tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18649673602949859752024-03-05T06:42:31.355+00:00Stacked ActorsSorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-40027654954909799512014-05-05T14:10:00.002+01:002014-05-05T14:10:37.313+01:00Coming soon...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /><br />Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-81870269833466046332013-12-20T11:16:00.001+00:002013-12-20T11:20:20.449+00:00A Christmas Carol: That's My Cue at The Etcetera Theatre<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvS1lL3qZ_6nYExuGVu0PdzbdyjWrnxSAeKAxT1uCIJEYDJo47HBAb1B-IYLp4S9HUUS3NewRlwSA49_unAVGT9fg0Ku5jU5xMX3ViQtk_okH93ulPfOWzhoV6JbQ7RZhgZfoAfb2Fl08/s1600/Christmas+Carol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvS1lL3qZ_6nYExuGVu0PdzbdyjWrnxSAeKAxT1uCIJEYDJo47HBAb1B-IYLp4S9HUUS3NewRlwSA49_unAVGT9fg0Ku5jU5xMX3ViQtk_okH93ulPfOWzhoV6JbQ7RZhgZfoAfb2Fl08/s320/Christmas+Carol.jpg" width="319" /></a></span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The stage is very simple, the lighting basic and barely any set,
just a couple of stools and a small table with some water. A few
props which are unused, just for decoration. This production doesn't
need anything else, the magic is provided entirely from the moment
that Martin Prest begins to speak. The audience is completely
transported to a Dickensian land when he opens as the narrator,
speaking the words of a Christmas Carol from the version that he has
adapted himself.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As soon as he becomes Scrooge, you realise that this is going to
be truly special. Most people know the story, Scrooge and humbug have
entered the English language as synonyms for party poopers. But these
words, as the actor says himself, were written to be read aloud.
Dickens was a story teller and this is quite possibly the best piece
of story telling that I have ever seen. The second he became Scrooge
I was in hysterics, each character was carefully defined by voice,
facial expressions, body language and movement. There were even such
subtle character traits, the old Scrooge generally held his hands
behind his back whereas the flashback to the younger Scrooge showed
just one hand behind his back – a hint to the way that he was, the
way that he had begun to change before he reached the point that he
was at now. This level of attention to detail was evident throughout.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The fact that he had adapted the script himself also enhanced the
performance. There were certain lines that you could see he truly
enjoyed delivering. The actor's enthusiasm and love of the
performance was a pleasure to see and gave such energy to the
performance. He went through over twenty characters in the course of
an hour and it felt like five minutes. I laughed and I cried – and
I know that sounds cliché but unfortunately that is just the truth.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is truly a magical piece of theatre which will transport you
into the Christmas spirit whilst also leaving you in awe of such a
talented actor. Children would be enraptured. You really don't want
to miss this.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">An easy ★ ★ ★ ★ ★<i> </i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>A Christmas Carol runs at <a href="http://www.etceteratheatre.com/index.php?id=2">TheEtcetera Theatre</a> until the 21<sup>st</sup> December and at <a href="http://www.kingsheadtheatre.com/main.html">The King's Head</a> on 22<sup>nd</sup> and 23<sup>rd</sup> December. There are
matinee and evening performances. </i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Martin Prest on <a href="http://www.castingcallpro.com/uk/view.php?uid=470984">Casting Call Pro </a> </i></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span>Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-77990126429079625072013-10-16T15:36:00.002+01:002013-10-16T15:37:55.642+01:00The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable: Punchdrunk at Temple Studios<br />
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<br />
I have been the only person following this suited man for the last
minute or so. There is a long dark corridor, punctuated with
spotlights which illuminate and hide him as he moves and I hurriedly
walk behind him. He stops at a doorway, turns and inspects me, before
taking my hand, pulling me into a dark room and locking the door
behind us. He moves over to the light in the corner and turns it off.
<br />
I stand in the middle of this small room, surrounded by darkness,
breath quickening as I wonder what might happen next. He takes out a
torch and shines it into my eyes.
<br />
“Have you ever danced with a stranger in dark?” he asks. I
shake my head – we are not allowed to speak. He switches off the
torch and once again I am plunged into darkness. He takes my hand and
puts it on his shoulder, the other on his waist. I feel him moving
and we dance. I step on his toes, he doesn't flinch.
<br />
Suddenly, someone else enters the room, we hear them. He holds me
close and I grip tightly. I still cannot see a thing. Then he moves
me, and places my hands on someone elses. They are limp, they don't
feel right, so I recoil. He tries again, he puts my hands onto
someone elses chest. He is tall, I feel a woolly jumper. Once again I
am dancing in the dark. Then he removes my mask and a light comes on.
I am looking into the face of a total stranger. The light goes out
and the door opens. The moment is over.<br />
<br />
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<br />
I am back in the warehouse that they call Temple Studios, the four
floor elaborate set of Punchdrunk's new show The Drowned Man. I can
go wherever I like, explore every room. There is a street, with a bar
and shops, a fountain and benches. There are film sets of kitchens
and locker rooms, there are bedrooms and dressing rooms and dark
corners with shrines, all very dimly lit. As you wonder around, you
come across the performers, the only ones without masks, they dance,
they speak, they argue, they have sex, then when they are done, they
disappear in different directions and you alone decide who you want
to follow.<br />
<br />
The concept of this immersive theatre experience is slickly
executed, from the moment you step off the lift, you are in a
different world, all on your own. The lighting is eerie and
atmospheric, the music is deafening and grand, you are, quite simply,
transported.<br />
<br />
There are certainly moments of discomfort, feeling lost,
disoriented, and the smell of one of the rooms became so overbearing
for me that I had to escape as quickly as possible. In particular I
loved the forest and the dressing table surrounded by mirrors.<br />
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<br /></div>
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<br />
Because of the nature of the idea, you can never see everything
that is happening, you will follow some characters and miss others,
you catch snippets of story but not all. I revelled in this to begin
with, there is something very freeing about just going with your gut
and feeling able to wander wherever you like in a safe space.
Everywhere I looked there was a perfect image and I just wanted to
have a camera with me and take pictures the whole way around.<br />
<br />
For me, however, after an hour and a half or so of this, I began
to tire of it a little. Because of the bitty nature of the storyline,
I found that I was not invested enough in any of the characters to
really want to know how it turned out at the end. I found that the
full cast finale was a little incongruous with the feel of the rest
of the experience, and also I felt that nothing could have
topped the intensity of that moment in the darkened room.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the feeling of boredom that overtook me towards the
end seems to have cast a bit of a shadow over the whole evening for
me. I was glad that I had obtained a half price ticket, I was glad to
have experienced the show, but I am not sure that I would attend
their next show. I might recommend it to people, but at the price of
£39.50 per head, it would be rare. However I can appreciate that the
cost and effort of pulling off such a high value production such as
this means that it has to be expensive.<br />
<br />
I would say that if you are interested in film, dance and not a
usual theatre goer, this is probably the show for you. For me
personally, I like a storyline that allows me to become invested in
the characters, to care about what happens to them and my journey on
this occasion did not allow me that privilege. That is not to say,
however, that others who took a different path might not have had
just that. Whatever you do, if you do go, heed their advice and go it
alone.<br />
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; widows: 1;">
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆<i> </i></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; widows: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; widows: 1;">
<i>The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable
runs until 30<sup>th</sup> December, ticket prices vary from £19.50
to £85.00. </i>
</div>
Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-55497068213650324472013-09-29T19:04:00.000+01:002013-09-29T19:26:38.384+01:00The Same Deep Water As Me at The Donmar Warehouse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
Upon a recommendation from the man who runs the local
playwrighting group in Exeter, my friend, the playwright and I, the
actor, went to see The Same Deep Water As Me. We are getting into a
rhythm now, I cycle across town in rush hour traffic to queue up to
buy the cheap day tickets, she will buy the expensive theatre-bar
priced drinks at the interval. I duly cycled across town, arrived at
the Donmar at 9am to find that there was no queue at all, so the day
tickets were ours. At the Donmar, it seems that they only recently
changed the system for day tickets and they are in fact for standing
tickets, to stand at the back of the balcony. We don't mind, we just
want to see as much good theatre as we can, tickets are bought.<br />
<br />
So I was waiting outside the theatre for my friend, who was
running late because she had only just finished work at ten to seven,
and who should I see walk past me and into the theatre... but Niamh
Cusack, of Radio 4's Ulysses which I listened to on podcast whilst
walking laps barefoot around the field at Poltimore House during
rehearsals for open air Shakespeare last year. Then, shortly after
that... Kristin Scott Thomas, stealer of my heart and star of films
such as Four Weddings and Il y a Longtemps Que Je T'aime. I started
getting heart palpitations, I couldn't believe I was standing less
than a meter from someone who just months ago I had been watching in
Old Times at the Harold Pinter. Already, I was having the best night
of my life, just knowing that I was going to be in the audience with
such incredible actors. As if that wasn't good enough, when standing
in our spot at the back of the theatre, one of the ushers came and
offered us seats because a couple of people hadn't turned up – we
got upgraded! As if to first class! We were sitting three seats away
from Niamh and two rows from the side of the stage, a perfect spot.<br />
<br />
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<br />
The play opened with Nigel Lindsay (who I have just realised was
in Four Lions, one of the best films ever made) and Daniel Mays (who
I best know from Plus One, a short tv series in which he was a little
over obsessed with Duncan from Blue). They were both solicitors in a
personal injury firm. The play began with some incredibly witty and
outright hilarious dialogue, the language was crude, there was lots
of talk of Greggs and herbal teas and it was a reminder that offices
now are not how they used to be, swearing is the norm, broken fans
also, it reeked of realism and the humour came from that. The whole
text was incredibly current, this was also what made it so funny, but
at the same time, it made me realise how quickly this text will date.
