David Porter » Archive
Masterful Inactivity – the Solution Everybody Runs Round in Circles to Find
Inactivity, masterful inactivity – time for a return to the concept? Published in 2013 on Suite 101, this is republished to complete the transfer across of material from that site. It is out of date with some details, but not the main thrust. Less is more should perhaps become the mantra as governments run round like headless chickens trying to do something in a crisis. Whenever anything goes wrong in the country, as it invariably does many times a week, it isn’t long before somebody somewhere starts the cry that SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!! MPs, under pressure from constituents fed by 24/7 news, start clamouring for something, anything. We may then get an inquiry chaired by some bigwig, a task force, a major relaunch/revamp/rethink, a public consultation, a Government Tsar, a White … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101
The Art of Riding Roughshod Over the Views of Voters and Taxpayers
This article was first published on Suite 101, 5 January 2013. It is reprinted here as I transfer material from Suite 101. As the argument continues about how elected representatives in a democracy balance special pleading and pushing through their own solutions, we pose some further questions. Is Democracy Always a Compromise Between Caving In to Special Interests or Riding Roughshod Over Them? People opposed to onshore wind farms should not have their views ridden over roughshod. This pearl of masterful wisdom is reported by the Daily Telegraph (4 January 2012) as coming from planning minister Nick Boles to fellow MP John Hayes in a private letter.The report by Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent confirms that Boles told Hayes, local people have genuine concerns. Other Issues Equally Deserving He shouldn’t stop there. There are dozens … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101
Reading Between the Lines of the Party Leaders’ New Year Messages
Originally published on Suite 101 for New Year 2013, it is republished here as I bring articles across from that site to this one. While details have often passed now, the point is still valid about reading between politician’s lines. It’s always sensible to look for the hidden messages behind Party leaders’ annual New Year greetings to the electorate. This year is no exception. The end of one old tired year and the welcoming of a shiny new one is a golden publicity opportunity for politicos to put out best wishes to one and all and to say how brilliantly his or her party has done and how marvellously bright the future is under their auspices. Or how badly the government has done and how much better it would have been/will be under … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101
The Principle Elements of Examining Secondary School Drama
The assessment criteria for examining secondary school drama is quite simple: give students a vocabulary and clear framework for what works and let them learn by experiment. This article was first published on Suite 101, January 2013. In the 1960s and much of the following decade, where there was British school drama going on it was unstructured and delivered by a handful of inspired devotees who had seen the enormous potential of getting teenagers to roleplay, simulate and make-believe.Nobody thought it was possible to evaluate significantly drama work for examination purposes. When the National Curriculum arrived in the late 1980s drama was not included in the 10 core subjects, but curriculum drama began to come under pressure to come up with some examinable criteria. The Arts Council report Drama in Schools (2003) … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101, Drama Teaching
No Apology for Putting History at the Top of Today’s Agenda for Young People
This article was first published on Suite 101, November 2012. It is republished now as it is still timely. Although computers never forget, the digital age creates a kind of permanent present. Society neglects its past roots at its peril. This is a hot Westminster topic. Discussion about history suggests clever quotations. We learn from history that we don’t learn from history (attributed to Oscar Wilde) and those who don’t learn from history are condemned to learn it over and over again (attributed to Mao Tse Tung), spring to mind. George Orwell’s novel Nineteen-Eighty Four (1948) created Big Brother with the chilling slogan: He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future. Today, in a watched society, its both true and relevant. English writer LP Hartley (1895-1972) … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101
Nocturne
Voice Project Choir, Norwich Cathedral Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 16 December 2013 A nocturne is a picture evoking the night, lyrical, dreamy music. Ten songs from the Voice Project Choir filled the Cathedral’s chapels, cloisters and nave, evoking every emotion in the human heart. It was a promenade concert, the audience subtly guided by the call of a new piece in the near distance to move on to a fresh experience. Cloaked singers with candles lined the way, sustaining a haunting, repeated motif. Sharon Durrant, Rebecca Askew, Sian Croose, Helen Chadwick, Katherine Zerserson, Dave Camlin and Jon Baker, who also wrote much of the music, led, took solos and the intimate harmonies. In the opening chamber they were scattered among the audience, making us part of the performance, sharing the night of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews
A Christmas Spectacular
Lowestoft Players at The Bethel Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 11 December 2013 This is the season of pantos and Christmas shows and The Lowestoft Players bring their own ‘Thursford’ to the warm intimacy of their theatre building. They have established this spectacular entertainment as an absolute highlight, a traditional Christmas variety with new angles. It embraces the audience in loving arms and sweeps them along in a range of songs, dancing, sketches and readings, each one given the Players’ treatment of quality, style and meaning. The show plays on memories of Christmas past, the child-like innocence of the season while dipping into the catalogue of great Christmas classic melodies to create a feast of pure entertainment. One minute we are laughing, the next we have a lump in the throat. The sequence from … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews
Miracle on 34th Street
Marina Theatre, Lowestoft Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 6 December 2013 As an appetiser for the Christmas and pantomime season and an example of how almost anything can be turned into a musical, Franklin Productions brought a staged version of the 1947 movie to Lowestoft before visiting Norwich next week. It’s a simple, heart-warming tale. An old gentleman working in Macy’s famous toy store claims to be the real Santa Claus. He is put in an insane asylum and a lawyer takes up his case in court to prove he is the real deal. Sitting alongside The Snowman and It’s a Wonderful Life the film has become a perennial family favourite, originally entitled The Big Heart in Britain. The show could follow. With singing, dancing, some jokes, fast-moving scenery changes and lashings of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews
Educating Rita (2)
Marina Theatre, Lowestoft Review commissioned by Eastern Daily Press, November 2013, not published by them Willy Russell has written successful dramas capturing life’s bitter-sweet shades – Shirley Valentine, Blood Brothers and Educating Rita. This two-hander about a young hairdresser (Jennifer Daley) who crashes into the study of the professor (Brian Capron) for Open University tutorials follows the academic year. Her street-wise, working-class Scouser, hard life exterior is pushed aside by a thirst for knowledge and betterment that he first finds appealing in a faintly patronising way. He is a middle-aged, world-weary, seen-it-all, read-it-all superior academic with a severe alcohol problem. Rita gradually gets under his skin and into his heart. He becomes besotted with her; she doesn’t realise. His tragedy is that she outgrows her need for his teaching and moves on, stronger, more fulfilled. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews
Revisiting ‘Time for Darwin Awards for MPs Who Contribute to People’s Amazement, Anger, Jollity and Disbelief?
No more relevant today than it was a year ago when I published it on Suite 101, but also no less relevant. I am gradually republishing all my material from Suite 101. So … the Darwin Awards for politicians: Everybody contributes to life, the human gene pool and the entertainment of others. It may be that some politicos should be rewarded with an accolade for how they have affected voters and taxpayers. The Darwin Awards are a tongue-in-cheek celebration that salute the improvement of the human genome by honouring those who accidentally remove themselves from it… Its awarded to people who die through incredible, jaw-dropping acts of stupidity. Recent winners include the 22 year old, annoyed how slowly her boyfriend was driving, who declared itll be quicker to walk as she stepped from … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles at Suite 101