new favourite band is not Deep Purple. Dziļi Violets – Latvian for Deep Purple (literally deep violets) – is a band created for the Latvian satirical TV show ‘Midnight Show Seven’. They recently released a tongue-in-cheek offering to be Latvia’s entry in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, ‘Tautasdziesma’ (“Dance: I don’t know how to dance”) – and I love the first comment posted on the YouTube page for the song which says “Europe is the place were a latvian guy is wearing a scottish kilt while singing french and i think that's beautiful." But when they move away from spoof songs Dziļi Violets are a pretty cool band. Their song which first attracted my attention was ‘Sprīdītis’ which has a modern take on old-fashioned swing in a similar way to Caravan Palace (reviewed here in July 2009), see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNx6odHk-Jo And I love the cheery upbeat ‘Dullais Dauka’ featuring Elza Rozentale whistling, rapping and singing like a Latvian Caro Emerald (reviewed here in April 2017), see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du9Sf7zLx3A I look forward to the first full album from Dziļi Violets.

'Already Ready Already' by Galactic

22 February 2019

I can tell you exactly when I first discovered the New Orleans funk band, Galactic: it was the attention-grabbing use of their powerful song ‘You Don’t Know’ (Featuring Glen David Andrews And The Rebirth Brass Band) in an episode of the third season of ‘Fargo’ (reviewed here in October 2017). This week I’ve been enjoying the new album by Galactic, ‘Already Ready Already’. Featuring a range of guest vocalists, its an eclectic set from a band that is always hard to categorise. There’s jazz, funk, R&B, rock, brass band, blues, hip hop, electronic and more squashed into eight tracks. I particularly like punk cabaret artist Boyfriend’s quirky speed-rap on ‘Dance At My Funeral’. Galactic are difficult to describe but undeniably cool. If you don’t know them I would recommend starting by listening to ‘You Don’t Know’ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxNFYbCDkrY

'Living on the Volcano' by Michael Calvin

15 February 2019

Michael Calvin is a very accomplished sports writer who has been named Sports Writer of the Year and Sports Reporter of the Year (twice). He was Chief Sports Writer at the Independent on Sunday until 2016 and in recent years he has won the Times Sports Book of the Year prize twice and has received much acclaim for ghostwriting the autobiographies of the rugby player Gareth Thomas and the footballer Joey Barton. He also happens to be one of my neighbours, living a few doors down from us. I’ve just finished reading Mick’s book ‘Living on the Volcano: The Secrets of Surviving as a Football Manager’, which was shortlisted for the 2015 William Hill Sports Book of the Year. It’s a collection of interviews with managers working across the Premier League and the English Football League, including Brendan Rodgers, Roberto Martinez, Alan Pardew, Sean Dyche, Karl Robinson and Eddie Howe. Given the precarious nature of the football manager’s job, the book now feels like a snapshot of 2014 as hardly any of the managers Mick talks to are still at the same clubs now. It’s a fascinating examination of the transition from player to manager. I was particularly struck by the wide range of incredibly thorough approaches taken by most of the managers who have meticulously studied statistics, foreign coaching styles, other sports or completely different industries to give them an insight on how to build the best team for their club. It seems cruel that, given this determined attention to detail, the fate of most managers seems to be decided on luck and the mood of players, fans and owners: these days football clubs rarely manage to take a long-term approach. Mick is good at getting behind the pantomime villain image of many football managers and showing the genuine, sympathetic human beings struggling against impossible odds. While it is true that most sacked managers will have reaped huge financial rewards, when you consider the ridiculous levels of scrutiny and stress involved you do wonder why anyone would want to be a football manager.

'The Mousetrap' by Agatha Christie

6 February 2019

Agatha Christie’s ‘The Mousetrap’ has been running in the West End in London since 1952 so I have spent my whole life avoiding spoilers before finally seeing the play at the Royal Theatre in Northampton on Monday. The longevity of ‘The Mousetrap’ is particularly amazing as I can’t imagine many people wanting to see it more than once: it is not knowing who dunnit that is the appeal. Nevertheless Gareth Armstrong’s touring production is great fun and very well acted. The plot is darker and more believable than I had expected and I wasn’t alone in wanting to finally see it for myself: the Royal Theatre was packed and we all left the theatre promising not to spoil the show for anyone who hasn’t yet seen it.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

