![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Monthly culture, March 2025
05MAR25: The Seagull (Chekhov / Duncan Macmillan and Thomas Ostermeier) -- BarbicanI'd decided I was unwilling to see this, despite Cate Blanchett, because the ticket prices were so ridiculously high (>£150): then spotted two cheap seats, possibly returns, so snapped 'em up. This is a new adaptation of Chekhov's play, which I'd love to read as text: it's funny and savage and poignant. There's music throughout (though frankly 'Golden Brown' and 'Milkman of Human Kindness', the latter sung live, are songs pitched to the average audience age rather than the younger generation on stage) and references to Zelensky. Blanchett, in a fabulous purple jumpsuit and dark glasses, plays up the age theme, but this production is very much on the side of youth. ("No more cultural funding for anyone over forty!") There are midlife crises, and Arkadina's self-centred self-pity elicits some savage retorts from her son Konstantin (Kodi Smit-McPhee in his stage debut: awesome, one to watch).
Note to self: transcribe notes ASAP after a performance, as these are now illegible from a combination of alcohol (then) and water (later: I write with a fountain pen, the ink of which blooms prettily if it gets wet).
Guardian review.
07MAR25: Mitsuko Uchida -- Royal Festival Hall
Who needs an orchestra when a piano can make such sounds? Solo concert by Dame Mitsuko Uchida, though I wasn't too keen on the Schoenberg. Kurtág was new to me and a pleasant surprise. The Schubert sonata was immensely resonant, filling the hall. Beethoven: Sonata in E minor, Op.90 / Schoenberg: 3 Pieces, Op.11 / György Kurtág: Márta ligaturája / Schubert: Sonata in B flat, D.960.
08MAR25: The Magic Flute (Mozart / John Savournin and David Eaton) -- Wilton's Music Hall
Mozart's most ridiculous opera given a 'Lost Cities of the Amazon' flavour and some dubious stereotyping. The three ladies were contemplating ritual sacrifice, but Tamino's good looks dissuaded them. The Queen is revealed as a Bad 'Un early on. Matthew Kellet as Papageno was excellent, with great stage presence, and very funny. Less broad comedy than the usual Charles Court Opera production, but a fun translation (Papageno: 'with my coquette, I'll be the ... cock') and a splendid stage design, full of snaky vines and bird-head masks and Ancient Ruins.
13MAR25: Polite Society (Manzoor, 2023) -- Netflix
Rewatch for film group. (My original review here.) N pointed out that it's very much a film of two halves: first the teenage rebellion, then the sci-fi horror. Still very good.
14MAR25: Mickey17 (Bong Joon Ho, 2025) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Set in 2054, with Robert Pattinson as a hapless and not-very-bright 'Expendable', a disposable worker (/ experimental animal) who gets cloned every time he dies. Which is a lot, as the operation on ice planet Niflheim is overseen by sinister politician Kenneth Marshall (a gloriously evil Mark Ruffalo) and his lovely wife Ylfa (Toni Colette, awesome). Includes likeable aliens, mortal peril, clones, romance and some really dark humour. I liked it very much.
20MAR25: Helios (Luke Jerram) -- Painted Hall, Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich
Jerram's latest large, illuminated, rotating globes, in the baroque splendour of the Painted Hall (where, this time, we spotted half a zodiac). The Earth, the Moon and Mars were all more interesting because more features, though there were sunspots and a cunning flickery effect.
20MAR25: The Outrun (Fingscheidt, 2024) -- Netflix
Based on Amy Liptrot's memoir about returning to Orkney, where she grew up, to combat her alcholism. Saoirse Ronan plays Amy, and there are a lot of shots of glorious wild nature on Orkney and the surrounding islands. I found the scenes of Amy's London life, with alcohol-fuelled blackouts and attacks and bad behaviour, quite unsettling(ly like my twenties, though much worse), and the scenes with her bipolar father were also distressing: but the theme of salvation through nature and solitude was uplifting.
21MAR25: Flow (Zilbalodis, 2024) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Absolutely beautiful dialogue-free animation, which deserved its Oscar. The setting is a ?post-human countryside, the water is rising, the nameless Cat (our protagonist) sleeps in its human's house but has to flee when the flood comes. Light and shadows, light on water, looking down into the deep clear sea: trees rushing upwards from the water -- an illusion, the water is sinking... There's no artificial smoothing, but the movement always feels smooth.
I cried most of the way through. Poor cat without its human! Poor frightened cat! But it was such a beautiful film, and the found-family theme was nicely handled.
22MAR25: Tarot -- Warburg Institute
Rare and historic decks, evolution of tarot as mysticism / pop culture, some splendid artwork -- I especially liked the Hexen 2.0 and Hexen 5.0 decks by Suzanne Treister, featuring William Gibson, Nikolai Tesla, Greta Thunberg -- and the splendid Austin Osman Spare deck (with 'Strength' missing: there's a story there, surely). I'd have liked more items in the shop, though.
22MAR25: Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare / Jamie Lloyd) -- Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Featuring Tom Hiddleston as Benedick, Hayley Atwell as Beatrice, and the awesome Mason Alexander Park as Margaret; cardboard standees of Loki and Peggy Carter; 90s club soundtrack / houseparty setting, lots of pink and glitter, ingenious staging, and sheer joyousness. Some sections of the play have been cut (no Dogberry) and some of the original songs didn't really work for me. And the second half is really very dark. Nevertheless, I loved it!
