There’s a lot going on here and a fair number of themes converge – school bullying, teenage crushes, sexual awakening, parental neglect, rejection in love…….and climate change! Having said that, I was captivated for it’s 100 minutes uninterrupted running time.

There are a lot of comparatively short scenes which make for a fast-paced ride but with strong development of both story and characters. At times it’s very funny and at times so moving you can hardly watch. The staging makes superb use of a re-configured Bush Theatre, where the acting and audience spaces blend into one, partly accounting for extraordinary audience engagement, I think.

There is one problem with the piece, though. Two characters – the daughter and the uncle – are well-developed and wonderfully acted by Ailish O’Connor and Rafe Spall, but the parents aren’t (and the father, whether because of the writing direction or acting I don’t know, is just bizarre and completely unbelievable).

Still, it’s the fourth great night in a row at the Bush, which is now officially on a roll!

Theatre company Slung Low gave us one of last year’s surprise treats – Helium - in the Barbican Centre’s Pit Theatre. Now they’re in the Barbican car park (!) with a drive / walk-through piece about vampires.

It starts with a briefing for a ‘replacement’ night city tour; you’re given a head torch and a light and taken to a van for a short drive until the van comes to a halt and the walk-through part begins. Three of you follow separate salt lines (mostly in parallel)  with directions on headphones,  actors occasionally hurrying by, until you meet your character for a short one-to-one interaction (there are three happening simultaneously) and on to its conclusion.

I found the city tour ‘cover’ a bit daft and the piece itself half-baked. It didn’t have the inventiveness of the earlier work, and most importantly little atmosphere. I never really engaged with the piece as drama.

Back to the Landor for another off-the-wall musical; this one a UK premiere by Dempsey & Rowe (Witches of Eastwick and the Fix) in the ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ mould, with a B-movie feel and both tongues firmly in its cheeks.

Set in a 50’s US high school, a pupil courts disater at the local nuclear plant and returns as a zombie! There’s too much music (it’s almost sung-through) – it never lets up and the fast pace becomes a little relentless – but it’s performed and staged very well and keeps you smiling throughout.

Preposterous but fun and worth the trip.

I saw this play on its first outing c.20 years ago and my recollection is one of deep satisfaction, so I’m not entirely sure why on this occasion I left the theatre somewhat unsatisfied…..

This is the story of the (almost) famous psychoanalyst and her relationship with her daughter, also a psychoanalyst,  at the time of her son’s death. The third character is an assistant / protege / pupil. The first half is rather dull, but it certainly comes to life in the second when mother and daughter clash and we hear how she subjected her children to analysis from an early age. The three actresses, led by the ever wonderful Clare Higgins, are all excellent.

Maybe it’s because I didn’t really like any of the characters; they’re a manipulative heartless bunch! I never really felt engaged, and even from the fourth row (maybe because of the low stage) I felt as if I was observing something far away.

This was the second Sideways wine weekend of 2009; this time to Piedmont, Italy – home of Barolo and Barbaresco – and I used the opportunity to tag on a couple of days in Turin, a new city for me.

It’s proximity to France, but perhaps more importantly it’s history as the home of the Dukes of  Savoy, gives TURIN a hybrid Italian-French look and feel – colonnaded boulevards and huge piazzas with a combination of Romanesque, medieval and classical architecture. It’s a lovely city to explore on foot and the autumn weather was perfect for this.

The Palazzo Real is a grand affair, befitting a capital city, with a maze of opulent rooms and extensive grounds. It sits on one edge of Piazza Reale which adjoins Piazza Castello; this really is the heart of monumental Turin. The state apartments are a mixed bag with some badly in need of restoration. The armoury is a spectacular space, though it’s difficult to get excited about its content unless you’re turned on by a lot of swords! The high spot though is its long narrow Library, still in use as an archive.

The heart of working Turin is Piazza San Carlo, a vast rectangular colonnaded space with two churches at one end. The cafes around the collonade bring it to life and it’s en route to lots of places so it’s forever populated by people on the move or stopping to rest. The streets which lead to the square are populated by Turin’s finest shops; being born without the shopping gene, I gave those a miss.

Turin contains the finest collection of Egyptian antiquities outside Egypt (more impressive than Berlin or London) and they are housed in their own museum. It really is a stunning collection, particularly the statuary – two big rooms of them – but there’s also the complete contents of several tombs, lots of mummies and a spectacular Book of the Dead.

Most cities have a curiosity and here it’s a 19^th century brick tower called the Mole Antonelliana (the tallest in its day) originally built as a synagogue and now housing a 21^st century cinema museum. A free-standing glass elevator rises to a roof terrace from which the 360 degree view is spectacular (though on the day I went, the haze rather limited it). The museum is badly signed and curated so it’s hard to get the most out of it, but the building and the view (and a rather good antipasti buffet in the cafe!) make it a must.

