I was invited to a reading of a new adaptation of an Oscar Wilde short story at the Old Vic. It’s a much better adaptation than the 50’s one which I saw in a wonderful production in Aston, Oxon (with a terrific Podger from the relatively unknown but highly talented Martin Havelock!). The highlight of the afternoon though [...]
Archive for April, 2008
The Rest of April
Posted in Art, Dance, Opera, Theatre, tagged Art, Dance, Opera, Theatre on April 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
April Music Round-Up
Posted in Classical Music, Contemporary Music, Opera, tagged Classical Music, Contemporary Music, Opera on April 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Five very different nights at the Barbican this month. A concert of Handel’s opera Flavio was delightful; a formulaic story but gorgeous music and some excellent playing and singing - I loved the way the cast made a running joke of the story thread about sending someone to govern Britain.
I went to see Argentinain Osvoldo Gogilov’s opera (in concert) [...]
April Film Round-up
Posted in Film, tagged Film on April 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I’m afraid I didn’t follow the critical mass with Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky, which I found an inconsequential disappointment from a great film-maker. The highlight of the month was undoubtedly In Brugge, a terrific black comedy from playwright Conor MacPherson, in which Colin Farrel is a revelation. I would also recommend Son of Rambow, a charming British comedy with some terrific performances from [...]
Sifter’s Dinge
Posted in Art, tagged Art, Classical Music on April 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
This is an ‘installation’ in a former concrete testing hall underneath a university, consisting of 5 pianos and assorted homemade percussion such as pipes and metal sheets. There are no performers but the installation plays, moves and releases liquid and gases. I haven’t got a clue if it had a point or what it was [...]
7 Deadly Sins – The Tiger Lillies
Posted in Contemporary Music, Theatre, tagged Add new tag, Contemporary Music, Theatre on April 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve wanted to see the Tiger Lillies again since Shockheaded Peter zonks ago when their songs absolutely made the show. They are unique and quirky, but this is more of a punk gothic cabaret / concert than a show. Though I enjoyed much of it, they completley destroy their own concept when they descend into childish unsubtle crudeness. [...]
Contains Violence
Posted in Theatre, tagged Theatre on April 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
What an inspired idea – put the audience on a raked platform in unmatched chairs (I got the throne, obviously), give them headphones and binoculars (and mac’s if it looks like rain) and perform your ‘play’ inside offices and stairwells in the building opposite. Unfortunately, the execution didn’t really live up to it – largely [...]
Atalanta
Posted in Opera, tagged Opera on April 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Handel operas normally have preposterous plots but gorgeous music & uplifting endings and this is no exception. It’s been updated to Brighton beach 2008 (!) which breathes a bit of life into it even if it is a bit gimmicky (you know, mobile phones and laptops…), but the real reason for going to see this is [...]
The Minotaur
Posted in Opera, tagged Add new tag, Opera on April 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Going to the opera is often like visiting a museum. The same operas are wheeled out - mostly 19th century, sometimes 18th century, occasionally 20th century – which producers try and breath new life into; often failing in a sea of pretentious up-dating.
I can only recall 4 new operas on the Covent Garden main stage in [...]
Eurobeat (Almost Eurovision)
Posted in Theatre, tagged Theatre on April 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
By the time there was a buzz about this show in Edinburgh 2007, I couldn’t fit it into the schedule, so I was pleased to see it starting its UK tour down the road in Wimbledon. A complete Eurovision experience set in Sarajevo with two caricatured hosts, 10 archetypal entries, interval ‘entertainment’ and a voting [...]
Pink Bedroom
Posted in Theatre, tagged London Theatre on April 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
After 27 years of London theatre-going, it’s great to come across a new venue and the Courtyard Theatre, in a 19th century library in trendy Hoxton, is a very well-run one too. These four very short Tennessee Williams plays aren’t classics but the production values, staging and performances are high quality fringe indeed. The characters [...]
