tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-210988692024-03-28T13:48:12.225+00:00Alan in BelfastIn a world where a blog is created every second does the world really need another blog? Well, it's got one.
An irregular set of postings, weaving an intricate pattern around a diverse set of subjects. Comment on culture, technology, politics and the occasional rant about life.
Alan ... in Belfast, Northern IrelandAlan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.comBlogger3177125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-14456153438015874802024-03-28T12:41:00.000+00:002024-03-28T12:41:12.588+00:00This Sh*t Happens All the Time – invisible and vulnerable yet seeking to be safe and recognised (Grand Opera House until Saturday 30 March)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiOYQFqy3h6lG-4-zYJxrMJopl1pPpCMysWiMyg0Ke-P-Wdy3EFvBI_wx2unYbSbDpb7RinIdF8a0MnI-Tl81ZzyQtPJhWTfkAYvzsaekEVjvtkET4_P3Wxjfm3wF6fzY_d3C2dLWtBS9uVdveyruqOiWtl-x6cGhUT_GljspEonY8LzgFkEU/s4096/This%20Sht%20happens%20all%20the%20time%20nicky%20harley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2731" data-original-width="4096" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiOYQFqy3h6lG-4-zYJxrMJopl1pPpCMysWiMyg0Ke-P-Wdy3EFvBI_wx2unYbSbDpb7RinIdF8a0MnI-Tl81ZzyQtPJhWTfkAYvzsaekEVjvtkET4_P3Wxjfm3wF6fzY_d3C2dLWtBS9uVdveyruqOiWtl-x6cGhUT_GljspEonY8LzgFkEU/w400-h266/This%20Sht%20happens%20all%20the%20time%20nicky%20harley.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Amanda Verlaque’s autobiographical monologue has lost none of its shock and potency in this latest production. <i><b><a href="https://www.goh.co.uk/whats-on/this-sht-happens-all-the-time">This Sh*t Happens All the Time</a></b></i> relates to her experience as a university student, falling in love and receiving a death threat for her trouble when her relationship unexpected turns into a prickly ménage à trois. It’s a tale of male violence, police distrust, invisibility and vulnerability.<p></p><p>It is rare to see three different versions of the same play. But it’s a treat when it happens to discover how different directors in different venues with a different cast can use the same script but adapt the tone and throw light in different places.</p><p>The <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2019/11/this-sht-happens-all-time-deeply.html">original 2019 Outburst Arts Festival outing</a> was a rehearsed reading in a packed Black Box’s Green Room. Paula McFetridge directed a vibrant Nicky Harley whose accents and mannerisms completely held the audience’s attention.</p><p>The play <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2022/03/this-sht-happens-all-time-playwright.html">returned as part of Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics this time last year</a> in the Lyric Theatre studio, set up with a wide thrust stage and seating on three sides. Rhiann Jeffrey directed a very stylish and immediate production, starting with Caoimhe Farren’s sharp green jumpsuit. Garth McConaghie’s big soundscape blasted club tunes into scenes. Sarah Jane Shields’ powerful and atmospheric lighting clearly delineated the scenes and even created a propless university quad that Caoimhe could pace around.</p><p>This latest production couldn’t be more different. The neon sign is all that remains. The tiered seating in the Grand Opera House studio looks down on a thin sliver of stage: the audience feels much closer to the action than the thrust layout and more voluminous wooden floor of the Lyric. Nicky Harley is back – wearing a crumpled denim jumpsuit. Rhiann Jeffrey creates an atmosphere that this time is much more retrospective: a woman looking back at the awful events in her past rather than flashbacks to being in the moment. Everything is striped back. The musical cues are gone: Harley hums a few tunes when they’re needed for the script. If anything the simpler lighting is too bland: the changes don’t often appreciably help alter the mood.</p><p>“A short haircut and dungarees doth not a dyke make” still gets a laugh every time. Harley jerks in and out of poses and her hands fidget differently as she expertly switches characters. If you’re of a certain age then it’s a joy to be taken back to memories of Smokey Joe’s and Larry’s Piano Bar. I would have been passing through the Queen’s University quad as a student around the same time. But the moments of nostalgia are quickly pushed aside by Harley’s vivid portrayal of a young woman who sought safety and acknowledgement but was faced with coercive control, threats of violence and concealment.</p><p>No matter the production, the first moment of real hope and recognition comes in the shape of a university tutor who sees past his student’s flimflam excuses. Your eyes will well up at the picture of human connection that values this young woman. And you’ll think about today’s queer community and the intimidation and physical violence some still face. And you’ll wonder whether the police are more approachable and take hate crime more seriously today. And you’ll realise that much has changed, yet the same dangers still exist.</p><p>Verlaque’s <i>This Sh*t Happens All the Time</i> and Replay Theatre’s <i><a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2023/03/mirrorball-powerful-authentic-theatre.html">Mirrorball</a></i> are almost companion pieces. While their local connection means they particularly resonate with Northern Ireland audiences, their universal themes of fear and hope should speak to audiences abroad.</p><p>This <a href="https://www.goh.co.uk/whats-on/this-sht-happens-all-the-time">current run finishes in the Grand Opera House</a> on Saturday 30 March. </p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i> <br /></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-36901291759683793322024-03-26T00:11:00.000+00:002024-03-26T00:11:22.801+00:00Give My Head Peace – familiar characters find mirth in an unreconciled society and political figures (Grand Opera House until Saturday 30 March)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq24gmoyzSjAyFhixAUG2raDPJDYf6h-9TkgmrhUKFjbgvrQQ0lsx1vHfjPNFtxvaIbVKdSu0laA66MKUYb86Szi4GFRcSkbRfojfkVQTSwS88aQnVfEwv8T34hqNwyuFcILbaC5nXZoowqmZ_I3uxM4XlowVaHIER3kDvpEUX421LHcN1f8o/s1280/Give%20My%20Head%20Peace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq24gmoyzSjAyFhixAUG2raDPJDYf6h-9TkgmrhUKFjbgvrQQ0lsx1vHfjPNFtxvaIbVKdSu0laA66MKUYb86Szi4GFRcSkbRfojfkVQTSwS88aQnVfEwv8T34hqNwyuFcILbaC5nXZoowqmZ_I3uxM4XlowVaHIER3kDvpEUX421LHcN1f8o/w400-h225/Give%20My%20Head%20Peace.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The Hole in the Wall Gang are back and the audience know what to expect from the familiar characters and giddily revel in the banter. <a href="https://www.goh.co.uk/whats-on/give-my-head-peace"><i><b>Give My Head Peace</b></i></a>’s simple set – a sofa, a coffee table from a well-known Swedish emporium, and a dining room table – is accented with red/white/blue and green/white/orange lighting as the action flits between different sides of the community.<p></p><p>The Reverend Bobby Begbie (brother of the incapacitated Pastor Begbie who seems to have taken the name of his local Kneebreakers social club a little too literally) is having a crisis of faith and is troubled by God turning out to be more Catholic than Protestant. Marty Maguire ably steps into the Paddy Jenkins’ clerical shoes and has great fun bringing another thuggishly religious Begbie to life. Ciaran Nolan returns as Sandy the loyalist drinking den landlord. Their first song – the Wee Wee Blues, rhyming Sash with slash – gets the audience swaying with approval.</p><p>As the first act continues, we meet Da (Tim McGarry) and Cal (Damon Quinn), Dympna (Alexandra Ford) and Billy (Michael McDowell), and finally Ma (Olivia Nash). Da and Ma are still fighting the bit out. Dympna has had Kenough of hard work as an MLA and is rather enjoying the institutions being down. Cal is perturbed when he walks in on Da getting his leg over a petite blonde woman on the sofa.</p><p>It turns out that there are plenty of jokes that can still be squeezed out of the sectarian sponge, and while you may end up judging yourself for laughing at the simplistic stereotypes, the gang of writers also occasionally choose to play with expectations and ever-so-gently bend traditional tropes to challenge the status quo. But blink and you could miss it. The audience reward gags about Free Stayto, Paddy Kielty, Kneecap, Nolan, Jim Allister, Shane MacGowan and Gerry Adams, touts, more touts, and numerous mentions of Jeffrey and Jamie. The SDLP, Alliance and the Greens are nowhere to be seen. The political punchbags are Sinn Féin, the DUP and occasionally the UUP’s Robin Swann. By the end of the second act, we’ve had 25 minutes of topical stand-up from McGarry that includes a history lesson about Roger Casement, a spot of not-all-it-seems-adultery, and a surprisingly familiar new team heading up the Northern Ireland (I mean, Occupied Six Counties) Executive.</p><p>Hecklers: beware. You’re unlikely to be original enough not to receive solid pushback from the experienced team on stage. While the unreconciled divisions in society are a rich seam to mine, the possibility of an Irish Sea border and the characters of Jim Allister and Jamie Bryson provide the subject matter for the catchy songs to close to each act.</p><p>The <i>Give My Head Peace</i> 2024 tour <a href="https://www.goh.co.uk/whats-on/give-my-head-peace">finishes in the Grand Opera House on Saturday 30 March</a>.<br /></p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-47989317484325255312024-03-24T22:34:00.000+00:002024-03-24T22:34:55.383+00:00Vection – virtual antenatal preparations aided by ... a panda (Headrush, Ireland at the Lyric Theatre)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhphrj0qShoVlKYbQcQ1yqJEn3uXaX6A4dOzwRFR5M2Mzq8dK3TWdmK-My2HFs0haULcAi7FiHE-_B_QV9qDRBhL9ApQAEau-FpGMqk6XR2PYBkzdgMqP51IedziSd223lXkybeICpILiLmOqDwCBsVLpFs6TfUL319hpthqBG2OqJeQALJFTs/s960/vection%20FB%20headrush%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="960" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhphrj0qShoVlKYbQcQ1yqJEn3uXaX6A4dOzwRFR5M2Mzq8dK3TWdmK-My2HFs0haULcAi7FiHE-_B_QV9qDRBhL9ApQAEau-FpGMqk6XR2PYBkzdgMqP51IedziSd223lXkybeICpILiLmOqDwCBsVLpFs6TfUL319hpthqBG2OqJeQALJFTs/w400-h285/vection%20FB%20headrush%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Caitlin (Catherine Rees) and Danny (Simon Sweeney) are expecting a child. They’ve turned their back on possessions and seem to be living in a virtual reality environment that accepts verbal prompts – much like how a scene might be described to kickstart an AI image creation tool – to transport them to other places. As part of their antenatal preparation, they are working through a long list of emotions to find examples to feed into their child’s development. Caitlin values situations that they have experienced during their lives. Danny finds ancient history a rich source for his suggestions. Their virtual encounters only serve to amplify their discomfort with each other.<p></p><p>That’s what I think is going on in Jonathan M Daley’s <i><b>Vection</b></i> which favours ‘show not tell’ (which is a good thing) but also leaves a lot of ambiguity around how the setup should be interpreted (a less good thing). There’s also an elephant in the room in the shape of a large black and white panda sitting on the (presumably) virtual white sofa. At first Keith Singleton brings intrigue to the static figure, then turns into an enormous raised eyebrow as ‘Pan’ reacts in slow motion to some of Caitlin and Danny’s utterances, and gradually comes out of his shell as their companion’s full role and abilities are revealed.</p><p>It may help to know that ‘vection’ refers to the various cognitive factors that allow someone to perceive self-motion when in a virtual reality environment. Caitlin and Danny could be accused of experiencing the motion of going backwards as they race through the looming list of emotions to collect. Caitlin becomes increasingly exasperated by Danny, distrusting his frequent virtual excursions without her as Danny seeks cheap comforts as a way of avoiding Caitlin’s desire for collegiately and frankness. Rees balances a pleasing range of emotions as Caitlin lives through her pregnancy (real or virtual?) and survives spending time with Danny.</p><p>Faced with Emma Quin’s almost totally white set and just a few objects suspended in mid-air, the audience must imagine how the world is repainted by the often quite specific prompts that the couple give. Gentle lighting effects help establish the oft-visited nightclub. Pan is full of apt dance moves and makes a great bar man. Singleton’s level of control throughout the one act play – from barely moving to full exuberance – largely compensates for the absurdity of a panda being on set beside the couple. First Danny and ultimately Caitlin show their unlikeable sides, robbing those watching any chance if building up empathy with the characters.</p><p><i>Vection</i> asks the audience to do a lot of thinking. We must look at the white set and imagine the boilersuit-wearing couple in a myriad of different vistas. We must differentiate between Caitlin and some of the other women Danny meets in his virtual wanderings. We must try and figure out whether Pan is a visual representation of Alexa or Siri, or alternatively is something simpler or maybe more sinister. We must ponder why the verbal prompts sometimes transport the couple together and sometimes alone. How they can revisit old memories, but also step into purely imaginary situations. And why is this high-tech system powered by such a strange (and silent) mammalian energy source?</p><p>Headrush, Ireland have produced another high-concept piece of theatre. (Previous work includes <i><a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2018/03/sink-or-swim-ambitious-and-innovating.html">Sink or Swim</a></i> and <i><a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2018/06/we-like-it-here-rural-isolation-and.html">We Like It Here</a></i> in 2018 and <i><a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2019/07/assembly-required-holding-robot-mirror.html">Assembly Required</a></i> in 2019.) The performances are strong and the Lyric Studio space is well used (particularly one final reveal which opened a vista I hadn’t previously spotted in the 13 years since the theatre reopened.) The exploration of virtual reality without asking the audience to wear headsets or look at screens is laudable and timely. While the play asks whether virtual reality threatens to end the world as we know it, there is enough repetition in the plot that I can’t help wondering if the answer could be found in a tauter 50-minute play – or even a 20-minute short film – lurking in this much longer and needlessly more complicated script.</p><p><i>Vection</i> finished its run at the Lyric Theatre on Sunday 24 March.</p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-47149293708268236682024-03-18T17:45:00.001+00:002024-03-18T17:52:50.357+00:00Attila the Stockbroker – bringing politics, poo, poetry, crumhorn and recorder to Belfast on Wednesday evening (The Black Box as part of #ImagineBelfast)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAOZcfWgV6JLUDnejdoantmxSO1QYvPQ0u3VMP26ist6NGC2kzpjPLchzY4qaELovY8Vg6dstoK9_lJ0hegyfSJwNgLnpo4ExmNVOmTLfhxY7wfgqieApheJA1T-EA2KTCCGy4uiMjd2JeMwsk3jQXQXNtpvrSnY8XGWDhCJhmHP3Ql99SuO8/s1948/Attila%201%20lores.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1096" data-original-width="1948" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAOZcfWgV6JLUDnejdoantmxSO1QYvPQ0u3VMP26ist6NGC2kzpjPLchzY4qaELovY8Vg6dstoK9_lJ0hegyfSJwNgLnpo4ExmNVOmTLfhxY7wfgqieApheJA1T-EA2KTCCGy4uiMjd2JeMwsk3jQXQXNtpvrSnY8XGWDhCJhmHP3Ql99SuO8/s320/Attila%201%20lores.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><b><i>Attila the Stockbroker</i></b> certainly has stamina. Two John Peel sessions in 1982 have been followed by more than 40 years of performing in 25 countries* and over 4,000 gigs, not to mention 20 albums, eight books of poetry and his recent appointment as the Pooet in Residence at the <a href="https://poomuseum.org/">National Poo Museum</a> on the Isle of Wight.<p></p><p>This Wednesday evening he’s in The Black Box as part of the <a href="https://imaginebelfast.com">Imagine! Festival of Ideas and Politics</a>, aiming to make people think, laugh and cry all in the space of about 75 minutes.</p><p>Attila (John Baine’s stage name) says he started out “as a kind of an angry ranting poet, jumping up on stage between bands at punk gigs”. Today, he’s “still an angry ranting poet, although I tend to jump up on stage between bands of punk gigs less than I used to”. But he continues to write and rant about politics, social issues, existential threats to the world, as well as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpyK1o0hPHc">deeply personal things related to his own life and family</a>. After all these year, he’s still never lost his sense of punk and people coming together. </p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/lpyK1o0hPHc?si=b3R0OrcFZyqOsJV5" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> </p><p>Throughout the years, the performance poet and musician has repeatedly visited Northern Ireland, playing in the Errigle Inn, Queen’s University, the Rotterdam Bar, recording a live album in the late Warzone Centre, and even doing a turn at Lagan College. He speaks of previous gigs in Northern Ireland with great affection, so when he tells me “it’s one of my favourite places to gig in the world” I think he truly means it.</p><p>Attila works a lot of life experiences, hopes, dreams and frustrations into his music and poetry, but doesn’t see writing and performing as a form of therapy. Basically, “I don’t have an embarrassment gene: I have an over-abundance of self-confidence [and] it just comes out of me, I can’t stop it”.</p><p>“The reason that I love [performing] so much is precisely because I’ve done it on my own terms. I’ve never tried to fit in. I’ve never tried to become a celebrity by following the kind of career path where you get a PR person and they try and fit you in a category and sell you to people. I’ve never wanted that. All I’ve ever wanted is to write and perform, have an audience, and earn a living. And that’s what I’ve done and that’s what I’m doing. And I absolutely love it, now at 66 as much as when I started at 21. I mean, I can say no more than that.”</p><p>The running order changes between – and even during – shows. His upcoming Edinburgh run will be promoted as <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/392645810037394">14 completely different shows in 14 days</a>, with no repeated material (and only delving into maybe a third of his back catalogue).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMpDCdFZbgTk-rpr_ARZL3LW89vVwy8KS57cdSHkBdfRs7qpDWrO62tqXwpd-EQGi01Sw-vOtVyCvv2mv80ytcbAunscYGgRRtvtzTYcuetIwjUR3pSPti9yc2VzZsMfsp1IYoPhP8wHWc6o2CIH7HJW7P40jbKwGnp9e0X4676Gaj2425UJg/s1272/Screenshot%202024-03-18%20at%2016.36.11.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="716" data-original-width="1272" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMpDCdFZbgTk-rpr_ARZL3LW89vVwy8KS57cdSHkBdfRs7qpDWrO62tqXwpd-EQGi01Sw-vOtVyCvv2mv80ytcbAunscYGgRRtvtzTYcuetIwjUR3pSPti9yc2VzZsMfsp1IYoPhP8wHWc6o2CIH7HJW7P40jbKwGnp9e0X4676Gaj2425UJg/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-18%20at%2016.36.11.png" width="320" /></a></div>On Wednesday, expect to hear some of his early material as well as the latest work, and maybe even some scatological material. His role as Pooet in Residence isn’t just an excuse to make jokes about poo – though I fully expect him to take every chance to do so – but it offers an opportunity to raise awareness of bowel cancer. And as a bladder cancer survivor, Attila has already written a lot about the glories of flexible cystoscopy. (In the screenshot from our chat, he’s holding the museum’s mascot Poobert Turdock!)<p></p><p>And expect a wide variety of style and form with some <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_music">early music</a>, dub poetry, spoken word, and his own style of rap. While some might argue that his inclusion of live music featuring <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crumhorn">crumhorns</a> and recorders in the show might require a trigger warning, he profoundly disagrees. But you’d expect the founder of the <i>Recorder Liberation Front</i> to say that even if the instrument “has been continuously played longer than any other musical instrument in Western culture”. In a moment of selling snow to Eskimos, he’s also bringing his fiddle with him on Wednesday. Just don’t expect any ukulele or techno music – those are properly beyond Attila’s pale.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brighton_Hove_Albion_FC_League_Performance.svg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="736" data-original-width="1600" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYJbM7i9K7rsjSYsWYAf1YtTumQS6XZ2yqhi85asTZ6RtaFkRgaudJ_vC8BB6b5G1f211qd7ZPbWZ8HzfyU_ddmjfRZ6Kh_OEjWnW3WGy6HES4aeYyvG88cSWXc2GjvCtTSnd-Y2x3jYodvHu2lomC9BnE-WuyUKQCkJ7UPfBwpQ4rXcnOkSA/s320/Brighton_Hove_Albion_FC_League_Performance.svg.png" width="320" /></a></div>His beloved Brighton & Hove Albion may get a mention too. The team won their last match in the UEFA Europa League 1-0 against Roma but lost on aggregate (first leg was 0-4). Still not bad for a that were Division 3 back in 2000 and whose league performance chart looks like a FTSE stock you’d want to avoid investing in. <br /><p></p>Attila the Stockbroker is playing The Black Box on Wednesday from 8pm (doors open 7.30pm). Some <a href="https://imaginebelfast.com/event/attila-the-stockbroker/">tickets are still available</a> through the Imagine! Belfast website. The next evening, he’ll be up in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1092411338446253/">Sandinos Bar in Derry</a>.<p><i> * Attila has performed in French and German, and <a href="http://attilathestockbroker.com/">his ‘Informburo’ website</a> was involved in the first ever punk performance in Stalinist Albania, and turned down playing in North Korea because he was already booked to tour ‘sensible’ Canada.
