Monthly culture: August 2022
Tuesday, September 20th, 2022 06:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranth04AUG22: Love Birds (Murphy, 2011) -- Netflix
A sweet, low-key New Zealand rom-com featuring Rhys Darby, a duck, and a woman who emigrated from Lewisham to New Zealand. Some unresolved plot threads, but overall a pleasant movie.
05AUG22: Bullet Train (Leith, 2022) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
The Guardian hated it, but I was pleasantly surprised: Brad Pitt is charming as a laid-back assassin who comes out with utterances such as 'let this be a lesson in the toxicity of anger', and spends a lot of time being zen about his luck, which is not great. There is a Japanese schoolgirl who is awesome, and a pair of hapless criminals — Tangerine and Lemon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry — who complement one another very nicely. Candyfloss, but beautifully filmed and often funny candyfloss. Great soundtrack, too.
11AUG22: Bohemian Rhapsody (Singer, 2018) -- Netflix
Saw this at the cinema when it came out (review): more than happy to watch it again with virtual film club. There's a lot of dramatic license, and some straight-out myth making, but I like it much more than I like Rocketman - the arc is bigger, more emotional, and more moving. This is also a very funny film in places.
18AUG22: Arrietty (Yonebayashi, 2010) -- Netflix
Watched in a bit of a daze whilst packing for Edinburgh. This is based on Mary Norton's The Borrowers: it's very pretty, features an intrepid heroine, has themes of first contact and colonialism; scary kitty; some splendid shots.
in which I discover that my Long Covid symptoms are considerably worse than they were in 2021.
21AUG22: Medea (Euripides/Liz Lockhead: National Theatre of Scotland: The Hub, Edinburgh)
Minimalist, brilliant version of the play: no sugar-coating here. Jason's first line is 'It's not what you think'. The chorus, who are on little stools dispersed through the audience, pull no punches. 'So your man fucks another?' 'Fuck him'. Medea (Adura Onashile) is elegant and refined, while everyone else is rough-edged, Scottish-accented. It's a timeless production with mention of police, telegraph boy, hospital: Medea addresses the chorus as 'women of all times'. Glance (Alana Jackson) is a recognisable stereotype, horribly patronising. Her fate is off-stage (though vividly described), as is the children's. 'Jason has suffered most horribly today, as he well deserved to,' observe the chorus as Medea appears, red to the elbows. Awesome and disturbing, as it should be.
22AUG22: A Matter of Time (Anjali Singh: C Cubed, Edinburgh)>
Started off rather weakly with Singh cosplaying a grandfather clock, but turned into an interesting monologue about time, seasons, Hamilton, the decision of whether or not to have children, and colonialism. ('It's hard to classify approaches to the indigenous people as good or bad. Because they're all bad.') Heartfelt and funny, though not always at the same time.
22AUG22: Antigone: the Musical (Hard Luck Musicals: Surgeons Hall, Edinburgh)
Some really good lines (the opening song is 'Two Dickhead Brothers') and some strong performances. Minimal props include cardboard columns, rotated to reveal a tyrant's library: 'Tyranny for Dummies' and a book by Boris Johnson … This production has a 'new improved ending', which actually works pretty well and is a suitable fable for our time.
23AUG22: It's About Time (Mitch Benn: Underbelly, Bristo Square, Edinburgh)
I was mostly laughing too much to write down the good bits. 'Liz Truss as PM — the end of satire as an industry and maybe as a concept'. Brexit as Britpop for boomers, WW2 envy. Good songs, personable performer, cheerfully bleak.
23AUG22: Fascinating Aida (Assembly, George Square, Edinburgh)
Apparently Fascinating Aida have been going for 39 years, which means that I first heard them when they were just starting out … Songs I hadn't heard before, about the climate catastrophe ('summer's come, it'll never go away'), and Adele singing about being trans, 'Prisoner of Gender', a song which manages to get away with rhyming 'puberty' and 'Schuberty'. Fun!
24AUG22: Richard Eggar and Friends (Queens Hall, Edinburgh)
Baroque music for three violins, with accompanying harpsichord / theorbo / double bass. Gabrieli, Purcell, Lully, Rossi (weird tuning / tempo, apparently reminds Eggar of having a migraine: I can relate); Pachelbel Canon and Gigue, which rocked. Available on BBC Sounds for a few more days …
24AUG22: The Actress (Long Lane Theatre Company: Underbelly, Bristo Square, Edinburgh)
Familiar territory from Stage Beauty / The Libertine et cetera: the first women on the English stage. This is the story of the rivalry of Anne Marshall (young, gifted, naive: horrified to discover that she's expected to give a strip-show backstage) and Margaret Hughes (older, slinkier, wittier: perfectly happy with taking her clothes off for money). This production has a small cast, and the play manages a 'twist' by not telling us that Anne's friend is Nell Gwynn. Nicely done, with good charisma between the actors.
