David Porter » Archive
Grumpy Old Shopper 4 – Christmas
Nearly Christmas. The nightmare of pre-Christmas is almost over. The clearing up, sorting out, storing good-idea gifts, credit card bills and all that will form the post-Christmas nightmare, so I can worry about that later. This year we have shopped more on line. My long-suffering wife has shopped a lot in the traditional, tortuous, frustrating and hideous ways. Usually doubling up the cost of things with car parking charges and coffees. But I have done a lot of internet shopping to help out. Well, I’m concerned to do my bit, after all is said and done. It should be simple on line. Comfort of your own room, laughably slow broadband speeds. Choose your stuff, your bargains, your three-for-ones, your suggested (by your kids) pressies for the grandchildren. A few clicks, credit card details, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blogs: My Own
I Am Who I Am
Thalia Theatre Company at the Playhouse, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press 28 November 2009 I Am Who I Am (ergo sum qui sum) Arriving at the Playhouse, Leonard Cohen songs playing, felt like coming home as Thalia presented their annual show. This is the arts related-learning provider for disabled people in particular who provide innovative theatre to challenge negative perceptions about disability. Slides of members’ art work set the scene for I Am Who I Am, a perfectly pitched exploration of identity and self; what makes us different, unique. In the audience or on stage, it doesn’t matter what you look like, you have value. You are a personality. Three sections – from Dereham, Great Yarmouth and Norwich – started from the same stimulus – a residency with visual artist Tanya Raabe. Each … Read entire article »
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Private Lives
Open Space Theatre at The Fisher Theatre, Bungay Review published in Eastern Daily Press 9 November 2009 and East Anglian Daily Times 10 November 2009 Private Lives Open Space provide an invaluable service touring quality amateur drama around the rural areas, and their latest offering confirms their reputation as entertainers of the highest calibre. Noel Coward’s vintage period piece sparkles with repartee and one-liners in the Oscar Wilde tradition with all the 1930s’ wit and elegance. Many lines are deliciously acerbic, cruel and downright hilarious. The characters deliver them with panache – ‘I’m glad I’m not normal,” gets the response – “What an odd thing to be glad about!”. The unlikely premise is a once-married couple meeting accidentally on their respective honeymoons to new partners, while sharing neighbouring hotel rooms. These are people who can’t … Read entire article »
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Shakers (Re-stirred)
Harleston Players at Archbishop Sancroft High School, Harleston Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 30th October 2009 Shakers (Re-stirred) A night out with a play from the prolific pen of John Godber, is an entertaining, thought-provoking glimpse into aspects of our modern life with lots of social comment wrapped up in some high comedy and seasoned with masses of killing one-liners. Shakers (the re-stirred version that Godber and Jane Thornton have updated) is now on offer by the Harleston Players, a well established amateur group that relishes challenges. Four actresses – Dawn Symonds, Emma Owen Jackson, Roz Morgan and Sara Curtis – take on all the parts, from barmaids to waitresses, to male punters, business/yuppie types and supermarket staff. Multi-roling is a tall order, demanding comic precision, a wide variety of credible regional accents … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews
Grumpy Old Shopper 3 – Mysteries
I ought to explain my aversion to shopping. I was born and raised above my father’s shop, we were a retail family and I am proud of his success through hard work which helped to make me what I am today! One of my friends (one of three) has pointed out to me that with my background, my loathing of shopping is a mystery. Well, what I dislike nowadays is not retail itself (essential part of our economy and enjoyed by millions and gives vital employment in difficult circumstances to millions more), but that it is made into a lifestyle, a religion, a culture in its own right and we are all expected to worship at the shrine. Anyway, in the spirit of open-mindedness, I thought an ideal part-time little earner for … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blogs: My Own
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Harleston Players at Archbishop Sancroft High School, Harleston Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 2 February 2009 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe On one level, it’s a children’s story of myths and legends. In fact, it’s the story of Jesus dying for another, and in the script by Adrian Mitchell from the original novel by CS Lewis, it’s an ambitious epic. Harleston Players combine skills of a large cast of children and adults, a large thrust area into three sides of audience for acting space and journeys, with the skills of director Cathy Gill to create an experience of Christian writing into performance. Starting in wartime England before the four children(not easy roles and handled well by Jordan Smith, Hannah Richards, Jake Williams and Nellie Unsworth) go through the wardrobe into a frozen … Read entire article »
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Kitchen
Gob Squad at the Playhouse, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 6 May 2009 Kitchen If you can remember the Sixties or weren’t there and want a taste of what a Happening was like, this is the show to watch. The quirky, aptly named Gob Squad hold forth in Kitchen (You’ve Never Had It so Good), a reconstruction of the 1965 Andy Warhol film. This Anglo-German group are well versed in public and open-space performances and offer comedy with traces of surrealism and a streak of anarchy. The randomness of events, such as throwing cornflakes or smoking coffee granules, is typical of much of the thearical and artistic experimentation of that era. They use three screens behind which most action occurs, and we see the filmed projections from out front. Gradually, several individuals … Read entire article »
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Exit Napoleon, Pursued by Rabbits
Nola Rae at the Playhouse, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 14 February 2005 Exit Napoleon, Pursued by Rabbits It takes some doing – 75 minutes on stage by a one-woman inventive comic mime artiste with a powerful message. The international physical theatre specialist enlivened the strange tale of Napoleon Bonaparte and, by extension, other dictators, on a desolate field in a tattered tent with the detritus of life – pots, spoons and a cheese grater providing endless comic opportunities. She toured a humorous repertoire, punctuated by an inspired soundtrack and effects, like an historic Mr Bean, from pathos to tape stuck to a finger. From the entrance through the audience, reminiscent of the nightmare crone in David Bowie’s Labrynth, to the end as Hitler orchestrating air raids, she took us on a journey … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews