Quick Round-up: Theatre

In the last 4 weeks I've managed to fit in 5 trips to the theatre, two as a volunteer at the Playhouse and three as paying punter at The Grand. Back on 15/03/12 was Chess (The Grand), a musical by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus (i.e. the BB in ABBA) and Tim Rice written during and set within the context of the Cold War. Happily I didn't need to know anything about the rules of the boardgame to enjoy the plot, which centred around clashes between the US and Soviet chess champions and some tricky political shenanigans, but it helped that I had an understanding of the historical context. The company, LAOS, handled the staging well with a central chess board/dance floor that changed colour and acted as a playing area for the characters to scheme around. The voices of the female cast were particularly impressive, and I discovered that 'I Know Him So Well' has its origins in the show. The show has made me want to visit the original concept album that preceded the West End musical. 

We returned to The Grand on 23/03/12 for Travelling Light, a new play written by Nicholas Wright, a name I'm not familiar with, although I was pleased to see he'd authored some of the excellent yet short lived The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. The main draw for this drama was the fact that it was about the early days of cinema, a subject I have become more and more intrigued about. It also starred the talented, attractive Damien Molony, who we were enjoying so much in Being Human at the time - it also turned out we'd seen his professional debut in 'Tis Pity She's a Whore last year, so we've now seen all of his work. (Sir) Antony Sher also starred as the jovial Jewish merchant who funds Molony's nascent efforts at making a movie in their Eastern European shtetl - he was much better here than in the awful production of The Tempest we saw back in April 2009. The whole production was gripping from beginning to end, from the subject matter, setting and characters to the unexpected plot developments and semi-history lessons about movie making outside Hollywood.

The day after Travelling Light I flew solo (left Andrew at home) in order to volunteer at Swallows & Amazons (24/03/12). Unfamiliar with the story, I wasn't expecting much, particularly as I believed this would be a show for the kids. I was happily suprised to find that this semi-musical drama was actually rather fun and very inventive in the staging. A family of 5 'jolly hockey-sticks' type middle class kids in inter-war Britain go on holiday to an island and have a fantasy adventure as the Swallows, a gang of explorers who are out to defeat the nafarious pirate captain and rival sisters, the Amazons. It's a good natured affair, utterly inoffensive with a smattering of toe-tapping songs that didn't linger too long in the memory. Leaving aside the one black child among the siblings, an inclusive gesture that came across somewhat token (and the fact the character's named 'Titty'), there was nothing to gripe about. The scenery movers and props people provided many (intentional) laughs with their ways, like flicking water at the cast to simulate moving through a storm, or holding up toy boats within circles of cardboard to represent telescope sights. A fun, free night out, musn't grumble.

Helen Edmundson, co-writer of Swallows & Amazons, was also responsible for Mary Shelley (28/03/12), showing in the Playhouse's other theatre. This was a more adult show that delivered a biographical drama about the woman who, at the age of just 18, write the massively influential Frankenstein, along with her poet husband Percy Shelley and her famous family. The female-weighted cast delivered bravua performances that brought each family member alive and worked to show how Mary's experiences informed her signature novel. It was a play that I appreciated greatly as I watched, but one that hasn't stuck around in my head long afterwards. 

Finally, on 04/04/12, we had a group outing to see Sister Act, a musical for which I had high expectations, based on how much I enjoyed the movie and it's soundtrack (none of which was ported over into the stage version), and because of the potential for camp exuberance. I can almost say that I found the musical to be even more fabulous than the film! Set in the late seventies, the music was a soul/disco mix that never hit a bum note, and the expansion of the plot from the original's murder-witness-hides-out-in-a-convent, with bigger roles for the bad guy Eddie and an added love interest in cop Curtis, were beneficial and created a show that can comfortably inhabit the same world as the movie without feeling redundant. I'd go so far as to say the sheer joy that Sister Act engendered in my whole being puts it up there with The Lion King and Hairspray as a favourite musical. The 'star' names, Denise Black (seen before in Bedroom Farce) and Michael Starke (the narrator in Rocky Horror) were competent but the real star was Cynthia Erivo in the lead role of Deloris - she fairly belted out infectious numbers like Take Me to Heaven, Fabulous Baby!, and the beautiful Sister Act. She was ably supported by a host of singing nuns on show-stoppers Raise Your Voice and Spread the Love Around. I can't wait to get the soundtrack!

March Round-up: TV

I seem to have been to the theatre a lot the past couple of weeks, as well as getting through several books, movies and TV shows. I'm just going to bundle them together so that I can start afresh in April. Too busy/lazy to give each the review it deserves! 

Roger and Val Have Just Got In: Series 2 (2012) built on the touching, funny first series of two-handers between Dawn French and Alfred Molina by introducing new conflicts (Roger's living, estranged son from an adolescent fling) and resolving old issues, such as Roger's tribunal and Val's desire to be Deputy Head. Rarely predictably, always heart-felt and honest, this little series goes to show that you don't need exciting locations, massive casts or manufactured incidents to create laughs and warmth, you just need the talented French and Molina cooking tea or hiding in a wendy house. And that last moment was simply wonderful.