24AUG22: An Evening Without Kate Bush (Sarah-Louise Young and Russell Lucas: Assembly George Square Gardens, Edinburgh)
This might've been the highlight of my week: a show inspired by the music of Kate Bush, and by her fans. Sarah-Louise Young is a gifted mimic, not afraid to look daft at times (there were a lot of costume changes, some more fetching than others), and brimming with warmth and affectionate humour. I especially liked that she asked the audience various questions early on, and only selected 'assistants' / co-performers from people who'd already shown a desire to participate. There was a delightful singalong rendition of 'Babushka' with the correct Russian pronunciation - first syllable, not second, is stressed — and a spooky-hilarious 'Army Dreamers' with handheld eye-lights. Full of heart and joy and shared life experience.
24AUG22: Say You're With Me (Larkhall: Summerhall, Edinburgh)
Larkhall plays solo piano compositions, accompanied by 'live-reactive visual interpretations' produced by an intelligent system which uses the score to generate graphics. Restful but didn't wow me: it felt a little too much like watching early computer-generated fractals while listening to music. I think I needed a better understanding of how the coding and the music fitted together.
25AUG22: Little Sparta
An expedition to the Pentland Hills to wander through a sculpture garden, reading words carved into stone and wood, gazing at actual horizons instead of city streets. Ruins, idylls, bricks with incised letters (but sometimes, I think, just the brickworks name!), references to WW2 and to antiquity. Truly peaceful and restorative.
25AUG22: The Jungle Book Reimagined (Akram Khan Company: Festival Theatre, Edinburgh)
The waters are rising, and Mowgli (a young girl) is separated from her family while they seek higher ground. She's found by animals who've escaped from zoos / labs: they value her tin-opening skills, but she can't communicate with them. Kaa (represented by a set of cardboard boxes, surprisingly characterful) is scary and her song to Bagheera is eerie and lovely. This production worked well as modern dance, but less successful as a narrative. There wasn't enough distinction between the different animals, and though the projected animations (on a gauze between audience and stage) were beautifully done, they didn't knit events together. If I were a child hoping to see 'The Jungle Book' I'd have been bitterly disappointed: as an adult with no strong expectations, it was interesting but not that engaging. Music by Jocelyn Pook.
26AUG22: The Philadelphia Orchestra Plays Florence Price (Philadelphia Orchestra, Usher Hall, Edinburgh)
Appalling traffic meant that getting to this final event was rather fraught, but we made it! I had forgotten just how splendid a full orchestra can be: the Philadelphia Orchestra certainly did justice to Florence Price (the first Black woman to have her music performed by a major symphony orchestra),. I also found Gabriela Lena Frank' 'Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout' fascinating, and there was a refreshing absence of panpipes!. The third piece was Szymanowski's Violin Concerto, which I already knew I did not like: I'd forgotten how fertile a big concert can be as a place to write fiction …
A sweet, low-key New Zealand rom-com featuring Rhys Darby, a duck, and a woman who emigrated from Lewisham to New Zealand. Some unresolved plot threads, but overall a pleasant movie.
05AUG22: Bullet Train (Leith, 2022) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
The Guardian hated it, but I was pleasantly surprised: Brad Pitt is charming as a laid-back assassin who comes out with utterances such as 'let this be a lesson in the toxicity of anger', and spends a lot of time being zen about his luck, which is not great. There is a Japanese schoolgirl who is awesome, and a pair of hapless criminals — Tangerine and Lemon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry — who complement one another very nicely. Candyfloss, but beautifully filmed and often funny candyfloss. Great soundtrack, too.
11AUG22: Bohemian Rhapsody (Singer, 2018) -- Netflix
Saw this at the cinema when it came out (review): more than happy to watch it again with virtual film club. There's a lot of dramatic license, and some straight-out myth making, but I like it much more than I like Rocketman - the arc is bigger, more emotional, and more moving. This is also a very funny film in places.
18AUG22: Arrietty (Yonebayashi, 2010) -- Netflix
Watched in a bit of a daze whilst packing for Edinburgh. This is based on Mary Norton's The Borrowers: it's very pretty, features an intrepid heroine, has themes of first contact and colonialism; scary kitty; some splendid shots.
Edinburgh 2022
in which I discover that my Long Covid symptoms are considerably worse than they were in 2021.
21AUG22: Medea (Euripides/Liz Lockhead: National Theatre of Scotland: The Hub, Edinburgh)
Minimalist, brilliant version of the play: no sugar-coating here. Jason's first line is 'It's not what you think'. The chorus, who are on little stools dispersed through the audience, pull no punches. 'So your man fucks another?' 'Fuck him'. Medea (Adura Onashile) is elegant and refined, while everyone else is rough-edged, Scottish-accented. It's a timeless production with mention of police, telegraph boy, hospital: Medea addresses the chorus as 'women of all times'. Glance (Alana Jackson) is a recognisable stereotype, horribly patronising. Her fate is off-stage (though vividly described), as is the children's. 'Jason has suffered most horribly today, as he well deserved to,' observe the chorus as Medea appears, red to the elbows. Awesome and disturbing, as it should be.
22AUG22: A Matter of Time (Anjali Singh: C Cubed, Edinburgh)>
Started off rather weakly with Singh cosplaying a grandfather clock, but turned into an interesting monologue about time, seasons, Hamilton, the decision of whether or not to have children, and colonialism. ('It's hard to classify approaches to the indigenous people as good or bad. Because they're all bad.') Heartfelt and funny, though not always at the same time.
