Monthly culture: August 2018
Sunday, September 2nd, 2018 11:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranth02AUG18: Ant-Man and the Wasp
I liked this better than the first Ant-Man film, but it's not one of my top ten. Michelle Pfeiffer was excellent: there were some good lines and a female British villain.
Why is it funny when a man is 'possessed' or channelling a woman?
Post-credits scene ties in nicely with the previous Marvel film. And by 'nicely' I mean 'chillingly'.
08AUG18: Translations, NT
Set in rural Ireland in 1833, this is a play about how people communicate, and fail to communicate. The focal characters are Manus (a hedge-school teacher, fluent in Greek and Latin as well as Irish) and his younger brother Owen (who is helping the British 'standardise' Irish placenames -- Colin Morgan excellent in this role). Though all the characters speak English on stage, it's clear that they are actually speaking their 'own' languages: hence miscommunication. Manus' intended, Maire, falls in love with one of the British officers, despite their not having a language in common. When the officer disappears, Manus flees too, because there is no way he can communicate his innocence in the matter.
Things in bold are my favourites. Star ratings were awarded immediately after each show, and my opinion may have changed in hindsight.
19AUG18: Edith Hall on Aristotle, Edinburgh Book Festival ★★★★
I was not quite into the swing of Edinburgh at this point, and it was raining, and the tent was packed. Still, Edith Hall said interesting things about Aristotle: his optimism about the future of humanity, the importance of moderation and of steering the self away from animal urges, his philosophy taking the world as it is. 'This [life] is not a rehearsal: this is the sole performance.'
19AUG18: Rachmaninov Vespers ★★★★
Creaky pews in Canongate Kirk punctuated this. The acoustics weren't ideal -- some lack of clarity in the quieter passages -- but the bass voices were outstanding.
20AUG18: Elizabethan ★★★★
David William Hughes sang lute songs, some quite lewd, and a couple in duet with himself (he has a pleasing falsetto). Included a quote from Aqua's 'Barbie Girl', some wigs, a bubble pipe, and audience participation: never sit in the front row!
20AUG18: Violetta ★★★★★
All my favourite bits of Verdi's La Traviata, presented in about an hour by three soloists and a pianist (plus surtitles projected on the church wall). This was an absolute delight and truly moving. I shall be keeping an eye out for Opera Allegra: this was their first production, and it was impressive.
20AUG18: Vulvarine ★★★★★
From the opening song ('Nothing Really Interesting Happens in High Wycombe') this engaged me. Bryony Buckle works in a tax office and goes home every night to her cat Elton. Following a hormone shot and some unseasonable weather, she becomes superhero(ine) Vulvarine -- with powers including understanding what Elton is saying. (Elton has a delightful solo about licking his arse.) There is a shark named Boris, a reference or two to Hamilton, an archvillain known as the Mansplainer, the mysterious destination of the Tampon Tax, some sea urchins, and a post-credits scene. Highly recommended: I'll look out for more by Fat Rascal Theatre.
(Oh look, they are doing a different production in Cambridge and London and other places.)
20AUG18: Shackleton's Stowaway ★★★★
Fourth show of the day: it had a lot to live up to, and was much quieter and more serious. A two-man show, this is the story of Pierce Blackboro, who stowed away on Endurance and clashed with Shackleton. Excellent soundscape (especially when the ship is breaking up), and interesting shift of power and emotion between the two as the play progressed.
21AUG18: Reverend Richard Cole: Confessions ★
Only one star because I thoroughly disliked the interview with Louisa Young, which featured 'amusing' anecdotes about alcoholism and suicide. Richard Cole's introductory ten minutes were fun.
21AUG18: Marvel-us: All the Marvel Movies ★★★
Some good lines ("How many people here sympathise with Thanos? .. wait, you walked down the Royal Mile and didn't want half the people in your way to disappear?" [paraphrase]) and some pertinent observations (Thor, in his first film, being stripped of all his power and privilege apart from, y'know, being a handsome whitePirate angel dude; Natasha never quite facing the way her body's pointing). The two do break character a bit too often and also they are wrong about Thor: The Dark World.
21AUG18: Hamilton (Lewis) ★★★★★
Another winner. I was laughing too hard to make notes, but this is an excellent take on Hamilton with original songs, plenty of gender-swapping (Letitia Hector is thoroughly credible as Lewis Hamilton), and real joie de vivre. Initial reviews weren't great, but either they tightened up the show or my mileage varied. NB I know nothing about F1, and my companions knew nothing about Hamilton ...
See it in London! (Sept 5 - 22)
22AUG18: The Electra Legacy ★★★
Orestes and Electra, ill-advised by priests and friends, seeking vengeance for their father Agamemnon's death at the hands of Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. This show needed tightening up: it's 25 minutes before Electra appears, and a lot of the backstory (apparently there was a war in Troy?) was repeated several times. The script felt weirdly formal ('I am genuinely very fond of you,' says Electra's farmer-spouse) and some of the idiosyncratic innovations (guns, not swords) aren't reflected in the spoken word. When the music's good it's very good, as in the opening 'Hail Agamemnon' chorus: but the sound mix was not great and it sounded fuzzy -- not helped that most of the cast wore 'ceramic' (maybe plastic?) masks. And there is a twist regarding Pylades (the best actor in the show) which I really didn't buy.
But it was interesting, and there is a better, shorter play gestating within this 90-minute production.
22AUG18: Mitch Benn: Doing It on Purpose ★★★
On the obsolescence of the political 'left' and 'right': the division is now fantasy versus reality. A cheerful ditty 'the president is batshit can we please impeach him soon'. Solving the transgender issue in five words: 'mind your own fucking business'.
Some hilarious lines, of course, and some good songs: but because Mitch Benn reflects the world as it is, it's hard to do a wholly cheerful show.
22AUG18: Bacchae ★★★★
In which the director is absent and the actors take over: there are two camps, one led by Phoebe (who wants to emphasise Dionysus' feminine aspect) and one by a male purist ('how dare you treat Euripides like this?!').
Slightly too much dancing: quite a bit of post-modernism (they tear the script to pieces as well as -- instead of? -- Pentheus). I enjoyed this at the time but don't recall much about it, because the Bacchae slot in my brain was overwritten the following day.
22AUG18: We've Got Each Other ★★★★
A Bon Jovi jukebox musical based on their greatest hit (I think you know the song I mean) and pretty much entirely imagined: there is, explains Paul O'Donnell the narrator, no budget for things such as a cast, an orchestra, scenery ... Some meditations on the endless desert of the interval, on reality versus belief, and on the epic tragedy of Tommy and Gina. O'Donnell also involves the lighting tech, who sulks a bit. Lots of use of second person narrative ('you know this is going to be dramatic') which reminded me of Welcome to Night Vale. And the ending was stupendous: a standing ovation for an empty stage.
23AUG18: Spoiler Alert ★★★
Jim and his girlfriend have been in a relationship for three years. He doesn't know, or can't remember, her name. She has recently acquired the gift of prophecy, and joins Prophetics Anonymous ('say your name, where you're from, and one fun fact that will apply to you some day'). Basically, they're out of sync, and her foreknowledge -- which is not always accurate, because 'anything can change everything' -- both dooms and saves them.
Well-performed, thought-provoking, funny but not happy.
23AUG18: A Modern Guide to Heroism and Sidekickery ★★★★
The hero is a heroine -- known as the Shadow -- and the sidekick is a writer who keeps changing the story, making her out to be more of a superhero than she is. 'I wish I knew my mysterious secret. The papers make it sound really exciting ...' Reality versus fantasy again!
Michelle Zahner offers interesting observations on the superhero genre (it's harder to find courage than fight a villain; the genre demands villains and evil, but some narratives just don't have that) and concludes 'we need to be our own heroes -- actually, fuck heroes, let's all be sidekicks'.
Fun, funny, and an excellent one-woman show.
23AUG18: Bacchanals ★★★★★
Set in the dressing room of a production of Bacchae, five actresses bitch and bicker. ('Let's all just be nice and supportive,' suggests one. 'WHY?!' chorus the others.) The water in the taps may have turned to wine (or blood). Then one actress returns from a meeting with the director and announces 'he wants us to get our tits out'.
Dionysian frenzy 1, mansplaining 0.
Splendid acting, a creeping sense of menace and weirdness, and squabbles over who owns that dark red lipstick. Utterly compelling.
23AUG18: Midsummer ★★★★★
A drunken weekend in Edinburgh, funded by the proceeds of a dodgy car sale. Helena is a lawyer who's having an affair with a married man: Bob is an extraordinarily average petty criminal. Both have secrets. They also have sex -- one of the funniest and best-directed theatrical sex scenes I've seen -- and agree with one another a lot, surely an indication that they're not at all romantically compatible.