Parco del Valentino, along the River Po, looked gorgeous in the autumn colours. It houses a medieval village and castle built for an 1884 exhibition; it’s a folly, but the craftsmanship of the day means it’s now a beautifully imagined antique theme park!

Add a few churches – particularly the riots of baroquery at Santuario della Consolata in Romanesque Turin and San Lorenzo in Piazza Reale – and GAM, a disappointing modern & contemporary art gallery, and you have a very enjoyable couple of days exploration.

Our PIEDMONT WINE WEEKEND started with a truffle hunt! The ease with which the dog found the truffles made us a bit suspicious, but if they were planted they were certainly well covered up! The manic way the dog behaves suggested to me she must be addicted to truffles (and she gets to eat the small ones) so I wasn’t sure what I thought about it all. It was white truffle season (the more expensive ones) and they were retailing at £5000 per kilo (ten times black truffles at a mere £500) so there’s clearly a rather good living to be made here. When we entered the shop, the smell was intense and overpowering. We tasted more than 10 truffle products – its fascinating how many uses they have – but I can’t say I entirely appreciated the taste or understood the value placed on it.

Piedmont is primarily known for three grape varieties – Dolcetto, Barbera and Nebbiolo – which make the renowned wines of Barolo and Barbaresco. Our first wine tasting was at the wonderfully named Conterno Fantino (www.conternofantino.it), a family winery on a hilltop overlooking Monforte, one of the 11 villages that comprise the Barolo DOC. The son showed us around the winery and mother led the tasting – until Dad turned up looking like he’d had a rather good and rather long lunch and proceeded to add a few more wines including a 99 Barolo Sori Ginestra and a preview of the 06 vintage! I love these family run businesses – they aren’t the most slick and you may find better wines elsewhere, but there’s a real sense of individuality, preserving tradition, innovation and living their passion.

Our hotel for two nights was Albergo Cantine Ascheri in Bra (www.ascherihotel.it), a modern 28-room 3-story hotel with en suite winery hidden in a courtyard on the outskirts of Bra. Winery owner Matteo Ascheri showed us around his sparkling modern facilities with a very compelling and lucid account of the history, tradition and modernisation of the Barolo region. After a ten wine tasting earlier at Conterno Fantino, this was a more modest four wine tasting in a lovely purpose-built tasting room in the cellars of the winery / hotel which was followed by dinner in their restaurant; this is a new breed of winemaker who sees the added value of providing dining and accommodation.

Our visit to the lovely hilltop village of Barberesco was a pilgrimage to meet the godfather of Italian wine, Angleo Gaja (www.gajawines.com). A larger-than-life character, he showed us around his impressive cellars and renovated castle and talked almost non-stop for 90 minutes. Though it was clearly an honour, he did bang on a lot in a rather pompous fashion! He left the tasting to his daughter and the five wines we tasted were spectacular, but I soon realised that they were so expensive I may never taste them again!

After a simple but delicious lunch in the village, we headed to the vineyards of Bruno Giacosa (www.brunogiacosa.it) on the hills overlooking Serralunga where the autumn colours took your breath away; a riot of reds, yellows, browns and greens. The tasting of six wines back at their premises included a sparkling white and our first white made with the local Arneis grape. It was another good selection which proved Piedmont holds its own as a region of fantastic reds; I think I’m about to enter my Barolo period…..

Here are some photos….. 

You are invited to view Gareth’s photo album: Turin & Piedmont Wine Weekend Turin & Piedmont Wine Weekend Nov 1, 2009 by Gareth View Album Play slideshow If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lh/sredir?uname=peopleplus&target=ALBUM&id=5399556571710469249&authkey=Gv1sRgCM7evKuk3Kb_Qw&invite=CL-f8PcK&feat=email To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account.

OPERA

Another successful visit to Britain’s most accessible and best value opera company, Welsh National Opera,  in Cardiff. Wozzeck was given a great production and was brilliantly sung, but the depressing tale and inaccessible music meant it didn’t really light my fire. La Traviata, however, was one of those evenings at the opera when it all comes together. You might be able to hear better individual singing, but the combination of staging, design, acting and singing made this a deeply satisfying experience, amongst the best in 30 years of opera going. Madam Butterfly was marred by the sickness of Amanda Roocroft though, despite wooden acting, her substitute Anne Williams-King’s singing was impressive in what appeared to be her first (and hastily rehearsed) role debut. Conductor Carlo Rizzi worked wonders keeping it all together, at one point slowing down the orchestra whilst she got back on track in her aria! A wonderful comic moment was provided by the child actor who proceeded to set light to a small cherry blossom branch. Suzuki extinguished the flame but thereafter every time he picked up another piece, she grabbed it off him!