I realised that this was a show to watch and enjoy in the moment,
rather than one to buy the script to take home and re-read.<br />
<br />
Although the script was funny, the story line was getting serious,
a school friend turned up, played by Marc Wootton, who had a
proposition, they worked together to create situations in which a
personal injury claim would arise, for example, a staged car bump
with a supermarket delivery van, so that the supermarket would pay
out compensation, settling out of court. The only problem was that
one of the claims ends up going to court. There follows the court
scene where the instigator and his pregnant wife have to testify to
what happened when the Tesco van bumped into them, knowing full well
that they were not actually in the car when it happened. Also giving
a statement was the driver of the Tesco van, played perfectly by
Isabella Laughland (who I recognised from Harry Potter, but is better
known for roles at The National). The court scene, for me, was a
little obvious and a little cliché, what followed with the argument
in the office and the final scene was all, also, a little obvious. The writing was so witty and well delivered,
that it maybe masked a slightly dull storyline. However the storyline
did serve the purpose if the purpose was to create an entertaining
play with a simple point, rather than one with a complex message.
There is no law to say that theatre has to make you leave and discuss
the big issues raised constantly for the next twenty four hours, I
know I would do well to remember this sometimes!<br />
<br />
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<br />
A comment that my friend made was about the characters. There was
a definite class divide and the play was perhaps a little judgemental
of the working class characters. In fact, all of the characters had a
slightly two dimensional feel. I don't think this was in the acting,
I think the acting was very well delivered, I think the storyline and
pace meant that there wasn't enough room to give the characters too
many other dimensions. Again, was this really a problem? Maybe not,
they were perfectly formed caricatures, slick, funny and real, whilst
being recognisable as certain 'types' of people.<br />
<br />
I absolutely loved the set. The office was fantastic, even down to
the detail of having the lights in the ceiling at the back of the
stage, and then hanging out in front so you really felt like the wall
had just been cut away to let us in. Also the set of the court was
spot on, down to the colour of the chairs and the musical interlude
between scenes was upbeat and tension building whilst not being too
noticeable, a very good choice.<br />
<br />
The play was tackling a very big idea; the current compensation
culture, people wanting to earn a quick buck easily. It was a
magnifying glass on a very small part of a much larger culture,
which, I would propose, also includes reality tv shows, kiss and tell
magazine stories, baring skin and getting paid, buying a lottery
ticket and making your millions, anything to avoid putting in hard
graft. The play did bring up the morality of the situation, but other
than one character saying it's bad, one saying it's ok and another
being conflicted, it didn't delve particularly deep into the issue.
But then maybe people in general don't really delve very deep into
thinking about it, you either would get involved in it or you
wouldn't, how many of us really think about every positive, negative
and grey shade in between of every thing that we do?<br />
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; widows: 1;">
What I liked about this piece was the realism, the fly on the wall
style and the fact that, having worked in offices for many years,
this was very true to life. That that was what made it enjoyable and
outright hilarious at times, but I definitely preferred the first
half.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; widows: 1;">
<br /></div>
Given the amount of times I laughed out loud and the buzz of the
Friday night celebrity audience: <span style="font-style: normal;">★ ★ ★ ★ ☆</span><i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>The Same Deep Water As Me ran at the Donmar Warehouse from 1<sup>st</sup>
August to 28<sup>th</sup> September 2013.</i>
Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-24443981720849173372013-09-26T19:42:00.001+01:002013-09-26T19:42:58.452+01:00King Lear: Belarus Free Theatre at The Globe Theatre
<br />
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Simply incredible. Rarely a show will have the full package of top
notch acting, directing, creative ideas, atmosphere and soul, this
production had it all, to the point where it is quite difficult to
break it down and even begin to dissect why it blew me away.<br />
<br />
I didn't know the storyline of King Lear, which raised a few
eyebrows from the stewards who ushered me to my front row gallery
seat which I had managed to get for free yesterday thanks to
Spotlight. Surprised, because this show was performed in Belarusian
and so I was unlikely to understand any of it at all. But the
language barrier was no hindrance to my understanding of the play at
all. There was a screen to the side of the stage which outlined the
main plot summary of each scene and aside from that, it was
surprisingly easy to follow. The physicality of performance meant
that it was visually clear what was happening, but also the tone of
voice and facial expressions gave all of the emotion that an audience
member needed, it almost made me feel like I should always go to see
theatre in different languages. Obviously, Shakespeare is renowned
for his words, the poetic language, rhythms and puns and all of that
would have been lost on me on this occasion, however, from my
understanding, the translation into Belarusian kept the poetic nature
of the text and it always felt melodic and lyrical.<br />
<br />
One of the wonderful additions in this performance was the live
music on stage, a piano, accordion and saxophone, and, of course, the
power of singing which can be so electric when effectively used in a
performance. When the daughters of King Lear initially declared their
love for their father, they sang with a bluesy feel, as if in a jazz
club, it made it seem modern and edgy, with slightly recognisable
tunes but unknown words. However later, they used authentic
Belarusian folk singing which was at times haunting and sent chills
down my spine. It was similar to the choral singing that I saw in
Teatr Zar's Essays On Suicide in Edinburgh in 2012 which was one of
my favourite productions to date, the sound of the Eastern European
language and the sound of that haunting singing just strikes me to my
core. It is beautiful and wholly effective.<br />
<br />
One of the musicians was the court's Fool, played by Chris Bone,
who played the piano, saxophone and did some generally wonderful
clowning around. I am not usually a fan of slapstick clowning but for
some reason, in this, the fact that he was so English was at odds
with the other cast members and the clowning seemed so authentically
French that it just worked. He was totally engaging to watch. The
other English speaking member of the cast was Michal Keyamo the King
of France and the Announcer who I just loved. She had such a vibrant
energy and looked like she was enjoying the performance as much as
the audience enjoyed watching her.<br />
<br />
However, to single these two out is almost unfair, because every
single actor in this piece was perfect in their part. They were
committed, they were in the moment, I believed every word that they
said and act that they did, despite the minimal stage and lack of
setting, they didn't need it, they were just there and I was
transported to their world with them. The daughters looked crazy and
edgy and beautiful, they were strong sexy women who were out to get
what they wanted and totally rocked those fur coats and heels. Even
Cordelia, the 'less evil' of the sisters, was out there and
believable as a wild child. The side storyline of Edgar and Edmund
slightly confused me at first as it felt like a completely separate
story, but I came to love when Edgar was on stage. Aside from
wondering if he had covered himself in real shit, when he played Poor
Tom I was spellbound by his extravagant and camp performance.<br />
<br />
The craziness of the world that they created meant that when King
Lear descended into craziness himself it was believable and not
contrived in the slightest, which I imagine could be a trap with
this play. Aleh Sidorchyk was a radical and fairly young king, young
at least to be giving his kingdom up, and his mourning of Cordelia
was incredibly moving and allowed him to show so many changes in his
character over the course of the play.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hq0gGwvuiLsd1vYb1osA_G4M9AqVd39Ibdkd15OckluFK5wkHITrM9uhHOcwN92iaWjnzDPPxQXdo4krOCczswX4CuT9eVXbhj2riJw6UsWEvvg56zDzOKIPpTt2_VDU1hSdMtXLXK4/s1600/King+Lear+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hq0gGwvuiLsd1vYb1osA_G4M9AqVd39Ibdkd15OckluFK5wkHITrM9uhHOcwN92iaWjnzDPPxQXdo4krOCczswX4CuT9eVXbhj2riJw6UsWEvvg56zDzOKIPpTt2_VDU1hSdMtXLXK4/s1600/King+Lear+2.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivCogS0x4R1sBeDI6_2VEtSnhd9r_7Zm_SX2rRbZVIfbUV5epErVMjscfp1hjlA57yXr3NTC1Re1dTbzbylV7QjigiR22qLNExEqE9crl7Kee18RQk9aDoBdhhLWxx3HWhOl3AWNg71B0/s1600/King+Lear+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivCogS0x4R1sBeDI6_2VEtSnhd9r_7Zm_SX2rRbZVIfbUV5epErVMjscfp1hjlA57yXr3NTC1Re1dTbzbylV7QjigiR22qLNExEqE9crl7Kee18RQk9aDoBdhhLWxx3HWhOl3AWNg71B0/s1600/King+Lear+3.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
There was also some very clever directorial choices, the waltzes
that were put in were perfect, always at moments where the characters
were 'dancing around' a subject with the words and with their feet
too. Also, the storm and the war, represented by the moving tarpaulin
sheets, very effective, again with such minimal set.<br />
<br />
This was a true example of how a big budget is not needed to make
moving and educational theatre. This was Shakespeare in a modern
world and is, I am going to say it, the best Shakespeare production
that I have seen to date.<br />
<br />
Definitely <span style="font-style: normal;">★ ★ ★ ★ ★</span><i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>King Lear is on at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, London, for
only two more performances: Friday 27<sup>th</sup> September 2013 at
7.30pm and Saturday 28<sup>th</sup> September 2013 at 2.00pm. </i>
Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-13139676654078592752013-09-20T18:16:00.000+01:002013-09-29T19:26:12.048+01:00Much Ado About Nothing at The Old Vic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqzoCleWrkejBCyL2Epy_DXXFXt2kAlZA-xMPC8Tk9HZFBijIDwjpS-9sBZkjV4S6HozDjCBAeXw9X5FUBWtkCIP-J-kIEOqtr-JZRwZe6VQEKR2bOv0I81l2Q09coeopEeQfiiQVkeYQ/s1600/Much+Ado.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqzoCleWrkejBCyL2Epy_DXXFXt2kAlZA-xMPC8Tk9HZFBijIDwjpS-9sBZkjV4S6HozDjCBAeXw9X5FUBWtkCIP-J-kIEOqtr-JZRwZe6VQEKR2bOv0I81l2Q09coeopEeQfiiQVkeYQ/s320/Much+Ado.jpg" height="199" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
When I got on the bus afterwards there was a couple sitting next
to me who had also just seen the play. They were discussing an email
that the girl had received from her boss, not the play. That, to me,
summed it up.<br />
<br />
There are a number of people that I know, who would have
considered this production to be almost perfect. It was clean and
tidy, the costumes were nice, the acting was competent, it made sense
out of Shakespeare and there was a dancing curtain call.
