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tamaranthThe Wild Man of the West Indies -- Donizetti (ETO: Hackney Empire, 12-Mar-15)
Excellent cast, usual inane opera plot hinging on improbable coincidences (though the plot did remind me somewhat of Twelfth Night. I was somewhat thrown by the translation, which made Donizetti's farm setting into a plantation: this sharpens and darkens the whole plot.
Antigone -- Sophocles (Barbican: Ivo van Hove, 14-Mar-15)
Making the cast double as main characters and chorus was a good idea, but it was hard to tell who they were being at any one time. And I do prefer my live theatre to be unamplified -- the actors were using microphones, and we could hear them breathing. (I could also hear distinct line ends in some of Kirsty Bushell's lines!) But overall this was an awesome production with conviction and credibility. Antigone's crime is putting the personal before the political, and there was a strong sense of the tension between the two. The stage, with its faux-eclipse backdrop, was unfussy and timeless. And ending the play with a dialogue-free montage of events (a technique reminiscent of several recent films, such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) to the accompaniment of the Velvet Underground's 'Heroin' was so effective that I wish it was done more often.
Paloma Faith (O2, 25-Mar-15)
The gold frock and the white plastic stage-set made me think 'Pop Star Barbie'! And in truth Paloma Faith's set was mostly much poppier (soul-influenced rather than blues / alternative) than I'd expected -- I do prefer the earlier songs, and was pleased that she did 'Stone Cold Sober' and 'New York'. Between songs, she was more fun -- exhorting us to vote, pointing out that the audience outnumbered the security guards 'so just stay on your feet and dance' (Occupy the O2!), talking about politics and music and Hackney, and recounting anecdotes from a strongly socialist upbringing.
An audience of 20,000 is rather scary: this may have been the largest indoor, ticketed audience I've ever been a part of. But hurrah for seats in a corporate box! Would use again.
Love me to Death -- Tom Randle (preview / workshop), Barbican, 18-Apr-15
I do not like modern opera. The subject matter of this one (Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged for murder in Britain) is an interesting one, which Randle [formerly a singer himself: I have very fond memories of his Oberon in Purcell's The Fairy Queen for the ENO in the late 1990s] and librettist Nikki Racklin treat with compassion and respect. I ended up wanting to know more about Ellis and the conspiracy theories surrounding her trial and execution.
The singers (including Gillian Keith, and an astonishingly loud Andrew Dickinson) were excellent and transformed a bare stage and minimal props into credible settings.
But I do not like modern opera.
Child 44 -- Odeon IMAX Greenwich, 19-Apr-15
Disappointing: could have been a good dark Soviet cold war thriller / police procedural ('there is no murder in paradise', but someone's killing little boys) but instead was a slow, disjointed, murky narrative that didn't seem joined up. Tom Hardy, as Leo, was especially disappointing: his characterisation was subtle (maybe too subtle: I didn't realise that other characters saw him as a fearsome monster until he asked if he was one) but -- like the other actors, but more so -- his thick Russian accent verged on the comedic.
This film was banned in Russia. (Apparently they didn't like the portrayal of Soviet Russia as 'like Mordor'.) Lucky Russians.
Will Butler, Scala, London, 22-Apr-15
not much like Arcade Fire, but really very good and incredibly energetic.
Avengers: Age of Ultron -- various places in London, 23 to 26-Apr-15
Good, but I didn't like it as much as the first one. Some nice shout-outs to fans, and some good one-liners, and some horrible retconning of character, and some spectacular scenes with a real double-page-spread feel.
I think I went into this film with more of a willingness to suspend disbelief and cynicism than many did -- some nasty sexism completely passed me by, and it took me a second viewing to notice a major plot hole.
Mad Max: Fury Road -- Cineworld West India Quay, 15-May-15
Despite the mens' rights activists decrying "feminist propaganda... a piece of American culture ruined and rewritten right in front of their very eyes", I hadn't really believed this would be a feminist film. I was wrong. Charlize Theron's Imperator Furiosa is definitely the hero, and Tom Hardy (who, in a massive breakout, plays a character who is mad -- oh, wait ...) is, though equally stunning a protagonist, not the character who changes most.
