Lockdown Week 12 - June 9th - 15th

Twelve Weeks! It seems almost unbelievable that I've spent this long without really going anywhere - a couple of walks up the playing fields, trips to pick up the click and collect order, and until last week that was it!!

For once, this last week has been a busy one, comparatively, with things actually happening. 

First, the fortnightly click and collect. I used to shop once a fortnight with no problems but for some bizarre reason can't seem to get a click and collect order right. I always end up with too much of one thing, and forget something else entirely - this week it was tonic water and cake. Not the end of the world as I still had lemonade and the not-quite-ready elderflower fizz, and lots of rhubarb for muffins. I tried a new recipe this time with ground almond and white chocolate. The almonds weren't very apparent but the chocolate was a good addition.




When lockdown started I had great plans of getting my husband to do some re-decorating. On one of the last days of hot weather he did the necessary painting in the dining room, and this week re-papered this wall.

Next a sad event. One of our neighbours has been in and out of hospital a lot recently. I didn't really know her, and had no idea how ill she was, but she died a week or so ago, and the funeral was this week. Everyone came out and lined the pavement, and as the hearse left someone started clapping so we all joined in (has this become a thing? I thought it was very strange)  

Theatre night was moved forward to Thursday, as I was impatient to see this week's presentation from National Theatre Live.  I've lost count of the number of plays I've seen these past few weeks, but this week's offering was very special - Alan Bennett's The Madness of George III, which I saw twice during its short run at Nottingham Playhouse, including the night of the original cinema streaming! I'd very much hoped this would be transmitted as I wanted to compare my recollection of seeing it live with how it feels on a screen. I think it loses a little, but not much; these streamed shows have definitely converted me.

On Saturday I suggested we took advantage of a nice evening and go out to Locko Park. Going out somewhere, even nearby, makes things feel almost back to normal, and it's always good to get out into the countryside.  It was a well-timed trip, as the next day we had thunderstorms and torrential rain.

In the garden my carouby de mausanne  mangetout peas have flowered (they're purple, look very pretty and will contrast with the yellow Kentucky Wonder Wax beans), the white-flowered sugar bons produced their first pods, and strawberries are ripening. To try to regain structure in the week, for #FridayFlowers, I picked scented sweet peas and pink roses Sometimes things don't feel so bad despite everything.

I'm not impressed with the whole idea of social bubbles as they won't make any difference to me. I'm sure they'll be of help to some people but they just feel like a crumb we're being thrown to keep us docile. In the same vein, from the fifteenth non-essential shops will be open. I'm not tempted though. Despite the mishaps, for now I'll stick to click and collect for groceries, and online shopping for anything else.

One thing that didn't happen this week was a planned trip to Tangled Roots Festival in the West Country. I'd bought tickets at the beginning of the year and had been looking forward to taking the tent and experiencing a new festival - listening to the music and maybe even joining in with the flamenco class. Covid has forced so many events to cancel, and Tangled Roots is another of them. The organisers are hoping the event can go ahead in September, but although I'd love to go then I'm not sure it will take place. Something to mark in my diary for next year.

A surprise night out - Moonlight and Magnolias at Nottingham Playhouse

I had an unexpected night out last week. I knew Moonlight and Magnolias would be on at Nottingham Playhouse but I hadn't bought tickets because the end of February/beginning of March was a busy time with trips to Manchester and Norfolk. When I saw Notts TV running a competition for tickets I still entered though because, after all who ever wins competition?

Well, this time I did. Checking my email on Monday evening after my long weekend in Norfolk I was delighted to find I'd won two tickets -  and then a bit worried as I'd ignored my inbox since Friday. All was well though, so off we went to Nottingham last Thursday evening, and had a thoroughly enjoyable time.


Moonlight and Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson (directed here by Kirsty Patrick Ward) is set in 1939, in the fraught days as the filming of Gone With The Wind gets underway, then halts as producer David O Selznick fires screen writer and director, and coerces Ben Hecht and Victor Fleming into taking their places. The plan is they'll spend five days shut in Selznik's office, and come up with a new workable script ... or else!

With Selznick (Joe Alessi) mincing about the stage as Scarlett O'Hara, and new director Fleming (Oscar Pearce) giving his best as Melanie in the agonies of childbirth, while Hecht tries to turn their dramatics into a screenplay, and harassed assistant Miss Poppenghul (Hayley Doherty) keeps them supplied with peanuts and bananas, it's hilarious!
There's a serious side too. The pressure is on because no one other than Selznick actually believes Gone With The Wind will be a box-office success, but Selznick has a multitude of screenplays that haven't captured his idea of the book. Hecht believes Selznick should pay more attention to the world outside his movie studios; that Selznik doesn't acknowledge that Jews, even those as rich as movie producers, are still treated as second-class citizens in the US, and doesn't take the plight of European Jews seriously. 

