Trashfuture live

It has been ten years (!!) since I last wrote about podcasts which, given how much time I spend listening to them, is probably a mistake.

My regular walks, c20km a day on average, are spent listening to them or to BBC radio drama and I subscribe to podcast on news, science, comedy, politics, drama, technology and design. At any one time I generally have about thirty waiting to be listened to.

I got into Trashfuture both of whom are paid subscribers; I am not and I just get the weekly free episode. 

Trashfuture calls itself a "podcast about business success and making yourself smarter with the continued psychic trauma of capitalism", which it is. The format is a team discussion on current affairs that skilfully and entertainingly combines an intelligent and knowledgeable analysis of the failings of capitalism with some decent jokes; the adage a spoonful of sugar comes to mind.

Occasionally the Trashfuture do live shows and when one coincided with a son's birthday it was quickly agreed rhat the whole family would attend.

Being a family meeting meant going for a walk, Rower Bridge to Waterloo, and being a birthday meant going to Pizza Express.

Our progress towards Between The Bridges on Southbank was hampered by some event connected with Albania's independence day which is one reason that we were sat towards the back of a packed marquee. I did have time to buy a decent beer for a not frighteningly expensive £7.2.

I had been to many recordings of TV and radio shows and was interested to see how a podcast would differ. As expected from listening to the show for a while, recording it live made little difference, e.g. there were no retakes and no additional material that would disappear on the cutting room floor. What was different was that the four of them (the fifth was ill) sat in a line across the stage, so that we could see them all which is not the natural arrangement for a discussion and there were times when they spoke over each other a little.

The topic of the discussion was Nadine Doris' new book The Plot. One of the team, Alice, had drawn the short straw and had read it and she took us through both the content and the style with the other responding with analysis and humour. It was very like a normal show and so delivered on my expectations.

They talked for about an hour then the conversation reached a natural end and we all applauded enthusiastically before heading back out into the cold night.

I hope they pick this episode as a free one so that I can listen to it again.

Arthur Brown at Lewes Con Club

I have seen Arthur Brown live numerous times and in various locations, from a cafe in Soho to the Assembly Rooms in Leamington Spa, and with several different sets of musicians and  they have all been good or great. That is why I was keen to see him in his latest incarnation, even if that meant spending the night in Lewes afterwards.

I knew Lewes from regular visits to Glyndebourne and liked the look and position of the Premiere Inn there so a plan was formed. I had considered adding a second, maybe a third, night to my stay to make more of a break of it but the nights either side of Sunday were prohibitively expensive so that was dropped. I actually stayed in Eastbourne for a couple of days beforehand but that's another story.

I arrived in Lewes around lunchtime on Sunday but having had an all-day veggie breakfast only s couple of hours earlier I skipped lunch and went for an explore instead. Lewes was wet and hilly so this was a modest exploration with a break for a beer.

I had found the Con Club in the afternoon.(when I had a sneak peek of Arthur watching the sound check) and had confirmed the opening time for the evening's show. I arrived about that time and was the first in the queue, though several people had gone in before the official opening time and the staff were busy checking their tickets first.

Inside it was just a room with a stage and alongside that a long bar with just a few seats, all of which were taken. I headed in to the hall to claim a spot taking a pint of beer with me.

Arthur arrived on stage at the appointed time to an enthusiastic cheer.

Arthur had said in his newsletter that he was trying  to make these concerts more of a show and that was apparent from the start with the decoration of the stage; the arm on the far left is of a prop not a person. Arthur added to that with a series of exotic costumes and the light show added the final touch,

His backing band has changed many times over the years and I do not know if I have seen any of the current lineup before (apart from the recent gig supporting Hawkwind) but I liked their sound with a prominent keyboard, it reminded me of the happy days when he was backed by Instant Flight with Lucie Rejchrtova on keyboards.

The mood of the music was late sixties, think of the introduction to The Doors' Light My Fire.

The set was something of a change. For as long as I can remember he has played Devil's Grip, Kites, I put a Spell on You but none of these appeared this night. Fire was there with the introductory Fire Poem.

 

Also included was my all-time favourite Arthur Brown song, originally released on 1973's Journey album by his then band Kingdom Come. (There are lots of stories about my connection with that album, one day perhaps). There was a surprise here with some new lyrics after fifty years, e.g. "We hover at the speed of time".

The other familiar song that made the set was The Voice of Love from the 2007 album of the same name. I bought the album when it came out and have loved this song ever since.

There were a few songs that were new to me but the voice, the band, the sound and the staging were the same so they felt like old favourites.

I have seen Arthur Brown live numerous times and this is probably the best concert of the lot. I have booked to see him again next April.

The Pitchfork Disney at Lantern Theatre

I try, with high success, to see every production of a Philip Ridley play in London and it did not take a lot to extend this mission to Brighton.

My Google Alert for "Philip Ridley" brought this production to my attention and as I was already due to be in Lewes that weekend (for an Arthur Brown concert) a plan for the weekend quickly formed. That involved staying in Eastbourne for two nights because the hotels in Brighton were prohibitively expensive, which was fine as that gave me another new place to explore for a couple of days.