5 February 2019

On Saturday I played in the third concert of the Northampton Symphony Orchestra’s 125th anniversary season. Our programme focussed on the year in which the orchestra was founded, 1893, featuring one piece written in 1893 and one by a composer who was born that year. Arthur Benjamin is best remembered for ‘Jamaican Rumba’ but his ‘Romantic Fantasy’, premiered in 1938, is a much more complex, serious piece. It is a remarkable double concerto for violin and viola, for which we were joined on Saturday by Stephen Bryant, Leader of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and Benjamin Roskams (who played Bruch's 'Scottish Fantasy' in a Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert reviewed here in June 2015). Most of us had not heard the ‘Romantic Fantasy’ before but NSO conductor, John Gibbons, knows it well, having conducted one of its few recordings (with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra for Dutton Epoch). It’s a lovely piece which really grew on me as I got to grips with it. The two fiendishly-difficult solo parts intertwine to sound at times like a single player. Stephen and Benjamin’s synchronicity was amazing, particularly in the cadenzas. We finished the concert with a much more familiar piece,  Antonín Dvořák’s ‘Symphony No 9: From the New World’, composed in 1893. The NSO has played the ‘New World Symphony’ 20 times over the past 125 years and I think Saturday’s performance was really impressive. Jayne Henderson had the scary challenge of having to play one of the most famous tunes in orchestral music – the cor anglais solo in the slow movement – and she delivered a perfect performance which was the highlight of the symphony. There were also beautiful solos from most of her woodwind colleagues, including Sarah Mourant (oboe), Graham Tear and Helen Taylor (flute) and Naomi Muller (clarinet). And the brass section was in magnificent form, particularly in the finale. It was a lovely concert.

'Don Quixote' by Miguel de Cervantes, adapted by James Fenton

31 January 2019

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a contemporary of Shakespeare: they died within a few days of each other in 1616. So it was fascinating to see the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of ‘Don Quixote’, adapted by James Fenton, at the Garrick Theatre in London last Saturday. When I read ‘The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha’ (reviewed here in January 2012) I realised what a debt more recent comic creations, particularly double-acts, owe to Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. In this stage adaptation David Threlfall and the comedian Rufus Hound create a believably warm relationship between these two deluded simpletons. The show is great fun though, as with the novel, laughs at the expense of what is effectively mental illness feel a bit uncomfortable at times. The most ground-breaking aspect of Cervantes’ book, however, is the meta-fiction of Volume 2 where the characters start to encounter people who have read Volume 1. The stage version tried to incorporate this narrative complexity, with actors carrying copies of the book and Rufus Hound breaking the fourth wall to banter with the audience. But I felt it missed the impact the book has when you start to wonder who is writing the story – which really messes with your head! Nevertheless Angus Jackson’s production is incredibly enjoyable and made me fall in love with Cervantes’ characters all over again.

'Our Lady of Kibeho' by Katori Hall

25 January 2019

In 1981 at a Catholic college in Kibeho in the mountains of Rwanda, three girls apparently experienced a visitation from the Virgin Mary. Katori Hall’s remarkable new play ‘Our Lady of Kibeho’, which we saw at the Royal Theatre in Northampton on Tuesday, uses this incident as a way to explore the conditions that led eventually to the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Some people believe the Virgin Mary appeared to warn of the approaching tragedy but the play leaves us to make up our own minds about whether the events at Kibeho were a religious miracle, mass hallucination or something else. Katori Hall is more interested in showing the growing divisions between Hutu and Tutsi that would have catastrophic outcomes. The UK premiere of ‘Our Lady of Kibeho’ is a triumph for the Royal & Derngate and its Director James Dacre, receiving glowing reviews from several national newspapers, including a five star review from Michael Billington in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jan/17/our-lady-of-kibeho-review-royal-and-derngate-northampton-katori-hall-rwanda It’s a beautiful production, full of charm and mystery, with an underlying ominousness. The excellent cast includes a Community Ensemble of local amateur actors and features stunning performances by Ery Nzaramba as the Headteacher and Gabrielle Brooks, Yasmin Mwanza and Pepter Lunkuse as the three girls. Orlando Gough’s music features some gorgeous a capella singing and Jonathan Fensom’s set manages to match the contradictory sunny but storm-laden feel of the play.

'Middle England' by Jonathan Coe

25 January 2019

The EU referendum of June 2016 and the subsequent years of Brexit negotiations have felt like a seismic shock to many people in the UK – something that could not have been foreseen. In his new novel, ‘Middle England’ – which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Rory Kinnear – Jonathan Coe paints a picture of England and the English from 2010 to late 2018 which does a great job of showing how inevitable the referendum result was. This third book featuring the characters from Coe’s 2001 novel 'The Rotters' Club' and its sequel 'The Closed Circle' (2004) shows the growing resentment of large swathes of Middle England to immigration, political correctness, austerity and more, alongside the naive obliviousness of those in their own liberal bubble. By the time the story reaches 2016 it is very clear which way each of the main characters is going to vote. The Rotters Club trilogy has now followed the lives of a group of schoolfriends from Birmingham, their families and friends from the late 1970s to 2018. It sets their stories against real-world political events in a similar way to Frederic Raphael’s ‘The Glittering Prizes’ trilogy and Sue Townsend’s Adrian Mole books. Where Jonathan Coe’s hilarious critique of Thatcher’s Britain ‘What a Carve Up’ and its sequel focussing on Cameron's Coalition Government, ‘Number 11’ (reviewed here in January 2016), formed a glorious farce, the Rotters Club novels all have a more melancholic feel. ‘Middle England’ is a very funny comic novel with many laugh-out-loud moments but it also has a pervasive air of sadness. Jonathan Coe was already one of my favourite contemporary authors but this time it felt like he was writing specially for me as ‘Middle England’ includes lengthy descriptions of the 2010 general election, a Baltic cruise and the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony. It’s incredibly enjoyable and deeply though-provoking.

