2018/79: The Silent Companions - Laura Purcell

2018/79: The Silent Companions - Laura Purcell

All those toys, the memorabilia of childhood. Perhaps it was different if you grew up happy, with memories of your father dandling you on his knee and your mother kissing your tears away. But for Elsie there was nothing but fear. Fear for the baby. Fear of the baby. [p. 58]

Elsie, pregnant and recently widowed, makes her first visit to her late husband Rupert's ancestral home, The Bridge. She is accompanied by Rupert's cousin, the mousy-locked Sarah, who provides a shred of human contact in an inexplicably hostile household. ( minor spoilers )

Monthly culture: December 2018

15DEC18: Hadestown, National Theatre
Much-hyped new musical with rather more of a Southern, blues-oriented feel than Hamilton: Hadestown is based on the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, Persephone and Hades. (Demeter does not feature here: she has been amalgamated into her daughter.) Times are hard because the gods have forgotten the song of their love. Hades is building an industrial empire below ground because he misses Persephone -- who, on her return from the world, is unimpressed. "It ain't right, and it ain't natural."

Orpheus is a young musician, who falls in love with young drifter Eurydice. But Eurydice makes a deal with Hades ("I only buy what others sell") and Orpheus, who's neglected her in favour of his music, suddenly realises that she's almost lost to him. So down to Hadestown he goes, to fetch back 'his' woman.

I think we all know what happens next.

There's a post-credits song that hints at a happier outcome some time soon: but on the whole there are no happy endings, and hints of climate change and wall-building ("We build the wall to keep us free") make it a horribly topical production.

I loved the music and most of the performances, but the pacing of the second half really dragged, and Orpheus' masterwork was weak.


28DEC18: Aquaman, Cineworld West India Quay
29DEC18: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, Greenwich Picturehouse

I saw these two films within 24 hours, so shall review them together. One was a witty, twisty, well-scripted and very human story with lots of strong female characters and some stunning visuals. The other one featured a dress made of jellyfish, which is Nightmare Fuel as far as I am concerned.

The Aquaman script was truly dreadful ("not before we have defeated you first!") and lacked humour: the plot was superhero-cliche, concerning a world-threatening villain who can only be stopped by our Hero. It did have some lovely shots, and young Aquaman's first explorations of his powers had true joy. However, the soundtrack was fragmented and never really came together, and I was unable to detect much in the way of personalities.

I had not expected to be so wowed by Into the Spider-verse, but it was funny, self-referential, surprisingly twisty and marvellously drawn. The plot was on a human, rather than a heroic, scale -- about being brave, taking a leap of faith, and dealing with the reversals of teenage life -- and for all the extravagant visuals, it felt more realistic than Aquaman. Plus a nice Stan Lee cameo, a villain who just wants his family back, and a soundtrack that made me bounce.