</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-34270293907261819372024-03-14T23:51:00.001+00:002024-03-14T23:53:51.944+00:00Drive-Away Dolls – lots of heart, soul and pleasure as two friends head south on a road-trip that will change everything (from Friday 15 March)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-aBr2KknUyMJvYQPNE9Yu3dx9mQRT8pAt76TAMAvSi8XVetautUFi1EH33yQXEadBzv_VoGHMxrulX108cTkdk-JpwNxM5cECa6bQ7GGyfvJewmZNESGvluukN2gIQbVI4u4hjpHOmm6KAHOhzhqwy1ou5jCM0i0F5K1CvWOFmYOrBTLb310/s2160/Drive%20Away%20Dolls%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2160" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-aBr2KknUyMJvYQPNE9Yu3dx9mQRT8pAt76TAMAvSi8XVetautUFi1EH33yQXEadBzv_VoGHMxrulX108cTkdk-JpwNxM5cECa6bQ7GGyfvJewmZNESGvluukN2gIQbVI4u4hjpHOmm6KAHOhzhqwy1ou5jCM0i0F5K1CvWOFmYOrBTLb310/w400-h200/Drive%20Away%20Dolls%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>On the back of a bad breakup, extrovert Jamie joins her more introverted friend Marian on a one-way hire car journey from Philadelphia to Tallahassee in Florida. Due to a misunderstanding, the girls drive away in a car that was intended to be picked by a more criminally minded pair. And so begins a game of cat and mouse down the east coast of the United States, as a couple of violent goons try to recover the ‘gear’ hidden in the boot of the titular <i><b><a href="https://queensfilmtheatre.com/Whats-On/Drive-Away-Dolls">Drive-Away Dolls</a></b></i>.<p></p><p>Jamie (played by Margaret Qualley) has an opinion about everything and isn’t behind the bush about sharing them. Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan) is much more reserved. Her sexuality to date is more intellectual than physical, but Jamie proposes some stop-offs as the pair head south to give Marian the opportunity to take things further. Needless to say, Marian’s quest for authenticity jars with Jamie’s need for experience … right up until the friendship is fundamentally reset.</p><p>Expect comedy beatings, comedy dildos, a comedy dog, incompetent thugs, psychedelic pizza, and the reading of Henry James’ <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3VjRob0">The Europeans</a></i>.<br /></p><p>What works is the film’s sense of humour. Director Ethan Coen (and co-screenwriter Tricia Cooke) allow the characters to have tremendous fun with the simple premise. While there’s plenty of intentionally lecturing dialogue, there are quips that leap off the screen, and even I was provoked to laugh out loud. It’s hard not to fall in love with the lesbian roadtrippers who are full of hope and brio.</p><p>What doesn’t work so well are the interstitial dream sequences, half of which contribute to the backstory or inner thinking of the main characters, while the remainder distracted and bemused me in equal measure. The 84-minute run time is laudably short, but the story nearly trips over itself in its hurry to get to the end, wrapping up far too quickly and much too neatly.</p><p>While there’s strong language, strong sex and a bit of nudity, there’s also a lot of heart, soul and pleasure in this four-wheeled caper.
<a href="https://queensfilmtheatre.com/Whats-On/Drive-Away-Dolls"><i>Drive-Away Dolls</i></a> opens in UK and Irish cinemas on Friday 15 March.</p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-53641276151372552982024-03-13T00:41:00.002+00:002024-03-13T11:28:59.640+00:00An Officer and a Gentleman: The Musical – overcoming working class odds with 1982 sensibilities and a 1980s playlist of hits (Grand Opera House until Saturday 16 March)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9dgfK7RKp3lMBw9saFrRszlHg-7snfJoHuJfNm9rmOdzpQyhpKMuggZiZGPfdT5A_TG6qXObkioemCoEUXh1Blwgg77apSQDr6Oac08VEK6EzTE3nmnS8K-oIKsKxcxYuJ-9RsyoTm4lzpiFI2BwNt-xJ-frl_FXIoH1VTRHKhc76oHgmqY/s2079/Georgia%20Lennon%20as%20Paula%20Pokrifki%20&%20Luke%20Baker%20as%20Zack%20Mayo%20in%20An%20Officer%20and%20a%20Gentleman,%20credit%20Marc%20Brenner%20(2).jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2079" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9dgfK7RKp3lMBw9saFrRszlHg-7snfJoHuJfNm9rmOdzpQyhpKMuggZiZGPfdT5A_TG6qXObkioemCoEUXh1Blwgg77apSQDr6Oac08VEK6EzTE3nmnS8K-oIKsKxcxYuJ-9RsyoTm4lzpiFI2BwNt-xJ-frl_FXIoH1VTRHKhc76oHgmqY/w400-h200/Georgia%20Lennon%20as%20Paula%20Pokrifki%20&%20Luke%20Baker%20as%20Zack%20Mayo%20in%20An%20Officer%20and%20a%20Gentleman,%20credit%20Marc%20Brenner%20(2).jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley is taking the class of 1982 through their 12-week officer candidate training course in Pensacola, Florida. Not everyone will make it to the end, and fewer still will get a coveted place learning to pilot a navy jet. Many will end up ‘flying a desk’. There’s tension between the military and the townsfolk. The them and us mentality can be felt in the local bars. Foley warns his candidates that the local women will try to entrap them by becoming pregnant to escape the area with its low paid factory work and little hope of advancement.<p></p><p><i><b><a href="https://www.goh.co.uk/whats-on/an-officer-and-a-gentleman">An Officer and a Gentleman: The Musical</a></b></i> is adapted from the popular original movie by the film’s screenwriter Douglas Day Stewart and Sharleen Cooper Cohen. The plot is interrupted by songs from the 1980s. Shoehorning in a militaristic side drum-heavy version of <i>The Final Countdown</i> towards the finale – the lyric “We’re leaving together” fits the graduation ceremony – is either an act of genius or completely misplaced. The performance of <i>Material Girl</i> feels like it’s gone completely Ken and Barbie with pink jackets and a pink skirt … though it does also echo Madonna’s music video. With 22 songs to get through in less than two hours, everything is condensed and there’s probably an over-reliance on crash key changes to build emotion and keep the rev count needle firmly in the red.</p><p>Zack Mayo (played by Luke Baker) is overcoming the odds of a dysfunctional upbringing to take a crack at becoming an officer, something his navy father never managed. Zack strikes up an unlikely friendship with Sid Worley (understudied by Danny Whelan with considerable aplomb on Tuesday night) is the son of an admiral, reluctantly stepping into the family business.</p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtBWT-5owH5Zb6ij8zQoOjM57k7htM_SQwBDI3mXxFt8VlvMJxJlq_k2L1LrmLQhN_mfNZ5CZzMTsRCu2064oUuB9o652VIcb65Q3TYqJkqkBPLwqQr8vrtveIpDXXnrBah3PBf1qlVEWdsi2fhVM2fMO_Dx5xLuaZC8SRtwQ5uE0Y4kcvqq4/s2500/Front%20LtoR%20Sinead%20Long%20as%20Lynette%20Pomeroy%20&%20Georgia%20Lennon%20as%20Paula%20Pokrifki%20in%20An%20Officer%20and%20a%20Gentleman,%20credit%20Marc%20Brenner.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="2500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtBWT-5owH5Zb6ij8zQoOjM57k7htM_SQwBDI3mXxFt8VlvMJxJlq_k2L1LrmLQhN_mfNZ5CZzMTsRCu2064oUuB9o652VIcb65Q3TYqJkqkBPLwqQr8vrtveIpDXXnrBah3PBf1qlVEWdsi2fhVM2fMO_Dx5xLuaZC8SRtwQ5uE0Y4kcvqq4/w400-h200/Front%20LtoR%20Sinead%20Long%20as%20Lynette%20Pomeroy%20&%20Georgia%20Lennon%20as%20Paula%20Pokrifki%20in%20An%20Officer%20and%20a%20Gentleman,%20credit%20Marc%20Brenner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>I’d expected this review might comment that many in the Grand Opera House auditorium had come to enjoy the sight of men in their pristine navy white uniforms. And the evidence of whistling and cheering did strongly confirm that hunch. But I also wondered whether the same audience might also be faced with an uplifting and challenging second storyline about the local women that would run parallel to the tough training course.<p></p><p>Zack’s eye is caught by student nurse Paula Pokrifki (Georgia Lennon, no stranger to Grand Opera House pantomimes). They deliver a very sweet first act duet <i>I Want to Know What Love Is</i> and Lennon impresses with her solo numbers. Nikolai Foster’s direction includes a superbly awkward meal when Zack is invited to dinner with Paula’s parents. Sid falls head over heels in love with Paula’s fellow factor worker Lynette (Sinead Long).</p><p>Early on in the first act, <i>It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World</i> sets up the theme of sexual inequality. Later, a powerful rendition of <i>I Am Woman</i> tries to push it further. But the 1982 sensibilities haven’t been updated, so entrapment is still the order of the day, leading to the tragic death of one character. <i>I Am Woman</i>’s lyric “I am invincible” is somewhat undermined when it is quickly followed by the statement “I want to marry a pilot to get out of here”.</p><p>Ultimately, the gender struggle is resolved by a working-class officer physically lifting a working-class girl out of her factory enslavement. It recreates an iconic image from the film, but also ignores her ambition to be a nurse in the act of carrying her off into his future. The song might be <i>Up Where We Belong</i> but the storyline reinforces the notion that marrying a sailor is the only true aspiration a woman can aim for if she doesn’t want to “stay in the box” she was born into.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9HzJSpfkK_4sYiDIaeeLLOOzhm2zzWYbJbDcUUk-EWa8_18sNaPFJLxHX2JTj8mEMpg1JXwdl_RljtncJ7FRqyOLtqOzeljQYg9USlfRnmmJxlkSWRjKVpQ-zorVogG88qf0hv01cTqXtTVNY0vtwwuF8rjp0fBAtDSBK-uk_xHOkv-3GDZg/s2473/LtoR%20Jamal%20Crawford%20as%20Gunnery%20Sergeant%20Emil%20Foley%20&%20Olivia%20Foster-Browne%20as%20Casey%20Seegar%20in%20An%20Officer%20and%20a%20Gentleman,%20credit%20Marc%20Brenner.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1649" data-original-width="2473" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9HzJSpfkK_4sYiDIaeeLLOOzhm2zzWYbJbDcUUk-EWa8_18sNaPFJLxHX2JTj8mEMpg1JXwdl_RljtncJ7FRqyOLtqOzeljQYg9USlfRnmmJxlkSWRjKVpQ-zorVogG88qf0hv01cTqXtTVNY0vtwwuF8rjp0fBAtDSBK-uk_xHOkv-3GDZg/s320/LtoR%20Jamal%20Crawford%20as%20Gunnery%20Sergeant%20Emil%20Foley%20&%20Olivia%20Foster-Browne%20as%20Casey%20Seegar%20in%20An%20Officer%20and%20a%20Gentleman,%20credit%20Marc%20Brenner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Jamal Kane Crawford shines every time he marches on stage as Foley. He quickly establishes his no nonsense approach as the candidates start their three-month journey, and his singing voice is as strong as his parade ground hollering. After the interval Foley’s character is given depth and we learn about his motivation for pushing some of the candidates to their limit. There’s tough love hiding amidst the swagger and bullying. The extended fight scene is one of the more convincing pieces of musical theatre fight choreography in recent years. Olivia Foster-Browne packs a vocal punch and her character’s tricky relationship with Foley has a good pay off at the end.<p></p><p>Belfast is just the third destination of the UK tour. The production is still finding its feet and there is room for improvement. Having uttered “We don’t have to talk at all” a couple walk off visibly chatting. Kitting out two stage hands with racing crash helmets to push a partial car prop around the stage was a somewhat random production design decision </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDANZYvvsr50l0g4ZRuGvWKKjxbplJ_-Nm6SOQdc-Q99xFb26nRIQho2HHf-4C5X_2bV_777AyrIZ6lnYipDKPp1hHh5dAkEEjxpifYrFMFJ_lOXbrOiioCuDT8VBURiqgzpa3mZRlZkEtyM_NOGJL2L5RzJ9WL3W8BxGwTJMz2F1Cfdo1RZA/s1664/The%20cast%20of%20An%20Officer%20and%20a%20Gentleman,%20credit%20Marc%20Brenner.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1109" data-original-width="1664" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDANZYvvsr50l0g4ZRuGvWKKjxbplJ_-Nm6SOQdc-Q99xFb26nRIQho2HHf-4C5X_2bV_777AyrIZ6lnYipDKPp1hHh5dAkEEjxpifYrFMFJ_lOXbrOiioCuDT8VBURiqgzpa3mZRlZkEtyM_NOGJL2L5RzJ9WL3W8BxGwTJMz2F1Cfdo1RZA/w400-h266/The%20cast%20of%20An%20Officer%20and%20a%20Gentleman,%20credit%20Marc%20Brenner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>While the plot almost trips from lines of dialogue into song, the sound mix sadly loses some of the softer vocals even in the live band’s more mellow moments. The cover versions are usefully far removed from the original arrangements, tonally adapted for the musical rather than being pure jukebox numbers. There’s some rather fine artistry on display, none more so than during the beautifully (and deliberately) discordant <i>Kids in America</i>. It’ll be a dreamy track on a cast album.<br /><p></p><p><i>An Officer and a Gentleman: The Musical</i> faithfully reproduces the film’s plot. The musical elements show off the cast’s talent, even if some of the numbers fail to move the story along. The production continues its run in <a href="https://www.goh.co.uk/whats-on/an-officer-and-a-gentleman">the Grand Opera House until Saturday 16 March</a>.</p><p><i>Photo credit: Marc Brenner</i></p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p><p></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-69389861446282578942024-03-07T19:28:00.006+00:002024-03-07T19:30:58.396+00:00Madagascar The Musical: watch out for the zebra crossing an ocean to in a break for freedom (Grand Opera House until Saturday 9 March)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixRQpPZ0j3g0eS1dc8MPMcfylkApHNpp-4xhE9SPEGliEKfnsqMeuuIWxuB1SQTjqDoylGyyXW8HPPlsgDs41nQI501LExmBuOUM02lNPc01sO-usrOjV8Yd7WyS92CtbBzrjcQsnPTNKzs10CK52fwK3XU-a2h3fi6J0C6ZBIvG8n_LiQSlc/s1000/65cb773ca2e3b389056d44f7_MadagascarTheMusical_ProductionShot_5.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixRQpPZ0j3g0eS1dc8MPMcfylkApHNpp-4xhE9SPEGliEKfnsqMeuuIWxuB1SQTjqDoylGyyXW8HPPlsgDs41nQI501LExmBuOUM02lNPc01sO-usrOjV8Yd7WyS92CtbBzrjcQsnPTNKzs10CK52fwK3XU-a2h3fi6J0C6ZBIvG8n_LiQSlc/w400-h200/65cb773ca2e3b389056d44f7_MadagascarTheMusical_ProductionShot_5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The penguins have itchy feet and a strong sense of taking control of their destiny. Marty the monochromatic zebra also wishes he had been born free rather than living in Central Park Zoo. Their separate escape bids conveniently overlap. Marty’s disappearance causes some of his more institutionalised friends to abandon the safety of the zoo to search for him in the outside world. Soon a hypochondriac giraffe Melman, Gloria the confident hippo and Alex the alpha male lion with delusions of grandeur are out on the prowl, well outside their comfort zones and heading away on an adventure.<p></p><p>Fans of the animated film Madagascar were bopping along to <i>I Like To Move It</i> in the <a href="https://www.goh.co.uk/whats-on/madagascar-the-musical">Grand Opera House last night in the live stage musical adaptation of the Dreamworks animation</a>. Kevin Del Aguila’s book keeps recognisable dialogue from the movie, though quite a lot of the jokes didn’t land with the Belfast audience.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYjVsOklqYYPmheE03BXeiFpl-yEWE9wrPXoUm_jpJOLXqGAvNdRm2q9GvUrCCMEt9WUJf1l_1Bd78hV_kbW2VKBdJSAKAGcLujeFZ-q2Arn0OkWe6Lkt_D4vJuHSCnmHBX1YdyXw_NRk75XwLOy88XJAYEQSB_A6GQTWThtxVWvn22CC4Hs/s1000/65cb779a80870e3141822f91_MadagascarTheMusical_ProductionShot_12.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYjVsOklqYYPmheE03BXeiFpl-yEWE9wrPXoUm_jpJOLXqGAvNdRm2q9GvUrCCMEt9WUJf1l_1Bd78hV_kbW2VKBdJSAKAGcLujeFZ-q2Arn0OkWe6Lkt_D4vJuHSCnmHBX1YdyXw_NRk75XwLOy88XJAYEQSB_A6GQTWThtxVWvn22CC4Hs/w400-h266/65cb779a80870e3141822f91_MadagascarTheMusical_ProductionShot_12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Some of the characters are in costume, others – like the penguins and most of the lemurs – are brought to life by puppeteers. The four penguins are a particular success, each with its own mannerisms and waddle.<p></p><p><i>Madagascar</i> is a story about friendship and belonging, about dreaming of a better life and having the ambition to go out and claim it. Jarnéia Richard-Noel’s vocals give Gloria real soul. Not for a moment does Joshua Oakes-Rogers drop out of character playing long-necked Melman.