You'll notice I didn't mention the actor playing Ben Hecht; for this special praise has to go to Felix Dunning. Normally he's deputy stage manager, but last Thursday he was asked to take over the role from Dan Fredenburgh who was ill. Thrown in at the deep end with no time to learn lines, he was brilliant. The script had to be hidden in a ring binder which looked like an appropriate prop for a screen writer, but otherwise, apart from a very few moments, Felix completely looked and acted the part; amazing after one day's rehearsal.

Gecko Theatre's Institute

I don't think it's good for any of us to stay within the close confines of our comfort zone, so when my younger daughter suggested I went to see Gecko Theatre's Institute at Nottingham Playhouse, |I decided to put all those 'but will I like it?' questions to one side, and go.

It proved to be something both engaging and puzzling. The piece centres on two men, Daniel and Martin, receiving treatment in what is probably a psychiatric facility - the first for the pressure of work and expectations related to it, the second for a failed love affair. With relatively few words, and story-line and emotions interpreted through dance, I have to admit I didn't always entirely understand what was going on. Sometimes the atmosphere is friendly and jolly, at others controlling and restrictive, though the set design (high-piled filing cabinets) and dim, smoky lighting push the mood towards the latter.

The important thing, from my perspective, is that I enjoyed it. A step outside the 'norm' is a good thing, and in future I'll not be so put off by the thought of 'dance' and 'physical theatre'.

The Madness of George III (twice!) - ramblings rather than a review - Nottingham Playhouse

Now here's an unusual thing for me - I'm not sure if it's a comedy of errors or a happy accident, but I'm inclining towards the latter - going to see a play twice, with only a week between performances. I frequently go out to the theatre (we have some brilliant productions here in the East Midlands) but generally I go to see a play once during its run. I might catch it a year or so later with a different company's production but I can only afford to go a certain number of times each year, and I'd rather see several offerings than one over and over again. But, more by accident than design, that's what I ended up doing this last couple of weeks at Nottingham Playhouse. And it's made even odder when you consider that initially I was a little sceptical about seeing it at all!


The play in question was Alan Bennett's The Madness of George III, directed by Adam Penfold, starring Mark Gatiss in a superb portrayal of the poor mad king, and one of the best pieces of theatre I've seen in a while (Was Steven Berkoff's Oedipus better? That was sooo long ago, it's hard to be certain. Interestingly, Louise Jamieson was in both)


So, why the initial caution ... well ... back in the day - early 1990s - Alan Bennett's play concerning the madness of George III was extremely popular in the West End and made into a film directed by Nicholas Hytner, starring Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren, and Rupert Everett, and with the title changed, as allegedly some folk might wonder what had happened to Parts I and II of The Madness of George. Now I know you can't really compare film and stage productions but having seen Nigel Hawthorne's George III on screen I rather wondered if that performance would be fixed firmer in my mind than if I'd seen him on stage; that he might have somehow set a sort of bench mark to compare any other interpretation to. BUT Adam Penfold/ (directing) and Mark Gatiss have proved me wrong.
Also (hugest apologies to both actor and director) I was a little concerned about the casting of Mark Gatiss. I know him mainly from playing Mycroft in Sherlock, and Bamber Gascoigne in Starter For Ten, and rather thought he was just being bussed in as a big name that people would flock to see. I couldn't have been more wrong!

Despite these qualms, when my daughter talked about going we decided to make a mother/daughter evening of it, and bought tickets way back sometime in Spring with all the normal prevarication over price versus view, and such. Even then, seats were selling well but I got some good ones, down in the stalls (the circle wasn't open for sales at this point), not too far to the side. And then we waited.

The production opened, and Twitter was awash with praise. Another cause for scepticism on my part - perhaps they were so excited to see a famous person from the telly that they left any critical thoughts at home for the evening? I'm coming over as way too cynical but that's me. Anyway, I picked the tickets up the week before we were due to go ... and daughter fell ill. Crossing fingers, we assumed she'd have recovered in time ... but a couple of days before we decided that wasn't going to happen and I tried to change the tickets.
There weren't many seats left for the remaining performances (and even the vertiginous circle was nearly filled now) but the box office were willing to change my tickets, but needed the originals to re-sell them. If only I hadn't picked them up! Was it worth dashing down to Nottingham that night to return them? When I explained the predicament to him, my husband even decided to try some man-bargaining about cutting up the tickets we had, and I was rather pleased the box office backed me up and said no, they wanted the physical tickets back to use.

To cut this ramble short, I bought two more tickets, and took my husband along for the first trip.

And it was AMAZING!