<br />
I, however, would have to agree with the title, in that any hype
surrounding this play could only be much ado about nothing.<br />
<br />
There was a slow start, I struggled to get into the story, it all
seemed very general, very bland, very beige, from the set to the
costumes to the acting. There were some nice 'pictures' set up, by
that I mean if someone was to take a camera shot at the set at any
one time the actors would be neatly balanced and it would look really
quite good. But the whole production was rather two dimensional and
completely lacking in soul or heart. I found myself watching scene
changes and background acting avidly, most likely because the main
scenes were just too boring.<br />
<br />
There were some highlights however. I absolutely loved the song,
performed by Kingsley Ben-Adir as Borachio. I am always a fan of the
harmonica and the blues and this song was beautifully and hauntingly
sang and amusingly accompanied by the ukelele. The dancing in the
background, however, was far too distracting from what I considered
to be the best moment of the play. We should have been given
permission to enjoy that song without slapstick being thrown all over
it.<br />
<br />
The children also were a highlight whenever they appeared, but
particularly at the start of the second half when we see them
sitting, facing away from us towards the police officer. Some
fantastic comic timing from Katherine Carlton as Beryl made me laugh
out loud. I also liked the physicality of Beth Cooke who played Hero,
particularly in the scene where her and the nurse were trimming the
hedges and talking about Benedick's love for Beatrice. This was one
of the better scenes, but again, it was a good scene in the old
fashioned sense of a good play, my old drama teacher would have loved
it, as would my grandparents. For me it was still lacking something.<br />
<br />
I started to wonder if it was the subject matter that was causing
me disinterest. As a Shakespeare comedy, much of the humour comes
from hiding and overhearing and mistaken identities and I started to
wonder if these were types of humour that are no longer relevant to a
modern audience. I find it hard to suspend disbelief in these
situations – just because someone wears a mask does not mean that
you cannot recognise who it is. But then if the production was given
more meaning, a more specific context and a bit more oomph, it should
be made as relevant to a modern audience as a Jacobean one. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDgSiN9WJ3CxAxxJmyaal-oco963UJpPqgjvLtBPvoYQurA6AzMiJ2gk0udGU4cLch_c7dbMNSXe3Cud66Xp8nom5_2sXwcPaYTYWCseZttea-PiaWk9OJDrUy12NioHhvSmOYgT_7tk/s1600/Much+Ado+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDgSiN9WJ3CxAxxJmyaal-oco963UJpPqgjvLtBPvoYQurA6AzMiJ2gk0udGU4cLch_c7dbMNSXe3Cud66Xp8nom5_2sXwcPaYTYWCseZttea-PiaWk9OJDrUy12NioHhvSmOYgT_7tk/s320/Much+Ado+2.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />
I haven't even mentioned the lead actors, Vanessa Redgrave and
James Earl Jones. I have seen a couple of films recently with Vanessa
Redgrave, Blow Up and Trojan Women, both of which were superb, so I
had very high hopes to see her perform at this stage in her career. I
found her to be engaging to watch, her voice carried well up to the
top circle and she had a nice spirit about her. It was all a bit
'safe' and for her generation, which is great for those viewers, just
not so inspiring for me. As for James Earl Jones, I am aware of his
accolades, however I spent many of his speeches worrying that he
would not make it through. It was clear that he and Vanessa had a
lovely friendship between them, it was just unfortunate that this was
a little too obvious.<br />
<br />
In all I found this production to be bland, confusing in context
and lacking in anything that truly sparked my interest. I am sure
that these actors are good but this production just did not show them
at their best. I have been dying to see the Joss Whedon film of this
play which had more excitement in the trailer as this show had in the
full play. I would recommend this if you want to take your
grandparents to a play that is safe and nice and beige. I would not
recommend this as a play that will add anything new to your life.<br />
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; widows: 129;">
With apologies... ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆<i> </i></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; widows: 129;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; widows: 129;">
<i>Much Ado About Nothing runs at
The Old Vic, London until 30<sup>th</sup> November 2013. </i>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-40590083917262970442013-09-15T16:34:00.001+01:002013-09-29T19:25:55.477+01:00Chimerica: Headlong at The Harold Pinter Theatre<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1SGjNB7_QFUQgS_C2r4nEFeYRbtP4_aFSWdD6JS60UAfu15CiYynn2B6GwobXdWh8vvykFp-7OLCW6u2bSf4xDt7CNLNRcPuMM0BhF-DALU7DY9OptnSbm02OA1sKv5L5vyryIp9xIr4/s1600/Headlong+Theatre+-+Chimerica.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1SGjNB7_QFUQgS_C2r4nEFeYRbtP4_aFSWdD6JS60UAfu15CiYynn2B6GwobXdWh8vvykFp-7OLCW6u2bSf4xDt7CNLNRcPuMM0BhF-DALU7DY9OptnSbm02OA1sKv5L5vyryIp9xIr4/s320/Headlong+Theatre+-+Chimerica.jpg" height="223" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>I saw this performance at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London on
Tuesday 10<sup>th</sup> September 2013 at 7.30pm.</i><br />
<br />
It was my first time cycling in rush hour traffic in London, I set
off at 8am to make sure that I could get in the queue at the Harold
Pinter by 9am, so that I could get two £10 day tickets for my friend
and I to see Chimerica that night. I cycled through Victoria Park and
along Regents Canal before joining the CS3 cycle superhighway and
heading to Charing Cross. The roads were busy, the cycle paths were
busy. My general cycle pace is fast, I was trying to overtake slower
commuters but then had to keep stopping to check my map to make sure
I was going in the right direction so they inevitably caught up and
overtook me so I was stuck behind them again. But no matter, I was on
a mission and I was on time. I pulled up at the Harold Pinter, saw
that there were only four people in the queue so far and locked up my
bike around the corner. I walked over to stand in the queue and then
opened my bag to pull out my book... which, in my mad dash to leave
by 8am and not forget both the D-lock and curly lock for my bike, I
had forgotten. That meant I had one hour to stand in the queue, with
no book to read and not wanting to use my phone and drain the
battery, for fear that I would not have the Google Maps function to
see me home. Damn.<br />
<br />
My first thought was to find the closest newsagent and pick up a
copy of the i, but what if someone then came and took my spot in the
queue and then I couldn't get a ticket? No, I had made the rookie
mistake, I had to live with it. I stood in the queue and decided to
just enjoy the atmosphere of London and do you know what? I did. The
sounds, the people, the cold air on my sweaty-from-cycling back, I
was lapping it up, because this was my second week in the big smoke
and I was just thankful to be there. When a truck turned up in front
of the theatre with the words 'Food Supplies' on it, I asked the guy
in the queue next to me if he thought they were maybe supplying us
all with bacon sandwiches and coffee while we stood in the queue. A
little laughter and then a long discussion about how to be an actor
in London ensued and before I knew it, the box office was open and my
tickets were being booked.<br />
<br />
I asked the box office employee if he had seen the show, he said
he had, I asked him what he had thought of it, he looked at me from
behind his glass partition and he said 'Spectacular', then handed me
two tickets for the front row. We were in business.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQUnmKnZZlcwiRlbxLAidk3seo9KpJD4s3GyqCe7TlQz66loye1YYzwF0319y6VWj3NJXrfUghRcBv3r8hnbSfAZe06KPRA05Xvnv2iNmwuSFNYgSJesvapAnLcF9hQd5zMI3qIWsV5F8/s1600/Chimerica+Cube+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQUnmKnZZlcwiRlbxLAidk3seo9KpJD4s3GyqCe7TlQz66loye1YYzwF0319y6VWj3NJXrfUghRcBv3r8hnbSfAZe06KPRA05Xvnv2iNmwuSFNYgSJesvapAnLcF9hQd5zMI3qIWsV5F8/s320/Chimerica+Cube+1.jpg" height="208" width="320" /></a></div>
The set consisted of a large cube which took up most of the stage
and rotated. The existence of the cube enabled projections onto the
outside of it, of images, backgrounds and the like, but there were
also sets set up within it, so the rotation could move you from one
flat to another, from China to New York. When it rotated, people
would walk past, or stand and be moved, all to create the setting of
the next scene. The result was the most cinematic experience I have
ever seen in a theatre, it enabled all those quick scene-setting
images that films can use, to locate and contextualise the next scene
of the play. It was used to great effect.<br />
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
The play followed the journey of Joe the American photojournalist
who had taken a photograph of a man standing in front of a tank in
Tiananmen Square in China in 1989. Joe returns to China many years
later and learns that the 'tank man' is still alive, it then becomes
his mission to find him.<br />
<br />
This mission overtakes Joe's life, to the point where all of the
other surrounding characters who had been helping him in some way,
seem (to him) to become obstacles to his goal. His boss Frank (Trevor
Cooper), his friend and colleague Mel (Sean Gilder) and his love
interest Tessa (Claudie Blakley) but most upsettingly his friend
Zhang Lin (Benedict Wong). One by one, he alienates himself from
them, all in pursuit of his goal.<br />
<br />
This play addresses many issues and does so with witty dialogue,
clever direction and superb acting.<br />
<br />
One of my favourite scenes is Act Three, Scene Two, where Joe
meets in Washington Square Gardens with his boss and colleague while
they discuss the fact that Frank wants Joe to drop the story. The
order has come from above in relation to strategic planning for the
company that owns the paper, wanting to open up into the Chinese
market. Frank is carrying out the orders, afraid for his job when he
has a son with leukaemia and mounting hospital bills. There are so
many important issues raised in this scene, about censorship, free
press, bias of the media and reporting matters of public interest,
versus the individual's need for a job, a wage, their personal
circumstances massively affecting how they may react and behave to
the bigger issues.<br />
<br />
There are also some very well depicted relationships within the
story. The heart wrenching one is that of Zhang Lin and Liuli. To
describe this in detail would ruin the story for anyone who has not
yet scene it, suffice to say that their performance, their story,
even the hallucinations, are all performed to perfection to provide
the most subtly beautiful love story that I would consider to be the
heart of the play.