A million miles away from the subtly of Roger and Val was the fourth series of Let's Dance for Sport Relief (2012), a gloriously silly spectacle of 'celebrities' and sports people creating dances for charity. Rowland Rivron was quite rightly crowned winner after a knackering version of Fatboy Slim's Weapon of Choice - a relief after the boring winners last year. Other favourites this year included a couple of women from Eastenders doing a creditable Telephone; Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards' gloriously daffy, and exceptionally competent, Austin Powers dancing to Soul Bossa Nova; and Arabella Weir's sultry Can't Get You Out of My Head, unfairly beaten by Omid Djalili to the final. Not quite as instantly classic as previous years, but still good Saturday night entertainment.

While on the subject of daft Saturday night TV, I must make mention of Harry Hill's TV Burp, which came to an end (bar the best ofs) with the conclusion of series 11. It may not have been as consistently funny as it used to be, but it was still practically the only regular show worth watching on ITV. Childish and daffy it may have been, but Harry was also knowing and aware of the ridiculousness of much of the telly he poked fun at. There were regular laugh-out-loud moments, as well as joyfully sublime/ridiculous scenes of Harry dancing around his desk with busts of Queen Victoria, a horse and various old characters. Where the final series was lacking in the dearth of celebrities getting involved, there were far to many random people plucked from documentaries to perform odd musical pieces at the end of episodes. Where was the star-packed 'cataracts?' piece of previous series? At least in the final show, the real Heather from Eastenders turned up, alongside Amanda Lamb (never 'eard of her!) to give some kind of weird closure. 

More serious yet at the same time still full of light moments of delicious British humour was Being Human: Series 4 (2012). After dispensing with Mitchell in the last episode of series 3, the first show of the new series wasted little time in preparing the new dynamic that would find George and Nina (the latter offscreen) killed off, leaving Annie to look after their baby alongside Damien Molony's new vampire, Hal, and Michael Socha's werewolf, Tom. In no time at all I had invested in the new characters and their foibles - Hal's OCD and curious mannerisms, combined with Tom's sweetly naive youth and Annie's kick ass new role as mother/protector of baby Eve made for compelling viewing (Annie was much less wet as a mother than Scully was in season 9 of The X-Files). By the end of the final, heart-breaking episode I'd almost completely forgotten about George and Mitchell (but not Nina, who deserved an on-screen ending). The new ghost character is spunky, and although some great villains were hatched and then quickly despatched this series, the seeds of series 5 have already been sown and have left me hungry for more.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Mark Haddon, 2003)

basics...
Narrated by Christopher Boone, a teenager with autism (or Asperger's, neither diagnosis is confirmed within the text, although the dust jacket declares the latter to be so), The Curious Incident begins as a detective novel before turning into an affecting piece about the relationships between Christopher, his father and his 'deceased' mother.

brilliant...
As the book is written in first person by a young man with a distinctive voice, a unique view of the world and an unconfirmed special need, Curious Incident immediately put me in mind of the excellent The Incredible Adam Spark. It wouldn't be appropriate to compare the two for enjoyment and inventive style as they both stand proud as very different works, packed with heart and humour. Haddon's central mystery, about a dog murdered by a garden fork to the stomach, is a good hook for the young protagonists' book, and it gets even more interesting when the mystery surrounding his mother is unravelled, leading to some emotional scenes - no mean task from a narrator who is a stranger to recognising emotion. Every exchange of dialogue is necessarily therefore 'she said' and 'I said' - no 'he exlaimed' or 'she erupted' - and so the writer has to work harder to create an impact, and it is something he does well and you don't notice how easily you're drawn into Christopher's logical world. As with Adam Spark, the humour does not come at the expense of the learning difficulties of the central character, rather from their unique view of life. Although the author has not claimed to be any authority on autism or the like, it is encouraging, although possibly a little naive, to think that the condition does not mean that those experiencing it cannot lead a full and happy life as Christopher does.

briefly...
Charming, funny and heartfelt, a real pleasure to read.

You, the Living (2007) / Adventureland (2009) / Hot Rod (2007) / F (2010)

You, the Living / Du Levande (2007) caught my eye in the schedules as it was billed as a Swedish comedy. It was fairly amusing... and decidedly odd. There was no narrative as such, merely a collection of 'sketches' or vignettes featuring ordinary moments of daily life in a very raw, dramatic yet blackly comic style. The tone put me in mind of Sound of Noise but that was a much more linear movie, with a point to it. The indecipherable impetus behind You, the Living didn't end up making for an unsatisfying whole, I quite enjoyed the movie... I'm just unable to articulate why I liked it. Weird.