I don't know what gave me the impression that this was set in 1987, but something did: so I was nitpicking throughout ('mobile phones? the tram? how much to park for a day?').
A joyful and life-affirming production that was also hilarious, with excellent acting and great songs. ('If my hangover was a country it would be Belgium').
24AUG18: Brexit ★★★
Reminded me of Yes, Prime Minister etc, except it dithered more without really getting anywhere. 'Schrodinger's Britain: both in and out.... Remainers maraud the Commons like a touring version of Lord of the Flies'. It took me a while to realise that the story wasn't being told chronologically: the scenes with the EU President (?) are later than the scenes between the beleaguered PM and his two key ministers, who he's playing against one another.
Grumpy middle-aged audience, one of whom kept coughing wetly on my back, hence my post-Edinburgh lurgy.
24AUG18: Casus: You and I ★★★★★
Playful romantic gymnastic dance / circus, both artistes showing strength and flexibility as well as the intimacy of a long relationship, where the extraordinary becomes mundane. I loved the music -- would like to know who did the cover of Devotchka's 'Contrabanda' -- and the narrative, which was clear despite there being no spoken dialogue.
24AUG18: Attrape Moi ★★★
I'd probably have liked this a lot more if we hadn't seen it directly after Casus. There were more people (six men, one woman, all looking very hipsterish), the narrative was more of a simple frame and was about friendship rather than a relationship, and it was more traditionally 'circusy' with pauses for applause. Many of the same elements -- torches, hoops, trapeze -- as Casus but performed very differently. They were clearly having fun, and it was a fun show: but a complete change of tone and speed.
24AUG18: La Cenerentola (Rossini)
★★★★
Utterly batshit (and technically / musically gorgeous) production of a favourite Rossini opera. I think it was all a dream, but I may be wrong. The janitor heroine was bolshier than usual. The projected backdrops were surreal -- steampunk cogs, beds of roses, fireworks etc -- and Opera Lyon clearly had great fun, treating the opera with the respect it deserves e.g. not a lot apart from the music. Even the conductor got his moment on stage!
A great finale to a great week of culture (during which I also caught up with several friends). But I could not do all this, so intensively, in Real Life.
I liked this better than the first Ant-Man film, but it's not one of my top ten. Michelle Pfeiffer was excellent: there were some good lines and a female British villain.
Why is it funny when a man is 'possessed' or channelling a woman?
Post-credits scene ties in nicely with the previous Marvel film. And by 'nicely' I mean 'chillingly'.
08AUG18: Translations, NT
Set in rural Ireland in 1833, this is a play about how people communicate, and fail to communicate. The focal characters are Manus (a hedge-school teacher, fluent in Greek and Latin as well as Irish) and his younger brother Owen (who is helping the British 'standardise' Irish placenames -- Colin Morgan excellent in this role). Though all the characters speak English on stage, it's clear that they are actually speaking their 'own' languages: hence miscommunication. Manus' intended, Maire, falls in love with one of the British officers, despite their not having a language in common. When the officer disappears, Manus flees too, because there is no way he can communicate his innocence in the matter.
Edinburgh!
Things in bold are my favourites. Star ratings were awarded immediately after each show, and my opinion may have changed in hindsight.
19AUG18: Edith Hall on Aristotle, Edinburgh Book Festival ★★★★
I was not quite into the swing of Edinburgh at this point, and it was raining, and the tent was packed. Still, Edith Hall said interesting things about Aristotle: his optimism about the future of humanity, the importance of moderation and of steering the self away from animal urges, his philosophy taking the world as it is. 'This [life] is not a rehearsal: this is the sole performance.'
19AUG18: Rachmaninov Vespers ★★★★
Creaky pews in Canongate Kirk punctuated this. The acoustics weren't ideal -- some lack of clarity in the quieter passages -- but the bass voices were outstanding.
20AUG18: Elizabethan ★★★★
David William Hughes sang lute songs, some quite lewd, and a couple in duet with himself (he has a pleasing falsetto). Included a quote from Aqua's 'Barbie Girl', some wigs, a bubble pipe, and audience participation: never sit in the front row!
20AUG18: Violetta ★★★★★
All my favourite bits of Verdi's La Traviata, presented in about an hour by three soloists and a pianist (plus surtitles projected on the church wall). This was an absolute delight and truly moving. I shall be keeping an eye out for Opera Allegra: this was their first production, and it was impressive.