</p><p>Act one is over in a flash. But the first ten minutes after the interval are dialogue heavy and strangely soulless. Then the energy returns with the appearance of King Julien and a sea chanty from the resourceful penguins who have travelled too far south. Exploring Madagascar, Marty thinks he’s in paradise. Alex thinks Marty is a tasty snack. Awkward. Order is restoring after a spot of othering and then it’s time for bows and an encore of <i>I Like To Move It</i>.</p><p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWWe5tcxtRBl-eCgEXjW2Cf4aL6Tu1H6F8vvCJn9eAeqRefZ8bqK3QGISancLtZcQ8s3eNYYeYwEMN-vrOQPEViU5BhXHpm21FWTuaPEjuLKivHpwA63Xo2yOTlFp0jIXvVGwgyvmE2R0aPkPA8MfGnfHy1nRlFk8QtgBDknJMIJlGA4ZkfVE/s1000/65cb77ca1bed3a824d36bfe3_MadagascarTheMusical_ProductionShot_16.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWWe5tcxtRBl-eCgEXjW2Cf4aL6Tu1H6F8vvCJn9eAeqRefZ8bqK3QGISancLtZcQ8s3eNYYeYwEMN-vrOQPEViU5BhXHpm21FWTuaPEjuLKivHpwA63Xo2yOTlFp0jIXvVGwgyvmE2R0aPkPA8MfGnfHy1nRlFk8QtgBDknJMIJlGA4ZkfVE/w400-h266/65cb77ca1bed3a824d36bfe3_MadagascarTheMusical_ProductionShot_16.jpg" width="400" /></a></i></div><i>Madagascar The Musical</i> is short and sweet (one hour 45 minutes including the interval). It’s stays true to the movie, aims the best gags at the adults, and seemed to enthral the children sitting near me. However, it has none of the depth or wittiness of DreamWorks stablemate <i>Shrek</i>. This touring production is <a href="https://www.goh.co.uk/whats-on/madagascar-the-musical">performing in the Grand Opera House until Saturday 9 March</a>.<br /><p></p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-19931512910454358892024-03-04T08:30:00.002+00:002024-03-04T11:46:44.032+00:00Imagine! Festival of Ideas and Politics (18-24 March) … a preview of the more overtly arty events #ImagineBelfast<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZtItIfFmJWLPS_UUmhKv2nkxZhTkxID0r1SIHFReRhCPewz2AzlNqDWbrnQbt9RHg5MskxM46Gh-sGoK-bu05gFa0UtF4M7NFZdRZuGtb2_Hl3PM0WGLrhcooqrVBmLTQKNZblcV8o1usSos7V67hxBSrrWvytUEK7J49DWO2w84n38-Ws8/s1800/IM24%20Landscape2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZtItIfFmJWLPS_UUmhKv2nkxZhTkxID0r1SIHFReRhCPewz2AzlNqDWbrnQbt9RHg5MskxM46Gh-sGoK-bu05gFa0UtF4M7NFZdRZuGtb2_Hl3PM0WGLrhcooqrVBmLTQKNZblcV8o1usSos7V67hxBSrrWvytUEK7J49DWO2w84n38-Ws8/w400-h200/IM24%20Landscape2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Happy birthday <b>Imagine! Festival of Ideas and Politics</b>. Ten years of delighting, educating, and engaging the grey matter of citizens of Belfast and beyond. Running between Monday 18 and Sunday 24 March, there are more than a hundred <a href="https://imaginebelfast.com/2024-at-a-glance/ ">films, talks, gigs, walking tours, exhibitions, panels, workshops and theatre shows</a>. This year’s strapline seems very apt: top enterbrainment.<p></p><p>I’ve posted on Slugger O’Toole about <a href="https://sluggerotoole.com/2024/03/04/ previewing-the-10th-imagine-festival-of-ideas-and-politics-monday-18-to-sunday-24-march-imaginebelfast/">some of the policy and political discussions and panels</a>. But what about the more arty events in the bulging programme?</p><p>Shoot Belfast’s studio and gallery space on Chapel Lane is hosting two plays.</p><p><b><i><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mother-the-story-of-mother-jones-tickets-812578613507"></a></i></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgerIVI8BVJb6AKD0rlD21fuvpOPfVB6xMSvn_1DGSFNkud3o3TFt5-V3c7fkmg2BuSfWEbfBHk5sIWaQ6ad4K0qQ9gLlwx1Ejqk-YxIkM4mDH6jMq8NUbRPWVEGQhnkKOfNigE_f1XJnCyMZTiFHhcAXEHzD1RRLdJlJA42ZhrOJgKot1fmxM/s1170/IMG_6175.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="1170" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgerIVI8BVJb6AKD0rlD21fuvpOPfVB6xMSvn_1DGSFNkud3o3TFt5-V3c7fkmg2BuSfWEbfBHk5sIWaQ6ad4K0qQ9gLlwx1Ejqk-YxIkM4mDH6jMq8NUbRPWVEGQhnkKOfNigE_f1XJnCyMZTiFHhcAXEHzD1RRLdJlJA42ZhrOJgKot1fmxM/s320/IMG_6175.jpeg" width="320" /></a></i></b></div><b><i><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mother-the-story-of-mother-jones-tickets-812578613507">Mother! The Story of Mother Jones</a></i></b> // <b>Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 at 7pm</b> // A play about once the most dangerous woman in America. Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was 9 years old when she emigrated from Cork to America. Overcoming inconceivable personal tragedy, she became a fearless advocate for workers’ rights and child labour law reform., testifying before the US Congress in 1917. Prosecuting attorneys and corporate landlords described Mother Jones as “the most dangerous woman in America”. Written by Mike Broemmel, Mother! Starts DJ De Jong as Mother Jones and is directed by Greg West and produced by produced by Jennifer Dempsey, Colorado Theater in Non-Traditional Places (TINTS). Their team of writers, actors and directors create original scripts that highlight individuals whose achievements have been under-recognised.<p></p><p><i><b><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/im-harvey-milk-tickets-812566647717">I’m Harvey Milk!</a></b></i> // <b>Thursday 21 and Friday 22 at 7pm</b> // A play about <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2009/02/milk.html">Harvey Milk</a> – the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. As 1977 San Francisco City Supervisor, Milk battled against anti-gay initiatives and sponsored bills banning discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment on the basis of sexual orientation. Described as a “visionary who imagined a righteous world inside his head and then set about to create it for real for all of us,” Milk was assassinated by co-worker Dan White who claimed the so-called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinkie_defense">Twinkie Defense</a>. Starring Ben Beasley plays Harvey Milk. Written by Mike Broemmel and directed by Greg West.</p><p><i><b><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/storytelling-as-activism-with-amanda-verlaque-tickets-807049696367"></a></b></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKaF6xOM1lnCn5HwczAzSA6FiVexhogkIRyv6uNRE9zPox_5YD929lp6hnmY9NvYMCNi_UdO3P0EQV-mK9AX7sST4tYZAN4lciVp6g_AMzkeL2AGkjyBC6ETivRQTzoFq4xudvfDMAKHorMoRAiyR7izBJiFmWlzqDrXgd9CPu0Cy6z6dSIXo/s902/AMANDA%20STORYTELLING.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="902" data-original-width="743" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKaF6xOM1lnCn5HwczAzSA6FiVexhogkIRyv6uNRE9zPox_5YD929lp6hnmY9NvYMCNi_UdO3P0EQV-mK9AX7sST4tYZAN4lciVp6g_AMzkeL2AGkjyBC6ETivRQTzoFq4xudvfDMAKHorMoRAiyR7izBJiFmWlzqDrXgd9CPu0Cy6z6dSIXo/s320/AMANDA%20STORYTELLING.png" width="264" /></a></b></i></div><i><b><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/storytelling-as-activism-with-amanda-verlaque-tickets-807049696367">Storytelling as Activism</a></b></i> // <b>Tuesday 19 at 1pm in Accidental Theatre</b> // What happens when we encounter injustice? There are traditional routes to righting wrongs, although the outcome is often less than satisfactory. When we look to the arts, we discover that creatives have always been telling stories that pique our imagination and stir our sense of morality and empathy. Amanda Verlaque wrote the play This Sh*t Happens All the Time in response to a homophobic hate crime. (I <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2019/11/this-sht-happens-all-time-deeply.html">reviewed</a> a rehearsed reading of the play by Nicky Harley back in the 2019 Outburst Arts Festival. And <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2022/03/this-sht-happens-all-time-playwright.html">returned</a> when it was staged in the Lyric Theatre as a co-production with Imagine! in 2022.Now Nicky Harley returns to the central role <a href="https://www.goh.co.uk/whats-on/this-sht-happens-all-the-time">this March in the Grand Opera House’s studio theatre</a>.) At this event, Amanda will use her play to guide the audience through the importance of recording and sharing LGBTQIA+ stories to maintain visibility and encourage justice.<p></p><p><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-art-and-science-of-songwriting-muse-or-maths-tickets-807645267737"><i><b>The Art and Science of Songwriting – Muse or Maths?</b></i></a> // <b>Monday 18 March at 8pm in Crescent Arts Centre</b> // Chuck Berry said it all came down to mathematics, but you don’t hear people singing Pythagoras’ Theorem down the pub, do you? Join Nuala McKeever for a relaxed, fun evening of conversation and performance with singer-songwriters Anthony Toner and Brigid O’Neill about what makes a great song that stays with people for years and decades. As well as performing some of their best-loved songs, Brigid and Anthony reveal the secrets of their own writing and discuss the work of their favourite artists as they explore the nature of their craft – is it inspiration, perspiration or computation?</p><p><i><b><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/when-music-and-politics-collide-tickets-812004014867">When Music and Politics Collide</a></b></i> // <b>Wednesday 20 March at 8pm in QUB Harty Room</b> // What’s music’s role in shaping and reflecting the political landscape? Songs of protest. Becoming the theme tune to a particular era’s zeitgeist. Inspiring change? Or celebrating a political movement. Lifting a message off the page and bringing it to life. Musical performances and a panel discussion with Dr David Robb (Reader in Music at Queen’s University Belfast, Joby Fox (musician and activist) and Charlotte Dryden (CEO of the Oh Yeah Centre).</p><p><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cultural-diplomacy-and-the-art-of-soft-power-tickets-812515133637"><i><b>Cultural Diplomacy and the Art of Soft Power</b></i></a> // Thursday 21 at 3pm in The Black Box // What has been and is the role of art and artists in shaping Ireland’s international image, north and south? What is the role of cultural diplomacy in a polarised and divided world? How can cultural diplomacy pave the way to wider cooperation and dialogue, and foster a better understanding between cultures and nations? A talk on the Art of Soft Power by Evgeniya Ravtsova (International Programmes Manager at the Victoria and Albert Museum) will be followed by a panel discussion with Sheena Barrett (Irish Museum of Modern Art), Cian Smyth (Ulster Presents) and Richard Williams (Northern Ireland Screen). <br /></p><p><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/poetry-and-politics-paul-muldoon-in-conversation-with-william-crawley-tickets-778181039437"><b><i></i></b></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6U0sBeRFkEZSHqoiwP3nOR9VBAKOtsQtit2s1ZcyUG-jat61mT7dzR26IHgB-FyX6M6LuIwaXk_s6D_u6peMaNEXwzh2k5CSIb4G_bAckUBXtrIPV29gE59JOJ4GeCoPPvhjiZTpcN8JdPr9b1Tp4QQNgweqHD2_i-lDoOlV65_BESRi-W7E/s1708/paul%20muldoon%20ursula%20burns.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1708" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6U0sBeRFkEZSHqoiwP3nOR9VBAKOtsQtit2s1ZcyUG-jat61mT7dzR26IHgB-FyX6M6LuIwaXk_s6D_u6peMaNEXwzh2k5CSIb4G_bAckUBXtrIPV29gE59JOJ4GeCoPPvhjiZTpcN8JdPr9b1Tp4QQNgweqHD2_i-lDoOlV65_BESRi-W7E/s320/paul%20muldoon%20ursula%20burns.png" width="320" /></a></i></b></div><b><i><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/poetry-and-politics-paul-muldoon-in-conversation-with-william-crawley-tickets-778181039437">Poetry and Politics: Paul Muldoon in conversation with William Crawley</a></i></b> // <b>Friday 22 at 8pm in Crescent Arts Centre</b> // County Armagh-born Pulitzer-winning poet Paul Muldoon will examine the relationship between poetry and politics and the challenges of addressing contentious and ‘difficult' political and cultural issues. The conversation will be interspersed with readings.<p></p><p><i><b><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-many-bardic-harpers-does-it-take-to-change-a-lightbulb-tickets-815692928507">How many Bardic Harpers does it take to change a lightbulb?</a></b></i> // <b>Friday 22 at 8pm in Crescent Arts Centre</b> // If serious poetry isn’t your thing, then join Ursula Burns at the same time in a different part of the same venue for a walk through 30 years of dangerous harping. The harp is an iconic part of identity on this island. From the Bunting Manuscripts of the Irish Harpers Assemble to Guinness, Politics, Weddings, and Funerals. Wafting through the mists of time, Ursula asks, “what got lost in our harping history?” Ursula will explore her relationship with Belfast through song-writing and finish her talk with a performance of new instrumental compositions that demonstrate her unique technique.</p><p><i><b><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/henry-normal-and-nigel-planer-tickets-778280346467">Henry Normal and Nigel Planer</a></b></i> // <b>Sunday 24 at 8pm in The Black Box</b> // Festival regular Henry Normal returns for an evening of poetry, stories, jokes, Q&A, fun, knitwear and surprises. Accompanied by Nigel Planer, a prolific poet and author, probably best known as Neil in The Young Ones. As well as novels, plays and TV and radio scripts, Nigel has been writing and publishing poetry for over fifty years.</p><p>Just a sample from the <a href="https://imaginebelfast.com/2024-at-a-glance/ ">full programme available on the Imagine! Belfast festival website</a>.<br /></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-72805119441750300392024-02-28T22:55:00.001+00:002024-02-28T22:56:26.809+00:00The Mousetrap – a triumph of whodunnit legend over drama (Grand Opera House until Saturday 2 March)<p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ZgKS0EOBSCnwqal8ElCh0Pts59AGNUPxNu01Qmmo-zAfU8n5xzQbuSsi6hD12zNPZ_no5F795hinAkprkd-Pijt_wXkt-DESiUXw7YWazH7I6qa-x74-yzDXnSp8GtkeRXhGGPOlvwahvao7Ll8sX8bg6gzyRVIKwFpXXlxtTBqTHbfpwQg/s2048/The%20Mousetrap%20IMG_8107.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="2048" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ZgKS0EOBSCnwqal8ElCh0Pts59AGNUPxNu01Qmmo-zAfU8n5xzQbuSsi6hD12zNPZ_no5F795hinAkprkd-Pijt_wXkt-DESiUXw7YWazH7I6qa-x74-yzDXnSp8GtkeRXhGGPOlvwahvao7Ll8sX8bg6gzyRVIKwFpXXlxtTBqTHbfpwQg/w400-h200/The%20Mousetrap%20IMG_8107.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Agatha Christie’s <a href="https://www.goh.co.uk/whats-on/the-mousetrap"><i><b>The Mousetrap</b></i></a> is like a historic rodent that has been trapped in amber. It’s an artefact that people come from far and wide to study. A blast from the past that has escaped the confines of the West End and is travelling around the UK and Ireland on its 70th anniversary tour. But being old and successful doesn’t automatically make something good.
The play’s attraction is clearly its longevity.<p></p><p>Back on the 27 November 1952, the Guardian’s critic – back then, the Manchester Guardian – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/1952/nov/24/theatre.artsfeatures">wrote a scathing review</a> that dissected the play like a pathologist looking for answers at a post mortem.
“… as the snow piles up around the isolated guesthouse in <i>The Mousetrap</i> at the Ambassadors Theatre, the false clues drift across the stage, deluding the less alert in the audience and appearing to deceive characters in the play who ought to know better. Agatha Christie's comedy-thriller, like a more expensive production which Miss Tallulah Bankhead once commented on, has ‘less in it than meets the eye’. Coincidence is stretched unreasonably to assemble in one place a group of characters, each of whom may reasonably be suspected of murder in series … Yet the whole thing whizzes along as though driven by some real dramatic force, as though the characters were not built entirely of cliches and situations not all familiar.”</p><p>It’s hard to disagree with the unnamed reviewer. As new proprietors of Monkswell Manor Guest House, Mollie and Giles Ralston (Neerja Naik and Barnaby Jago) are still getting to grips with the heating system and how best to handle their guests. Christopher Wren (Shaun McCourt) leaps around the stage and throws himself on the sofa like Frank Spencer after three cans of Red Bull. If Wren was any more cliched, his costume would include a badge spelling it out.