Mark Gatiss was brilliant - from regal majesty to gibbering fool, and back. The rest of the cast were fab - the posturing Prince of Wales (Wilf Scolding) slipping in a moment from someone only interested in fashion and his own self-importance, to a distraught son reluctantly obliged to assume the role of regent to help his papa (as if!), the doctors jostling for importance, arguing that theirs was the best way to treat the king, and even the equerries and attendants - never underestimate the guys who have to stand strictly to attention and not move a muscle while things happen around them.
The costumes were gorgeous. The set wonderful. It was funny, and tragic. The story of one man's illness, and the government factions trying to make political gains from it.

 By the time the interval came around, I was delighted I was going back.

My second evening out was the night of a very special Gala Evening celebrating Nottingham Playhouse's 70th birthday. A long list of actors, directors, playwrights associated with the theatre over the years would be there, and for a higher price you could mingle with them, but we were in 'common' seats so no champagne or hob-nobbing with celebrities for us. The play's the thing, though, as someone said :)

I'd wondered if I might feel a bit, not bored, but less involved the second time - but no, easily as enthralled as the week before. It's a bit like watching your favourite film for the tenth time - you pick up a snatched bit of dialogue you might not have caught before, you understand the importance of a minor character, you're ready for the one-liners. A slight mishap with a chandelier in a scene change only served to underline how brilliant the cast were - carrying on without batting an eye.

It's an experience I wouldn't mind trying again, but the question would be how to fund it ...

Meanwhile, The Madness of George III has been transmitted as one of the NTLive screenings, so maybe I could catch an 'encore' of it ...

Getting 'myself' back

Normal life (or what passes for it here) has slipped away over the last couple of months. I've managed to carry on with the day to day grind, though some might doubt if that includes any housework beyond the absolutely necessary, but grief has stopped me constructing sentences to form blog posts - either here or at OurBookReviewsOnline, and has definitely put an end to a desire to go out for fun. Folk have suggested going out as a way of  'cheering up' or 'getting over it' but my gut instinct was having none of that - it wouldn't have felt right. There's been plenty of dog-walking, sunset-chasing, grandson buggy-pushing trips to country parks and nature reserves but when it came to proper evening's out I've cancelled on gigs I said I'd attend, missing some touring artists I really wanted to see, but I just couldn't face going.
This last week without me really noticing something changed and I feel like I'm back to my normal self.


First I went out to a gig. Dave Giles is a guy I've known for a couple of years and he's come to feel like a friend. Since I last saw him perform, he's been up to exciting stuff - heading out to Nashville to record his new album, and bringing the musicians who played on it over here on tour, so when he came to Nottingham last week I decided to take the plunge and go see him, and I realised how much I'd missed been out in a happy crowd.

Over the weekend, our youngest daughter was home playing at a gig/birthday party on Saturday evening but earlier we spent the afternoon at Chatsworth catching the first day of the house being decorated for Christmas.








The next day we took her home with a lovely drive through the Peak District and a break for lunch at Lyme. It's how our weekends used to be - full of varied activities and experiences.





Tuesday saw me out again; this time to the theatre to see Alan Bennett's The Madness of George III. Mark Gatiss was amazing as 'Mr King', the rest of the cast fab, the set and costumes wonderful, and it was one of the best pieces of theatre I've seen in a while.



In part it feels like it's been yet another crazy full week, and certainly everything didn't run smoothly to plan, but it's been better and more stimulating than most of late. I feel more settled, and much more 'myself' for it. Now perhaps it is time to get back to 'normal'.

The Cherry Orchard at Nottingham Playhouse

We were out again at the theatre last week - not on the Twitter-trending #LoveTheatreDay, but near enough - to see Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. As a play about the end of an era it was especially fitting, as, after 18 years as artistic director, this was the last production to be directed by Giles Croft at Nottingham Playhouse.

It's a tale of landed gentry, who after years of squandering money are forced to sell their family home to cover debts. Local self-made millionaire Lopakhin believes there's a way to avoid this by developing the eponymous cherry orchard and building holiday homes there, but the family aren't interested; they moan about losing their home and precious orchard but won't do anything to save either. I thought John Elkington was brilliant as Lopakhin (but I'm a bit biased since my youngest was in a production of Kes with him), though if Chekhov's not your thing then you can see him in pantomime soon.
It's probably not the done thing to pick fault with a playwrite of Chekhov's standing, but I'm beginning to wonder if he quite knew how to end a play. When I saw The Seagull a while ago, I thought 'well, I'd have ended things a little earlier'. Same here. There's a moment when everyone has left the stage, and a key is heard 'off' turning in a lock. That's where I'd drop the curtain. Instead there's a 'tidying up' piece from old family servant Firs. Presumably Chekhov knew what he was doing though.