22AUG22: Antigone: the Musical (Hard Luck Musicals: Surgeons Hall, Edinburgh)
Some really good lines (the opening song is 'Two Dickhead Brothers') and some strong performances. Minimal props include cardboard columns, rotated to reveal a tyrant's library: 'Tyranny for Dummies' and a book by Boris Johnson … This production has a 'new improved ending', which actually works pretty well and is a suitable fable for our time.
23AUG22: It's About Time (Mitch Benn: Underbelly, Bristo Square, Edinburgh)
I was mostly laughing too much to write down the good bits. 'Liz Truss as PM — the end of satire as an industry and maybe as a concept'. Brexit as Britpop for boomers, WW2 envy. Good songs, personable performer, cheerfully bleak.
23AUG22: Fascinating Aida (Assembly, George Square, Edinburgh)
Apparently Fascinating Aida have been going for 39 years, which means that I first heard them when they were just starting out … Songs I hadn't heard before, about the climate catastrophe ('summer's come, it'll never go away'), and Adele singing about being trans, 'Prisoner of Gender', a song which manages to get away with rhyming 'puberty' and 'Schuberty'. Fun!
24AUG22: Richard Eggar and Friends (Queens Hall, Edinburgh)
Baroque music for three violins, with accompanying harpsichord / theorbo / double bass. Gabrieli, Purcell, Lully, Rossi (weird tuning / tempo, apparently reminds Eggar of having a migraine: I can relate); Pachelbel Canon and Gigue, which rocked. Available on BBC Sounds for a few more days …
24AUG22: The Actress (Long Lane Theatre Company: Underbelly, Bristo Square, Edinburgh)
Familiar territory from Stage Beauty / The Libertine et cetera: the first women on the English stage. This is the story of the rivalry of Anne Marshall (young, gifted, naive: horrified to discover that she's expected to give a strip-show backstage) and Margaret Hughes (older, slinkier, wittier: perfectly happy with taking her clothes off for money). This production has a small cast, and the play manages a 'twist' by not telling us that Anne's friend is Nell Gwynn. Nicely done, with good charisma between the actors.
24AUG22: An Evening Without Kate Bush (Sarah-Louise Young and Russell Lucas: Assembly George Square Gardens, Edinburgh)
This might've been the highlight of my week: a show inspired by the music of Kate Bush, and by her fans. Sarah-Louise Young is a gifted mimic, not afraid to look daft at times (there were a lot of costume changes, some more fetching than others), and brimming with warmth and affectionate humour. I especially liked that she asked the audience various questions early on, and only selected 'assistants' / co-performers from people who'd already shown a desire to participate. There was a delightful singalong rendition of 'Babushka' with the correct Russian pronunciation - first syllable, not second, is stressed — and a spooky-hilarious 'Army Dreamers' with handheld eye-lights. Full of heart and joy and shared life experience.
24AUG22: Say You're With Me (Larkhall: Summerhall, Edinburgh)
Larkhall plays solo piano compositions, accompanied by 'live-reactive visual interpretations' produced by an intelligent system which uses the score to generate graphics. Restful but didn't wow me: it felt a little too much like watching early computer-generated fractals while listening to music. I think I needed a better understanding of how the coding and the music fitted together.
25AUG22: Little Sparta
An expedition to the Pentland Hills to wander through a sculpture garden, reading words carved into stone and wood, gazing at actual horizons instead of city streets. Ruins, idylls, bricks with incised letters (but sometimes, I think, just the brickworks name!), references to WW2 and to antiquity. Truly peaceful and restorative.
25AUG22: The Jungle Book Reimagined (Akram Khan Company: Festival Theatre, Edinburgh)
The waters are rising, and Mowgli (a young girl) is separated from her family while they seek higher ground. She's found by animals who've escaped from zoos / labs: they value her tin-opening skills, but she can't communicate with them. Kaa (represented by a set of cardboard boxes, surprisingly characterful) is scary and her song to Bagheera is eerie and lovely. This production worked well as modern dance, but less successful as a narrative. There wasn't enough distinction between the different animals, and though the projected animations (on a gauze between audience and stage) were beautifully done, they didn't knit events together. If I were a child hoping to see 'The Jungle Book' I'd have been bitterly disappointed: as an adult with no strong expectations, it was interesting but not that engaging. Music by Jocelyn Pook.
26AUG22: The Philadelphia Orchestra Plays Florence Price (Philadelphia Orchestra, Usher Hall, Edinburgh)
Appalling traffic meant that getting to this final event was rather fraught, but we made it! I had forgotten just how splendid a full orchestra can be: the Philadelphia Orchestra certainly did justice to Florence Price (the first Black woman to have her music performed by a major symphony orchestra),. I also found Gabriela Lena Frank' 'Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout' fascinating, and there was a refreshing absence of panpipes!. The third piece was Szymanowski's Violin Concerto, which I already knew I did not like: I'd forgotten how fertile a big concert can be as a place to write fiction …
no subject
Date: Wednesday, September 21st, 2022 10:00 am (UTC)