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
For me there were just a couple of loose ends tied up at the end
that I did not think really worked. Again, not wanting to give any
spoilers, but the condition that Tess is in in the last scene that
her and Joe meet, seemed a little contrived, obvious, unnecessary
really, I think their relationship was worth more than that. She had
felt that she couldn't be with him while he cared more about the
bigger issues and not enough about her. This is something that they
never really dealt with and perhaps would have been too big to deal
with in the end of the play, but I feel that the resolution here was
not the right one and would have rather this was left more open-ended
perhaps.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
I feel similar about the 'twist', as it were, with the tank man's
identity. I feel that the earlier revelation about Pengsi and his
brother, that should have been the real twist, the real ending to
that part of the story – who was the real hero? I prefer that as a
final thought, to the thought that you might be searching for
something that was under your nose all along.<br />
<br />
However my mentioning of these two little things by no means
tainted the production for me. I felt that the play, in its entirety,
was simply incredible. Having been to playwriting workshops over the
last couple of years, I find it very hard to watch a play and not
dissect the writing and structure completely. In this play, the
direction and acting was to such a high standard that I was immersed
in the world from the second it started until long after the play
ended. I have been dipping in and out of the script ever since,
reminding myself of scenes, re-hashing what happened in my mind. This
was an incredible production and I would certainly recommend it to
anyone who wants to see good professional theatre and new writing at
its best, I will certainly be on the lookout for more writing from Lucy Kirkwood in the future.<br />
<br />
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
<br />
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="widows: 129;">
<i>Chimerica runs at the Harold
Pinter, London, until the 19<sup>th</sup> October 2013. </i>
</div>
<br />Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-38522414303017747402013-09-15T14:39:00.000+01:002013-09-29T19:25:38.053+01:00Man in the Moone: Rhum and Clay at The New Diorama<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Rhum and Clay have long been a favourite theatre company of mine,
they represent my introduction into the world of physical theatre in
a way that is accessible, engaging and simply magical. They all
graduated from Jacques Le Coq Theatre School in Paris back in 2010
and formed the group as they are now. Each year since then they have
attended Edinburgh Fringe Festival with a new production which they
have also toured to London, the South West and other places. Their
first show was Shutterland, a showcase of the skills they had learnt
at school. This was followed by the ingenious A Strange Wild Song,
which will forever be one of my favourite pieces of theatre. This was
the tale of three young boys, stranded by war, found by a soldier
with a camera. It was naïve, touching, resonant and infinitely
clever, along with a superb live soundtrack. A hard act to follow
indeed.
<br />
<br />
Perhaps my love and obsession with A Strange Wild Song would mean
that any show that followed would feel a bit of a disappointment,
unfortunately that was exactly the case with Man in the Moone.
<br />
<br />
The show is still said to be under development, therefore perhaps
my critique would become obsolete, and I would hope that this would
be the case, however I will continue to review the play anyway, as is
my new-life resolution to review all productions that I see now that
I am living in London.
<br />
<br />
The basic storyline follows a man
who is discontent with his life as an office worker and he seeks
something more. Given the number of casting calls that I have read
lately, this seems to be a recurring theme for a large number of
creative projects at present, no doubt fed by the lack of public
funding and the need for us creative-types to pay our way with
'regular' day jobs which we feel detract from the time we would
rather spend doing our passions. The protagonist in this case has,
since b<span style="font-style: normal;">irth, been fascinated with
the moon and therefore commits much of his life to researching how he
might get there. The story follows this journey. </span>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="widows: 129;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">There
are moments of Rhum and Clays stunning visual choreography when they
show the city culture in and out of the office. As strong as it was
physically, I couldn't help but feel that the subject was a little
'done' and lacking in the creative originality that was evident in A
Strange Wild Song. What followed on as he started his trek towards
the moon were a number of more abstract scenes blending space travel
with mountain expeditions, introducing some new characters which I
couldn't help but feel were caricatures that were not quite fully
formed. Although the protagonist was likeable and relatable, there
was something lacking, that spark that was present in the characters
in A Strange Wild Song was not evident in this new piece... yet. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="widows: 129;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">I
am reluctant to write a review that is not in complete favour of the
work of this young company, I admire their work, their work ethic and
they remain one of my favourite companies. They indicated that their
next plan is to spend two years working on a full length piece, that
will hopefully propel them from a touring fringe company to a company
performing at a much higher level, with a higher profile. I hope that
they can see Man in the Moone as a learning curve, but use A Strange
Wild Song as the basis for the kind of story, quality and ingenuity
that they need to create their new longer piece. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="widows: 129;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">This
is still a company to watch in the future, I would give this
production ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ but I give the company ★ ★ ★ ★
☆ . </span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="widows: 129;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="widows: 129;">
<i><span style="font-style: normal;">I saw Man in the Moone at the New Diorama Theatre, London, on 6th September 2013 at 7.30pm. </span></i></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="widows: 129;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><i>Rhum and Clay will be touring their variety of shows throughout Autumn 2013: </i></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="widows: 129;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">17th October The Arts Centre at Winterbourne International Academy, Bristol<br /> 18th-19th October Pegasus Theatre, Oxford<br /> 24th October Theatre Royal, Margate<br /> 1st November Embrace Arts, Leicester<span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> 2nd November Déda, Derby<br /> 5th-19th November (assorted dates) Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter (Part of a three week residency)<br /> 22nd November Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe, Devon</span></span> </i></span><i><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span></i>
</div>
<br />Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-31720333303750313072013-06-05T22:24:00.001+01:002013-06-05T22:24:32.544+01:00Rapping in the Rain<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjexFFmBZm7Q2h9LLyfQys6AY5EIhKliGfcE1pePlUytWwyIi0pdr6Z8iJFmsFURYMY0iafLMNOl0TAtEHVKjh2yLUsklPbgHwJLkkmxPHwHxF-IKYc61DIK9INYnoIaIN47VdmuMS8ehE/s1600/Rain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjexFFmBZm7Q2h9LLyfQys6AY5EIhKliGfcE1pePlUytWwyIi0pdr6Z8iJFmsFURYMY0iafLMNOl0TAtEHVKjh2yLUsklPbgHwJLkkmxPHwHxF-IKYc61DIK9INYnoIaIN47VdmuMS8ehE/s320/Rain.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Sometimes when I see a performance it makes me want to grab
my laptop and write a review, so that I can share my experience with others in the
hope that more people will go, see it, and get something back from it like I have. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Today’s performance of ‘Rain’ by Jack Dean was one of these
performances. I picked it from the Ignite Festival line-up because of its
subject matter, pathetic fallacy and mental illness – a fun chirpy sort of one
man show, perfect for a sunny evening after work. I sort of skirted over its
mention of hip hop poetics when I read about it, the subject matter intrigued
me enough, so I booked a ticket. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The turn out was pretty good, a fair indication of a promising
performance ahead, but the performance exceeded my expectations immensely. Jack’s
stage presence was relaxed but stunningly self-assured and confident. The words
weaved and threaded through life experiences, rain clouds and hilarious
pop-culture related jokes. The words were eloquent and so well delivered that I
didn’t miss a single one and the changes between rap and different characters
kept it interesting and engaging. The staged rap in the middle of the
show was a delightful highlight, as was the therapist/patient scene. The music
and the prop were also very well thought out clever elements of the show, I certainly think that by making sure your audience is relaxed, they will be more receptive to what you then give them and I think that the music did just that. <span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I left feeling that I had experienced all of the things that
I would hope to from a performance, I had laughed, I had been surprised and I had
identified. I hope to see more from Jack Dean in the future and I encourage
you to see this show while you can. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Last chance is tomorrow, 6<sup>th</sup>
June at 8.15pm at The Phoenix. Run time is 30 minutes. </span></span></div>
Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-83330754238977838322011-12-22T13:19:00.003+00:002011-12-22T13:24:01.537+00:00England 11<span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="font-family: verdana;" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6LSh_HfKRqboE4KM7TAbYn0OTV37uqdeKtYJ0efeiN9ZhqHSZ3GRnsD15a9txL7wHV6os8qB1nkjgqIa5PQcDrocD2Pa02eag_8TSfyI3dl1iDSO67iMKY7_qkWX56vAoOGLNdEUJ4RE/s1600/London+Riot+Pic.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 287px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6LSh_HfKRqboE4KM7TAbYn0OTV37uqdeKtYJ0efeiN9ZhqHSZ3GRnsD15a9txL7wHV6os8qB1nkjgqIa5PQcDrocD2Pa02eag_8TSfyI3dl1iDSO67iMKY7_qkWX56vAoOGLNdEUJ4RE/s320/London+Riot+Pic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5688942504927838962" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">It has been a while since I last posted anything. Here is a sonnet.</span><br /><br /></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-GB</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark/> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp/> <w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> <w:word11kerningpairs/> <w:cachedcolbalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathpr> <m:mathfont val="Cambria Math"> <m:brkbin val="before"> <m:brkbinsub val="--"> <m:smallfrac val="off"> <m:dispdef/> <m:lmargin 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font-family: verdana;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-irow:0;mso-yfti-firstrow:yes"> <td style="width:444.35pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt" valign="top" width="592"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b style="">England 11</b></span></p><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:1"> <td style="width:444.35pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt" valign="top" width="592"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1;font-size:85%;" > </span><span style="font-size:85%;">Once cricket, today violence reigns o’er sport,</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:2"> <td style="width:444.35pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt" valign="top" width="592"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Then modesty, tonight youth bare thy flesh</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:3"> <td style="width:444.35pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt" valign="top" width="592"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">There, value of intelligence was taught</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:4"> <td style="width:444.35pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt" valign="top" width="592"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Your generation mean to start afresh</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:5"> <td style="width:444.35pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt" valign="top" width="592"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">You crave and long for your fame and fortune,</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:6"> <td style="width:444.35pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt" valign="top" width="592"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Work not hard nor respect the trodden path</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:7"> <td style="width:444.35pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt" valign="top" width="592"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Instead expect, demand, it all too soon</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:8"> <td style="width:444.35pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt" valign="top" width="592"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">‘Give me thy all else receive my wretch’d wrath’</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:9"> <td style="width:444.35pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt" valign="top" width="592"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Angry flames engulf my favoured cities</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:10"> <td style="width:444.35pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt" valign="top" width="592"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Eloquently protesting without aim</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:11"> <td style="width:444.35pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt" valign="top" width="592"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">You sit, judge, sit, consume and spread disease</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:12"> <td style="width:444.35pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt" valign="top" width="592"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Bank accounts and bellies fatten. No shame.