Busy, busy, busy. Can I have a rest now, please?

It's been one of those non-stop, out-every-night weeks - and now I'm exhausted!
It started really last Sunday, getting up at six in the morning ready for Leicester marathon (fortunately, no one was expecting ME to run!)

Monday evening we were at a gig organised by my youngest daughter at JT Soar in Nottingham, with Meg Garner's personal, intimate poetry, a set from my daughter playing as Ayres, local guy George Gadd playing anything and everything except music from his new ep, and 'on-tour' artist Chloe Glover. I've seen Chloe before, back in June, singing her mix of  ballad-style songs and 'loud shouty stuff' (her words, not mine! ) and liked her music then but haven't really got round to checking it out properly. Seeing her again convinced me I should!


I might have got away with staying in on Tuesday, but I thought I should nip to to see my parents, nearly a thirty mile round trip, so it takes a chunk out of the evening leaving no time for lazing in front of the TV

Ayres

Wednesday was another gig night, this time at The Speciality Coffee shop in Nottingham, to catch Dave Giles and Lewis Fieldhouse on tour with a special addition to Nottingham's bill of Ayres opening for them. It was an unusual location - a cafe - discovered by Dave on a previous trip to the city, and somewhere I must have walked past several times but never noticed. it was certainly lighter and airier than many gig venues - and had seats for all :)

Dave Giles

On Thursday we were off out to Nottingham Playhouse to see Arthur Miller's classic All My Sons, about a family torn by the death of a son in WW2, and a cover-up at the family armaments factory.

By Friday I was hoping for a night off and a chance to sit and read my book, but I was made to go running. I'm sure it's good for me but it was dark and dismal and hard work.

Weekend at last - that's supposed to be a time for rest, isn't it? Anyway ... the past couple of days we'd been checking the weather forecast regularly due to incoming storm 'Brian' and with rain expected anytime after Saturday lunchtime and then hanging around for most of the weekend, we decided to chance the morning drizzle and have a walk round Chatsworth gardens to catch the sculpture exhibition again. Of course, we managed to get wet, though not as much as on our previous trip, and we did see all the exhibits at last. I just wish we could have found a bright sunny day.

Then in the evening, guess what? we were off out to Nottingham again! Third gig of the week, third venue - The Maze, this time to see good friend Joe McCorriston and his mate Gaz Brookfield.

At last! It's Sunday, I'm going to stay in all day. In fact, I might be tempted to stay in all week!

Pride and Prejudice - Nottingham Playhouse

I've always found Jane Austen's work funny  -  but with a wry, satirical humour, a commentary, if you will, on the society of her times  - so I was surprised to find myself laughing out loud last night at Nottingham Playhouse's production of Pride and Prejudice. I probably shouldn't really have been that taken aback as this new adaptation comes from comedian Sara Pascoe, who has taken the well-known story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, and given it a shake up, exploiting the comedy elements, and downplaying the romantic side.
Mr Bennet's dry wit, Mary's bizarre posturing, Mr Collins' self-importance, are all things I'd found funny before ... but Mr Darcy himself? He's surely too serious and stuffy? Take that first demand for Elizabeth's hand while she's staying with the newly-wed Collins - it's arrogant and rude, and my reaction is normally anger on behalf of Elizabeth and her family, but Bethan Mary-James (Elizabeth) and Matt Whitchurch (Darcy), reading sections from it alternately, turned it into something so preposterous that all the audience could do was laugh (Mr D also struggled to keep a straight-face,which set the audience off again!).


Maybe purists won't approve, because the characters' words are not solely those written by Austen (the proposal letter is though), because some minor plot points are skipped, or they didn't like the present day scenes, but it still holds true to the original 'feel'. Adding the modern characters - a teacher, teenagers, a TED lecturer, actors - gives Sara Pascoe the chance to share a bit of historical background to the story, especially the hard economic truth that lies behind the romance; that on their father's death the Bennet sisters will find themselves penniless and homeless. What makes the story of five sisters desperately seeking husbands still work today, is that the Bennet sisters, despite their probable impoverished future, are looking for love first, a financially comfortable husband second - unlike pragmatic Charlotte Lucas who knows her 'sell-by date' is fast approaching and will grab any potential man on offer.

Consider it a 're-imagining', in the way the film Bride and Prejudice, or Curtis Sittenfeld's recent novel Eligible are, rather than an attempt to re-create the book on stage, and it's brilliant; fab, funny and thought-provoking by turn, it's one of the best adaptations I've seen. Oh, and by the way, there are NO zombies, and Mr Darcy doesn't walk dripping out of the lake!

