The art treat of the month was a visit to William Morris’ house, Kelmscott Manor, in Oxfordshire. It was a private Royal Academy visit so we had time and space to take in this beautiful home. An Arts & Crafts gem.
The Linda Mccartney photo exhibition was good, if small – 40 or so photos. I’d [...]
Archive for May, 2008
The Rest of May
Posted in Art, Books, Comedy, Photography, tagged Art, Books, Comedy, Photography on May 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
May Music Round-up
Posted in Classical Music, Contemporary Music, Opera, tagged Classical Music, Contemporary Music, Opera on May 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
A good month for music – both classical and contmporary.
At the beginning of the month I raced back from a job in Belfast to catch Mali Cora player Toumani Diabate at LSO St. Lukes, a de-consecrated church now used as a chamber concert venue. His playing was spellbinding and the venue was just perfect. It was [...]
The Good Soul of Szechuan
Posted in Theatre, tagged Theatre on May 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
A strange atmosphere is created even before the play starts. You walk through a long corridor onto the stage which appears to be a factory. Within minutes, people in pink overalls, white wellies and blue hats & masks are walking around in silence carrying sacks of cement to the same 8 notes played repetitively on [...]
Albania – May 2008
Posted in Travel, tagged Travel on May 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
There aren’t many countries where you can experience a sweep of over 3000 years of history with the old stuff and new stuff equally fascinating, but Albania is one of them. This is ancient Illyria (a contemporary civilisation of ancient Greece); subsequently a key part of both the Roman and Ottoman empires. Add to that [...]
A Midsummer Night’s Dream @ Shakespeare’s Globe
Posted in Theatre, tagged globe theatre, London Theatre, shakespeare'e globe on May 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve supported the Globe since its first season and have had some great nights there. It has occasionally seemed like a tourist trap, but mostly it has made me look at Shakespeare differently and I’ve come to enjoy him in modern theatres less. I think this is the first Midsummer they’ve done(?), in which case [...]
Marguerite
Posted in Theatre, tagged London Theatre, marguerite, theatre royal haymarket on May 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
A musical opening soon after Gone With The Wind could consider itself lucky, but this one doesn’t really need the luck.
It’s a chamber piece, rather than the epic of Les Miserables or Miss Saigon by the same writers. The latter was based on Madam Butterfly and this is a modern La Traviata.
It’s a [...]
Haper Regan
Posted in Theatre, tagged cottesloe theatre, harper regan, London Theatre, national theatre on May 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
It’s a great idea and I have nothing but admiration for the writing, the staging and the performances of this piece. My problem with it is the implausibility of a couple of Harper’s encounters and the pace and length of the piece, which results in more being less. It could have been a lot better.
Pygmalion
Posted in Theatre, tagged Theatre on May 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The success of this production may be partly down to the fact that they’ve honed it in Bath and on tour prior to London, but I think it’s more down to excellent casting; it’s rare you see something where everyone is so perfectly cast as here. More than any other production of this play I’ve [...]
Pajama Game
Posted in Theatre, tagged Theatre on May 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I only made ‘curtain up’ (there isn’t one!) by the skin of my teeth but I’m so glad I did. The great thing about the fringe is that it is perfectly possible to find yourself in one of the arches underneath the railway lines between Waterloo and London Bridge watching a Broadway musical where, with [...]
The Last Days of Judas Iscariot
Posted in Theatre, tagged Theatre on May 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
This is a very original and challenging play which creates a modern trial with both period witnesses such as Mary Magdalene and later ‘expert’ witnesses such as Sigmund Freud. It’s a thrilling production with some terrific performances. The arguments are well made and the contemporary setting and dialogue make them more accessible, but it loses [...]
