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Ghost Town

Limbik Theatre at The Cut, Halesworth Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 31st October 2011 Suffolk-based company Limbik create new theatre that explores human stories set in epic environments. They are funded by the Arts Council to develop Ghost Town. As old gold mines are reopened today, including Bodie in California, this play is a timely reminder how after years of prosperity, comes the fight for survival: ‘every boom has its bust’. Bodie today is a historic park in ‘arrested decay’, but in the 1880s was a town of 10,000 bustling with families, miners, storeowners, gunfighters, prostitutes and thieves. Money, gold and alcohol led to murders on a daily basis. The challenge for Ben Samuels, Will Pinchin and Sarah Johnson, in devising and performing the work, was to conjure that atmosphere, together with the … Read entire article »

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Sorry Seems to be the Hardest (Official) Word

‘Mea Culpa’ is formal admission of personal fault or error. It’s medicine that often many public figures and their organisations find hard to swallow. The chorus of Elton John/Bernie Taupin 1976 song Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word expresses a minority sentiment about personal apology. ‘It’s sad, so sad/It’s a sad, sad situation/And it’s getting more and more absurd/It’s sad, so sad/Why can’t we talk it over/Oh it seems to me/That sorry seems to be the hardest word’. Fair enough, individually; but corporately? Biblically, ‘sins of the father afflict unto several generations’. Some references to generational sin/punishment appear contradictory, though. In Leviticus 26:39: ‘because of their fathers’ sins they will waste away’; yet in 2 Chronicles 25:4: ‘fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to … Read entire article »

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A Life in the Day of a British Member of Parliament

As maligned as tax collectors, traffic wardens, estate agents and the media, British MPs’ work and lifestyles are often misunderstood and underestimated. Fuelled by media reports and frequent lapses of common sense, MPs are perceived by many as self-serving, egotistical riders of the gravy train/scrapers of the pork barrel, anxious only to secure re-election and submit expense claims. As many lost their seats in the 2010 general election and seek to build new livesoutside Westminster, there is little public sympathy for their plight. Even some who were re-elected may have had their hopes and ambitions of office dashed by the resulting hung parliament and a coalition government. Again, most people faced with economic and other difficulties of their own are less bothered about MPs’ situations. Local Issues and Work An MP’s life is divided … Read entire article »

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Surrealism’s Enduring Contribution to 20th Century Arts

Surrealist artists, painters, poets, filmmakers and writers are no longer regarded as fringe lunatics; their work & legacy of ideas have become mainstream. According to Surrealist.com, Surrealism is ‘a style of art and literature developed in the 20th century, stressing the subconscious or non-rational significance of imagery arrived at by the exploitation of chance effects, unexpected juxtapositions’. It is also, in a sense, a search for life’s meaning. It began, possibly, with Alfred Jarry publishing his play Ubu Roi (1896) in Paris. Its mix of absurd humour and obscenity caused mayhem. Surrealism was prominent in Europe between the world wars, growing from earlier ‘Dada’, which produced anti-art that deliberately defied reason. Surrealist.com quotes poet and critic André Breton (1896-1966), the ‘Pope of Surrealism’, who published The Surrealist Manifesto in 1924: ‘Surrealism is … Read entire article »

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Great Expectations

Hotbuckle Theatre at Seagull Theatre, Lowestoft Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 19 October 2011. Charles Dickens wrote some cracking tales, and this version of a classics was innovative, compelling and dramatic. Produced in story-telling theatre style, with direct-address insights, a talented cast of just five brought to life the rich tapestry of characters who peopled Dickens’ bleak landscape. Artistic Director, adapter of script and director of the piece, Adrian Preater led as the convict Magwitch, determined to make Pip (a credible Ben Warwick) into a gentleman. Fiona Leaning was Pip’s hard sister and the mysterious Miss Haversham. Bobbi O’Callaghan played the cold Estella superbly and Christian Rennie completed the company as the affable Joe and the aloof solicitor, Jaggers. Pip was always Pip, but the rest took on the range of minor … Read entire article »