20AUG18: Vulvarine ★★★★★
From the opening song ('Nothing Really Interesting Happens in High Wycombe') this engaged me. Bryony Buckle works in a tax office and goes home every night to her cat Elton. Following a hormone shot and some unseasonable weather, she becomes superhero(ine) Vulvarine -- with powers including understanding what Elton is saying. (Elton has a delightful solo about licking his arse.) There is a shark named Boris, a reference or two to Hamilton, an archvillain known as the Mansplainer, the mysterious destination of the Tampon Tax, some sea urchins, and a post-credits scene. Highly recommended: I'll look out for more by Fat Rascal Theatre.
(Oh look, they are doing a different production in Cambridge and London and other places.)
20AUG18: Shackleton's Stowaway ★★★★
Fourth show of the day: it had a lot to live up to, and was much quieter and more serious. A two-man show, this is the story of Pierce Blackboro, who stowed away on Endurance and clashed with Shackleton. Excellent soundscape (especially when the ship is breaking up), and interesting shift of power and emotion between the two as the play progressed.
21AUG18: Reverend Richard Cole: Confessions ★
Only one star because I thoroughly disliked the interview with Louisa Young, which featured 'amusing' anecdotes about alcoholism and suicide. Richard Cole's introductory ten minutes were fun.
21AUG18: Marvel-us: All the Marvel Movies ★★★
Some good lines ("How many people here sympathise with Thanos? .. wait, you walked down the Royal Mile and didn't want half the people in your way to disappear?" [paraphrase]) and some pertinent observations (Thor, in his first film, being stripped of all his power and privilege apart from, y'know, being a handsome white
21AUG18: Hamilton (Lewis) ★★★★★
Another winner. I was laughing too hard to make notes, but this is an excellent take on Hamilton with original songs, plenty of gender-swapping (Letitia Hector is thoroughly credible as Lewis Hamilton), and real joie de vivre. Initial reviews weren't great, but either they tightened up the show or my mileage varied. NB I know nothing about F1, and my companions knew nothing about Hamilton ...
See it in London! (Sept 5 - 22)
22AUG18: The Electra Legacy ★★★
Orestes and Electra, ill-advised by priests and friends, seeking vengeance for their father Agamemnon's death at the hands of Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. This show needed tightening up: it's 25 minutes before Electra appears, and a lot of the backstory (apparently there was a war in Troy?) was repeated several times. The script felt weirdly formal ('I am genuinely very fond of you,' says Electra's farmer-spouse) and some of the idiosyncratic innovations (guns, not swords) aren't reflected in the spoken word. When the music's good it's very good, as in the opening 'Hail Agamemnon' chorus: but the sound mix was not great and it sounded fuzzy -- not helped that most of the cast wore 'ceramic' (maybe plastic?) masks. And there is a twist regarding Pylades (the best actor in the show) which I really didn't buy.
But it was interesting, and there is a better, shorter play gestating within this 90-minute production.
22AUG18: Mitch Benn: Doing It on Purpose ★★★
On the obsolescence of the political 'left' and 'right': the division is now fantasy versus reality. A cheerful ditty 'the president is batshit can we please impeach him soon'. Solving the transgender issue in five words: 'mind your own fucking business'.
Some hilarious lines, of course, and some good songs: but because Mitch Benn reflects the world as it is, it's hard to do a wholly cheerful show.
22AUG18: Bacchae ★★★★
In which the director is absent and the actors take over: there are two camps, one led by Phoebe (who wants to emphasise Dionysus' feminine aspect) and one by a male purist ('how dare you treat Euripides like this?!').
Slightly too much dancing: quite a bit of post-modernism (they tear the script to pieces as well as -- instead of? -- Pentheus). I enjoyed this at the time but don't recall much about it, because the Bacchae slot in my brain was overwritten the following day.
22AUG18: We've Got Each Other ★★★★
A Bon Jovi jukebox musical based on their greatest hit (I think you know the song I mean) and pretty much entirely imagined: there is, explains Paul O'Donnell the narrator, no budget for things such as a cast, an orchestra, scenery ... Some meditations on the endless desert of the interval, on reality versus belief, and on the epic tragedy of Tommy and Gina. O'Donnell also involves the lighting tech, who sulks a bit. Lots of use of second person narrative ('you know this is going to be dramatic') which reminded me of Welcome to Night Vale. And the ending was stupendous: a standing ovation for an empty stage.