23MAR25: Requiem (Mozart) -- Blackheath Halls
soprano Ailish Tynan, tenor Nick Pritchard, bass James Platt, alto Miro Treharne, and the excellent Blackheath Halls Choir and Orchestra. (all soloists good, Platt has a really full voice and Treharne a mellow one). I realised that I know the first half much better than the second (I blame Amadeus) and also that there is a distinctly Baroque sound to it -- maybe the harmonies, maybe the relatively simple brass parts (instruments not as agile as they'd be later).
Note to self: transcribe notes ASAP after a performance, as these are now illegible from a combination of alcohol (then) and water (later: I write with a fountain pen, the ink of which blooms prettily if it gets wet).
Guardian review.
07MAR25: Mitsuko Uchida -- Royal Festival Hall
Who needs an orchestra when a piano can make such sounds? Solo concert by Dame Mitsuko Uchida, though I wasn't too keen on the Schoenberg. Kurtág was new to me and a pleasant surprise. The Schubert sonata was immensely resonant, filling the hall. Beethoven: Sonata in E minor, Op.90 / Schoenberg: 3 Pieces, Op.11 / György Kurtág: Márta ligaturája / Schubert: Sonata in B flat, D.960.
08MAR25: The Magic Flute (Mozart / John Savournin and David Eaton) -- Wilton's Music Hall
Mozart's most ridiculous opera given a 'Lost Cities of the Amazon' flavour and some dubious stereotyping. The three ladies were contemplating ritual sacrifice, but Tamino's good looks dissuaded them. The Queen is revealed as a Bad 'Un early on. Matthew Kellet as Papageno was excellent, with great stage presence, and very funny. Less broad comedy than the usual Charles Court Opera production, but a fun translation (Papageno: 'with my coquette, I'll be the ... cock') and a splendid stage design, full of snaky vines and bird-head masks and Ancient Ruins.
13MAR25: Polite Society (Manzoor, 2023) -- Netflix
Rewatch for film group. (My original review here.) N pointed out that it's very much a film of two halves: first the teenage rebellion, then the sci-fi horror. Still very good.
14MAR25: Mickey17 (Bong Joon Ho, 2025) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Set in 2054, with Robert Pattinson as a hapless and not-very-bright 'Expendable', a disposable worker (/ experimental animal) who gets cloned every time he dies. Which is a lot, as the operation on ice planet Niflheim is overseen by sinister politician Kenneth Marshall (a gloriously evil Mark Ruffalo) and his lovely wife Ylfa (Toni Colette, awesome). Includes likeable aliens, mortal peril, clones, romance and some really dark humour. I liked it very much.
20MAR25: Helios (Luke Jerram) -- Painted Hall, Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich
Jerram's latest large, illuminated, rotating globes, in the baroque splendour of the Painted Hall (where, this time, we spotted half a zodiac). The Earth, the Moon and Mars were all more interesting because more features, though there were sunspots and a cunning flickery effect.
20MAR25: The Outrun (Fingscheidt, 2024) -- Netflix
Based on Amy Liptrot's memoir about returning to Orkney, where she grew up, to combat her alcholism. Saoirse Ronan plays Amy, and there are a lot of shots of glorious wild nature on Orkney and the surrounding islands. I found the scenes of Amy's London life, with alcohol-fuelled blackouts and attacks and bad behaviour, quite unsettling(ly like my twenties, though much worse), and the scenes with her bipolar father were also distressing: but the theme of salvation through nature and solitude was uplifting.
21MAR25: Flow (Zilbalodis, 2024) -- Greenwich PictureHouse
Absolutely beautiful dialogue-free animation, which deserved its Oscar. The setting is a ?post-human countryside, the water is rising, the nameless Cat (our protagonist) sleeps in its human's house but has to flee when the flood comes. Light and shadows, light on water, looking down into the deep clear sea: trees rushing upwards from the water -- an illusion, the water is sinking... There's no artificial smoothing, but the movement always feels smooth.
I cried most of the way through. Poor cat without its human! Poor frightened cat! But it was such a beautiful film, and the found-family theme was nicely handled.
22MAR25: Tarot -- Warburg Institute
22MAR25: Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare / Jamie Lloyd) -- Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Featuring Tom Hiddleston as Benedick, Hayley Atwell as Beatrice, and the awesome Mason Alexander Park as Margaret; cardboard standees of Loki and Peggy Carter; 90s club soundtrack / houseparty setting, lots of pink and glitter, ingenious staging, and sheer joyousness. Some sections of the play have been cut (no Dogberry) and some of the original songs didn't really work for me. And the second half is really very dark. Nevertheless, I loved it!
23MAR25: Requiem (Mozart) -- Blackheath Halls
soprano Ailish Tynan, tenor Nick Pritchard, bass James Platt, alto Miro Treharne, and the excellent Blackheath Halls Choir and Orchestra. (all soloists good, Platt has a really full voice and Treharne a mellow one). I realised that I know the first half much better than the second (I blame Amadeus) and also that there is a distinctly Baroque sound to it -- maybe the harmonies, maybe the relatively simple brass parts (instruments not as agile as they'd be later).