Sometimes ify reviews lower your expectations and you come out pleasantly surprised……and so it was with the ENO’s Turandot. Rupert Goold’s ‘big idea’ is to set it in the Imperial Palace Chinese Restaurant where there appears to be a fancy dress party taking place. There is an extra (mute) character called ‘The Writer’ which appears to be Puccini himself (he is killed at the point where Puccini himself died whilst writing the opera). He steals his own ideas from his own recent production of Six Characters in Search of an Author; at times the characters seem to be telling him they don’t like the part they have been written. The critics found it gimmicky, but I found it intriguing (and the interval conversations interesting). No-one seems to have focused on the fact that the musical standards are exceptional – the orchestra and chorus make a terrific noise and the leads are very well cast.

MUSIC

At the Barbican, the City of London Sinfonia and the LSO Chorus put on a deeply moving tribute to the life and work of conductor and champion of British music Richard Hickox who died just under a year ago. Britten’s Sea Interludes have never sounded better and the chorus excelled in Holst’ Hymn of Jesus. Pieces by Elgar and Vaughan Williams made up a gorgeous programme.

ART

Moctezuma is the fourth exhibition of the lives of great rulers in the reading room at the British Museum, following China’s First Emperor, Hadrian and Persia’s Shah Abbas, and it is as fascinating as the others. This is such a good space and again it’s curated very well.

FILM

I thought District 9 was going to be pure SciFi , but it turned out to be Dr. Who meets Terminator and far too gory for me, I’m afraid.  500 days of Summer was a clever film but the story and characters didn’t interest or engage me enough to hold my attention.

An extraordinary ’set’ in search of a play!

Shunt have put on some amazing events in strange places (they have a penchant for being underneath railway arches). Here they are in a dis-used factory / warehouse near London Bridge.

After waiting amongst helmeted security guards listening to an intimidating soundscape and watching incomprehensible videos, an audience of c. 75 enter the second floor of what looks like a free-standing three-story machine. After a period of complete darkness with the soundscape getting louder and scarier, the cloth walls disappear and the lights go up and you find yourself in a wood-panelled debating chamber.

You later ascend one level to a bar with a four-sided balcony overlooking the glass ceiling of the debating chamber and, when it’s carpet tiles are removed, beyond that to two rooms another level below – a sauna and a living / dining room.  Actors come and go, speak, interact and occasionally move between levels through the ceiling / floor. The soundscape is eventually accompanied by wind and smoke.

The problem is the narrative is so obtuse and impenetrable that you’re left with just the spectacle. Worse still, on the night I went a handful of audience members who were clearly ‘Shunt virgins’ didn’t know what to do so they damaged the atmosphere by inappropriately interacting with the piece as if they were kids at school.

The design, though, is in a class of its own.

Having been to see ‘Life is a Dream’ on Monday, here I left feeling this could have been a dream.

David Hare attempts to help us understand the credit crunch by staging 110 minutes of interviews with those that should know, from a 20-something Bosnian economics teacher through the head and former head of the FSA to George Soros and by-and-large he succeeds.

It isn’t as sexy as Enron’s similar single issue story, and does occasionally become dull, but it some ways it served its subject better by not trivialising it.

On a bare stage with just projections and a blackboard, the 20 actors effectively play 24 real life people. It’s all in the editing and construction of course, and as with earlier ‘verbatim’ pieces, Hare demonstrates he is a master.

I can’t make up my mind whether this 400-year old play is preposterous, ahead of its time or very clever.

It’s the tale of a king who imprisons his child and heir (without telling his subjects) as he has had a premonition that he will bring disaster to his country. When he has grown up, he reveals his existence and releases him whereupon the boy (now man) becomes violent and is drugged and sent back to prison where he begins to feel his release might have been a dream (hence the title). Rebels break him out of prison and overthrow the king, who now forgives him, appoints him as heir and it all ends happily with a couple of weddings!

It has some very verbose overlong speeches, but whatever you think of the play, it’s a cracking fast-paced production on a virtually bare stage with a terrific central performance from Dominic West and a faultless small ensemble.

I refuse to believe its 15 years since I saw this show at the same theatre. This revival betters the earlier one, largely because director Robert McWhir has assembled a superb cast (taking the narrator role himself, and making a very good fist of it, at the performance I attended). It’s amongst the best sung Sondheim show’s I’ve seen.

It weaves fairytales Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood and Jack & The Beanstalk with the tale of the baker and his wife desperate for a child. By the interval, the stories seem to have come to their conclusive happy endings – then the giantess decides to get her revenge.

As always at the Landor, the standards are exceptional, with a clever set and one pianist playing the entire score brilliantly. There seems to be no stopping this tiny venue’s musical theatre hits.