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Queueing is Not Rocket Science, But Formulae and Theories Abound

As patience gets shorter, life busier, queues longer, first-come-first-served may be reduced to a formula or theory. But what of human behaviour? Science and technologyworking with the arts makes sense; even mathematics and the arts, is not totally unlikely. But it seems there are maths/scientific formulae or theories for everything, even the phenomenon of queueing. Queueing is not as strong as ‘waiting’, but is a recognised phenomenon. Comedian George Mikes said, ‘An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one.’ No longer, though, are the Brits/English the world’s best at queueing. The habit, often met with bemusement by nationalities with no concept of standing in line, evolved during World War 2 through food rationing. It became a hallmark of British civility: wait in orderly fashion in shops, bus … Read entire article »

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Movie-Inspired Tourism is a Growth Industry

As film audiences demand more technology and thrills, they also want high-quality locations, which they may visit later as tourists, imagining being filmed. Many communities enjoy economic benefit from film-production: spending on hotels, restaurants, food suppliers, location fees and visitor interest, especially when the movie is a hit. People still flock to see Washington DC buildings where All The President’s Men (1976) was made, as much for the movie connections as for their political value. Universal Studios in California and Florida have built a lucrative business on real or recreated film sets, with both guided tours of movie lots and theme-park type rides inspired by popular films, such as the Back to the Future ride. Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride actually inspired the movie franchise of the same name. With technology, it’s … Read entire article »

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The Boy Friend

Phoenix Opera at The Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 8 October 2011 1954, when this comic pastiche musical was first produced, was an optimistic period, like the 1920s in which it’s set. It’s a timely revival, as clear-cut roles, flimsy plot and light songs are an antidote to these darker contemporary times. Director Sheila Duffield has her cast work hard making the most of space and bathed in Riviera sunshine. The romance of Polly (enchanting Rachel Goodchild) and Tony (dashing Will Arundell), is matched by the enthusiastic company of youngsters who all get engaged, led by the lively and talented Lucy Short. There is further romance between finishing school headmistress (Pip Jenkinson) and Polly’s father (Christopher Speake), while Tony’s parents (Pat Tegerdine and Andrew Barker) add hilarity played to the … Read entire article »

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Street Art Either Vandalizes or Livens Up the Locality

  Guerilla art, graffiti, flash-mobbing, tagging, defacing buildings are judgment terms describing both the phenomena and just how high temperatures can get. Street art encompasses live, temporary performance theatre at one extreme, and semi-permanent drawings, cartoons, captions, slogans on walls, canal banks, buses and trains, at the other. It may be argued that posters on lampposts and hoardings are equally part of the total urban street environment, the street furniture that makes up what people accept as public streets. Video installations and laser projections on landmark buildings, such as the Berlin Festival of Lights 2008/2009, can also be part of what is termed contemporary street art. In the main, however, people understand it is the unapproved appearance of something that may be funny, shocking, sarcastic, clever, compelling, ugly or disfiguring, according to viewpoint … Read entire article »

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All End of the World Predictions Proved Wrong, So Far

Major religions, sects or Hollywood prophesying Armageddon – the fact is that while no doomsday scenarios have been fulfilled yet, they could be in the end. In the history of mankind, there have been thousands of predictions about the end of the world. Christians are not alone in believing that prophesied events (in Christianity’s case, the second coming of Jesus, the war of Armageddon, the birth of the antichrist, the Tribulation, the Rapture and horrific natural disasters will trigger TEOTWAWKI (‘The End of the World As We Know It’). However, to take just 2006 to demonstrate the point, according to Religious Tolerance, Ontario, there were 15 significant predictions; obviously none materialised. They ranged from a major earthquake-storm in January, centred on Los Angeles; in May a comet remnant would cause a massive … Read entire article »

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