‘The Tragedy of King Richard The Second’ by WIlliam Shakespeare

18 January 2019

On Tuesday we were at the Odeon in Milton Keynes to watch the NTLive screening of Shakespeare’s ‘The Tragedy of King Richard The Second’, live from the Almeida Theatre in London. We last saw ‘Richard II’ at the Barbican, with David Tennant in the title role (reviewed here in December 2013). Joe Hill-Gibbins’ production, starring Simon Russell Beale, is a much less conventional version of the play. Set in a windowless, door-less box, with just eight actors who can never escape from the stage, it has a deliberately claustrophic feel. There are no elaborate costumes and no props, other than a range of different kinds of gloves and buckets of blood, water and soil which lurk menacingly against the back wall until called into action. This plain setting allows you to concentrate on the acting, which is excellent. Simon Russell Beale, who we last saw as Prospero in Greg Doran’s RSC production of ‘The Tempest’ (reviewed here in November 2016), is a mesmerising performer and it was great to be able to see his performance in close-up on the big screen. The projector in our cinema seemed to be incorrectly adjusted, meaning we often couldn’t see the tops of the actors’ heads, but this only served to enhance the intense, claustrophic mood of the production. ‘Richard II’ is an odd play but I was particularly struck by the beauty of Shakespeare’s language. There are some lovely poetic speeches and it was poignant to be listening to Joseph Mydell’s John of Gaunt reciting ‘This Sceptred Isle’ while elsewhere MPs were voting on the EU Withdrawal Agreement. But I wasn’t totally convinced by the Almeida production: having such a small cast of actors playing multiple parts, without any differentiation of costume, proved quite confusing. Even knowing the play, I found it difficult to follow. There was some great acting and it was fascinating to see the stripped-down approach but I’m not sure it fully worked.

'The Favourite' by Yorgos Lanthimos

9 January 2019

On Tuesday we were at the Odeon in Milton Keynes to see Yorgos Lanthimos’ film ‘The Favourite’, starring Olivia Colman as Queen Anne. It’s a dark, quirky, historical drama with some graphic violence, sex and bad language. I’m not sure I would describe it as a comedy, though there are some very funny moments. Yorgos Lanthimos creates a stylish but realistic vision of life within the royal palace in the early 18th century. His repeated use of a distorted wide-angle lens has a voyeuristic feel as we intrude on the domestic life of the Queen and her ladies in waiting. It’s great to see a film with three (fairly evenly shared) leading parts for women, with most of the men depicted as buffoons. Olivia Colman and Emma Stone both have incredibly expressive faces, often shown in extreme close-up so you can almost see the thoughts moving behind their eyes – while Rachel Weisz maintains an un-moving deadpan throughout most of the film. The screenplay, by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, cleverly shifts the audience’s sympathies between the warring characters as the story progresses. It’s an odd film which will not be to everyone’s taste but Olivia Colman is superb and I enjoyed reading up afterwards about a period of British history that was previously a blind-spot for me.

'Hard Times' by Charles Dickens

4 January 2019

“Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts.” I was familiar with the words of Thomas Gradgrind which open ‘Hard Times’ by Charles Dickens but was surprised how little of the rest of the novel I knew. ‘Hard Times’ focuses on the social and industrial conditions in Coketown – a northern mill town, clearly modeled on Manchester. There is a weighty helping of Dickens’ witty prose, sometimes bordering on whimsy, but the plot emerges only very gradually, with the importance of several key events only revealed much later in hindsight. ‘Hard Times’ has a surprisingly small cast of principal characters – though they are beautifully drawn. Dickens works hard to convey the local dialect in print, making some of the book quite difficult to read. But his social campaigning messages are clear and entertainingly delivered. If you haven’t read any Dickens I wouldn’t start with ‘Hard Times’ but it was interesting to discover this tale for the first time.

'Lethal White' by Robert Galbraith

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.

'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.

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).

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!

'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.

‘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.

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.

'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.

'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.

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

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.

'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

'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.

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.  

'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”.

'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.

'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.

'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.

'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

'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.

'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.

'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.

'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.

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

‘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.

'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.

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.

'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.

'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.

‘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!