Mrs Boyle (Gwyneth Strong) is an irascible killjoy who could turn a bottle of milk sour even if it was sitting outside in a snow drift.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrAvE1rVZO_N-8uk7XeaXgQBMlTjepnSP8NAHoENITRAFfn2WnyoLGms9IvDKZPzlj_UOQkyFNl7V8xn3LwpvYjsdJ4-xHQUZ9Jx0qnnikiNzAaPRcfvrMnDx1W3y2R8IzbHk-mTEDYg17rf6u3zlW_g8ptczbmLstlHc8u4KS06UWyx-dN6w/s2048/The%20Mousetrap%20IMG_8108.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1367" data-original-width="2048" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrAvE1rVZO_N-8uk7XeaXgQBMlTjepnSP8NAHoENITRAFfn2WnyoLGms9IvDKZPzlj_UOQkyFNl7V8xn3LwpvYjsdJ4-xHQUZ9Jx0qnnikiNzAaPRcfvrMnDx1W3y2R8IzbHk-mTEDYg17rf6u3zlW_g8ptczbmLstlHc8u4KS06UWyx-dN6w/w400-h268/The%20Mousetrap%20IMG_8108.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Major Metcalf (played by Todd Carty who escaped <i>Eastenders</i> 21 years ago when Mark Fowler rode off on his motorbike) leaves no door handle unturned as he explores the country house like a military man on a mission. Mousy Miss Casewell (Amy Spinks) has booked in for a spot of mysterious letter writing. Mr Paravicini (Steven Elliott) and his strong Italian accent drops in unexpectedly hoping to find a bed for the night when his Rolls Royce hits a snowdrift. And before too long, the oppressively shouty Detective Sergeant Trotter (Michael Ayiotis) is shaking the snow off his skis as he arrives to investigate a murder with his notebook, pencil and an ability to join dots that no one else would think to connect.<p></p><p>With one cast member found dead at the end of the first act, after the interval everyone’s alibi is undermined, and the woodworm-infected backstories are supposed to cast doubt in every direction … bar the one you’ll already be looking. Flukes and coincidences mount up like the drifting snow outside the guest house. Directors Ian Talbot and Denise Silvey allow the play’s tone to skid between the verges as banter and giggles totally ignore the dead body now lying out of sight. The cast wholeheartedly inhabit the ill-assorted characters who create the so-called melodrama. But the gruel is thin and lacks substance … and is much less witty than the recent film <i><a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2022/09/see-how-they-run-youll-not-need-degree.html">See How They Run</a></i> which was based in the world of the long-running London production of the play.<br /></p><p>In my days of working in London, I walked past St Martin’s Theatre countless times on the way to dinner with a colleague in the nearby Café Rouge. It’s good to have finally seen the play, even if it proved to be an anticlimax.
This time two years ago, another troubled whodunnit graced the stage of the Grand Opera House. <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2022/02/catch-me-if-you-can-gentle-comedy.html"><i>Catch Me If You</i></a> was a star vehicle for Patrick Duffy (better known for playing Bobby Ewing on TV), but like <i><a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2023/11/222-ghost-story-night-to-remember-as.html">2:22 A Ghost Story</a></i>, pulling off surprises in a theatre can be challenging. It all adds to the bulging evidence file that proves beyond reasonable doubt that constructing an entertaining one room mystery for the stage is a stretch even for an expert in the field like Agatha Christie.</p><p><i>The Mousetrap</i> continues its run in the <a href="https://www.goh.co.uk/whats-on/the-mousetrap">Grand Opera until Saturday 2 March</a>. </p><p><i>Photo credit: Matt Crockett</i> <br /></p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-63453028418706175292024-02-17T14:25:00.005+00:002024-02-24T18:50:28.463+00:00Granny Jackson’s Dead – join the mourners at this sad time of loss (Big Telly Theatre Company as part of NI Science Festival) #NISF24<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5UDzrVGQGCwOmkDfOHXqYGQEmmnMcNL4d6GJKcgj_dCQs8UcWJI00v_Gdmnqy6k2_u3FPPOW7ALSZ9X15sBBbYN8svbFC8gPeWq5nj_lQwbpvfF4jr0AYYePq3YYKmmVtWMSWMLGWOxUgSoiA8HDhdv3lkergCOfZb1wDExqjWR6OjpzKxE/s1000/big%20telly%20granny%20jacksons%20dead.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5UDzrVGQGCwOmkDfOHXqYGQEmmnMcNL4d6GJKcgj_dCQs8UcWJI00v_Gdmnqy6k2_u3FPPOW7ALSZ9X15sBBbYN8svbFC8gPeWq5nj_lQwbpvfF4jr0AYYePq3YYKmmVtWMSWMLGWOxUgSoiA8HDhdv3lkergCOfZb1wDExqjWR6OjpzKxE/w400-h200/big%20telly%20granny%20jacksons%20dead.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>“Sorry for your loss” accompanied by a firm handshake seemed like the most appropriate thing to say as I stepped out of the mizzle and walked inside a house on the Malone Road to meet a line-up of grieving relatives.<p></p><p>Granny Jackson may be dead, but she’s living on in the hearts of her family, the folks who live next door, and the many <s><del>audience members</del></s> mourners who are turning up at her wake during <a href="https://nisciencefestival.com/">NI Science Festival</a>. It’s a Big Telly Theatre Company production, so expect to be whisked between bedrooms and the kitchen, given a plate of ham sandwiches to deliver elsewhere in the house. Expect to be gently involved – perhaps even emotionally – and then expect the unexpected as the cast move from their individual stations to construct the dramatic denouement.</p><p>The deceased’s daughter Susan (Shelly Atkinson) is agitated now that she’s been shaken out of the distance she clearly maintained from Granny Jackson. Grandson Darren (Gavin Pedan) and his business partner Chad (Aidan Crowe/Michael Curran Dorsano) have set up a digital memorialisation company and Granny Jackson was the first person whose memories have been captured for posterity. But that’s not to everyone’s taste in the family circle.<br /></p><p>Ronnie (Emily Tracey) is taking a more spiritual approach to wishing farewell to the old dear. Maureen (Rosie McClelland) from next door is sitting quietly beside the coffin in the good room, remembering better times with the lively 83-year-old. Meanwhile Joe (Ciaran Nolan) sees the mourners as potential housebuyers for a property that he is trying to sell with undue haste.</p><p><i><b><a href="https://nisciencefestival.com/events/granny-jacksons-dead"></a></b></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjM4QjIsp4Iy9c6yPWZE9KwyJvQPkwQ66s1GlM4H6s3gqj71GC_qvQFiz5QOYVG0-MjBNuZcHVeelbfIms9I_2F6hdQVzTTzpv8gGAqopt7rUFyGwbNWoMAIwlgObHUPbyqzczTgBIngQfa_YSkVAz-bL3fkZWbXV-X5K8HXM7rfUZPMxpwR0/s1757/Granny%20Jackson%20pot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1382" data-original-width="1757" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjM4QjIsp4Iy9c6yPWZE9KwyJvQPkwQ66s1GlM4H6s3gqj71GC_qvQFiz5QOYVG0-MjBNuZcHVeelbfIms9I_2F6hdQVzTTzpv8gGAqopt7rUFyGwbNWoMAIwlgObHUPbyqzczTgBIngQfa_YSkVAz-bL3fkZWbXV-X5K8HXM7rfUZPMxpwR0/w200-h158/Granny%20Jackson%20pot.png" width="200" /></a></b></i></div><i><b>Granny Jackson’s Dead</b></i> asks its audiences to consider how and why and what we remember about people we cared for. Do we want to be able to forget aspects of their lives and character? Do we want to hear their voice again? Do we realise that modern technology could put words into the mouth of someone who is deceased? Are the dead being monetised? The concept of digital memorialisation isn’t laboured – though there are a rich set of technology demonstrations and artefacts woven into the storytelling. (Do check out the creepy jars in the downstairs en suite.)<p></p><p>The cast are constantly adapting, injecting storylines into the narrative while ad libbing around the fertile imaginations of each new group of mourners. An interdisciplinary team from the National Centre for Social Research and Manchester Metropolitan University’s School of Theatre and School of Digital Art have been involved in the development of the production. They correctly credit Big Telly director Zoë Seaton as “a hijacker of the familiar”. A good 45 minutes after the wake ended, a majority of those in attendance were still sitting in The Harrison’s front bar next door discussing what had just happened.</p><p>At the best of times, death and control of the rituals that follow can be sources of tension, as relatives wrestle for control over the choreography and the narrative. Secrets are spilled rather than shared. Big Telly accentuate those divisive moments and neatly needle Susan from being a digital sceptic to someone who suddenly appreciates what (selfish) comfort it could offer. And since it’s a wake, do expect a bit of a singsong.</p><p>The show has been so carefully crafted to gently explore our attitudes, tolerances and reaction to death, grief tech, and the ethics of loss. Attending any wake or funeral can involve a bit of acting: there’s often a vocabulary, a tone, a measured way of unexcitedly addressing the communal grief. Waiting in the queue outside the venue, even before we entered the building and met the family, another <s><del>audience member</del></s> mourner and I began to discuss our imaginary backstory for the unknown woman at the heart of our evening’s entertainment. The more you enter into the spirit of the event, the more your mind will engage with the themes and challenges it presents. Conscious that I have friends and colleagues who have experienced loss very recently, it’s probably also important to add a reassurance that it’s all done in the best possible taste.</p><p>Big Telly’s <i>Granny Jackson’s Dead</i> <a href="https://nisciencefestival.com/events/granny-jacksons-dead">continues at NI Science Festival until Sunday 25 February</a>, and there are plans for a wider (UK) tour. It’s good to see that so many will get the opportunity to pay their respects to the women who one family member quipped was such “a wild ticket”.</p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-46100056222181690542024-02-14T17:00:00.003+00:002024-02-14T21:47:21.562+00:00Madame Web – the one about a man with spidery superpowers who takes violent action because he feels threatened by five smart and principled women (cinemas from 14 February)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiptI9l9xbBK0f4zm0Q8qGgPu7s9Brs7iBf-LQnc-I8m_mRsXdW7ZRnzJYT20euGRIZt_YjuCU1eNLGDye9sqBQRZvpQPMcpAonuaEIxSzbos6RNNQ5ELlUzrsGQioQf1sv4JXpQ6z702N2YEx9SxjhilTrXrjpt3sK-_UOu-7IBfFIwjBRB1Q/s1800/Madame%20Web%201.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiptI9l9xbBK0f4zm0Q8qGgPu7s9Brs7iBf-LQnc-I8m_mRsXdW7ZRnzJYT20euGRIZt_YjuCU1eNLGDye9sqBQRZvpQPMcpAonuaEIxSzbos6RNNQ5ELlUzrsGQioQf1sv4JXpQ6z702N2YEx9SxjhilTrXrjpt3sK-_UOu-7IBfFIwjBRB1Q/w400-h200/Madame%20Web%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><i><b>Madame Web</b></i>’s multi-threaded plot is fairly knotted and the act of mentally untangling it distracts from enjoying the film.<p></p><p>A pregnant woman searches for an elusive spider in the Peruvian jungle.</p><p>A paramedic (Cassie played by Dakota Johnson) starts to have premonitions after a near-death experience. Her ambulance partner’s name (Adam Scott as Ben Parker) sounds familiar … but wash your mouth and mind out with soap as this is absolutely nothing to do with Spider-Man no siree.</p><p>Three young women (Isabela Merced as Anya, Sydney Sweeney as Julia, Celeste O'Connor as Mattie) don’t realise that a strange man (Tahar Rahim as Ezekiel) is tracking them down.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiooS4RtNvmqPq5Ipnfl2FVPGOYI7BKhC5M9xro4Cf0NquW4j-re9ZXBjjh58QtZIc4MoDGrAOJkr5pkICTstVT3SWat1QNG_dMp9kfP8IWzX8pWDZSNzIuWsZgcMdoKli368B0k0cdTyOx6PX22Wh35J8sFLGw8xaKb0mdxsS7my2hdoj5H2c/s2160/Madame%20Web%203.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="2160" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiooS4RtNvmqPq5Ipnfl2FVPGOYI7BKhC5M9xro4Cf0NquW4j-re9ZXBjjh58QtZIc4MoDGrAOJkr5pkICTstVT3SWat1QNG_dMp9kfP8IWzX8pWDZSNzIuWsZgcMdoKli368B0k0cdTyOx6PX22Wh35J8sFLGw8xaKb0mdxsS7my2hdoj5H2c/w400-h166/Madame%20Web%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The women all share a connection with the paramedic but that’s totally redundant within the plot.<p></p><p>45 minutes into the film, you’ll be asking whether it’s a story about spiders, a story about changing the future through déjà vu, a story about a man with superpowers who takes violent action because he feels threatened by three (actually at least five) smart and principled women, or whether the lovely scene-stealing stray cat who slurps milk will turn out to be really important.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqUuqVtDWz9_qQ0DcPOet0CsMUydA4NB5DJX50eE-AmqzAu6MSz9ROJS9qGcuBdydkdUWFHQX1ATJUDEjm4DCfx_3eJIpUUhpG8o_X-oASRj1hgzN02kyl7dQHpIklda0ChFUpFkcHbmf0Jdqc99a23oLdGuc23QchjnC27L4svJqMpLuYm0/s1596/Madame%20Web%20math%20t-shirt.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1596" data-original-width="1290" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqUuqVtDWz9_qQ0DcPOet0CsMUydA4NB5DJX50eE-AmqzAu6MSz9ROJS9qGcuBdydkdUWFHQX1ATJUDEjm4DCfx_3eJIpUUhpG8o_X-oASRj1hgzN02kyl7dQHpIklda0ChFUpFkcHbmf0Jdqc99a23oLdGuc23QchjnC27L4svJqMpLuYm0/s320/Madame%20Web%20math%20t-shirt.jpg" width="259" /></a></div><p>The four parentless stars of the show are well-drawn and interesting characters. Cassie is reluctantly maternal; Anya is rational (and copies of her t-shirt “I eat MATH for breakfast” are <a href="https://amzn.to/4bEyilC">available online</a>!); Maddie is impetuous; Julia is shy and thus wears her name as a necklace in case she doesn’t introduce herself. But the plot weaves a tangled web around their potential to shine. <br /></p><p></p><p>Ultimately, a lot of unacknowledged innocent people die in a bid to save the lives of three young women. Pepsi turns out to be bad for your health.</p><p>Hard to believe that paramedic Ben doesn’t hesitate when asked to swallow Cassie’s tall tale and immediately agrees to look after her young charges. At the end, I must have blinked and missed the moment that Cassie sustained the injuries that transform her sight and mobility before the final scene. It feels like a lot <br /></p><p>The cat and the use of The Cranberries’ song <i>Dream</i> over the credits are the film’s best moments. There’s no end-credit scene … probably for the best that no one extends this miserable arachnoid universe or speaks of it again.</p><p><i>Madame Web</i> is playing in local cinemas from Wednesday 14 February. Is it a tense thriller? Is it a Marvel superhero film? Is it a giant pile of spider poo?</p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/s_76M4c4LTo?si=eQxm0hmkQlT128pL" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe> </p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-78305716290300273732024-02-12T12:48:00.000+00:002024-02-12T12:48:37.604+00:00American Fiction – a misrepresented author fights back against the system and realises that he’s also misrepresenting himself (QFT and other cinemas)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAPur0J3ciUNQ-bJGzcuD5h2f6_nasPEuiJ8V2He4-L3qM5T8MeoVsyN5TDrjNLwfVOc638s2qbWma_g1V5QoFinqPeuVN9b5JqDNLkt_1Myma79leZIqIwlZ2cpj5J-ke_CAyg17saP0aRMpMNHZ5WlJGkBC4yYbVcVT2x_qF2Cbx5ngu4s/s2160/American%20Fiction%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1338" data-original-width="2160" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAPur0J3ciUNQ-bJGzcuD5h2f6_nasPEuiJ8V2He4-L3qM5T8MeoVsyN5TDrjNLwfVOc638s2qbWma_g1V5QoFinqPeuVN9b5JqDNLkt_1Myma79leZIqIwlZ2cpj5J-ke_CAyg17saP0aRMpMNHZ5WlJGkBC4yYbVcVT2x_qF2Cbx5ngu4s/w400-h248/American%20Fiction%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><i><b><a href="https://queensfilmtheatre.com/Whats-On/American-Fiction">American Fiction</a></b></i> is a well-painted takedown of the tendency to pigeonhole culture and the creatives behind it into simplistic categories without examining the actual art. In this case, middle class, middle of the road academic Dr Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison’s worthy literature is filed under African American Studies rather than its true subject.<p></p><p>Acting out of frustration and spite, he writes a book under a pseudonym that professes to be based on his experience of life as a gangsta who’s on the run from the police and has witnessed serious trouble in his life in the ghetto. It’s made-up poverty-porn with an unhealthy sprinkling of violence, but it excites publishers, publicists, award judges and mass market readers in a way he could only dream of for his true work.</p><p>But success brings its own stress. As the deception grows in scale, Monk is faced with a continuing dilemma of whether to fess up or whether he should run with his unwanted but lucrative success. All the while, drama within his own family adds to the pressure.</p><p>Jeffrey Wright shows versatility as Monk’s mood and body swings between depression, futility, hope and occasionally happiness. Screenwriter and debut director Cord Jefferson wisely makes Monk a failed hero. While Monk is angry about the literary world’s injustice, the author is also faced with the reality that he is a flawed son, partner and colleague. Playing his sister Lisa, Tracee Ellis Ross makes a very positive but all too brief contribution to the film’s setup of the Ellison family dynamic with blunt conversations that wake Monk up to his responsibilities.</p><p>The film’s finale acknowledges that film producers and audiences expect a neat ending that will resolve any remaining threads of uncertainty. In a neat albeit meta device, several conclusions are offered, but – bravely and deliberately – none that quite scratch the itch that the 117 minutes of cinema has created as we watch Monk’s act of absurd revolt.