Any Means Necessary - Nottingham Playhouse

 After a break for panto over the Christmas period, Nottingham Playhouse is continuing its "Conspiracy Season" with Any Means Necessary - a tale of state-sponsored betrayal which takes as its starting point the real life case of an undercover policeman who worked his way into the life and affections of a committed activist. Playwright Kefi Chadwick has built a dramatic, compelling story around these totally underhand tactics.
Mel meets Dave at a protest, they're attracted, he convinces her that although he's newly into activism he's as committed as she is. Their tastes in music and hobbies seem to mesh perfectly and before long they move in together - but while for her this is a real relationship based on shared love and respect, for him this is just part of his day's work, trying to work his way into the heart of the protest movement. It seems like the stuff of spy novels, but it's based firmly on fact.
I expected to be angered - and I was. I didn't expect to find it funny, which it occasionally is, and I didn't expect to find any sympathy for undercover cop Dave, but I did. It's easy to feel sympathetic towards the women who were exploited but for me one of the strong points about Chadwick's story was showing both sides of the argument; how by going undercover Dave put his 'real' life on hold and risked losing his wife and family, found himself torn between the two halves of is life, but whenever he had doubts about continuing his assignment was manipulated by his boss with false praise about the national importance of his work.


Don't be put off Any Means Necessary thinking it's dull, dry politics. As a play exploring just what lengths under-cover police work might go to, it's bound to be political and thought-provoking, but it's above all a good story, well told, occasionally funny, and excellently performed.


Previously in the Conspiracy Season - The Rubenstein Kiss

The Rubenstein Kiss - Nottingham Playhouse

The second production in Nottingham Playhouse's Conspiracy Season is based on the real-life story of American-Jewish couple Ethel and Julius Rosenberg who were accused of passing nuclear secrets to the Russians - and executed. The Rubenstein Kiss blends fact and fiction moving from the 70s when Matthew and Anna are brought together through their passion to clear Esther and Jakob Rubenstein, in their view wrongly accused of spying, to the 40s and 50s as the events unwind leading up to the betrayal by Esther's brother David and the arrest of the couple.

It's a moving, thought-provoking and brilliantly acted piece of theatre. There's generally some background noise in an auditorium, a cough, sweet-papers rustling, someone fidgeting in their seat, but for once there were times when the whole auditorium was hushed, mesmerised by the scene unfolding on stage.
The acting throughout was brilliant. Joe Coen and Katharine Manners as the Rubensteins convinced as lovers passionately committed to each other and their ideals, and Simon Haines and Gillian Saker as the 70s couple discovering unpleasant truths about each other, but I was most impressed by Mark Field, as David, moving from a happy-go-lucky youngster to a man tormented by guilt, as he admitted the mistake that led to Esther's arrest.
Although the story plays out to a conclusion on stage, it doesn't feel over. It left me wondering about the Rubensteins/Rosenbergs - did they actually commit the crimes they were accused of? what was the leverage that would persuade a brother to accuse his sister, and what role did the brother's wife really play? This is a play to make you think about loyalties - to family, country and ideals - and make you question what your reactions would have been in such circumstances. it's easy to say "I wouldn't have got into the whole mess - I'd never do that" but stretch your imagination, wonder about if you had something or someone that you cared about that much, what would you do then?

The Mist in the Mirror - Nottingham Playhouse

For a birthday treat, I'd asked for tickets to The Mist in the Mirror at Nottingham Playhouse. It's a stage adaptation of Susan Hill's book of the same name, and, as you might guess, it's a ghost story. This was why I wanted to see it - I've seen all sorts of theatre performances from panto to Greek tragedy, but never a ghost story. I rarely find scary books to be very frightening, films rely heavily on camera tricks, so I was curious how the spooky atmosphere would be captured on stage - and would it work for me...

 James Monmouth returns to England after a life-time spent abroad, intent on tracking down an adventurer who has proved an inspiration to him - and uncovers a ghastly family history.

 I'm not sure I'd so so far as to say it scared me but it held my attention - and, I think, most of the audience's - through out. The special effects certainly built up the right atmosphere for the telling of a ghost story - rain lashing at the windows, snow piling up on the moors or fog drifting across the scene. A lot of the time the stage was kept very dark, only lit by a tiny pinprick of light - all very atmospheric and with plenty of shadows for ghosts to hide in. For me, it all worked brilliantly, and I loved it from start to finish!

Time and the Conways - Nottingham Playhouse

I can go for weeks, even months, spending every evening curled up with a book or watching crime thrillers on TV, then I have times like the last couple of weeks when I seem to be out every night - well, once a week at least!  So after a night at the movies and a trip to Derby Theatre, it was time to visit Nottingham Playhouse to see J B Priestley's Time and the Conways.