The plan had to be tweaked a little when maintenance works closed the railway line out of Eastbourne but there proved to be plenty of buses going along the south coast and I was able to take an A12X for free (it helps to be old sometimes). The bus took an hour and I sat upstairs and enjoyed the view.

The Lantern Theatre had the good sense to be near an Italian restaurant so that was the evening meal sorted.

The theatre was small and cosy, as expected. It was something like the Old Red Lion of the (previous) White Bear. My sort of theatre.

It was my sort of play too. I had seen The Pitchfork Disney only once before and was looking forward to seeing it again. Ridley's plays are so dense with wild thoughts and ideas that I cannot help but forget much of the details. To give but one example, the 28 year old twin brother and sister living together reveal, as an aside, that their parents simply left them and had not died as we had naturally assumed. The reason for this was never explored, let alone answered. I love that Ridley can have an idea that big and just throw it away almost unused.

For me, The Pitchfork Disney is about reality, a concept much visited by Ridley. Here we assume that the siblings are heavily locked in their flat to protect them from the post-apocalyptic world outside but when that world intrudes, in the bizarre form of Cosmo Disney, the reality of that world is questioned.

The Pitchfork Disney also sounds like a Philip Ridley play with its poetic dialogue and use of repetition. It is a joy to listen to even when the words are familiar.

I like this production too. The setting was just right and the small cast did their job well. Ela Chapman, the sister, stood out for me with her expressions of fear and isolation.

The journey down to Brighton, and the nights away, just to see this were well worth it. 

Turner Prize 2023 at Towner Gallery Eastbourne

My long weekend in Eastbourne, unlike the recent one in Salisbury, was full of pleasant surprises. 

One of these pleasant surprises was Towner Gallery, part of an arts cluster right next to the famous tennis grounds.

Adding to the pleasant surprises was an exhibition by the contenders for Turner Prize 2023.

The piece by Jesse Darling (pictured right) was large and dramatic and while I quite like that sort of thing I have also seen quite a lot of this sort of thing in places from Tate Modern to Moderna Museet (Stockholm) and there seemed to be nothing remarkable about this.

I was very surprised when this won Turner Prize 2023.

What should have won it is Barbara Walker's Burden of Proof.
 

In Burden of Proof, Barbara Walker produced large copies of some of the many obscure documents that immigrants to this country produced in an effort to prove they had a right to remain here during the Windrush Scandal. On these documents she drew charcoal images of the people impacted by the scandal.

It was both artistically impressive and intellectually stimulating, just the sort of thing that deserves to win prizes.

The Enfield Haunting at Richmond Theatre

I go to see almost every play that is put on at Richmond Theatre and with Catherine Tate and David Threlfall in the cast I was certainly going to see The Enfield Haunting when it passed through on its way to the West End.

Those names were expected to be a big draw and the prices matched so, again, I was forced out of my usual place, the front row of the Dress Circle, and I went up a level to the front row of the Upper Circle where a central seat (A16) cost a mere £20. At that price I could afford to take a risk on an unknown play by an unknown (to me) playwright.

I had seen other supernatural plays at Richmond Theatre, notably The Woman in Black, and with Richmond Theatre's reputation for putting on a good show I had reasonable hopes for the evening.

The view from my seat was fine (aided by using my coat as a cushion to make me sit a little further forward) and the set looked good.

What followed was a major disappointment.

The story had a few shocking moments and these were handled well with, for example, all the lights in the auditorium going off. but the bulk of the play felt slow and irrelevant. The children apart, the characters were not very believable and any supernatural story trying to be heard got lost in the messy interactions between the adults.

This was the first night of a preview run so perhaps things will get better but I found a lot of the dialogue stilted as if it had not be learned or rehearsed properly.

Apart from the few brief shocking moments it had nothing going for it and I was very glad that I had only paid £20 and that it was not very long.

Knocking on the Wall at Finborough Theatre

The nice thing about Finborough Theatre is that they do the hard work for you, that is if they think that a play is worth putting on then it is worth seeing. And so I booked to see Knocking on the Wall for £20 without knowing anything about it. 

Other things going on made a Sunday matinee a good option which change the arrangements a little but not much, instead of having dinned at Cafe du Coin beforehand I had lunch there and ate the usual food despite the time change.

I also had time to explore Brompton Cemetery which is always worth a visit.

The other difference was that the audience arrived earlier than they do for evening performances and with the performance all-but sold out I had to settle for a seat at the end of the front row, which actually worked well, as corner seats often do.

Knocking on the Wall is a collection of three plays on the shared theme of loneliness with a hint of hope. That sounds a little miserable, and there were few laughs, but they proved to be engaging stories with characters I cared about in situations that I found interesting. The cast portrayed those characters excellently.

It was a thoroughly satisfying and fulfilling afternoon. Once again Finborough Theatre demonstrated what theatre can do and delivered a genuine treat.

The House of Bernarda Alba at National Theatre

I first saw The House of Bernarda Alba at Cervantes Theatre in 2017(!) and was keen to see it performed on a bigger stage. So much so that I pushed the boat out a little and paid £67 for Lyttelton Circle Row A Seat 22.