</p><p>The satire at the heart of American Fiction is the cause of great hilarity. It’s also unsettling as you start to wonder whether you’re being played as you sit watching the film. Are you participating in a piece of reductionist art misrepresenting the source work? (I’m off to read Percival Everett’s novel <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3SU6ja5">Erasure</a></i> to understand the translation between the page and the screen.) Who’s making money out of this story of misrepresentation and ill-treatment? All questions that I think the director and original author will be glad to crowd your thoughts with as you watch the film.</p><p><i>American Fiction</i> is playing in <a href="https://queensfilmtheatre.com/Whats-On/American-Fiction">Queen’s Film Theatre until 12 March</a> as well as a limited number of other local cinemas.<br /></p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/yrWBEOLRyIs?si=AADcJtP-tNLVGT5s" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-36494715283635308042024-02-10T14:57:00.005+00:002024-02-10T15:40:08.644+00:00Little Women – four sisters break away from the paths the world would prefer them to take (Lyric Theatre until 2 March)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ7xqvTTVy_4VHKY4-6LLT5iIZh6oTeKUCAMSa1D1wBL2W7HMjLmjWrIU9Rm25ph9qCKFRCz47hBcH5pdZB6hY8G6NdWq9-T-PWYrEEM6F_TNLZ9SjjrvM3iGBQl2h1L3LUZzuYoAuoStN-o4qYk953TagsP_QUMj5F7Z4-h-OiPw_elx9gbo/s1890/xxx%2014%20Marty%20Breen,%20Ruby%20Campbell,%20Maura%20Bird,%20Tara%20Cush,%20Jo%20Donnelly%20and%20Cillian%20Lenaghan%20in%20Little%20Women%20at%20the%20Lyric%20Theatre%20-%20Credit%20Carrie%20Davenport.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="945" data-original-width="1890" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ7xqvTTVy_4VHKY4-6LLT5iIZh6oTeKUCAMSa1D1wBL2W7HMjLmjWrIU9Rm25ph9qCKFRCz47hBcH5pdZB6hY8G6NdWq9-T-PWYrEEM6F_TNLZ9SjjrvM3iGBQl2h1L3LUZzuYoAuoStN-o4qYk953TagsP_QUMj5F7Z4-h-OiPw_elx9gbo/w400-h200/xxx%2014%20Marty%20Breen,%20Ruby%20Campbell,%20Maura%20Bird,%20Tara%20Cush,%20Jo%20Donnelly%20and%20Cillian%20Lenaghan%20in%20Little%20Women%20at%20the%20Lyric%20Theatre%20-%20Credit%20Carrie%20Davenport.png" width="400" /></a></div>It’s not often that I sit in the theatre and can forget everything else around me and be entranced by the storytelling on stage. It’s much more likely to happen in the cinema. Theatres are much more chatty places, particularly on press night, full of buzz and distraction, long before the curtain goes up.<p></p><p>The Lyric Theatre’s production of <a href="https://lyrictheatre.co.uk/whats-on/little-women"><i><b>Little Women</b></i></a> has an incredible intensity right from the off that held my attention with a vice-like grip. The four March sisters are gadding about the house and within minutes we’ve learned that Meg (Ruby Campbell) is the eldest, sensible, very conscious of her good looks (“her face will be her fortune”), a teacher and a wannabe homemaker. Jo (Marty Breen) is a writer at heart, a self-confessed tomboy with a beautiful sense of non-conformity, and Meg’s wingman when they head out together. Beth (Maura Bird) is forever tinkling the ivories on the family piano, a shy homebird who is essentially honest and good, enjoying an incredible bond with big sister Jo. Amy (Tara Cush) is the youngest and least mature, delightfully mixing up big words, quite unfiltered when expressing opinions, not quite sure how of how to define herself but in the meantime very keen to be seen to please and quite jealous of her sisters.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3YBudCex7HFdH1Ij0ECRzOb6F0tqOMVYvsDhjLT_5sAlT7Fxxq0ljifj4TS6PFdtFW_pE0FiztnerWRTntmz6rghDE-T0PdksDeK_ocuBUkMSo3l8XuYK6taf82Z0syjBD3m4sbuqgfiTQw09QBYIadxEwH6HESO_SdCMYBGQAAZ4Uwndj-M/s2936/5%20Marty%20Breen,%20Ruby%20Campbell,%20Maura%20Bird%20and%20Tara%20Cush%20in%20Little%20Women%20at%20the%20Lyric%20Theatre%20-%20Credit%20Carrie%20Davenport.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1953" data-original-width="2936" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3YBudCex7HFdH1Ij0ECRzOb6F0tqOMVYvsDhjLT_5sAlT7Fxxq0ljifj4TS6PFdtFW_pE0FiztnerWRTntmz6rghDE-T0PdksDeK_ocuBUkMSo3l8XuYK6taf82Z0syjBD3m4sbuqgfiTQw09QBYIadxEwH6HESO_SdCMYBGQAAZ4Uwndj-M/w400-h266/5%20Marty%20Breen,%20Ruby%20Campbell,%20Maura%20Bird%20and%20Tara%20Cush%20in%20Little%20Women%20at%20the%20Lyric%20Theatre%20-%20Credit%20Carrie%20Davenport.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>This version of <i>Little Women</i> is very character driven. Based on <a href="https://amzn.to/3SUyyEz">the original books by Louisa May Alcott</a>, Anne-Marie Casey’s witty – and sometimes a bit barmy – script creates generously proportioned scenes that allow time to explore the sisters and establish their quirks and motivations, rather than bouncing the audience through lots of quick scene changes in race to the plot’s end. While it adds to the run time – and the pre-show warnings are a little daunting* – it also adds to the enjoyment of the storytelling.<p></p><p><i>* Just don’t drink in the hour before the show starts and nip to the loo when you arrive and you’ll be fine! It’s no longer than <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2020/01/little-women-saoirse-ronan-stars-in.html">Greta Gerwig’s film</a> which didn’t have an interval.</i><br /></p><p><i>Little Women</i> is Emily Foran’s main stage debut as director. Her <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2022/11/revved-tragic-intense-funny-and-hard-to.html">back</a> <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2018/02/after-end-fearing-fallout-while-being.html">catalogue</a> <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2018/02/after-end-fearing-fallout-while-being.html">of</a> <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2018/06/we-like-it-here-rural-isolation-and.html">work</a> on smaller productions has always impressed. Ploughing through the script and giving every scene the time it deserved must have been a Herculean task during rehearsals and tech. But the finished product has such a quality feel. Foran’s direction is delicate and detailed, and begs the question why she has only got this opportunity now. The second act scene featuring a family death will be hard to forget in years to come, with the emotion in the moment of loss handled with such sensitivity.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwUKnrHHscdOtD_HRuVLyAD0JzBRumbcfbykVBFLDllAp0A9zBcZDdh7OxWbcdjLhPQj5KfkkrsoXmoXi2yP_G3ChkQgyD28kk3PXc5n-AVdi5dvnAuciLwzdwn1PUZxy4t_gJLTFVyCqYau9PC5lrculLHkr6elui3cqQ52jc0QOFJap_HY/s2142/16%20Marty%20Breen%20and%20Ash%20Rizi%20in%20Little%20Women%20at%20the%20Lyric%20Theatre%20-%20Credit%20Carrie%20Davenport.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1529" data-original-width="2142" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwUKnrHHscdOtD_HRuVLyAD0JzBRumbcfbykVBFLDllAp0A9zBcZDdh7OxWbcdjLhPQj5KfkkrsoXmoXi2yP_G3ChkQgyD28kk3PXc5n-AVdi5dvnAuciLwzdwn1PUZxy4t_gJLTFVyCqYau9PC5lrculLHkr6elui3cqQ52jc0QOFJap_HY/w400-h285/16%20Marty%20Breen%20and%20Ash%20Rizi%20in%20Little%20Women%20at%20the%20Lyric%20Theatre%20-%20Credit%20Carrie%20Davenport.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Tracey Lindsay’s two storey set serves the story well, and the layers of scenery which drop down in front to temporarily take the audience to parties and New York are very neat. The backdrop visually supports the change of seasons, along with some delicious dustings of snow and an icy adventure. Altogether, it makes for another great main stage debut. Stuart Robinson’s soundscape is at its strongest in the first act with some lovely flourishes like when it takes over from Beth’s piano playing, but the string pads between some scenes feel laboured rather than setting a clear mood for what’s coming next.<p></p><p>While the whole play revolves around the four sisters, their journeys are supported by five other characters. Allison Harding’s Aunt March is agreeably abrupt, a decisive and a disruptive influence each time she marches on stage. Marmee (Jo Donnelly) is the matriarch who is all stiff upper lip uttering truisms as she cares for her daughters on a meagre budget while her absent husband is off being chaplain for the Union Army in the Civil War. As the run progresses, there’s definitely room for Marmee to develop a few more rounded mannerisms to go alongside the straitjacket of duty that requires her to be deadly serious so much of the time.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHOBkSXQLqEa_nHJcUkdK7qeP-w8QWaefzA8J_9faIr551Ly5PoYYunPlfjikQpjXYBozL4ETgte8qxSMW-vvSsWS4hEqyOPVlRPp1MQxAn9pWB1wGsacobngFjtneBbr2VyT_hHIGdQn5Sde7D5-E-bl6OYk7dkzRBit_xVLEH6mTfuK0Leg/s1006/12%20Allison%20Harding%20in%20Little%20Women%20at%20the%20Lyric%20Theatre%20-%20Credit%20Carrie%20Davenport.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1006" data-original-width="1006" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHOBkSXQLqEa_nHJcUkdK7qeP-w8QWaefzA8J_9faIr551Ly5PoYYunPlfjikQpjXYBozL4ETgte8qxSMW-vvSsWS4hEqyOPVlRPp1MQxAn9pWB1wGsacobngFjtneBbr2VyT_hHIGdQn5Sde7D5-E-bl6OYk7dkzRBit_xVLEH6mTfuK0Leg/s320/12%20Allison%20Harding%20in%20Little%20Women%20at%20the%20Lyric%20Theatre%20-%20Credit%20Carrie%20Davenport.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Cillian Lenaghan allows next-door neighbour Laurie’s heart to be melted every time he’s in the presence of Jo. Shaun Blaney plays Laurie’s tutor and overcomes obstacles to cement his role as Meg’s love interest. After the interval, Friedrich finally introduces Jo to European culture, and Ash Rizi very quickly establishes his character’s respect for Jo as a peer, and his abject disappointment that she continues to write pulp fiction for money rather than pursuing her true talent. (Go and see <i>American Fiction</i> in the cinema for another take on the value of different types of writing.)<p></p><p>Meg and Amy embrace their femininity: after all, they have been brought up to believe that the game they’re playing means “men have to work, women have to marry for money”. But from the first moment Jo shoves her hands into the very practical pockets in her dress we get a sense of her nonconformity. At every point in the story, she wants to be fully human, not constrained by stereotypes. Without laying it on thick, this production does allow – perhaps encourage – a queer reading of the story, albeit one with a marriage that is maybe borne out of friendship and respect rather than romance. Breen delivers a mesmerising performance, a tender triumph that continues to fill out Jo’s sense of self all the way as the character grows up throughout the play.</p><p>This production of <i>Little Women</i> is a good story very well told. It might be set in the 1860s, but I was drawn into the sisters’ world through the quality of their accents, their interactions and the decisions they each make to break away from the paths the world would prefer them to take. It was an absorbing evening of exceptional theatre. </p><p><i><a href="https://lyrictheatre.co.uk/whats-on/little-women">Little Women</a></i> continues its run at the Lyric Theatre until Saturday 2 March.
Tickets are scarce – just a couple of single seats available for some performances – but well worth seeing.</p><p><i>Photo credit: Carrie Davenport</i></p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-74044762277377092882024-02-04T20:38:00.004+00:002024-02-04T20:55:07.668+00:00Belfast Girls (An Táin Arts Centre and Quintessence Theatre at Lyric Theatre) – fleeing famine, seeking freedom in the face of yet more subjugation<p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmR6lwJRpSMZSR5llTDcrutN68N908N9ki5NOON1waZ5_DLAeOVbdUHd1W4dgIvQzhHuJaAPMuNjZqZfJ6wmKKh4EZrr204SFXl2z7XAPYQuO3Y-usLWUUcTQpcqFkepYu5_DUtAF5tvrsDhdVUiXmx3ibtqk-a_ueRafPUhnYk76dmcwDDd4/s2160/The%20Cast%20of%20Belfast%20Girls%203x.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2160" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmR6lwJRpSMZSR5llTDcrutN68N908N9ki5NOON1waZ5_DLAeOVbdUHd1W4dgIvQzhHuJaAPMuNjZqZfJ6wmKKh4EZrr204SFXl2z7XAPYQuO3Y-usLWUUcTQpcqFkepYu5_DUtAF5tvrsDhdVUiXmx3ibtqk-a_ueRafPUhnYk76dmcwDDd4/w400-h200/The%20Cast%20of%20Belfast%20Girls%203x.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Ireland has a lot of shameful history and another part of it from mid-1800s has been captured in theatrical form by playwright Jaki McCarrick. <i><b><a href="https://www.antain.ie/celebrating-10-years-with-belfast-girls/">Belfast Girls</a></b></i> is the story of women who boarded the Earl Grey ship in Belfast Harbour to set sail for a new life and better opportunities in Sydney, Australia.<p></p><p>Judith (Donna Anita Nikolaisen), Hannah (Leah Rossiter), Sarah (Carla Foley) and Ellen (Fiona Keenan O’Brien) have barricaded themselves below deck at one end of the sleeping quarters and built a wall of cases to keep the unruly girls from elsewhere on the island out. While they all joined the ship in Belfast, only Ellen is local and the rest come from further afield. For Judith, this is the second voyage of relocation in her short time alive.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFUf2hZNM3TxOq43GXj5qXuFIJ_yRY7gj9x2BRDgDtMv0hQLyLTu5IIIw9pkEXfP_dSOHDWoLLTlgcTET7ZXqo-zIGwbOOQX8UOlykhKO-MhcDWh0gHKNp-QYOOGTEguXZJKpb6_S-wzZ_Eb-0tCgUP4LqTT_SrKR9SlBdsCQjAknBm8113tA/s2160/Ellen%20and%20Hannah%20-%20Fiona%20Keenan%20O'%20Brien%20and%20Leah%20Rossiter%20x.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2160" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFUf2hZNM3TxOq43GXj5qXuFIJ_yRY7gj9x2BRDgDtMv0hQLyLTu5IIIw9pkEXfP_dSOHDWoLLTlgcTET7ZXqo-zIGwbOOQX8UOlykhKO-MhcDWh0gHKNp-QYOOGTEguXZJKpb6_S-wzZ_Eb-0tCgUP4LqTT_SrKR9SlBdsCQjAknBm8113tA/w400-h266/Ellen%20and%20Hannah%20-%20Fiona%20Keenan%20O'%20Brien%20and%20Leah%20Rossiter%20x.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>They’ve faked their way on board the vessel that was supposedly transporting 200 fair maidens from the Emerald Isle down under to start new lives in the male-dominated country that needed wives and workers. But most of those on board are fleeing a life of being bought and sold by rich pimps, and escaping from starvation brought on by the famine. And they may not be as free as they think. They’re soon joined by a pale and sickly Molly (Siobhan Kelly) who is also hiding her own secret past.<p></p><p>Can they throw off their histories to “become mistresses of their own destiny”? Or are they caught in other people’s plans, as free as wasps caught in a sticky jam jar?</p><p>(The British Secretary of State for the Colonies – Earl Grey – ran the Female Orphan Emigration Scheme which sent over 4,000 “morally pure” young women aged 14-18 to Australia on board 20 ships between 1848 and 1850.)</p><p>Dramatically there’s a lot to play with. The characters are cooped up below deck, fighting the waves and the weather, other occupants, a scary matron, and each other. Their resilience is tested beyond breaking point. They have time to explore Marx and Engels, forge alliances, develop mistrust, and let a spot of bloodletting spiral out of control.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAl9d2Niu0jZ4EP3XIdFt8D8-d7o5WJhfjA7G0o5QpPiNbBVPpObfCzI-KROt5ib3GiiYRmTQmbrMm1-d6t7i7ij_H6iqm4OyD2BcZwRTvbFNvZSd8I7WkLz05b9qMZCC1q139k8K6OEd0RZyufKy1ZEVJ9o9WkhXXr2rtOD3yeMkj8SG-QPY/s2040/Sarah%20(background)%20Molly%20Carla%20Foley%20and%20Siobhan%20Kellyx.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="2040" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAl9d2Niu0jZ4EP3XIdFt8D8-d7o5WJhfjA7G0o5QpPiNbBVPpObfCzI-KROt5ib3GiiYRmTQmbrMm1-d6t7i7ij_H6iqm4OyD2BcZwRTvbFNvZSd8I7WkLz05b9qMZCC1q139k8K6OEd0RZyufKy1ZEVJ9o9WkhXXr2rtOD3yeMkj8SG-QPY/w400-h266/Sarah%20(background)%20Molly%20Carla%20Foley%20and%20Siobhan%20Kellyx.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Director Anna Simpson creates a real feeling of claustrophobia in the wood-panelled set. The cast skilfully veer from harmony to hysteria in seconds. In a well-choreographed scene, the women are convincingly tossed around their living quarters and left feeling queasy. The dialogue is suitable antiquated though the coarse language is very familiar: patterns of swearing seem to have outsurvived many other idioms.<p></p><p>The passage to Australia is long, and that’s also reflected in the play’s run time (well over two hours which caught out an audience member who answered a call from a taxi driver out on Ridgeway Street disturbing a later scene).</p><p>Elongated scene changes involve slow-motion dancing and songs that don’t always advance the plot or change the mood. On the whole I found them to be a distraction from the otherwise gripping acting. Despite the unrushed movement on stage, there are some jarring transitions in the soundscaping when tracks aren’t allowed to gently fade from one into the next. A moment of tenderness between Judith and Molly seems to exist in McCarrick’s script simply to advance the plot a few scenes later and deserves further examination.</p><p><i>Belfast Girls</i> is a story of making choices for yourself while others choose on your behalf. Understanding how and why the famine occurred – and was allowed to have the devastating impact it had on the poorer classes – is a recurring theme. Dialogue about powerful landlords applies equally to today. The motivation of churchmen and those with control over women in 1850 is questioned. Modern-day audiences can apply those same questions to more recent times and ask whether much has changed. Much of the play’s exploration of class and womanhood is pertinent in the run up to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_2024_Irish_constitutional_referendums">the Irish constitutional referendums in March 2024</a>.<br /></p><p>Having finished its short run at the Lyric Theatre, An Táin Arts Centre and Quintessence Theatre are now touring <i>Belfast Girls</i> through Drogheda (<a href="https://www.droichead.com/show-detail/?id=873656019">Friday 9-Saturday 10 February</a>) and Navan (<a href="https://solsticeartscentre.ie/event/belfast-girls">Friday 16-Saturday 17</a>).