Now there's half an idea lingering at the back of my mind, probably from as long ago as my schooldays, that Priestley's plays are very worthy but a little dull with the emphasis being on  social and political matters, not individuals and their lives. Time and the Conways proved to be very different; a play primarily about people, their hopes, and the dashing of them.
The play opens in 1919 with the Conway family celebrating daughter Kay's 21st birthday, and an end to all the restrictions and worries of war. They all see the future as bright and rosy - whether they're looking forward to an advantageous marriage or a new social order - but the second act set 19 years later shows a family torn apart through their own weaknesses and pride. Whether you liked the characters or not (and some definitely fell in the latter group), they all felt so very real; people I could relate to and recognise. Both entertaining and thought-provoking, I loved it!
All the cast were amazing but it was especially nice to see (Bergerac's) Louise Jameson back at Nottingham Playhouse;  last time she was playing an entirely different role - Jocasta in Steven Berkoff's Oedipus

Charlie Peace at Nottingham Playhouse

The latest production at Nottingham Playhouse is something a little different. Charlie Peace; his Amazing Life and Astounding Legend, by local play-write Michael Eaton, is presented as a Victorian travelling fairground show - the sort you might have found at Goose Fair - with pantomime style audience participation, Keystone cops chases, music hall singing and lots of laughs. Peter Duncan, of Blue Peter fame, plays the hero/villain and Norman Pace the Showman, and the stage is transformed into a showman's booth.

The story starts as Charlie is standing on the gallows but insists on sharing his side of the story before he faces the hangman's noose. After many years in and out of jail, he'd settled down in the hope of going straight - till, that is, he was smitten by his new neighour and ended up shooting her husband. Then he was off on the run again to Nottingham then london, changing his name and appearance as he goes and hitching up with a new ladyfriend on the way. Things are not going to end happily for Charlie though, as we all know that hangman's noose is waiting for him, no matter how many times he evades it.

When I first heard about this production at Nottingham Playhouse, I was rather intrigued - after all, Charlie Peace claims to be a notorious Victorian criminal, especially well-known in Nottingham - and I'd never heard of him! The curious thing was that after seeing that his 'Amazing Life and Astounding Legend' was to be dramatised, I started to see mentions of him in all sorts of places and he does seem to have been one of those criminals that everyone wanted to know all about - these days, he'd sell his story to the highest bidding tabloid!

Although I really enjoyed it, it wasn't quite what I'd expected, and I thought a lot of the audience felt the same way - go along to a pantomime and you expect to boo the villain and cheer the hero; not so 'normal' theatre. The stage set, while clever, was at times confusing and distracting; the ensemble were present throughout, just to the side, providing musical backing and, as the performance took place on a stage within a stage, the cast could be seen moving around and getting into position at times. Having said that, if you're up for something light-hearted and fun, go see it while you can.

Of Mice and Men at Nottingham Playhouse

Somehow, despite reading a lot of Steinbeck at school - the Pearl and Grapes of Wrath spring to mind - despite there being a film of the book starring John Malkovitch, despite my teen who's reading it for English GCSE dropping lots of plot spoilers, I'd never read Of Mice and Men and had not even the faintest idea of the plot. The 'reading at school' probably gives a clue to my general attitude towards Steinbeck - once I've been put off something, I rarely try again - but after this performance I may have to change my mind.
Set in 1930s depression America, two drifting ranch hands, George and Lennie, have a dream - to get a little place of their own, with chickens and rabbits, alfalfa and fruit trees. All this depends of course on being able to earn and save the money to pay for it - and life is rarely that simple.
The whole play had a very disturbing violent undercurrent, culminating in a shockingly abrupt ending. A very different location but it reminded me of the desperation of the characters in They Shoot Horses Don't They? There were accomplished performances from all of the cast though I was particularly struck by those 'regulars' I've seen in different roles - Robin Kingsland and Mark Jardine, who I saw in last year's The League of Youth and John Elkington as 'George', a very different part to the one he had in the Importance of Being Earnest.
The major downside to the evening was picking front row upper circle seats. At the time of booking these seemed like the best left available but I wouldn't sit there again! Once the play had started it was possible to ignore the drop just in front of us but (obviously) everything is seen from above and I only realised today, seeing a promotional photo, how tall 'Lennie' was, dwarfing his friend 'George'! In future I'll pick downstairs stalls seats - even if they're towards the back.
I can't finish without a mention of the Star of the Show - Odie Bannerman, a blue merle Australian Shepherd, playing Candy's dog. I don't believe I'm seen a dog live on stage before - plenty of times in films where of course they have the chance of re-shooting a scene but never in the flesh. Odie was wonderfully behaved and completely stole the show!

Theatre for Teens

A more-than-averagely rambling post on a lack of teens in theatre audiences.

