Sean McGowan and Brand New Friend at Bodega

Bouncing between one problem and another, nights out have become increasingly rare, but we thought we'd mark the end of February, and hopefully a return to 'normal', by going to the Nottingham stop of Sean McGowan's current tour. Apart from a couple of emotional songs, it was an upbeat, noisy, bouncing night - just what I needed.













I've known Sean for several years, since the days when my youngest daughter promoted gigs, and, although he was never one of those guys who slept on my floor, I'm really excited by the success he's having. I've seen him at small independent venues in Nottingham - Chameleon Arts Cafe, JT Soar - and since then he's signed with Xtra Mile Recordings, brought out an album, toured as support for famous names like Billy Bragg and Will Varley, and as headliner.






I missed one tour of his, on account of feeling too old, but since then I think I've caught him every time he's back up here. This time the crowd had quite a few older faces in it - this is good, because it stops anyone querying if I'm the mother/grandmother of anyone playing, but also I think shows that the acts have a wider appeal spreading outside their own age group.













For this tour he was supported by Brand New Friend from Northern Ireland - a new band for me, and one I'd go see again. Along with the merch from Sean (t-shirt and sweatshirt as we're up to date with CDs) we picked up their CD, so I'll certainly be gearing more of them :)

All in all, a good night out, and a break from the current sad circumstances of my day to day life

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!

Cyrano - Derby Theatre

Northern Broadsides theatre company are at Derby Theatre this week with a touring production of Cyrano.

It's probably a story you're vaguely familiar with -you know, the guy with the long nose who's hopelessly in love with his cousin Roxanne, while she's in love with Christian, a handsome Cadet, and also fending off the attentions of a middle-aged married suitor.

 To describe it briefly, I'd say it's a wonderful romp of a show - a mix of farce, romance and tragedy with a song or two thrown in for good measure. It opens with singing and dancing, full of exuberance and life, poetry and swashbuckling,  and fabulous 17th century costumes full of frills and lace. After the interval the second half takes a more serious turn as events move to the siege of Arras (be prepared for noisy cannon fire) and the final scene fourteen years later in a nunnery near Paris.

It was fab, fun and, oh, so sad.


We all really enjoyed it and the only thing to disappoint was the audience - I know we went on a mid-week evening but there weren't many folk there, and (one of my pet gripes) hardly anyone thirty!

Betrayal at Derby Theatre

Earlier this week I was tempted out to see  Derby Theatre's latest production - Betrayal by Harold Pinter. If you're not familiar with it, it's basically the story of a love triangle; Jerry (played by Philip Correia) and Emma (Kemi-Bo Jacobs) had an affair, but Jerry was also best friends with Emma's husband Robert (Ben Addis). As the story moves from the present, two years after the end of the affair, and 'rewinds', scene by scene, to its beginning seven years earlier, you begin to wonder who was most betrayed?


The characters start out as successful, bordering on middle-age, and more than a little awkward with each other, but as the years peel away, so does a certain level of veneer, and their real selves emerge. The actors were all brilliant, getting younger with each scene, while the 'perspex box' set gave the impression of them being constantly in the public eye even when they thought they were private, but the outstanding aspect was the innovative idea of projecting images of the actors onto the backdrop.

I always feel there's a difficulty about staging a play like this, which for the main part is just two people talking to each other - awkward or passionate, bored or angry, every nuance of emotion needs to be portrayed by the actors, and seen by the audience. It feels like staging it would work best in the intimate setting of a tiny Fringe production where the audience can see every flicker on the actors' faces, or on TV or film, where the director has the option of close up camera work. As it is, first time director Lekan Lawal has come up with an excellent way of creating that intimacy in a large theatre; cameras on stage projected larger than life close-ups of the actors onto a backdrop above them, with the additional twist of the image being that seen by the other actor, rather than the audience.  For example, Emma turns away from her husband's questioning, and faces the audience, but the projected image is of her turned back as seen by Robert. It's like seeing the scene play out from both of their perspectives and even if it sounds a little confusing, it isn't; it's brilliant and I loved it.