Not to be confused with <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2019/06/belfast-girls-transplanting-online.html">the other <i>Belfast Girls</i></a> (which is <a href="https://themaclive.com/event/belfast-girls-on-the-run">back in The MAC in May</a>).<br /></p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-64351455872581307572024-01-30T01:10:00.004+00:002024-01-30T09:22:20.033+00:00All Of Us Strangers – a very solid soundtrack lights up a frustrating plot about being gay in the 1980s and today<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisnVL_BI8GocHn2sZJy3EN9tLQkbR2-40IjbHr5HCYAT5gxEJ8QGryqm55MMdGr3WdOFlQpUvcKMUfiEDExGeT9Y3I5N1_XJ_l3h0rrjTnDeBhrJ2E0CuRN5yznZ7YRpGpO6ikM82L-TQPCIg4beOm5cFD2qgARtLs9rfyMndx1L5c_2F_udo/s1280/All%20Of%20Us%20Strangers%202.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1280" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisnVL_BI8GocHn2sZJy3EN9tLQkbR2-40IjbHr5HCYAT5gxEJ8QGryqm55MMdGr3WdOFlQpUvcKMUfiEDExGeT9Y3I5N1_XJ_l3h0rrjTnDeBhrJ2E0CuRN5yznZ7YRpGpO6ikM82L-TQPCIg4beOm5cFD2qgARtLs9rfyMndx1L5c_2F_udo/w400-h200/All%20Of%20Us%20Strangers%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><i><b><a href="https://queensfilmtheatre.com/Whats-On/All-of-Us-Strangers">All Of Us Strangers</a></b></i> portrays the isolation of being gay by physically sequestering two men at opposite ends of an otherwise empty new modern apartment block. It’s metaphorically – and we soon discover, metaphysically – rich storyline.<p></p><p>Adam (played by Andrew Scott) is a screenwriter who is flirting with the idea of writing about his parents who died when he was a young child. Three decades later he still feels their loss keenly and seeks connection with them and an opportunity to talk through what’s happened since their car crash. Harry (Paul Mescal) lives closers to the ground. He drinks a lot and makes a pass at Adam, turning up late in the evening at his apartment’s door with a bottle and a proposition. This too plays on Adam’s mind.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVtbBCvFye6TJ_gHjAGWW08iVeCg3wx7J76yeZxh7lSAnFub8y6o8VK0nR1NH9-rGKhTibBhIuWXnhl-ZeWWv5sVj3yV_7v_Z-d17iVC3TxE0eFpdC6BLDC6Kh16DVnzLCbS8csle_86tjw1WKdyEPbAk4hC7Jpa_Q572wZDNrA_pV0yJJdE/s1737/All%20Of%20Us%20Strangers%203.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1138" data-original-width="1737" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVtbBCvFye6TJ_gHjAGWW08iVeCg3wx7J76yeZxh7lSAnFub8y6o8VK0nR1NH9-rGKhTibBhIuWXnhl-ZeWWv5sVj3yV_7v_Z-d17iVC3TxE0eFpdC6BLDC6Kh16DVnzLCbS8csle_86tjw1WKdyEPbAk4hC7Jpa_Q572wZDNrA_pV0yJJdE/w400-h263/All%20Of%20Us%20Strangers%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>As he processes his childhood, Adam wonders what his parents would think of him if they knew how he grew up? Would they appreciate his job writing scripts for films? Would they accept him being gay? To explain anything more would be to enter spoiler city. However, it’s important to note that Claire Foy steals the show playing Adam’s mother – you’ll have to ponder whether this is a flashback or some other device – and her moment of saying goodbye finally tipped me over the edge and her heartbreak provided a much-needed emotional connection to the film. Another ending later on was less impactful.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSA5wWy55JVUpRo3Lhz1cq0RRxZlvPO3Dmh9rBeONYSVW039EyBD6HyRBmcnaLz4syFLzR5uRwptpMCgiN8ldKcvkLhBArXyEDxKsW4OBRtHYH82253nQlQDDAk8ufKfzkFlcPyFm0ifIYO38exbqoUPB_f9u-CqxGOJUKALNuX9bzgEgBXzo/s1706/All%20Of%20Us%20Strangers%204.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="1706" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSA5wWy55JVUpRo3Lhz1cq0RRxZlvPO3Dmh9rBeONYSVW039EyBD6HyRBmcnaLz4syFLzR5uRwptpMCgiN8ldKcvkLhBArXyEDxKsW4OBRtHYH82253nQlQDDAk8ufKfzkFlcPyFm0ifIYO38exbqoUPB_f9u-CqxGOJUKALNuX9bzgEgBXzo/w400-h188/All%20Of%20Us%20Strangers%204.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Scott and Mescal act their socks off (in several senses). Their characters’ intimacy is believable even before what will forever be thought of as a ‘<i>Saltburn</i>’ moment. They are invested in each other. And the sadness within their characters’ lives is palpable: All Of Us Strangers says something important about what it was like to be gay in the 1980s – Adam’s childhood – and still today. It’s clearly a story that is personal for writer/director Andrew Haigh to explore. However, the structure of the story is a weakness of the film and I think it’s understandable that the Academy Awards skipped over this good-but-struggling-to-be-great film.<p></p><p>Aside from Foy’s performance, the other undeniable joy of <i>All Of Us Strangers</i> is <a href="https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/all-of-us-strangers-soundtrack-songs/">the pitch perfect soundtrack</a>. Pet Shop Boys’ synth-tastic <i>Always On My Mind</i> is the film’s second emotive dip into the band’s 1980s catalogue. But it’s the final number – <i>The Power of Love</i> by Frankie Goes To Hollywood – that heightens the intense feeling of loneliness as the story, and Adam’s love, runs dry.</p><p><i>All Of Us Strangers</i> is <a href="https://queensfilmtheatre.com/Whats-On/All-of-Us-Strangers">playing in Queen’s Film Theatre</a> as well as most other local cinemas. </p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZrBil0GrNig?si=5kd2EJOkf2tBzzUo" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe> </p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-88194046963481492712024-01-29T20:27:00.007+00:002024-02-05T20:36:40.841+00:00The Zone of Interest – are the Commandant’s family really living the dream next door to the Auschwitz concentration camp?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrwWjb_5x11VwIDkxvlXSj0wh-7CW_FqQUu0GMx7fKXz_xBRn4CF0K06sh_jOqz0ya1RGEQcLamqHqlhWdVlJBVHdzmPzXxCvslaWf7Osfo4o2w0bv2agfx7wWnpM4NrQpb-zTswDZgc8C_y6VSjxKExS2P7ltSePY8vlqzazCn4E3goE2_so/s2160/The%20Zone%20of%20Interest%201.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2160" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrwWjb_5x11VwIDkxvlXSj0wh-7CW_FqQUu0GMx7fKXz_xBRn4CF0K06sh_jOqz0ya1RGEQcLamqHqlhWdVlJBVHdzmPzXxCvslaWf7Osfo4o2w0bv2agfx7wWnpM4NrQpb-zTswDZgc8C_y6VSjxKExS2P7ltSePY8vlqzazCn4E3goE2_so/w400-h200/The%20Zone%20of%20Interest%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The Commandant’s family reside next door to Auschwitz concentration camp. While Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) spends his time with engineers trying to build ever more efficient methods of killing and burning prisoners in the camp crematoriums, his family enjoy the use of a large garden, an outdoor swimming pool, and the best of clothes taken from Jewish prisoners arriving at the camp. Hedwig Höss (Sandra Hüller) urges him to take the family back on vacation to a spa in Italy. He is noncommittal as he broods over his new orders to leave the comfort of Auschwitz and take over a role closer to Berlin.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkUpBfx-2h2zCXLuZK9Kg35lrWmwBZ7gecKRbiLuTpCicp9q0aPIH7M_J9AMniAaUWNilSSk2xI91uH8f0ZK_Le9cdbSTZJz8b4_Sbhe_4hhhZ39FNJK7oLzRLbu61eK3ZfCBMTkadOkMYtnSFU3IamSozVZisos13VkuIe8JoLGMqV4DIEl8/s983/The%20Zone%20of%20Interest%203.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="983" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkUpBfx-2h2zCXLuZK9Kg35lrWmwBZ7gecKRbiLuTpCicp9q0aPIH7M_J9AMniAaUWNilSSk2xI91uH8f0ZK_Le9cdbSTZJz8b4_Sbhe_4hhhZ39FNJK7oLzRLbu61eK3ZfCBMTkadOkMYtnSFU3IamSozVZisos13VkuIe8JoLGMqV4DIEl8/w400-h309/The%20Zone%20of%20Interest%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Jonathan Glazer’s <a href="https://queensfilmtheatre.com/Whats-On/The-Zone-of-Interest "><i><b>The Zone of Interest</b></i></a> contrasts domestic bliss – though Hedwig isn’t aware of the female prisoner who visits her husband in his office – with the mostly unseen but always heard horror on the other side of the camp wall. We see smoke billowing out of the tall chimneys that dominate the skyline from the house and garden. Licks of flame light up the night sky. But the ever-present soundscape that betrays the mass killing is the dull drone of machinery, marching and occasional gunfire.<p></p><p>Rudolf is portrayed as a cold fish. His most tender moments come when he says goodbye to the horse that he rides across the road to work each morning. Hedwig is living the high life and doesn’t want to let go of the current perks of being married to the Commandant. The couple’s children don’t have much freedom, and while they’re living in total comfort compared with the prisoners nearby, the camp’s presence and unspoken activity distresses them.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxw_-sq-MpeOe3-0MPH3hX8KPeWeuB_xBEE-ou5ofvmsv5tQkL2fVtbUYIZK1KWj0LyOrwqhjTJ1PR1ySjyfMT8xldCYXBxfwQVVcWv6wjIpqEgNnvlX07kPlTQgA5VaRvvwaNr74wEtwx7BVXU_wTTANXLevjHDUFXWgkGf6IIvTood_rbQ/s1178/The%20Zone%20of%20Interest%202.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="1178" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxw_-sq-MpeOe3-0MPH3hX8KPeWeuB_xBEE-ou5ofvmsv5tQkL2fVtbUYIZK1KWj0LyOrwqhjTJ1PR1ySjyfMT8xldCYXBxfwQVVcWv6wjIpqEgNnvlX07kPlTQgA5VaRvvwaNr74wEtwx7BVXU_wTTANXLevjHDUFXWgkGf6IIvTood_rbQ/w400-h200/The%20Zone%20of%20Interest%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The film occasionally escapes the unsettling humdrum home life to watch a young Polish woman from the local town leave apples for the prisoners to find when they’re out working the next day. It’s just about the only act of compassion in the 105-minute film.<p></p><p>The unseen horror is constantly contrasted with the banal life of the high ranking Nazi family. In later scenes, we see Rudolf in his new quieter work environment. Gone are the fumes and the noise of death. But we seem him nearly throw up as he leaves the building late one evening. The audience have been mentally retching for an hour or more at this point.</p><p><i>The Zone of Interest</i> is being screened in <a href="https://www.cineworld.co.uk/films/the-zone-of-interest/ho00010893#/buy-tickets-by-film?in-cinema=117&at=2024-01-29&for-movie=ho00010893&view-mode=list">Cineworld Belfast</a>, <a href="https://www.omniplex.ie/whatson/movie/showtimes/the-zone-of-interest">Omniplex Cinemas</a> and <a href="https://queensfilmtheatre.com/Whats-On/The-Zone-of-Interest ">Queen’s Film Theatre</a>. <br /></p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/r-vfg3KkV54?si=RxhFLQ5VCuTFozM2" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe> </p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-59966278285712261242024-01-29T17:21:00.004+00:002024-01-29T19:11:12.839+00:00The Color Purple – joyful songs sharply contrast with the harrowing life of Celie Harris<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyYCcgZ1mCvqH3T-hEQu4j-xUMYQLnxLtsaIWPD_OuZWJupKRoiAUKO_JDvr-gw6oFPUXgvlAWYs7mfo4dig3VMJIgPR25XbFcpOxBegHuWEWO2W3reOarojlm7d01rVkFTtK0006D9XlWv_nbbCS1WWtbVxhLtcnMAOfegMlBSiY-U_8BgO8/s2060/The%20Color%20Purple%201%20Celie.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="2060" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyYCcgZ1mCvqH3T-hEQu4j-xUMYQLnxLtsaIWPD_OuZWJupKRoiAUKO_JDvr-gw6oFPUXgvlAWYs7mfo4dig3VMJIgPR25XbFcpOxBegHuWEWO2W3reOarojlm7d01rVkFTtK0006D9XlWv_nbbCS1WWtbVxhLtcnMAOfegMlBSiY-U_8BgO8/w400-h200/The%20Color%20Purple%201%20Celie.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Musical films are undergoing a renaissance at the box office with <i>Wonka</i> and <i>Mean Girls</i> getting high profile releases in recent months. Blitz Bazawule’s <i><b>The Color Purple</b></i> dives right in with an opening number featuring two sisters singing on the branch of a tree while a man playing a banjo rides past on a horse. Peak musical you may think … and that’s before a piano is played on the back of a horse-drawn carriage!. But it turns out the strumming minstrel will be an important antagonist throughout the next two hours twenty minutes of the film.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbwyRknzF9wdGUn_WMl-zKVzLbPLzlccaQjAPlnfYzkGR9olehsOTV_lcPDEefmdtPcm-XZdcBa6xQJFDfs5W7TT4E9NfadgkHB0vTxKTFk8rQCs_6nMoOral5qHbYT2NlDLOxE0iizssdAX3Yy5_oVS5jQyB8TXgKD8LC3Mpgdd6Dmi-nDtg/s2160/The%20Color%20Purple%204%20Shug.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2160" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbwyRknzF9wdGUn_WMl-zKVzLbPLzlccaQjAPlnfYzkGR9olehsOTV_lcPDEefmdtPcm-XZdcBa6xQJFDfs5W7TT4E9NfadgkHB0vTxKTFk8rQCs_6nMoOral5qHbYT2NlDLOxE0iizssdAX3Yy5_oVS5jQyB8TXgKD8LC3Mpgdd6Dmi-nDtg/s320/The%20Color%20Purple%204%20Shug.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>The Color Purple</i> tracks the life of Celie Harris (played by Phylicia Pearl Mpasi and then Fantasia Barrino) over four decades starting in 1909 Georgia when as a teenager her abusive father forced her into an abusive marriage with a local farmer ‘Mister’ (Colman Domingo). Losing touch with her much-loved sister Nettie takes its toll. The arrival – and swift departure – of feisty daughter-in-law Sofia (Danielle Brooks) brings comfort followed by sadness. The visit of Mister’s old flame Shug (Taraji P. Henson whose character sure knows how to make an entrance) adds the sound of jazz to the neighbourhood but the outbreak of extramarital harmony in the home is fleeting.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl51VnRheRaiP-gNKOZYxJfMwqb1bUNgcxf-A0rIPplxewW52HMbsK6VxsqUJ819A7me9PXXLlvkDgJcNu08NjQ-bdMMZW1qzp6VRNW1xPqqNQP80YiL3GiwAhQ4pwtkkOiTmrpb3aKc_XB8gO1zbVmO7twqwij7hG2Kms6arT-zK1lcAykmc/s2048/The%20Color%20Purple%206%20Sofia.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1106" data-original-width="2048" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl51VnRheRaiP-gNKOZYxJfMwqb1bUNgcxf-A0rIPplxewW52HMbsK6VxsqUJ819A7me9PXXLlvkDgJcNu08NjQ-bdMMZW1qzp6VRNW1xPqqNQP80YiL3GiwAhQ4pwtkkOiTmrpb3aKc_XB8gO1zbVmO7twqwij7hG2Kms6arT-zK1lcAykmc/w400-h216/The%20Color%20Purple%206%20Sofia.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>While Celie’s life is harrowing for the majority of the film, the songs are upbeat and hold the promise that life could be so much better. Large-scale dance routines add a sense of vibrancy to the melancholic story of enslavement, violence and abuse. Ninety minutes in, the fightback begins and the tables are turned as Celie begins to live the life of promise and joy that she deserves.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLQLdQko8ZfxRe1HyHHEnetzaBBi3wq6lnzyUbGtfU_XQAnsILhQdTuBNktAJfDcDc36OzbiyBjTZc4gFYPuGidGNQsNxQL5uG7Bdu35cSgUCwMCclPz4uOsym7F3MvY4f55lpwnzDr8gVFqhhmTKaLrYiqHNh76RqpHZA5_d6co67gQ_iLFg/s1652/The%20Color%20Purple%202%20Mister%20banjo.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1022" data-original-width="1652" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLQLdQko8ZfxRe1HyHHEnetzaBBi3wq6lnzyUbGtfU_XQAnsILhQdTuBNktAJfDcDc36OzbiyBjTZc4gFYPuGidGNQsNxQL5uG7Bdu35cSgUCwMCclPz4uOsym7F3MvY4f55lpwnzDr8gVFqhhmTKaLrYiqHNh76RqpHZA5_d6co67gQ_iLFg/w400-h248/The%20Color%20Purple%202%20Mister%20banjo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Based more on the stage musical than Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film that adapted <a href="https://amzn.to/482mJSg">Alice Walker’s novel</a>, this new version of <i>The Color Purple</i> isn’t full of hummable tunes. It’s a long watch, and perhaps ends with everything too well sewn up. You’ll leave the cinema with a heavy heart, wondering why no one intervened over the first two decades of Celie’s marriage, or the six years of Sofia’s incarceration, and whether the situation is still all too common today. Well worth seeing on the big screen. <p></p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/9E1rKYiV3Ew?si=NOneRaESrtilgN9B" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe> </p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-81088124738984985352024-01-29T14:08:00.004+00:002024-01-29T20:17:43.198+00:00Created F-Rated: Short Film Night – celebrating local female-driven filmmaking<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYVyunQ53RnvVlBl-ncsLYCJsJEl0jTx1P1TNAdZxqV0OFlYVokcAxo0jTWu4vyr26TEDupEqxPXz5YpIThqJ8hnjmnV9uKlV7AjFK_jUIhL2HgI-7Q_nGMM-_stizuQ2x5dAfl9fp2UPMrdR8HCU6KYwXObst7hgAsDDuQDCJRK9mNrA08Q/s1632/F-Rated%20Strand%20Arts.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="915" data-original-width="1632" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYVyunQ53RnvVlBl-ncsLYCJsJEl0jTx1P1TNAdZxqV0OFlYVokcAxo0jTWu4vyr26TEDupEqxPXz5YpIThqJ8hnjmnV9uKlV7AjFK_jUIhL2HgI-7Q_nGMM-_stizuQ2x5dAfl9fp2UPMrdR8HCU6KYwXObst7hgAsDDuQDCJRK9mNrA08Q/w400-h224/F-Rated%20Strand%20Arts.png" width="400" /></a></div>Hats off to Maeve Smyth for producing an evening of <a href="https://www.strandartscentre.com/events/f-rated/">short film screenings at the Strand Arts Centre to celebrate eight female-driven films</a>. An event that didn’t just applaud the writers, directors and actors, but also remembered women who filled a host of other roles from make-up to director of photography behind the camera.<p></p><p>There was a lot more diversity on show than just sex or gender. The films were varied: rural and urban, fiction and documentary (though I was convinced for five minutes that the one about the UFO hunter would turn out to be a dark satire when it was indeed a true story), comedy, tragedy and everything in-between. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0ghhlvn">Witches</a>, aliens, surviving, belonging, prejudice, cross-cultural relationships, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0ghhmfd">the construct of being ‘wife material’</a>, satisfaction in the bedroom and beyond, single motherhood, maternal mental health, assisted dying and much, much more.</p><p>The question of whether some of these stories would have been created or showcased if the projects hadn’t been led by women was asked. There’s no definitive answer. But it’s clear that a more diverse pool of creative talent – which remained stubbornly male and white but has now <i>begun</i> to open up – will produce richer stories and shine a light on previously unexplored subjects.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8sitzHgHHXjAM1ojrdr7Pol_ck1CUNbf0Shgr2OleGNhPPMThA0xuf4TpqjnKiCKbbs4Lkif9R762Aof3u6IuKcdGfVKFOcebW19uGteV5QrGM9Nyp6lx0Z_h-nBi-RzW8ttoQpDQlrpx25Os8vUwsoWxKDHN_e2GPVP5_wGRBzM2bTwJCiw/s987/F-Rated%20logo-black.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="969" data-original-width="987" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8sitzHgHHXjAM1ojrdr7Pol_ck1CUNbf0Shgr2OleGNhPPMThA0xuf4TpqjnKiCKbbs4Lkif9R762Aof3u6IuKcdGfVKFOcebW19uGteV5QrGM9Nyp6lx0Z_h-nBi-RzW8ttoQpDQlrpx25Os8vUwsoWxKDHN_e2GPVP5_wGRBzM2bTwJCiw/w200-h196/F-Rated%20logo-black.png" width="200" /></a></div><br />An <a href="https://f-rated.org/about/">F-Rating</a> can be applied to all films which are directed by women and/or written by women. If the film also has significant women on screen, it receives a Triple F-Rating <p></p><p>Filmmakers’ responses to Marie-Louise Muir’s questions after each screen highlighted the value of NI Screen Short Film and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2WF2Q3Qb0MFnRWssJdLkwJB/two-minute-masterpiece">BBC Two Minute Masterpiece</a> schemes (<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07nmpsn/clips">available to view online</a>), which often created opportunities for people in adjacent sectors to diversify and try their hand at writing and directing short films.</p><p>Events like this and the wonderful <a href="https://www.facebook.com/filmdevoursff">Film Devour Short Film Festival</a> (submissions closed but tickets now available for <a href="https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/filmdevour">their 34th event coming up in The Black Box on 26 February</a>) are good opportunities to enjoy what local short film producers are creating, to build up the confidence of those involved (there’s nothing like your peers applauding your efforts), and to recognise the talent that is out there.</p><p>Diana Cheung, Louise Parker, Erin O’Rawe, Edel McCormick, Lauren McCune, Maeve Smyth, Emily Foran, Katie Bridget Murphy, Jennifer Atcheson and Aisling Daly ... in a few years time, will one or more of those up on the Strand Arts Centre stage be writing or directing their first feature?