Nottingham Playhouse's Skymirror

Last week we won tickets and went to see the Importance of Being Earnest at Nottingham Playhouse. Now, when I say 'we', I mean me, my husband and our 15 yr old daughter. We generally, though not always, ALL go to the theatre together. Spending a week in Edinburgh for its summer festivals between us we went to 5 plays, a steam-punk cabaret, a story-telling, BBC radio recordings, a stunt-cyclist demonstration and a harp recital, but not all of us to each event. It can be difficult to find something that's to all our tastes so we often disagree about how enjoyable an evening it was.
But something that hadn't struck me till my daughter mentioned it, was the lack of other teenagers in theatre audiences. At one of the Edinburgh fringe events, she commented that she was the youngest there but last week in Nottingham she looked like the only person under 25. Why?
Go along to a production of something covered in the National Syllabus - Romeo and Juliet or maybe the up-coming Of Mice and Men - and the audience will be packed with school trips; go along to the Christmas pantomime and even the tiniest of children are there. But anything else and the audience is made up of adults only. Do parents see a theatre trip as a night-out for them, away from the kids? Or do they just assume that teens wouldn't be interested?
I went out to theatres a lot as a teen - at first on trips organised by school but then with my friends, often desperately wanting the play to wind up in time for us to catch the last bus home - but easily as much as I went to the cinema. It isn't that theatre tickets are particularly more expensive than those for the cinema - though maybe an 'Orange Wednesday' type deal would encourage more punters.
Without teens going to theatres now, isn't a risk being run that there will soon be no adults visiting either?


I'm probably going to find no one who agrees, who's always seen theatre audiences crowded out with youngsters but if so PLEASE leave a comment.

Being Lucky #beingearnest

We were extremely lucky yesterday.
We'd been discussing in the morning whether or not we could afford a trip to see The Importance of Being Earnest at Nottingham Playhouse as we'd overspent on our theatre budget during our Edinburgh Fringe trip. Just after lunch I checked Twitter and discovered the Playhouse (@SkyMirror) were running a competition to win tickets! I entered, of course - and then told hubby, just back from the dentists and needing fillings, that he should enter too. He did. And then we sat and waited for 4 o'clock when the winners would be announced.
I saw SkyMirror sending messages to the winners and after several had gone out, assumed we hadn't been lucky, and closed Twitter. Later I decided to quickly check my e-mail - and was stunned to see a Twitter message saying I HAD won tickets - and, quickly checking hubby's account, found he had too!
Then I began to realise we were pushed for time. Dinner wasn't even planned, let alone cooked. Hubby was out jogging. The dog needed his evening walk before being left in charge of the house. We can have an hour's journey to Nottingham depending on traffic and roadworks. I quickly pushed some dinner in the oven, grabbed the dog and took him up to the field, fortunately finding a jogging husband while we were out so we could tell him the exciting news.
Having eaten and changed out of dog walking/jogging gear we headed to Nottingham - only to find the main road closed and traffic being redirected by police! The clock was ticking frantically at this point with traffic barely moving on the diverted route. Hitting another main road into town, we started to move quickly at last and with some luck at traffic lights made it to the Playhouse with more time to spare than we'd expected. A huge sigh of relief!
A day of drama ending with the real stuff, performed by others for our entertainment!


A proper review of The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest at Nottingham Playhouse

In a variety of flukes, I went yesterday to Nottingham Playhouse to see Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.
Despite feeling I knew the play from various TV and film productions, I've never actually seen it 'live' so was really looking forward to it - and it totally lived up to my expectations!

The cast were brilliant and the performance seamless - frequently having the audience bursting into laughter. Jack and Algernon horsing around with the cigarette case were amazingly well-timed and I was impressed that anyone who had a 'famous' line delivered it as if fresh and thought up at that moment.
It turned out I didn't know Being Earnest as well as I though though.. By the third act, I'd realised I had no idea how the twists and complications of the plot would sort themselves - though obviously in some way where everyone lived happy ever after. I was surprised to discover how many of Wilde's 'one-liners' came from Being Earnest - I'd assumed for example that it was Wilde himself who carried a diary to have something sensational to read, not a character in one of his plays.

A quick word of praise should go to the set designer, especially for the quick change between Acts 2 + 3.

And, after so many curious venues at Edinburgh Fringe, it was nice to be back in a proper theatre, with proper seats.

Arnold Wesker's Roots at Nottingham Playhouse

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love live theatre - and how little spare cash I have to fund my visits - so you can understand my delight at winning 2 tickets for a Nottingham Playhouse production of Arnold Wesker's Roots via Twitter*.