Much more straightforward was Adventureland (2009), an American comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg as a geeky kid who ends up working at the titular theme park for the summer between high school and college. While there he befriends Kristen Stewart, who plays a variation of her unreasonably mopey misery-chick schtick from the Twilight franchise but manages to be less irritating with it. Oddly he falls for and ends up dating the park's resident cool chick (in a bit reminiscent of Bandslam's geek-gets-the-girl genre subversion) but it's obvious who he should really be with. It's a slight movie with an unoriginal premise yet Adventureland is hugely enjoyable, mainly because Eisenberg is so damn charming and cute. He's like Michael Cera with less attitude. The supporting cast are a wonderful array of freaks and misfits, including a small role for Bridesmaids' Kristen Wiig, and Bill Hader (who also crops up in Hot Rod below), plus a turn by Ryan Reynolds as a likable bastard.

An evening of pizza, wine and chat at our friend's flat last Friday also involved watching the fabled Hot Rod (2007). Twice. Watching with a group of friends is not normally how I like to see a new movie, but the reverence that certain of my mates show this film made for a pretty hilarious experience. And from what I had the opportunity to see, Hot Rod turned out to be pretty hilarious, full of really silly, unexplained humour that wouldn't be out of place in The Muppets (although some of the racier stuff would need taming). Andy Samberg's daredevil/idiot lead is endearing and not just stupid, and his relationship with his stepfather, Ian McShane, is deliriously deranged - his goal is to earn enough money through stunts to save his stepfather's life... so that Rod can kick his ass. There were many bits that had us all laughing out loud, from the 'cool  beans' sequence, the wacky grilled cheese sandwich and burrito fight and my favourite, the random dancing Chinese guy who gets a montage of bill posting and crotch thrusting... It really is a movie that has to be seen to be believed. And quite rewatchable as it turns out.

While recuperating from a manky cold this week I watched the British horror/thriller simply titled F (2010) - no relation to US high school Othello adaptation, O (2001). After an opening set up that sees teacher Mr Anderson (David Schofield) head-butted by a pupil and thus more resigned and timid in his role, the movie settles in to the confines of the school campus after most of the inhabitants have gone home. Unfortunately for the cleaner, secutiry guards, headmistress, secretary, woodwork teacher, Mr Anderson, his daughter and her boyfriend, they're still in residence when a gang of hoodies turn up to kill them off, one by one. The growing menance is effected by tight camera angles, right up in the victims' faces, and some creepy choral/lullaby music when the speechless, faceless bad 'uns turn up to bash, stab, burn, maim, slice, axle-grind and generally murder all involved. There's not much character development or even really any plot after the first 10 minutes of set up, just a series of offings. No explanation is given as to why these hoodlums are committing these graphic acts or even who they are - are they connected to the guy who headbutted Mr Anderson? The script doesn't care, there are plenty of people to be bloodying up to bother with motivation. The lack of impetus leaves the film feeling a bit hollow, although it is effectively chilling. Thankfully the final scene/ethical dilemma is a real humdinger and makes the previous 80 minutes well worth the price of admission (y'know, if I'd seen it in a cinema).

A shorter story (jrm_gwm, 2011)

Here's the first piece I wrote for my Open Uni course. This didn't have to be a self-contained story, since the word count was fairly low, but I made into one anyway. It's not quite as polished as the last piece as I'd barely even started the course.

‘Breathless’

A short story (jrm_gwm, 2012)

Here's something different from my usual reviews of other people's movies, books and plays, a short story I wrote for my Open University creative writing course. I hope you enjoy it (Click the title).

The Truth is Out There 

The Jester (James Patterson & Andrew Gross, 2003)

basics...
Hugh DeLuc, an 11th century inn-keeper, finds himself caught up in the Crusades and in possession of a historical relic that unscrupulous nobles will stop at nothing to acquire. Hugh's wife and son are captured and so he learns the jester's trade to infiltrate the castle of his lord to find his love in a plot that sees him leading a revolt against the upper classes.

brilliant...
I haven't read any James Patterson for a while. I enjoyed his exciting Alex Cross detective thrillers but I went off him when he started churning out books that were written in partnership with other people. This is the first such book I've read of his, co-written with Andrew Gross, and while it keeps the short chapter-structure and punchy, non-stop plotting the setting is very different. The characters do talk like they've been transplanted from the twenty-first century and there is a lot of blood, sex and action - Labyrinth this ain't - so it's an exciting ride that barely pauses for breath. It is quite refreshing to read something set in the past that doesn't fawn or pander to a languid exploration of the period and just cracks on with plot, plot and more plot. 

but...
Some of the plot is fairly predictable, and the revelation containing Hugh's love interest, Emilie, and her parentage comes as no surprise to anyone who's ever read a book before. Characters are introduced and dispatched in breathtakingly short spells, in often ridiculously short chapters. Dan Brown managed to mix excitement with (some) character-development, this latter isn't much of a concern for Patterson and Gross. It is interesting that I read The Jester during the same week I watched G-Force, as Patterson and Bruckheimer share a sensationalist streak that sometimes means subtly suffers, or vanishes altogether. 

briefly...
Exciting, plot-driven thrills from a skilled writer (and friend) that I will forget almost as quickly as I read it. A passing pleasure with no lasting impression.