And as back in 2017 the evening started with a visit to Culture Grub for a Chinese curry. I still use that restaurant for any visit to a theatre in the Southbank area.

Food and drink arrangements at National Theatre were less impressive and I had to have a beer out of a can at some ridiculous price. I consoled myself by thinking that the profit was going to a good cause. The front of house there always feels like an afterthought with lots of open space but little in the way of seating or refreshments. I have eaten there but it is always busy and always a struggle to queue and then find a space. Much better to eat elsewhere first. 

This was a new version of The House of Bernarda Alba and the set reflected that newness. I liked the minimalist clean lines of it and the use of three levels. This seems to be the fashion and it looked quite familiar.

The story was the same and the extra space allowed it to be told more naturally then in the confined spaces of Cervantes Theatre.

Less natural was the language and I was very surprised that a story set in a strict religious household would contain so much swearing, it was unnecessary to the story and jarred with the setting.

Luckily the occasional foul language was the only (minor) flaw in an otherwise excellent production. I was again gripped by the story, despite remembering much of the detail, and fully engaged with Bernarda Alba, her daughters, her mother and her servants. Each one had motives and aspirations that created the tension that drove the story.

Federico García Lorca, who was Spanish, is recognised internationally as a great playwright and The House of Bernarda Alba as one of his major works; this production did it full justice.

Sputnik Sweetheart at Arcola Theatre

Arcola Theatre (in Dalston) is harder to get to for me since I stopped working by Kings Cross, when I could easily walk there after work (and, occasionally, during work), but I still think of it as one of my regular theatres and I like having an excuse to get back there. Sputnik Sweetheart was such an excuse.

I liked that it was an adaptation of a Japanese novel with weird elements and I very much liked that it was directed by Melly Still whose work I first encountered with Coram Boy at National Theatre in 2007. Since then our paths had crossed a few times at Glyndebourne and Rose Theatre.

My first visit back to Dalston for a while met an immediate problem in that the regular eating place, Route, was (still) hidden behind scaffolding and was closed. A quick replan took me to a nearby pub, Farrs Dalston, which had decent beer and excellent tacos with a Pakistani twist.

The rest of the usual plan worked and I was seated in the front row of the central section, seat A14, which I had paid a modest £27.5 for. Lots of other people had bought seats too and the theatre looked to be sold out.

Sputnik Sweetheart was both weird and delightful. Weird because it jumped around time and space, and delightful because it was a love story, albeit an unusual one.

There was a lot going on with the dialogue and the staging and I am sure that, not being heavily versed in this culture, that I missed much of what was intended but what I could follow and understand was lovely.

Ceasefire Now!

While it was uplifting to be in a huge mixed crowd of people in Trafalgar Square all calling for an end to the genocide in Palestine it is also very sad that such demonstrations are the only voice that we have and the the political class continues to not only refuse to denounce the genocide but are actively supporting those doing it.

The politicians do not reflect the people they represent on this and we will keep demonstration until they do. 

A View From The Bridge at Rose Theatre

Not all Arthur Miller plays are classics but it is probably fair to say that are All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), and A View from the Bridge (1955) are, and Wikipedia backs me up on this.

I had seen all but A View From The Bridge so was very pleased when it was announced that it was coming to Rose Theatre, particularly as their production of All My Sons was a triumph.

I picked a seat in my now favoured Circle, A24, which cost £35 with my Senior Citizen Concession. I like the view from Circle and that more than makes up for sitting amongst school children when at a matinee. That said, seat A24 is next to the aisle where a safety rail hinders the view slightly and I will avoid that seat in future (I am writing this now to remind me!).

The story was a fairly simple one, an American-Italian working class couple living with their orphaned niece (aged 17) are joined by two cousins who arrive from a poverty stricken Italy illegally to work on the docks. One of the cousins starts a relationship with the niece to which the over protective uncle is strongly against.

The story is the thread on which so many things hang that are revealed through the discussions between the five family members. Through these we learn more about life working on the docks, immigration into America at that time and the Italian community they belong too. We also learn about their histories and beliefs, for example the families left behind in Italy.

Central to all this is Eddie Carbone, the head of the family. It is his beliefs and passions that drive the story to its predictable conclusion. And we know it is predictable because a lawyer is used as a framing device and her intermittent narration explains that she has seen all this before. She may have done and while the outcome was predictable there were other outcomes that were equally possible.

Jonathan Slinger was perfect as Eddie and that was one of the main reasons the I loved the performance so much. The other cast members were good but this was Eddie's story.

Much of Eddie's character was the macho head of the family stuff but the play added some confusion over his relationship with his niece, he was accused of being jealous of his cousin at one point, and there were hints of homosexuality that were never resolved.

The other star of the show was the staging which made use of the shape and height of the unusual stage. It was a simple staging too with very few changes to the set, just a few chairs being moved around. I  have no idea why the swing is there in what was mostly a living room but it worked. Rose Theatre seems to like swings and so do I.

A View From The Bridge at Rose Theatre gave me everything that I could possibly want from a visit to a theatre, it was that good.