</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:13"> <td style="width:444.35pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt" valign="top" width="592"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">If only you could plump instead your minds</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style="mso-yfti-irow:14;mso-yfti-lastrow:yes"> <td style="width:444.35pt;padding:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt" valign="top" width="592"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal" align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Not follow, but question, open my blinds</span></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> 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mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">It has been an unexpected, overwhelming sadness. Sadness was expected, but not to this extent. There was an influence there that was never fully realised or considered. An admiration was duly noted, but the true idolism was not. </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">To see a strong person fighting, battling so successfully at first and then to fall at the final hurdle. How can such a courageous fight be rewarded with such a harsh reality? How can it just be ended?</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">I continue with life, people talk, I seem to listen, moving through the motions but with a patchwork hole, a hole where a patch was never really noticed until it had been torn out and lost, wasted and thrown away into a large black hole of cancer. </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">A special connection, a friendship, born of common interests, common excitement and a common sadness. A common struggle, not to the same extent but something debilitating with the same escape route, the same aim in that common hobby. A shadow overhanging both minds and a love of writing to express the pain and suffering to make it real whilst wishing it wasn’t. </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">So truly really wishing it wasn’t real.</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">And now, the reality hits so hard and rains on every smile I try to force out. Every tiny disappointment brings tears to my eyes as I think of the huge disappointment that is the end of a life. The end of a human life. A life that was so rich with love and creativity and kindness, such kindness and laughter. </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">A truly joyful person to have known, an inspiration. Someone who has influenced the path of my life in a way in which she will never be fortunate to know. Blessing others by allowing them to know her beauty inside and out but with no knowledge of the hole she leaves behind, the pain of loss. </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">She once asked what the connecting feature was for her writing, between her struggle with cancer, her often absent husband, her moving abroad. I pointed out the simple truth, she was a strong woman, strong enough to cope with all the nastiness that life dealt her. Through knowing her she has made me stronger too. But not so strong that I do not miss her existence terribly. </span></p>Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-12808368323441379822010-12-27T17:31:00.004+00:002010-12-27T17:42:48.678+00:00The Wind-up Bird Chronicle – Haruki Murakami<span style="font-size:78%;"><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTeI8AJMEyop3-MYkR5D1QqQllm5_Z8KEFAnumTpBvaBywjegQDlgShESURCJom50IJj-HrcGs43o6YY7clr0HjTawR2_00W3Ij_baHOlqPDp0EojJTN4xAkLe9SFQMadSEBYcPFnFg7E/s1600/Well.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" 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mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">To continue a year of discovery about my new favourite author, I read The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, perhaps the most conclusive of the Murakami novels that I have read to date (The list at the moment stands at After Dark, Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. I have received three more for Christmas so you can expect many more reviews to come!). </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Unlike Kafka on the Shore, Wind-up follows the life of just one man, Toru Okada, who begins to lose all that is dear to him. He gave up his job as a clerk in a Solicitors firm because he didn’t feel that it was the direction he wanted his career to go in. He spent his time at home, thinking about what he wanted to do. His cat went missing and so whilst his wife was out at work, he suddenly had something to do, something to focus on. But who would have thought that a missing cat could possibly lead to Mr Okada’s life unfolding as it does? </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">We all feel at some point, like Mr Okada, that we need to search for something, that our life as it stands isn’t quite as it should be. And I’m sure that it’s true that people can end up looking in the most unlikely of places to find what it is that they seek. A chance encounter and an intriguing conversation can plant seeds in your mind and help you uncover and unravel your own mystery. For a character such as Mr Okada, whom everyone feels at ease to speak to, it is easy for him to become the recipient to a wealth of strange tales of various people’s lives. May Kasahara, as a young girl, has many confusing thoughts and dreams which she innocently spills out to Mr Okada, her naivety is juxtaposed when she almost leaves him to die and this creates one of many intriguing characters. Malta Kano seems to be a riddle from start to end but her sister Creta is a little less elusive, we discover elements of her life that she has kept from so many and wonder why she feels she can offload it to Mr Okada. As a reader I feel like I am let into a true secret when she reveals her moving story to him. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Lieutenant Mamiya is one of the most important characters, integral to the story yet a peripheral character in many ways, he is the one with the most dangerous story to tell and he influences Mr Okada the most when he tells him about where he was thrown by Boris the Manskinner after a map-making mission to Mongolia. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I don’t usually like stories about wars, however this one is intertwined amongst so many other stories that it didn’t distress me too much, apart from one incredibly horrific incident which I honestly had to skim through. This one moment of the book was so spine-chillingly cold-blooded and evil that it makes me sick to the stomach to think of it. However, I can see how the story needed it and how as a writer it must have been an incredible journey for Murakami to write about it. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">As with any Murakami book there are elements of the tale that are left dangling with no conclusion or explanation, however I did feel that this book ended in quite a satisfactory way. The themes of the story were incredibly relevant, despite the often other-worldly elements that he uses to portray them. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The main theme of the book, as I see it, was about how events in a life can inexplicably change a person’s core being. How a person can feel completely altered after one encounter. How through dreams one can explore another world, travel through a journey and come to find peace with the change. How some people are more able to adapt to the change than others. Some people need to leave all that they know of their lives to be able to move on after a change and become someone else. Others may need to just sit, quietly, in the damp dark bottom of a well. Others may need to move far away to a land of distraction. However it’s achieved, people need to cope with their own adaption to the world around them and need to see how it affects and changes them as an individual. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Of course I haven’t even mentioned the Wind-up Bird itself or what it means. My interpretation of this bird can only be conjecture as it is never explained in the book, but the way I see it, the bird is there for those who notice it, always there, always winding up the world on its spring and always in the background. Those people who notice it do so because there is something a little special about them, they are not joining the rat race whole-heartedly, they are always taking a step back to assess what things are really like and to admire the view. They have a wide-screen view of the world and don’t keep everything zoomed in. The big picture thinkers, they notice the wind-up bird and they hear it winding its spring. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Another moment of note in the story is the explanation of how Cinnamon lost his ability to speak, so short and almost skimmed over this tiny story within the story is beautifully told and creates the most wonderful imagery so that I can still picture the dark night, the tree and the shovel as clearly as if I saw it with my own eyes. And that is one of the wonderful things about this author, as you read his book you really live every moment, you smell the perfume, you taste the Cutty Sark and you feel the fear when you reach out to grip the baseball bat that isn’t there. Though I feel I have lived this story along with Mr Okada, there is one thing that it explained with all its might that I still feel I need to experience firsthand to really be able to get the book. </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I want to go and sit in the bottom of a dried out well and just mull life over, I want to feel the heat of the sun on my face for that moment when its position in the sky allows it to cascade down onto me. I want to reach that state of meditation where I leave the place I am in and travel afar. And I want to then feel that change as I emerge from the well, my skin tingling with the freshness of the air as I leave the dampness behind. <span style=""> </span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> </span></span></p>Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-86576164969930132922010-12-01T20:28:00.002+00:002010-12-01T20:31:12.646+00:00Some rather more poetic thoughts than usual...<span style="font-size:78%;"><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhasb_xPgl5sl-HSi7S58cq-vh16Bc1nyFZexmNbjVEEsP2LGWBTPPOFKxd9bQ3EQ7QuciAhGIol2uvvtnu04QG1TGs2Of4aufZ34CA8jXhwSWOLkHU0r0lMsVOztDiCptOgrg-I9W7vOA/s1600/Regrets.