</p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-81565441807602174902024-01-28T18:46:00.002+00:002024-01-28T19:51:09.564+00:00Teechers – school dayz of opportunity amid the despair (Bruiser Theatre Company at The MAC until Saturday 10 February + tour)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp9VgJifvFf3Do03BVx7KyNdIO413HghKsqmpMfVPYkeEV3Vi2CCx6zTYGidtkTlKeN8OfaVvdpgrG7flc-jIAq7M6RAOXlrKDqqKB4Qq6YJbEq7SfRstgYoBgh8th30o1gcrZb-ns69nskeUzYyiMhG2Kr7MblmdKrncCoEUYq3105QvRieA/s1440/Teechers%20ninjas.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1440" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp9VgJifvFf3Do03BVx7KyNdIO413HghKsqmpMfVPYkeEV3Vi2CCx6zTYGidtkTlKeN8OfaVvdpgrG7flc-jIAq7M6RAOXlrKDqqKB4Qq6YJbEq7SfRstgYoBgh8th30o1gcrZb-ns69nskeUzYyiMhG2Kr7MblmdKrncCoEUYq3105QvRieA/w400-h200/Teechers%20ninjas.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Three 16-year-old students celebrate the end of their school days and give thanks for the one teacher who offered them hope and gave them a passion for theatre. John Godber’s <i><b><a href="https://themaclive.com/event/teechers-by-john-godber">Teechers</a></b></i> is fertile ground for Bruiser Theatre Company which has a <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-complete-works-of-william.html">long</a> <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-ladykillers-graham-linehans-version.html">and</a> <a href="http://alaninbelfast.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/the-39-steps-stylised-witty-homage-to.html">illustrious</a> <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-39-steps-cleverness-and-controlled.html">history</a> of producing multi-roled, face-paced physical theatre with striped back staging. A scarf, a false nose, a couple of chairs, a row of tall lockers and some smaller ones that can be moved around are all the three cast members really need to bounce between characters and locations.<p></p><p><i>Teechers</i> gets off to a roaring start as the three eejits bounce onto the stage. Neither Gail, Hobby nor Salty – played by Nuala McGovern, Mary McGurk and Chris Robinson – seem to be pupils likely to sit still in any lesson. The arrival of naïve and idealistic Mr Nixon as a new drama teacher slowly opens their eyes to new possibilities. Ultimately, the three students tell the story of his first year in school in an end-of-year play they stage on their final day in Whitewall High School.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7UF199-sHbucu8vtq7dBXpwX8uHO26YQVnavUlxumQr31rxuXSbLBgNeDGUK3fSZMkKlMsLvrd1y4IX9hFDCxuZZBMkPuA7GYOz39elajyt5z12PW6S6rZSUsu-pVrskNOhg6ZngS2PbzKW0CrKCO7t4Jl8b5D1HCv26A5fYI8vcaTf3nBn0/s2048/Teechers%20Nuala.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7UF199-sHbucu8vtq7dBXpwX8uHO26YQVnavUlxumQr31rxuXSbLBgNeDGUK3fSZMkKlMsLvrd1y4IX9hFDCxuZZBMkPuA7GYOz39elajyt5z12PW6S6rZSUsu-pVrskNOhg6ZngS2PbzKW0CrKCO7t4Jl8b5D1HCv26A5fYI8vcaTf3nBn0/w400-h300/Teechers%20Nuala.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>For an hour, there is no let-up in the frantic pace. Scene transitions are like a race with the cast repeatedly moving props and performing a choreographed action as if the director might walk out at any time, blow a whistle and send one off the stage for being late. That they only start to sweat after 50 minutes suggests that rehearsals have engendered a high degree of fitness! The final 10 minutes is given a little more space to breath as the pupils sum up their admiration for Mr Nixon and their despair as he counts the cost of teaching at Whitewall and contemplates finding a hole in the fence to escape through.<p></p><p>The script requires that some of the characters – particularly Mr Basford the deputy head who is played with glasses and a false nose – bounce between different actors throughout the play. The fact that this becomes seamless is testament to how the cast have been drilled by director Lisa May. The staging might be minimal, but it has some lovely surprises, particularly the way it transforms to represent the nearby St Pius grammar school.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZ0hZF6saTyxcrr4EXnOfJmoqwQrdVDSt7ryZex3-HoG-Xe0eQdO5Zj0FGuGRBG2dc2ZMDkDvCnDFy8-l2ywbY_HYVMD9dAPdg474snHk-epZxfxxxyCGCggNehWLh978xV0_3agss04uC1v3UhoSE1HBRpndsRkEhHsvvGTBMqOGNoOHoak/s1862/Teechers%203%20actors.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1453" data-original-width="1862" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZ0hZF6saTyxcrr4EXnOfJmoqwQrdVDSt7ryZex3-HoG-Xe0eQdO5Zj0FGuGRBG2dc2ZMDkDvCnDFy8-l2ywbY_HYVMD9dAPdg474snHk-epZxfxxxyCGCggNehWLh978xV0_3agss04uC1v3UhoSE1HBRpndsRkEhHsvvGTBMqOGNoOHoak/w400-h313/Teechers%203%20actors.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Originally set in the mid-1980s, aspects of the dialogue and some cultural references have been updated. There’s a great rant about all ability education that cements the central theme of class within the education system that sadly hasn’t aged at all. A group of what could only have been teachers at my performance roared with laughter at some of the situations, seemingly recognising staff-on-staff agitation, the veneration of the timetable, the cantankerous caretaker, and familiar pupil misbehaviour. However, I wonder whether today’s school children will notice the absence of the all-pervasive mobile phone and social media from the scenes that deal with bullying?<p></p><p>Ultimately <i>Teechers</i> rejoices that good teachers can get under the skin of any pupil and spur them on to go beyond the stagnant scholastic curriculum and embrace their creativity and talents. Teachers can value children and change their life direction, offering opportunities that may even compensate for a system that deems to label some pupils as failures. Yet pupils and teachers are cruelly trapped in the same system.</p><p>Bruiser’s <i>Teechers</i> is in <a href="https://themaclive.com/event/teechers-by-john-godber">The MAC until Saturday 10 February</a> before <a href="https://bruisertheatrecompany.com/productions/teechers">touring</a> through Dundalk (Wednesday 14), Armagh (Thursday 15), Newtownabbey (Tuesday 20), Omagh (Wednesday 21), Lisburn (Friday 23), Downpatrick (Saturday 24) and Derry (Sunday 25).</p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-64677400348025347352024-01-24T13:32:00.002+00:002024-01-24T13:34:17.713+00:00The Full Monty – quite a serious play about depressed communities disguised as story about Sheffield strippers (Grand Opera House until Saturday 27 January)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVN9UUf48jGhrgp5BdRr3jG8DW2ztFAzzsEcR30r7MBzpGC-ok3DLpFM2yQCXYyuKvLe-xIp2HtfTH1MioPuE6Py5tcy3Wu6b2g8Xg713ydUD8hPQIP-7qiLNcjKYYMIP5huNo0g6q0L0JZpYnWevx6yswHPeFEUTZ2wQcCuuCkG4oiHlUFbk/s2100/Photo%20EllieKurttz_The%20Full%20Monty_PRO_140_Large_Retouched.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="2100" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVN9UUf48jGhrgp5BdRr3jG8DW2ztFAzzsEcR30r7MBzpGC-ok3DLpFM2yQCXYyuKvLe-xIp2HtfTH1MioPuE6Py5tcy3Wu6b2g8Xg713ydUD8hPQIP-7qiLNcjKYYMIP5huNo0g6q0L0JZpYnWevx6yswHPeFEUTZ2wQcCuuCkG4oiHlUFbk/w400-h200/Photo%20EllieKurttz_The%20Full%20Monty_PRO_140_Large_Retouched.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Once you strip away the exuberant anticipation of the final scene, and once you move past the audience whipping themselves up into a frenzy anytime the mere whiff of a bum cheek might be proffered, there’s a serious piece of theatre lurking on the stage.<p></p><p><i><b><a href="https://www.goh.co.uk/whats-on/the-full-monty/">The Full Monty</a></b></i> captures the hopelessness and depression that can wash over a community hit by mass redundancies as old industries contract and replacement work is nowhere to be found. Set in Sheffield as the steel industry collapses under the watch of Margaret Thatcher – whose portrait hangs in the local Conservative Club – the working class men are struggling.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJcwd-aV5y5chSYvNi2pZpiJl8NRrLaneIAaCxhbgkW5XuvG4rFJcTBzDG-B23sC14QhJ3KvfF1hHYKxwqhF-5V8Rzg6cf7mke7KsB4THEjRfTETjVLdgA1YhJ17QQV6T2S3cyy1x4HXledNc4hnE4EiqD_MF8VeXZ7J8jcuXuwp7ln59T_Os/s2100/Photo%20EllieKurttz_The%20Full%20Monty_PRO_012_Large_Retouched.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="2100" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJcwd-aV5y5chSYvNi2pZpiJl8NRrLaneIAaCxhbgkW5XuvG4rFJcTBzDG-B23sC14QhJ3KvfF1hHYKxwqhF-5V8Rzg6cf7mke7KsB4THEjRfTETjVLdgA1YhJ17QQV6T2S3cyy1x4HXledNc4hnE4EiqD_MF8VeXZ7J8jcuXuwp7ln59T_Os/w400-h266/Photo%20EllieKurttz_The%20Full%20Monty_PRO_012_Large_Retouched.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Simon Beaufoy’s theatre script is a simplified version of his successful movie screenplay. Out of work Gaz (Danny Hatchard) can’t keep up with his maintenance payments and risks losing access to his son Nathan (played last night by Theo Hills, who nearly stole the show giving his Dad a piece of his mind before the finale). Dave (Neil Hurst) is gaining weight and losing libido. Gerard (Bill Ward) hasn’t had the courage to tell his wife that he’s been workless for the last six months. Horse (Ben Onwukwe) has all the moves but his body is seizing up with age. Guy (Jake Quickenden) wears a mask of confidence is inwardly devastated by the loss of the love of his live. And shy Lomper (Nicholas Prasad) is suicidal, at his wits end until he falls in with the Gaz and the get rich quick scheme to go out on a limb and better the thonged Chippendales and sell out the local pub for one night only of going ‘the full monty’.<p></p><p>Michael Gyngell’s direction actively keeps the saucepan of audience adulation gently simmering rather than allowing it to spill over prematurely before his story is fully cooked. He tempers scenes of hurt and loss with longer moments of silence than most touring productions would allow. Probably a shade too long and energy draining, but it certainly emphasises the bleak futility. Jasmine Swan’s versatile but very solid set consists of three two storey platforms full of doors and stairs that can be slowly pushed and shoved to spin them around to create a disused factory, Gaz’s ex’s house, the job club, a police station and the inside of the local pub.</p><p>Several gnomes suffer injury and disrespect during the performance. The costume team must have a large box of replacement rippable white vests at the ready. Other than the half buzzing half drooling audience, the main objectification comes from the men themselves rather than women. Dave’s wife Jean – played with visible empathy by Katy Dean – offers compassion and understanding when he finally dares to open up.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolDgYAQURGtGcL8pVwKG8Se4kWS751xmlxUAGEiKtMtmvsoUKdJzQVqW3osrT0US2umgeZ1LTXdPpu2gXqOXK_Cse9mXREGPHCrHs4KWkj5LlT99okKtqKOBmkukCGuGR37okZdkivV0_igHjGxLULq0lCDx7-3nw4-QIZn5WZ92nkx9bluU/s2100/Photo%20EllieKurttz_The%20Full%20Monty_PRO_303_Large_Retouched.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="2100" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgolDgYAQURGtGcL8pVwKG8Se4kWS751xmlxUAGEiKtMtmvsoUKdJzQVqW3osrT0US2umgeZ1LTXdPpu2gXqOXK_Cse9mXREGPHCrHs4KWkj5LlT99okKtqKOBmkukCGuGR37okZdkivV0_igHjGxLULq0lCDx7-3nw4-QIZn5WZ92nkx9bluU/w400-h266/Photo%20EllieKurttz_The%20Full%20Monty_PRO_303_Large_Retouched.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>After two and a half hours of build-up, the main cast shed their mic packs (nowhere to hide the batteries in the final choreography!) and the audience get what they’ve been waiting for … though they may realise that it’s more a celebration of body-positivity than a raunchy performance. Along the way they’ll also have realised that Thatcher’s Britain isn’t so different from 2024. Heavy industry is still contracting, and some of the more tech-orientated firms can quickly shed jobs as they rebalance their books. Alimony and rights to see your children, poor health and aging, relationships, impotence, sexuality, weight, body image and poor mental health are still common today. Along with issues like addiction which haven’t been squeezed into the plot. The answer for most won’t be to strip off in the local club, so the relief directly offered by this play may be limited. Not my cup of tea, but the show might spark conversations when some of the audience members get home and see parallels under their own roofs.<p></p><p><i>The Full Monty</i> continues its run in <a href="https://www.goh.co.uk/whats-on/the-full-monty/">the Grand Opera House until Saturday 27 January</a>. Spare a thought for the ushers who have to police the “no cameras, no phones” rule that is strictly enforced throughout the performance to “respect our actors”. A rule that seemed to be adhered to last night, though ring tones and audible text message notifications still underscored many serious moments of the play.</p><p><i>Photo credit: Ellie Kurttz</i> <br /></p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-57724002874394054132024-01-22T23:10:00.002+00:002024-01-22T23:17:30.289+00:00Anyone But You – a smiley solid albeit at times crass romcom that is nearly rescued by a patient koala but is ultimately much ado about nothing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Qmoikks_5dAhWeQJurbEl33pyh_tJK0OIKXmL1g2D3BbsjCS_WLx_L4JqXZXS-oUVSZO93ItTKP34WVZ4ouL6_X6BfoAZv5_EniQeOdCscFzcwmLBxgqmN6fpNv8FHDJY6OozLF-7Py-9KMlUewUKktqRRG65CsgJ1HkRMSTEsYUbihYFjw/s1600/Anyone%20But%20You.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1011" data-original-width="1600" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Qmoikks_5dAhWeQJurbEl33pyh_tJK0OIKXmL1g2D3BbsjCS_WLx_L4JqXZXS-oUVSZO93ItTKP34WVZ4ouL6_X6BfoAZv5_EniQeOdCscFzcwmLBxgqmN6fpNv8FHDJY6OozLF-7Py-9KMlUewUKktqRRG65CsgJ1HkRMSTEsYUbihYFjw/w400-h253/Anyone%20But%20You.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>While the overall construction of <i><b>Anyone But You</b></i> is solid and it’ll make you smile, it’s crying out to be written off as ‘much ado about nothing’ (upon which the story arc is based) and it will never make you cry like Richard Curtis can.</p><p>An ostentatiously wealthy wedding in Sydney with beach-ready guests – most of whom will find at least one opportunity to tip off most or all of their clothes – straight out of any number of Netflix shows set in Cape Cod or The Hamptons, a clumsy bride’s sister, a bloke who is half-scared fully-beefcake, misunderstandings galore, second chances that are blown, a DJ whose deck wasn’t plugged in, a very patient koala, and an unexpected (prosthetic?) anteater that was nowhere near as crude as the unnecessary down blouse shots.<br /></p><p>Last year’s <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2023/03/rye-lane-surely-best-romcom-of-year-out.html"><i>Rye Lane</i></a> was a cheaper and better romcom! </p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/UtjH6Sk7Gxs?si=PUcClq6BlEA3ZzB3" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-17716705712182584232024-01-22T13:30:00.001+00:002024-01-22T13:53:21.303+00:00The End We Start From – far-fetched feral film with extraordinary performance from Jodie Comer and the sound department<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigvkrLRS9qlxB-jXpC9pMSvbOa183gGmIEo4UrZClogz_NZlLZZSZKHIMzBxL_Dmmtd3MMCigzbWyn2HFeNMfWqP4D4lAcC_d5nubTu5Ph6yzpgAvCTTPtSvJxLhCf_3BqC9WUcYEdJ-P2M15R6kxNX8vF4Om8rXhaTGQ8uV7f_uGwrbwfi0w/s2160/The%20End%20We%20Start%20From.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2160" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigvkrLRS9qlxB-jXpC9pMSvbOa183gGmIEo4UrZClogz_NZlLZZSZKHIMzBxL_Dmmtd3MMCigzbWyn2HFeNMfWqP4D4lAcC_d5nubTu5Ph6yzpgAvCTTPtSvJxLhCf_3BqC9WUcYEdJ-P2M15R6kxNX8vF4Om8rXhaTGQ8uV7f_uGwrbwfi0w/w400-h200/The%20End%20We%20Start%20From.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><i><b>The End We Start From</b></i> is a far-fetched feral film but much more believable and effective than other movies in the genre like <i><a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-survivalist-extreme-behaviour-in.html">The Survivalist</a></i> and <a href="https://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com/2016/04/couple-in-hole-scots-couple-take-refuge.html"><i>Couple in a Hole</i></a>.<p></p><p>Jodie Comer once again shows extraordinary commitment to a role as waters break in more than one way. Joel Fry captures his character’s poor mental health in words and physicality.