23AUG18: Spoiler Alert ★★★
Jim and his girlfriend have been in a relationship for three years. He doesn't know, or can't remember, her name. She has recently acquired the gift of prophecy, and joins Prophetics Anonymous ('say your name, where you're from, and one fun fact that will apply to you some day'). Basically, they're out of sync, and her foreknowledge -- which is not always accurate, because 'anything can change everything' -- both dooms and saves them.
Well-performed, thought-provoking, funny but not happy.
23AUG18: A Modern Guide to Heroism and Sidekickery ★★★★
The hero is a heroine -- known as the Shadow -- and the sidekick is a writer who keeps changing the story, making her out to be more of a superhero than she is. 'I wish I knew my mysterious secret. The papers make it sound really exciting ...' Reality versus fantasy again!
Michelle Zahner offers interesting observations on the superhero genre (it's harder to find courage than fight a villain; the genre demands villains and evil, but some narratives just don't have that) and concludes 'we need to be our own heroes -- actually, fuck heroes, let's all be sidekicks'.
Fun, funny, and an excellent one-woman show.
23AUG18: Bacchanals ★★★★★
Set in the dressing room of a production of Bacchae, five actresses bitch and bicker. ('Let's all just be nice and supportive,' suggests one. 'WHY?!' chorus the others.) The water in the taps may have turned to wine (or blood). Then one actress returns from a meeting with the director and announces 'he wants us to get our tits out'.
Dionysian frenzy 1, mansplaining 0.
Splendid acting, a creeping sense of menace and weirdness, and squabbles over who owns that dark red lipstick. Utterly compelling.
23AUG18: Midsummer ★★★★★
A drunken weekend in Edinburgh, funded by the proceeds of a dodgy car sale. Helena is a lawyer who's having an affair with a married man: Bob is an extraordinarily average petty criminal. Both have secrets. They also have sex -- one of the funniest and best-directed theatrical sex scenes I've seen -- and agree with one another a lot, surely an indication that they're not at all romantically compatible.
I don't know what gave me the impression that this was set in 1987, but something did: so I was nitpicking throughout ('mobile phones? the tram? how much to park for a day?').
A joyful and life-affirming production that was also hilarious, with excellent acting and great songs. ('If my hangover was a country it would be Belgium').
24AUG18: Brexit ★★★
Reminded me of Yes, Prime Minister etc, except it dithered more without really getting anywhere. 'Schrodinger's Britain: both in and out.... Remainers maraud the Commons like a touring version of Lord of the Flies'. It took me a while to realise that the story wasn't being told chronologically: the scenes with the EU President (?) are later than the scenes between the beleaguered PM and his two key ministers, who he's playing against one another.
Grumpy middle-aged audience, one of whom kept coughing wetly on my back, hence my post-Edinburgh lurgy.
24AUG18: Casus: You and I ★★★★★
Playful romantic gymnastic dance / circus, both artistes showing strength and flexibility as well as the intimacy of a long relationship, where the extraordinary becomes mundane. I loved the music -- would like to know who did the cover of Devotchka's 'Contrabanda' -- and the narrative, which was clear despite there being no spoken dialogue.
24AUG18: Attrape Moi ★★★
I'd probably have liked this a lot more if we hadn't seen it directly after Casus. There were more people (six men, one woman, all looking very hipsterish), the narrative was more of a simple frame and was about friendship rather than a relationship, and it was more traditionally 'circusy' with pauses for applause. Many of the same elements -- torches, hoops, trapeze -- as Casus but performed very differently. They were clearly having fun, and it was a fun show: but a complete change of tone and speed.
24AUG18: La Cenerentola (Rossini)
★★★★
Utterly batshit (and technically / musically gorgeous) production of a favourite Rossini opera. I think it was all a dream, but I may be wrong. The janitor heroine was bolshier than usual. The projected backdrops were surreal -- steampunk cogs, beds of roses, fireworks etc -- and Opera Lyon clearly had great fun, treating the opera with the respect it deserves e.g. not a lot apart from the music. Even the conductor got his moment on stage!
A great finale to a great week of culture (during which I also caught up with several friends). But I could not do all this, so intensively, in Real Life.
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Date: Wednesday, September 5th, 2018 02:13 pm (UTC)