Also very pretty. And very loud.
Excellent cast, usual inane opera plot hinging on improbable coincidences (though the plot did remind me somewhat of Twelfth Night. I was somewhat thrown by the translation, which made Donizetti's farm setting into a plantation: this sharpens and darkens the whole plot.
Antigone -- Sophocles (Barbican: Ivo van Hove, 14-Mar-15)
Making the cast double as main characters and chorus was a good idea, but it was hard to tell who they were being at any one time. And I do prefer my live theatre to be unamplified -- the actors were using microphones, and we could hear them breathing. (I could also hear distinct line ends in some of Kirsty Bushell's lines!) But overall this was an awesome production with conviction and credibility. Antigone's crime is putting the personal before the political, and there was a strong sense of the tension between the two. The stage, with its faux-eclipse backdrop, was unfussy and timeless. And ending the play with a dialogue-free montage of events (a technique reminiscent of several recent films, such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) to the accompaniment of the Velvet Underground's 'Heroin' was so effective that I wish it was done more often.
Paloma Faith (O2, 25-Mar-15)
The gold frock and the white plastic stage-set made me think 'Pop Star Barbie'! And in truth Paloma Faith's set was mostly much poppier (soul-influenced rather than blues / alternative) than I'd expected -- I do prefer the earlier songs, and was pleased that she did 'Stone Cold Sober' and 'New York'. Between songs, she was more fun -- exhorting us to vote, pointing out that the audience outnumbered the security guards 'so just stay on your feet and dance' (Occupy the O2!), talking about politics and music and Hackney, and recounting anecdotes from a strongly socialist upbringing.
An audience of 20,000 is rather scary: this may have been the largest indoor, ticketed audience I've ever been a part of. But hurrah for seats in a corporate box! Would use again.
Love me to Death -- Tom Randle (preview / workshop), Barbican, 18-Apr-15
I do not like modern opera. The subject matter of this one (Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged for murder in Britain) is an interesting one, which Randle [formerly a singer himself: I have very fond memories of his Oberon in Purcell's The Fairy Queen for the ENO in the late 1990s] and librettist Nikki Racklin treat with compassion and respect. I ended up wanting to know more about Ellis and the conspiracy theories surrounding her trial and execution.
The singers (including Gillian Keith, and an astonishingly loud Andrew Dickinson) were excellent and transformed a bare stage and minimal props into credible settings.
But I do not like modern opera.
Child 44 -- Odeon IMAX Greenwich, 19-Apr-15
Disappointing: could have been a good dark Soviet cold war thriller / police procedural ('there is no murder in paradise', but someone's killing little boys) but instead was a slow, disjointed, murky narrative that didn't seem joined up. Tom Hardy, as Leo, was especially disappointing: his characterisation was subtle (maybe too subtle: I didn't realise that other characters saw him as a fearsome monster until he asked if he was one) but -- like the other actors, but more so -- his thick Russian accent verged on the comedic.
This film was banned in Russia. (Apparently they didn't like the portrayal of Soviet Russia as 'like Mordor'.) Lucky Russians.
Will Butler, Scala, London, 22-Apr-15
not much like Arcade Fire, but really very good and incredibly energetic.
Avengers: Age of Ultron -- various places in London, 23 to 26-Apr-15
Good, but I didn't like it as much as the first one. Some nice shout-outs to fans, and some good one-liners, and some horrible retconning of character, and some spectacular scenes with a real double-page-spread feel.
I think I went into this film with more of a willingness to suspend disbelief and cynicism than many did -- some nasty sexism completely passed me by, and it took me a second viewing to notice a major plot hole.
Mad Max: Fury Road -- Cineworld West India Quay, 15-May-15
Despite the mens' rights activists decrying "feminist propaganda... a piece of American culture ruined and rewritten right in front of their very eyes", I hadn't really believed this would be a feminist film. I was wrong. Charlize Theron's Imperator Furiosa is definitely the hero, and Tom Hardy (who, in a massive breakout, plays a character who is mad -- oh, wait ...) is, though equally stunning a protagonist, not the character who changes most.
Also very pretty. And very loud.