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; 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mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">Some words about being stuck in an unknown world, trying to decide between two directions. The imagery is mainly about natural constants and how, despite their existence, an unnatural event can cause a strong pull in one direction or another. To choose to be in a state of unknowingness, in an unknown world or purgatory, just to avoid making the wrong decision, that is to choose Hades before regret. </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"> </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">Hades</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"> </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">The tide, will rise and fall</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">The sun will cast a glow</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">The sky will become overcast</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">Faith knows that it won’t last</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"> </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">In one direction the moon pulls</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">The current argues till it’s blue</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">Searching for serenity</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">Leads me right into Hades</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"> </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">With one great force the gale blows strong</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">The breeze gives wind of change</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">Searching for serenity </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">Leads me right into Hades</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"> </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">I’ll wait for you, I’ll wait for you</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">The dependency repeats for you</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">To survive this quest for truth</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">I choose Hades before regret</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"> </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">Certainty comes to an end</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">Outside the realm of nature’s whim</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">Wise mind seems a distant hope</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">A choice unable to make itself</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"> </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">I’ll wait for you, I’ll wait for you </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">To survive this quest for truth</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">I choose Hades before regret</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;"> </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">The moon can brighten a deep well</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">But only for a moment</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">The clarity you seek is gone</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">The dry well fills with tears</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">The ladder lost to a whimsical mind</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">The tears are the only hope you’ll find</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">To survive this quest for truth</span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:78%;">I choose Hades before regret. </span></p> <span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><br /></span>Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-58560286027369089152010-09-29T16:47:00.005+01:002010-09-29T16:51:18.117+01:00Unemployment<span style="font-size:85%;"><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-sqLOuNV4ArJnR04neDXm1HIvzj-_VsvII88ifeS3lZuTIOyoVh__GeBxfgCB2_jwKkGilA8dUVRWUgpXnV-P7AjJVfUUPxks7bBBX5fhNseGTtFjj1tdbtYz7N7CZq5Qu0q30NZ5b8M/s1600/hireme.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 301px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-sqLOuNV4ArJnR04neDXm1HIvzj-_VsvII88ifeS3lZuTIOyoVh__GeBxfgCB2_jwKkGilA8dUVRWUgpXnV-P7AjJVfUUPxks7bBBX5fhNseGTtFjj1tdbtYz7N7CZq5Qu0q30NZ5b8M/s320/hireme.jpg" alt="" 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font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">A typical day begins when my alarm clock’s snooze facility has tired itself out and all the good intentions of waking up early have dropped down through the hole in my bedroom floor. If it’s a good day I might start with a run or an exercise video, so I can feel some sense of achievement. If not, it starts with a fry up, because I have all the time in the world to cook bacon and eggs and toast. </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I try to organise my time efficiently, to plan lots of things to do each day, but I quickly realise that I need to space these things out to fill up the time. One job each day, surrounded by humming, breathing, walking, tv, radio, chats, snacks, it’s surprising how the days can fill up and I almost begin to wonder how I managed to fit a full time job into my life. </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I spend a few hours updating my CV, before sending it out to the three recruitment agencies that are working hard to find me a job. 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Sorry Mr Cameron-Clegg but I applied for 100 jobs within the last two weeks and now there are no more jobs for me to apply for, can I still have my allowance next week? </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Every other Friday I have my sign-in meeting at the Job Centre. I chat with a consultant about what I have been doing to find work. It turns out that he is only working under a temporary contract and is actually competing with me for the same jobs that I am applying for. He says that he thinks the interview he had that morning went really well. I feel quiet outrage. </span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Today, however, I received my first payment from the Department for Work and Pensions. £66.67. I’m not entirely sure what this means, I have not yet received the letter informing me of my entitlement, nor have I been told at any of my meetings. I don’t know how long this is supposed to last me. I book myself a hair cut for the next morning and order a couple of new dresses online. There, that was a fun way to fill up some time. </span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span>Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-51082785100479241812010-09-03T16:31:00.005+01:002010-09-03T16:52:12.217+01:00The Mastery of Murakami<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs7O3PSemDBJBLBkxcUrBsRVL-0HU9pE-8Ru1oGYhT-Q95sBBUvAE3OfYLluVkJMX89p0RcjWEyKntcyHjVzanbkAKXuB1dW0ehyphenhyphenPGbfZscKydOaioIWMnQo09kz28AyYZ5cQWYZ4tDc8/s1600/kafka+on+the+shore.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" 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mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><span style="font-weight: bold;">Haruki Murakami</span><o:p style="font-weight: bold;"></o:p><span style="font-weight: bold;">: Kafka on the Shore</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">As captivated as I was by the gripping storyline, I forced myself to read slowly and savour the words of this book. Each phrase was considered and constructed in the most delightful prose that it needed to be fully appreciated. I could not just grab any spare five minutes at the bus stop to allow this story to unfold, I needed to make a pot of coffee, pick a sunny spot and allow myself time to pause and ponder every idea and event that the book gave me. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">The book follows the lives of two very different men, different from each other and different from the rest of the world, each special in their own ways. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Kafka is 15 years old and unhappy. He runs away to try to escape a prophecy that his father once told him, unaware that he actually begins to run towards fulfilling it. His journey is one of self-discovery and coming-of-age; it charters his growing maturity whilst marvelling the preservation of those characteristics that he maintains, not a naivety, but a child-like inquisitiveness. He is also wonderfully insightful and literate. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Nakata is an old man with an unusual gift, his age and complete naivety contrast neatly against Kafka, stirring up all stereotypes. His ability to so calmly allow his life to be lead by external events requires great patience which can only be admired. His presence in the novel is a calming one, his life simple and enviable, at least until the turn of events take hold. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">The presence of the library in the book also highlights the contrast between the two protagonists, one who adores the books and reads constantly and the other who cannot read at all. Both, however, feel a certain affinity with the building and its contents and both are deeply affected by it. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">The Rice Bowl Hill incident is introduced to the story early on and is the first hint of something other-worldly in the book. Not usually one for science-fiction or fantasy, I found the inexplicable events in this book puzzling and exciting. I was tied to the book with my need for these events to be explained and was not disappointed with the perfect balance of explanation and silence, allowing me to draw my own conclusions in a partially-informed manner. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">The storyline itself is extremely imaginative and original. It weaves and creates a complex web of details and events that never once bores. But it is the writing that got me, the mastery of Murakami. Simple meals sound delicious, basic tasks become extraordinary, yet fish falling from the sky almost seems normal. Philip Gabriel’s translation keeps all the beauty and ingenuity of the original Japanese text and Murakami’s western influences make the book extremely accessible for a Japanese culture novice. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">The newspapers quoted on the front of the book sum up the book in the three most appropriate words: Spellbinding, Addictive and Wonderful. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">Kafka on the Shore is published by Vintage Books and is out in paperback now.</span><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-10315227028900944642010-08-08T02:07:00.004+01:002010-08-08T02:11:31.709+01:00Escapism<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxG3FnXt3Kjxl12HIrGwnG_Do2r8ldwYI0DymCFRTrUr3oK-ZPP058yQjpC0kOEQOESAwjCVyrAgCNSdoNwTegjoWFEtMCauZlpMxMatxspTr_GJOJtMkwoVeVbJcYL8NxJxuHzDPJDE/s1600/straight-jacket.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxG3FnXt3Kjxl12HIrGwnG_Do2r8ldwYI0DymCFRTrUr3oK-ZPP058yQjpC0kOEQOESAwjCVyrAgCNSdoNwTegjoWFEtMCauZlpMxMatxspTr_GJOJtMkwoVeVbJcYL8NxJxuHzDPJDE/s320/straight-jacket.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502839910349269490" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Escapism is something that has been on my mind a lot lately.</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />Drugs. Alcohol. Cigarettes. No, dancing. Dancing is the most effective escape plan. To go to a club night full of Motown classics and to dance like no-one is watching is the most effective and brilliant way to escape from everything that you know to be your normal boring life.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">It’s like riding on a zip-wire. For that moment, the wind is in your face, you grip tightly to the rope and all that matters is making sure that you don’t fall off. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">It doesn’t matter that you might be falling off your course in life. It doesn’t matter that your love life may be falling apart. As long as you hold on tight to that zip wire and enjoy that ride, everything will be fine.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">Like dancing to that music, as long as you keep in time to the beat and keep your mind focused on the melody, nothing else matters.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">Nothing else matters. That is the best feeling isn’t it? Your work means nothing, your day to day chores around the house have no meaning or consequence. Your partner? They don’t care about you. All that matters is that you lose yourself in the moment, that moment of frivolity and unnecessary fun. That’s what counts. That’s what your whole life has climaxed to in that moment and for those one or two seconds you feel free. Free from financial concern, free from responsibility. Free from anyone or anything that has ever made you feel inadequate. That doesn’t matter. You are a sole being, in charge of your life and your happiness. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">Does it matter that it’s so transcendent that it only lasts a few mere seconds? Perhaps, perhaps not. What matters is that it happens and that you notice it. Not only notice is but take stock, take a photograph in your mind to capture that moment that life escaped you and you felt only pure bliss.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">If only more moments would feel like that. </span> </span>Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-32241023805326086952010-07-20T21:15:00.004+01:002010-07-20T21:42:21.773+01:00And now for something a little different...<span style="font-size:78%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjws5nEgmccWltX57tMonKgYZZRNqkevkd7AolcWmOruJ5YDQNk4jCH_Pasu6yJvB1VZoT3FEGbaUYXLsO8ljUqmjaN_NtL98sdZXkyQgoXaepOrr6NFCb7j8efzdtU2I9WnqNqHoXg_uc/s1600/crossroad.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjws5nEgmccWltX57tMonKgYZZRNqkevkd7AolcWmOruJ5YDQNk4jCH_Pasu6yJvB1VZoT3FEGbaUYXLsO8ljUqmjaN_NtL98sdZXkyQgoXaepOrr6NFCb7j8efzdtU2I9WnqNqHoXg_uc/s320/crossroad.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496085347945555506" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >A crossroad. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">When you are at a point in your life where self-esteem is at an all time low, it can be incredibly difficult to make certain decisions. It is hard to know when to trust yourself to make the right one and how to be certain that that path you choose to take will get you to where you want to go, especially when you are not entirely sure where you want that path to lead. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Sometimes you can let others make the decision for you. If you get offered a certain opportunity, then you take it, end of, they make the choice and you live with it. If that advert comes on one more time during the course of the film, you will buy that product. If you see two magpies, you will have a good day. Putting decisions into other hands can make you feel better for a time, but how do you know that their hands are more capable than your own? </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">In some circumstances, you put the choice into someone else’s hands and then they pick the route that you know you don’t want to take. Then what? Sometimes you can’t get that decision making power back and you are stuck going down a road you never ever wished to travel, just because you couldn’t summon up the courage to say what you really wanted. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">But the worst situation is when you know exactly what you want and you simply don’t have the power to make it happen. You can let indecision rule the rest of your life and you can spend every day unable to decide between coffee and tea but when you know what you want and someone else takes that option away from you, you can crumble. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">A wise woman once taught me a great technique for decision making. She said that you have emotional reasons and practical reasons for giving two options pros and cons between them. She told me to list all of these in a kind of Venn diagram. Once you have done this, exhausting all possibilities, thoughts and arguments, you just sit back, close your eyes and mull it over. After time, your emotional mind and your practical mind will give way to the part of you which just knows what the right choice is. This is the knowing mind or wise mind. You can then make your decision. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Ultimately, when it comes down to it, we all have the ability to make a choice whether we feel confident enough to or not. You weigh up your emotional reasons and you weigh up the practical reasons but something has to give, something has to carry more weight. For me, it has always been happiness, always striving to make the choices that won’t make me wealthy or give me the best career, but the choice that will simply make me happy.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"> The more I strive sometimes I think the more I push happiness away. It needs to be thought out in simple terms. What would I like to do every day? Be with someone who loves me. This doesn’t seem to be an option at the moment. What’s the second best option? To love myself. How do I do that? By doing something that I love every day. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">This is why I have today handed in my notice at work. This is why I am giving up a job during the recession to follow my dream and go to drama school. This is one decision where, as long as it has taken me to get my head around, I didn’t need a Venn diagram to know my path.<br /><br />SM.<br /></span></span>Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-44136868392052519612010-06-20T13:12:00.009+01:002010-07-20T21:44:17.174+01:00Movin' Melvin Brown (Bath Chronicle Review)<span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:78%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgembL2Lamq_ewdwmupiKJeU7BrNRu3sVO8viXEDAmFNhNNIn43BcMBgZV3cjhhwRM_nLScYPmgM8TDDU1JjtV4GTwJxZvjaGmBM-lGPKNQOHT9LEJo3ZM8wcg31OmsZZWuv-1AtulvIHI/s1600/Movin+Melvin+Brown.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 219px;" 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mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> </p><p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Mission Theatre</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">To pull off a one man show is a hefty task, but it is one which the charismatic Movin’ Melvin Brown achieves effortlessly. In one night he takes the audience on a journey that has taken him 65 years. He tells us stories of his life and loves, intertwining this story with the history of black music. He sings not only the songs which illustrate the key moments of his life, but also those which get the audience tapping their feet and clapping along. His impersonation of his local minister was a particular highlight.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">But Movin’ Melvin Brown is not only a singer, he is also an extraordinary tap dancer, dancing his way from Chubby Checker to Michael Jackson. He is a comedian and his anecdotes of time in the army and touring on the road, lend themselves to some wonderful jokes that had the entire audience smiling a smile that could almost rival that of Melvin’s himself. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">But Melvin is more than just music. Melvin is a man with a mission and a message. He may entertain in a good old fashioned way, but his message is about the modern world that we live in...<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-style: italic; font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Movin’ Melvin Brown was on at the Mission Theatre from 28<sup>th</sup> May to the 5<sup>th</sup> June 2001<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">This review was published in the Bath Chronicle on the 3</span><sup style="font-style: italic;">rd</sup><span style="font-style: italic;"> June 2010. </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:78%;" >
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<br /></span>Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-31126707526237902912010-06-20T13:07:00.004+01:002010-07-20T21:43:07.418+01:00Bug (Bath Chronicle Review)<span style="font-size:78%;"><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwW1BC8zbMyFsw9CyxdpJzd2NxeiGmRbDRoXgBgW0uXmtCxnNBJwXWxLuCWgG58-DqL7Vx4R3D11JqlM1IEpbP9G6y0hLrv9bseNC2TygJFYcZKmIxH1013XMJBRQkMAB_1x3pzIu_trE/s1600/Bug.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwW1BC8zbMyFsw9CyxdpJzd2NxeiGmRbDRoXgBgW0uXmtCxnNBJwXWxLuCWgG58-DqL7Vx4R3D11JqlM1IEpbP9G6y0hLrv9bseNC2TygJFYcZKmIxH1013XMJBRQkMAB_1x3pzIu_trE/s320/Bug.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484826815709292674" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >Patchwork Penguin Productions</span><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">My skin is still crawling as I refer to my notes and see a bug squashed in the corner, no doubt killed as I clutched my pad during a more action filled part of the play. This is not a play for the squeamish not the second half at least, but this is a play for those with an interest in entomology, conspiracy theories, paranoia or jumping out of their skin at a harsh knock on the door.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">At first Peter, played by Jeremy Fowlds, is a bit of an enigma, one moment he seems a little slow, the next somewhat eloquent. What does emerge, however, is that in the scenes of raw madness and in his moving monologue, he was perfectly cast. He also had great chemistry with Agnes, played by Alexia Jones, which developed throughout the play. She had purposefully ‘hermatized’ herself and the audience were forced to ride her emotional rollercoaster as she was manipulated by one man, then another. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">R.C. (Lisa Thrower) showed genuine concern and emotional attachment to Agnes whilst Jerry (Darian Nelson) frighteningly seemed to enjoy his role as her antagonist. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">This play is as relevant today as ever, highlighting the effect of a government with an increasing need for security, causing paranoia amongst those who may or may not have a predisposition towards it. Don’t let this Bug crawl away without taking a closer look. </span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" ><br />Bug was on at the Rondo Theatre from 26-29th May 2010.<br />This review was printed in the Bath Chronicle on the 27th May 2010. </span><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><br /></span>Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-65672201298126681732010-04-23T10:56:00.006+01:002010-07-20T21:43:19.866+01:00Waiting... waiting...<span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-D0wPk4fnOWe70_7DXgKhmViu8UFp403-i5Wotb0xxAzm_Qz0zukSbw0YjwEqRnYEeihV1WcZRq9UbOXAvXUiBfk3T9VwL0CfMw23MtyLV_Zk3XFg9GcQlCu9QhaEl0lldYkrb8jI2aU/s1600/Fred&Isab&Desmortes.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-D0wPk4fnOWe70_7DXgKhmViu8UFp403-i5Wotb0xxAzm_Qz0zukSbw0YjwEqRnYEeihV1WcZRq9UbOXAvXUiBfk3T9VwL0CfMw23MtyLV_Zk3XFg9GcQlCu9QhaEl0lldYkrb8jI2aU/s320/Fred&Isab&Desmortes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463270958644168802" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;" >We have worked for eleven weeks preparing Ring Round the Moon for the Rondo Theatre this week. We have rehearsed three times a week, until late into the night, making sure that every word of the script is said with the right meaning, the right intonation and the right emotion.<br /><br />Now, as I refresh the Bath Chronicle review page every two minutes, I wonder if the hard work has paid off. I wonder if the enjoyment that we have shows through to the audience. I wonder if we have enough pace, enough jokes, enough food for thought.<br /><br />The play is set in 1910 in a Chateau in France, the main characters are twins Hugo and Frederic, completely alike in their appearance, but so different in every other way. Hugo plots away the evening so that he can break up the engagement of his brother Frederic and Diana, a glamorous wealthy woman, who is also spoilt beyond belief. Hugo hires a young ballet dancer, Isabelle, to try to lure Frederic away, so that Hugo can... well, we are not really sure of Hugo’s motives at first.<br /><br />The whole evening is set on the evening of a ball with Hugo and Frederic’s Aunt overseeing the events. She is prone to a little scheme or two herself which wonderfully ties in Isabelle’s mother and also her companion Capulet who both bring such wonderful romance and fairy tale dreams into the play.<br /><br />Of course we cannot forget Diana’s father Messerschman, a rich old Jew who has more money than happiness, his mistress Lady India is having an affair with his private secretary, Patrice, and not even his noodles can keep his spirits up.<br /><br />Last, but most certainly not least, we have the butler, Joshua, who delivers my most favourite line of the play. But you will have to come and see it to hear that.<br /><br />The play has the most fabulous costumes and set and I am incredibly lucky to be a part of it. I personally love the darker side of the play, hidden behind the comedy and wit there are the ideas that money cannot buy happiness, of a want to climb the social ladder and the problems and hurt that one can go through when they fall in love with the wrong person.<br /><br />Whilst I write this, I have refreshed the review page numerous times and still the review has not been put on the website. I am almost more nervous than I sometimes am before going on stage. I know that the review doesn’t matter, because I know that the play is a success. The cast are happy, my friends and family who have already seen it are happy, and there is not much more I can ask for than that.<br /><br />But a little piece of me wants this review to love it too, not content with the well wishes and compliments of friends I feel that I need to see it in writing. Of course if I didn’t know that there was going to be a review, I wouldn’t feel this need at all. To be a critic and an actress at the same time is an odd thing. I will contemplate the position a little more as I continue to wait... and click ‘refresh’.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Ring Round the Moon is on at the Rondo Theatre from Wednesday 21st April 2010 to Saturday 24th April 2010 at 7.30pm</span> </span>Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-87716361075662926962010-03-23T23:29:00.002+00:002010-06-20T13:20:35.400+01:00Brimstone and Treacle<span style="font-size:85%;"><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynn94U7r6Ln3Y9B3LLRPGa46L8iNnH4QIgnxa4pGogqvSaJt4MBpayUt3pdunNcmJB6RpVRn9xtCvvpvlmVKH6y-0mF4bWCABRgEDitJtz4hMD89WBjTlcWSWdcYAxkwQ7pSnlLUuyrU/s1600-h/Brimstone+%26+Treacle.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynn94U7r6Ln3Y9B3LLRPGa46L8iNnH4QIgnxa4pGogqvSaJt4MBpayUt3pdunNcmJB6RpVRn9xtCvvpvlmVKH6y-0mF4bWCABRgEDitJtz4hMD89WBjTlcWSWdcYAxkwQ7pSnlLUuyrU/s320/Brimstone+%26+Treacle.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451975967022410818" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Blindly scraping nails on the lid.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">It would be easy to say that this play is not for the fainthearted - but that would be easy, not fair.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I'll admit that I had only the highest expectations for the second play directed by Alex Needham but, to unfortunately sound cliché, I was not disappointed in the slightest.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The set was cluttered yet clean and wonderfully thoughtful; the set even continued past the doors to offstage which was just great attention to detail. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Where to start with the performances and subject matter. This play explored a fear that I believe rests, in some form or another, within every human. That fear that when you try to scream for help, no one will hear you, that fear of being capable of thought but trapped inside a limiting body. That frustration is portrayed so incredibly realistically by Patty throughout - she never breaks character, not even for a second. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The parents, Amy and Tom, are convincing as a married couple. It is quite amazing how they can sometimes carry on as if Patty is not in the room and how they can suck the audience in so that the audience, too, forget that she is there. It is quite worrying, the effect that this had.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">To say too much about Martin’s character would ruin the storyline somewhat but I will say this, his monologues were spine-chilling, juxtaposed with his eloquent yet eerie niceties and aside glances. He is certainly one to watch. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">There were recurring themes of the soullessness of animals, denial, the loss of hope and prayer, of good and evil and racism and a wish for things to be as they once were. Although the situation is not one many of the audience will be directly familiar with, the themes can certainly resonate. There is a disturbing mix of pleasantries and good coffee contrasting with the moaning of a soul in pain and the desperation of loss. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">It is quite poignant when you think about the senses and how the loss of one can heighten the others, even more so when you can see that having all senses intact can almost make you more senseless. The play also touches on a real sense of evil and how it can infiltrate a family and play on their fears, faith and hope.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">This is a play to be seen by anyone who wants a thought provoking evening that will stick with you for some time to come. This play will certainly not leave your troubled mind in a hurry, which is exactly the effect I believe it is intended to have. It begs the question, exactly what would you endure just to enable things to be as they were before? </span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Brimstone and Treacle is on at the Kelvin Studio in Bristol from 23rd to 27th March 2010 </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">(Photograph by Owen Benson)</span><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ></span>Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-63515368060052461812010-02-24T23:26:00.002+00:002010-06-21T19:13:51.011+01:00Lucifer is a Woman!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSvl_g3Ih7gX-w3DKKqUGHTf_JXFQz5D3oVy6YKTIwpl5MARmImokAUC76UzGF787HFWcGqhF0ap0u1shGHLevYNXEIoPGz3rlLIUGx1WNwEstHUXY0IYYF2pPkV6zs_ObxXlOw9ENik/s1600/Abducting+Diane+-+Owen+Benson.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSvl_g3Ih7gX-w3DKKqUGHTf_JXFQz5D3oVy6YKTIwpl5MARmImokAUC76UzGF787HFWcGqhF0ap0u1shGHLevYNXEIoPGz3rlLIUGx1WNwEstHUXY0IYYF2pPkV6zs_ObxXlOw9ENik/s320/Abducting+Diane+-+Owen+Benson.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485291258929260370" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">
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div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><i style=""><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">A review of Abducting Diane at The Rondo Theatre, Bath on Wednesday 24 February 2010</span></i><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">How on earth can I review a play that I cannot compare with anything I have ever seen? A challenge I am sure, but one that I will face nevertheless. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Having never seen a Dario Fo play I was perhaps unprepared for the mayhem that would ensue on stage, but I certainly think that the element of surprise is one of the best features of this production. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">The abundance of props seemed like it would be a minefield for the cast but they skilfully navigated their way around the ropes, ice cream and fire extinguishers to great effect. There was bondage in abundance and madness en mass as Diane (played by Mirella Luciani) was kidnapped by three crooks, (played by Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and John Prescott). <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">This political satire has been carefully adapted to resonate with current affairs and the masks of the kidnappers were simply perfect. I thought it was wonderful that you could also see the actors faces behind the masks when they turned to the side and the mask of Gordon Brown looked so glum that it could have been cut out of this week newspapers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">To say too much about what happens in this play would ruin it for anyone who goes to see it. So I will say only this – you must go, you must enjoy and you must appreciate the wonder of a little old lady with milk bottle glasses on her nose, slippers on her feet and a rifle in her hand.
<br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family: verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Abducting Diane is on at the Rondo Theatre from Wednesday 24th February 2010 to Saturday 27th February 2010, starting at 7.30pm</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-64170807797039944132010-02-13T18:07:00.001+00:002010-06-20T13:19:33.248+01:00Get on that First Train Home<span style="font-size:85%;"><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3m7K5so6gemfieJCBer1-KVcGjpoWLbUfjkkvUAuY3OPluWqyo1HHTaorhgecnmB5sa1fCn5hKhter3hhDRGQjCJTDwdIkuTWmayJuyhjrGtxbgkrwvRzYfu_7pZsUd4bhVz7uNDqXaY/s1600-h/Imogen+Heap.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3m7K5so6gemfieJCBer1-KVcGjpoWLbUfjkkvUAuY3OPluWqyo1HHTaorhgecnmB5sa1fCn5hKhter3hhDRGQjCJTDwdIkuTWmayJuyhjrGtxbgkrwvRzYfu_7pZsUd4bhVz7uNDqXaY/s320/Imogen+Heap.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5437826080408304818" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >A review of Imogen Heap’s concert at Bristol 02 Arena on Thursday 11th February 2010</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Incredible. Just incredible. </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Anyone who has heard the haunting melody of Hide and Seek would be first in the queue to see Imogen Heap live and boy is it worth it. </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >The support acts were Back Ted n-Ted and Tim Exile, both solo artist who, like Imogen, use loop stations, computer effects and beat boxing to create their music. I could never forget the first time I saw this as a way of creating music, it was a performance by Dub FX who, to me, is the king of the loop station and most others are mere imitations. However, these support acts did put their own spin on the method and created some thoroughly enjoyable music. </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >The best part of the support acts, however, was the fact that they were both introduced by Imogen herself and performed with her. This was just one of the many signs of her down-to-earth attitude which made her charmingly approachable and likeable. This also added a much more personal element which I feel has been lacking from many concerts that I have attended. </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >The whole concert was entertaining and more upbeat than I had expected, especially with my new favourite tune Bad Body Double but the highlight of the concert for me was the encore. It started with Hide and Seek which went wrong due to a reverb malfunction. Imogen was unfazed, ready to move onto the next song and then easily got the problem fixed and gave the most divine performance of the song and I defy anyone who can listen to that with a dry eye. </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >She then took audience participation to a new level. She split the audience into three, each singing the words ‘Just for now’ creating the backing track for her to sing above. I have never been to a gig where the audience have song so well in tune and the atmosphere from Hide and Seek to the end of Just for Now was just electrifying. This was a shiver through the spine moment if ever I had one</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">,</span><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" > </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >I would have liked to hear Glittering Clouds which is one of my favourite Imogen Heap songs. I also think that knowing the songs inside out would make the whole experience even more enjoyable. But for a surface fan of her music, I found the concert refreshing, moving and completely emotional. </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: verdana;font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Imogen Heap is playing at Gateshead and Bournemouth on the 15th and 17th February respectively. All other UK concerts have sold out.<br /><br />Her latest album, Ellipse is out now and available on Spotify.<br /></span>Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1864967360294985975.post-49038308199870213172010-02-13T17:38:00.006+00:002010-06-21T19:18:06.865+01:00PRIVATE LIVES GOES PUBLIC<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwj_7BnEpW_YD7OuSnoPqD0vEr73SeBR-sHnY5NW986VtZkv7P99tNHCKHnVeK_8pScgfMzUSze93V9nhsU3BRH5O8iwFgqLpupC6Lh4-akQAlUrf1uJPMi1yyrwmngy0XpJOUwg8qPnw/s1600/private-lives-2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 280px; height: 320px;" 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class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Of course we know that any No</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">ë</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">l Coward play must be delivered with a certain degree of elegance and class, but when you know that New York’s Kim Cattrall is starring, you expect at least a degree or two more. Theatre Royal Bath’s production has certainly met these high expectations. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The opening set was delightfully and quintessentially French with its wall of shutters and beautiful balcony. The white curtains enabled each character to show a little bit of themselves, with Victor (Simon Paisley Day) being instantly frustrated when unable to smoothly move through them as opposed to Elyot (Matthew MacFadyen) who of course could whip the curtains away with ease. The first act presented a couple of opening night mishaps which were charmingly overcome by Elyot and Sybill (Lisa Dillon). This opening act set the scene for the characters that we were to follow both simply and effectively. This was not so much a play about wondering what was to happen next as the storyline, no doubt copied numerous times since, is fairly obvious, but more about the tickling jokes, perfectly designed set and charismatic characters that we experience along the way. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Kim Cattrall played Amanda, a feisty and alluring character who oozes sophistication, at least up to the third act. Forgivably Kim Cattrall faltered on the English accent, but not often and only, it seemed, on the lines that she seemed to enjoy saying the most. It was almost as if she dropped back to her own accent on purpose, to highlight those lines that resounded with her own personality so well. When you hear her say the word “morals”, you will know what I mean. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">She also moved like a model, striking poses at each point as she worked her way around the set. She made shapes that showed off the best features of the costumes she wore, and were this to have been an advert, we most certainly would have all hit the shops to find those outfits. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Matthew MacFadyen played a strong Elyot, he was sharp and convincing and the chemistry between him and Cattrall was just perfect. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Acts two and three were set in a Parisian apartment with an enchanting decor and use of lights and props. The relationship between Elyot and Amanda really shone through and the timelessness of the writing was apparent. Even a strong woman like Amanda had her insecurities, and these, as with all couples, caused their little riffs and ravels. Elyot was typically male with his dismissal of her at times which drew the whole audience into the laughter as they matched the happenings on stage with those of their own. <span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Sybil and Victor provided a delectable sub-plot, their individual characters providing a neat contrast to the realism of Amanda and Elyot. Sybil was hysterical and jealous, showing those more hidden yet perhaps more frequent characteristics of females and Victor was even less forgiving of the women than Elyot. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The whole play illuminated how a relationship can be a success. Its relevance to today’s society is quite incredible, given that it was written in 1929. It teaches tolerance and love through passion and jealousy, but above all it shows that with the right chemistry, you can truly be yourself with your partner. It shows that love, time and a mix of maturity and a lack of it, can allow a couple to overcome their personality clashes. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Private Lives is on at the Theatre Royal Bath from 10<sup>th</sup> – 20<sup>th</sup> February 2010 and will then move to the West End. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
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<br />Sorrel Eva Meechanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14988660485403480770noreply@blogger.com0