Now, I read Wesker's Trilogy of plays a long while ago in school and to be honest couldn't remember much about them so when my Teen asked 'What's it about?' I was a bit stumped and had to rather waffle about this girl who lives in London with her boyfriend  and goes back to Norfolk to visit her family and ...er..it's set in the 1950s ...and ... er.. something or other. Despite this less-than-brilliant introduction she agreed to come, so I bought an extra ticket for her and crossed my fingers that she'd enjoy it.

I needn't have worried! She loved it - well, we all did.

Although Beatie played by Natasha Rickman took centre stage for most of the performance, the whole cast were excellent. I particularly liked the scene where all the family gather round to welcome Beatie's London boyfriend Ronnie - they had that awkward, 'dressed up in Sunday best' behaviour that I remember from family get-togethers of my childhood. Maybe it's an age thing, but I found myself siding with the mother against Beatie and dismissing absent boyfriend Ronnie as a pompous, opinionated fool. Beatie herself seemed a bit young and naive for 22 - rather like a stroppy teenager, ready to pick fault with others and their views but swallowing her boyfriend's ideas hook, line and sinker without thinking things out for herself.
All in all, a brilliant evening's entertainment. Although firmly set in 1950s, Roots with its struggle between old ways and new, and condemnation of the dumbing-down of entertainment, is as valid then as now. There's nothing new in the world - even in 1959 people were complaining about repeats on TV!

* Actually a co-production between Colchester Mercury theatre Company and Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company.

Romeo and Juliet

I seem to be having a mini Shakespeare fest at the moment - following on from the RSC's excellent production of The Taming of the Shrew, it was Headlong Theatre's turn to amuse me for an evening at Nottingham Playhouse.

Romeo and Juliet is one of those really well known plays that even if, like me, you've never seen it performed live, you know the plot outline, how it all ends, the main speeches from school or somewhere, you might have seen Baz Luhrman's film adaptation with Leonardo Di Caprio and Clare Danes, or you might have seen it in rehearsal as Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter gradually changes shape into Romeo and Juliet in Shakespeare In Love. There have to be difficulties in putting on such a well known piece and trying to make it new and different, yet at the same time the old well-loved play. This is the only explanation I can think of for the strange 'what if'/Sliding Doors episodes when a scene would play out then a blinding light flash on the audience and the scene re-play differently. To be honest, I just found it confusing and unnecessary.

As for the rest of the production - well, it was ok. The star-crossed lovers were a bit wishy washy and lacking in sexual tension, though I thought Catrin Stewart's "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" speech excellent. The most outstanding performances of the evening came from the two of the supporting cast playing Mercutio and Benvolio. Both were excellent particularly Mercutio's death scene.

I think I'd been a little spoiled by seeing the RSC the previous week and may have appreciated this more if I'd seen them the other way round. Still, the Teen took away some ideas for her Billy Liar GSCE performance, so not an entirely wasted evening.

A Night At The Theatre - The League of Youth

Nottingham Playhouse - The League Of Youth by Henrik Ibsen, a new version by Andy Barrett

Henrik Ibsen's play The League of Youth was rather surprisingly having its English premiere last Friday at Nottingham Playhouse, in a new version by Andy Barrett, and we went along to see it, accompanied by our 13 yr old daughter - I wasn't quite sure what she'd make of it but as she'd expressed an interest I didn't want to refuse.

Our last trip to Nottm Playhouse was to see Steven Berkoff's adaptation of Sophocles' Oedipus which was a stunning, visually compelling piece of theatre. The League of Youth is by comparison a much more straightforward production. Don't imagine though that it's dull and lifeless. For something written over a hundred years ago the similarities to contemporary politics were astounding - just proving that there's nothing new in politics.
The story revolves round young political contender Stensgard, a man full of ideals and new policies.....till he realises his personal interests may be best served by just going along with the way things have always been. I've seen a lot of comments likening him to Nick Clegg but to my mind there's more than a dash of the New Statesman, Alan B'Stard, in his quest for self-advancement at the cost of his principles.
Centre stage was, of course, taken by Sam Callis as Stensgard, in a selection of loud suits and snazzy waistcoats, but ably supported by the performances of the rest of the cast. I loved the way the extras were disguised at first as members of the audience and then all dashed up onto the stage fired up by Stensgard's speech - I wonder if any of the audience ever mistakenly join in?

As always, I bought a programme - which this time included a copy of the script. I think this is an excellent idea and it would be nice to see it more often. Free with it came a Vote Stensgard rosette - obviously he can't decide which party he favours, as the rosette uses all 3 party colours!

All in all I had an excellent evening though I don't feel in retrospect that this was a good play to take the Teen to for a taste of 'grown-up' theatre. Something like Berkoff's Oedipus would have engaged and inspired her more.