</p><p>But the most fulsome credit must go to the composer (Anna Meredith) and sound editor (Jens Rosenlund Petersen) and all the foley artists who created the soundscape ... one that entirely matched the howling gale (Storm Isha) I walked into on the way out of the cinema. And have baby gurgles and moans ever sounded as good as little Zeb (played by 15 fabulous youngsters)?</p><p>A film about resilience and making the least worst decision to survive a while longer in a society and a landscape that has collapsed.</p><iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/MciSEbkTkXw?si=JxcQ2vHysadTCnQI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-1493613826590899632024-01-14T18:23:00.000+00:002024-01-14T18:23:34.483+00:00The Beekeeper – phishing scammer suffers digital loss amongst other acts of revenge in this unbeelievable tale<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicrXMBaCnDa-NfDVGmE0vO3-Epep1kxhIgKMpKOFFssGW8odn52lSBUKKA5HPDsLEEG_b8_i79Xd_zPXSgk38SNCL-M3c1V5Frd4DQm1jHsxK5N16oyRw4CWFd057qFu8cjqNqFR32ai3uhyphenhyphenQQdEPIoAiI1F2yNX8UzqorA-lYykAt9ent_GY/s800/The%20Beekeeper%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicrXMBaCnDa-NfDVGmE0vO3-Epep1kxhIgKMpKOFFssGW8odn52lSBUKKA5HPDsLEEG_b8_i79Xd_zPXSgk38SNCL-M3c1V5Frd4DQm1jHsxK5N16oyRw4CWFd057qFu8cjqNqFR32ai3uhyphenhyphenQQdEPIoAiI1F2yNX8UzqorA-lYykAt9ent_GY/w400-h200/The%20Beekeeper%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>A retired asset from a deniable squad of violent fixers who have agency to keep the US on the straight and narrow abandons his beekeeping and decides to avenge the death of a sweet lady off whom he rents a barn. He works his way through a hive of online scamsters to find that the honey leads to the most well-connected family in the country.<p></p><p><b><i>The Beekeeper</i></b> features a high body count with civilian casualties and plenty of innocent deaths of bumbling law enforcement officers alongside the misbeehaving bad guys – with some darkly comedy moments – as Adam Clay (Jason Statham) goes on a beestly killing rampage.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW3dxKHRDRz8tbnAxybgN-LVhj3CvR-wT9J2kMPQNvVgI4ztuoLe58FB2Jxrb_kPX82LKK_Gb8UZ0Yr3TjVyqekJ85R15OxP4EynmthVCn_DjSK0lMOhFVDRnTghHIbBiS3nyeAu3qPzo_SzfB257s_w4y_CycSBeh0MoPj8cjjdf0uY-y3_0/s1080/The%20Beekeeper%204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="1080" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW3dxKHRDRz8tbnAxybgN-LVhj3CvR-wT9J2kMPQNvVgI4ztuoLe58FB2Jxrb_kPX82LKK_Gb8UZ0Yr3TjVyqekJ85R15OxP4EynmthVCn_DjSK0lMOhFVDRnTghHIbBiS3nyeAu3qPzo_SzfB257s_w4y_CycSBeh0MoPj8cjjdf0uY-y3_0/w400-h266/The%20Beekeeper%204.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Jemma Redgrave playing Jessica Danforth) is no longer the Head of Scientific Research at UNIT and is now in charge of the free world. Grieving Special Agent Parker (Emmy Raver-Lampman) from the Boston FBI is given free rein to pursue her mother’s friend as he cleans up the sticky mess he has uncovered. Jeremy Irons perhaps puts too much effort into his part playing a retired CIA director turned security consultant for a family bees-ness.<br /><p></p><p>While the leaking roof in the Boston FBI office is a great grim detail, nearly everything else about the film is implausible at every turn. A secret organisation relying on green-screen IBM computers and dot matrix printers? The action sequences involve people with bullet proof vests dropping like flies while one scammer suffers a different kind of stinging digital loss.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56WWDrRvSpRlHlX7Qt6R8c7SY5nlQzufCDEDX6D3zooyUDF1NXU5POYz1VgeQxlwhbgrQ1uaM6qu2FuZSsXJDkbc-EFBIDyQQwddmSeB2-TmUUeaLBb9DHQQLsc7jmah2zsTt8mk7y01Zl_OUpNb3Nblfh3XRMz-yBCRl693xLh9keKejuAk/s1080/The%20Beekeeper%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="1080" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56WWDrRvSpRlHlX7Qt6R8c7SY5nlQzufCDEDX6D3zooyUDF1NXU5POYz1VgeQxlwhbgrQ1uaM6qu2FuZSsXJDkbc-EFBIDyQQwddmSeB2-TmUUeaLBb9DHQQLsc7jmah2zsTt8mk7y01Zl_OUpNb3Nblfh3XRMz-yBCRl693xLh9keKejuAk/w400-h266/The%20Beekeeper%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Jason Statham gives a masterclass in clasping his hands together and talking earnestly into space without any making eye contact with anyone else in the room. It’s a terrible device, but well acted. The second skate-boarding scene eventually justifies the first.<p></p><p><i>The Beekeeper</i> has pun-ridden dialogue that makes characters wax lyrical with lines a Dalek might be expected to deliver. While the Bourne franchise served up plots that were full of shark-jumping, this lower division movie includes enough inventive moments of out of all proportion action to keep your interest.</p><p>The first 20 minutes of <i>The Beekeeper</i> should on the school digital literacy sylla-buzz and broadcast on TV as a warning for people to avoid falling for phishing attacks. There shouldn’t ever be a sequel. Which will save us from sequences using USB drives and frisbees to extract information from corrupt pollenticians or steal Pablo Bee-casso paintings.</p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-56944245556504190522024-01-01T23:55:00.034+00:002024-01-02T00:23:46.482+00:00Priscilla – an infantilised woman trapped by her adoration of a self-absorbed man? (UK/Irish cinemas from 1 January)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVEqYEby0K0QeRoJHg7-z6bXZgpkbLojyVj9QDbdZtqZNE4eqJ_QjHi17vNXudKj1JKVvqy3UvNxlPqJGt2P4WoWLY8tM0oKnmFOYVc3Ko4EVubnygmMv8x4Tw8tXbbycjO-p4gGuGGdUp71fj7-cYJB2M9cU6gTI6HSdK0AOgwBuaHnEbm4/s2160/Priscilla%202.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2160" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjVEqYEby0K0QeRoJHg7-z6bXZgpkbLojyVj9QDbdZtqZNE4eqJ_QjHi17vNXudKj1JKVvqy3UvNxlPqJGt2P4WoWLY8tM0oKnmFOYVc3Ko4EVubnygmMv8x4Tw8tXbbycjO-p4gGuGGdUp71fj7-cYJB2M9cU6gTI6HSdK0AOgwBuaHnEbm4/w400-h200/Priscilla%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Fourteen-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu is introduced to Elvis by one of his military friends. He’s serving with the US military in Germany. Ten years his junior, she’s naïve, shy and besotted. The singer is made out to be homesick – something they have in common – and grieving his mother’s death.<p></p><p>Her mother and stepfather have doubts about the emerging relationship, but miraculously are persuaded to let her to travel to the US to visit Elvis, later agreeing to her shifting her education to the US and be chaperoned, a condition that the film clearly portrays as not being enforced. Soon she’s popping the same pills as her beau and living in Graceland, soaking in the parts of the Presley lifestyle that she’s allowed to enjoy.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0dFKjZ1K7q_0v82EppmN07B7EZFcrS8VAyeqNxuThE8cX9ztF9mB8uQ50Rc50qRNATlMPfh7VModjhJLZheZ6STcstK8WenfT4KJcnqAQ2TTDTOwRYMhcyzSHv5pfDT3kQ2CYLESG3xBgYmDbCernIoGFXXH9QskOwTonaU56OcLpsYjomgU/s1914/Priscilla%203.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1234" data-original-width="1914" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0dFKjZ1K7q_0v82EppmN07B7EZFcrS8VAyeqNxuThE8cX9ztF9mB8uQ50Rc50qRNATlMPfh7VModjhJLZheZ6STcstK8WenfT4KJcnqAQ2TTDTOwRYMhcyzSHv5pfDT3kQ2CYLESG3xBgYmDbCernIoGFXXH9QskOwTonaU56OcLpsYjomgU/w400-h258/Priscilla%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The first hour of the film <i><b>Priscilla</b></i> is full of ‘ick’; the second half has more red flags than an 18-hole golf course.<p></p><p>We’re led to believe – via Priscilla Presley’s autobiography upon which the screenplay is based – that while her flesh was willing, Elvis held back in a spirit of chasteness (something he didn’t extend to other women he met before, during and after moving Priscilla into his home). Physically affectionate but sexually reluctant, Elvis is also increasingly absent, leaving Priscilla – “the only girl I ever love” – nursing a puppy and her maths homework while he makes movies and headlines are written about affectionate liaisons with female co-stars.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSaP3ErxtZYNlrEk5MUhBQPhiVFI44PByptTxJqh_mkUf0qO6BpuZ9rcM9X-EYj-abAHv-ztGUDS7xTNQmDbz8ExBsoWoroRQnGOpETSMUphUVb6GKmApbV6WMJCs1et9epDt6pLVxEn6i9n3xQzz26LM47GNHaTe8oLQtfYXApSnYsH49vCo/s1880/Priscilla%201.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="940" data-original-width="1880" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSaP3ErxtZYNlrEk5MUhBQPhiVFI44PByptTxJqh_mkUf0qO6BpuZ9rcM9X-EYj-abAHv-ztGUDS7xTNQmDbz8ExBsoWoroRQnGOpETSMUphUVb6GKmApbV6WMJCs1et9epDt6pLVxEn6i9n3xQzz26LM47GNHaTe8oLQtfYXApSnYsH49vCo/w400-h200/Priscilla%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>There’s little attempt to dodge the elephant in the room. Elvis may (or may not) have set some physical boundaries, but even that is another aspect of his controlling behaviour, which is accented by being creepy, coercive, dismissive and eventually violent. Infantilised Priscilla is trapped by her love and her total investment in a man who could so readily afford to drop her and move on leaving her with nothing. Fourteen years on from meeting Elvis, the film concludes with a final scene in which she regains control before the soundtrack fades to the terribly apt Dolly Parton’s <i>I Will Always Love You</i> (a song the country star refused to allow Elvis the rights to cover).<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIikIGlRuYhIowZqZGfpEhidQKFxi_SRhIPUmdnlojsRIgz1GBNMfODZWXxXchWNmaMdtKW8DM-LHCdF6JrGiATOjL6WbFoexxTd9gqdz_gVo7fLQahvKvTn9fo3b71ztoQRWgR54zRj9OBFtrnFfdvOGOKHWoiZKyqpGxQUFNYLbucXAnXWc/s1333/Priscilla%204.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="821" data-original-width="1333" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIikIGlRuYhIowZqZGfpEhidQKFxi_SRhIPUmdnlojsRIgz1GBNMfODZWXxXchWNmaMdtKW8DM-LHCdF6JrGiATOjL6WbFoexxTd9gqdz_gVo7fLQahvKvTn9fo3b71ztoQRWgR54zRj9OBFtrnFfdvOGOKHWoiZKyqpGxQUFNYLbucXAnXWc/w400-h246/Priscilla%204.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The superb Cailee Spaeny captures a real sense of a fragile Priscilla growing up, growing in smarts, learning how to exert agency over small matters (at one stage getting the never seen domineering figure Colonel Tom Parker to lean on Elvis). Yet she is nearly always cuts a lonely figure in the sycophantic crowd that surrounds Elvis, and is frequently undermined by his selfish and self-absorbed interventions.<p></p><p>Jacob Elordi – just a year older than Spaeny in real life – looms large over his petite co-star, visually emphasising the power imbalance lest anyone in the audience forget what was happening. Elordi has the performance moves of Elvis but we never get to hear him sing since rights to use the rock and roll star’s tracks were denied.</p><p>Despite his giant presence on screen – whether exuberant or depressed – director and screenwriter Sofia Coppola ensures that Spaeny/Priscilla always remains the focus of attention. At my opening night screening, the audience was nearly exclusively female, audibly gasping at the treatment of the young girl at the hands of older but not wiser folk around her: so many family and friends have the opportunity to intervene but choose not to.<br /></p><p><i>Priscilla</i> tells a complex domestic story that helpfully introduces the audience to more than just one villain. Coppola questions where innocence begins and ends. She’s happy that Elvis gets the blame for Priscilla’s own hinted at infidelity as what’s left of the relationship spirals out of control. The opening credits list Priscilla Presley as a producer of the film, adding to the sense that this is her cinematic memoir, sometimes tender, nearly always toxic. </p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21098869.post-36749536064470082482023-12-23T01:59:00.007+00:002023-12-24T12:33:04.340+00:00Beauty and the Beast – pantomime performed with passion and produced with remarkable community dedication (Belvoir Players until Saturday 6 January)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwEBESW8W2IaOzdnn3hiqP6LIuuptw6Ap_zU095nZPH_S9vXs7jz7W-wAUVXPWXKz0zHCjdSZ39WDxjcZBOxKZuYXVURO-pGOaxRTpnAe6m2Uj6MMc1TSZMDEgPRfGUZw_SCYUy7tHAO64hTtXYU6XWMI-2VtqaMGU6dNQT0qrtLbrRNLed7M/s4032/Beauty%20Beast%20Belvoir%20Players%20IMG_7375.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="4032" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwEBESW8W2IaOzdnn3hiqP6LIuuptw6Ap_zU095nZPH_S9vXs7jz7W-wAUVXPWXKz0zHCjdSZ39WDxjcZBOxKZuYXVURO-pGOaxRTpnAe6m2Uj6MMc1TSZMDEgPRfGUZw_SCYUy7tHAO64hTtXYU6XWMI-2VtqaMGU6dNQT0qrtLbrRNLed7M/w400-h200/Beauty%20Beast%20Belvoir%20Players%20IMG_7375.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The closer a pantomime can get to its audience, the more powerful and connected it can be. That’s certainly the case with the <i><b><a href="https://www.belvoirplayers.org/events/beauty-and-the-beast-the-pantomime/">Beauty and the Beast</a></b></i> being performed over the festive season by the Belvoir Players Amateur Dramatics Society.<p></p><p>It’s an enormous operation, packed full of energy, enthusiasm and intergenerational family commitment. While last night’s audience needed no encouragement to clap along and boo the villains from the earliest moments of the first act, the cast were having at least as much fun on stage. With two actors covering each principal role across the 21 performances, and three sets of alternating young choruses, there have been upwards of 120 people rehearsing the dialogue, songs and choreography, and oodles more working backstage. It’s a real labour of love and a dedication to drama, particularly for director Jessie McGreevy and those behind the scenes who need to be at the theatre for every performance and only get three days off over the next couple of weeks.</p><p>Alan P Frayn’s script is driven forward by the poetic narration by Flora Fairy (Sinead Fox-Hamilton at the performance I attended) and her evil opposite number Bella Donna (Mairead McAvoy who was lapping up the audience boos). The wonderful pairing’s second act sing-off properly promotes them from storytellers to being the pivotal good and evil influencers of the narrative.</p><p>The plot involves a Prince who is turned into a beast, a father who is kidnapped and exchanged for a daughter, a couple of beauty experts who have their work cut out with two sisters (Britney and Whitney), while a third (Belle) enjoys going <i>au naturel</i> but still has to rebuff the advances of a narcissistic Meat Loaf lookalike lad. And let’s not forget the housekeeper (the pantomime dame), his fun-loving son, and an Elvis impersonator.</p><p>Audience familiarity with the large cast is greatly assisted by the number of characters involved in each scene. Lots of classic pop hits – Taylor Swift’s <i>Bad Blood</i>, Shania Twain’s <i>Man! I Feel Like a Woman!</i>, Greatest Showman’s <i>Rewrite the Stars</i>, Journey’s <i>Don’t Stop Believin’</i>, and a finale fuelled by a One Direction triple megamix – along with a few numbers borrowed from the Disney adaptation give the principle cast members and the animated ensemble a chance to shine.</p><p>Nikita White is vocally strong as Belle, a character who consistently knows her own mind and never simply goes along with what men ask her to do. Her Prince, played by Joseph Quinn, becomes a rather overbearing and domineering Beast. Amélie Euler and Rachel McGarry invest stacks of attitude, broad accents, malice and synchronised gestures in sisters Britney and Whitney, and quickly become stars of the show every time they appear on stage. While Robert McGregor manages to repeatedly insult the audience as Madame Fifi – the pantomime’s dame – no one could possibly be offended. His comedy sidekick Alex McKelvey playing Jacques (“with an ‘S’ though there’s only one of him!”) also has gags rolling off his tongue and delighting the willing crowd.</p><p>Part of the charm of a production like this come from the moments when a bunch of tiny children race onto the stage from the wings for the larger ensemble numbers. Their faces are full of joy mixed with a little bewilderment. Tonight was this group’s first performance in front of an audience, a big step up from their calmer dress rehearsal. However, by the end of the run the youngest cast members will no doubt be enjoying every minute of the show as much as the old hands standing behind them. Choreographer Matthew Watson has made good use of the two-level set, while Wilson Shields and his small band of merry <s><del>men</del></s> musicians keep the live music flowing through scene changes and off-stage moments of transformation.</p><p>The story is well told, the performances are full of passion, and the audience is close to the action and very invested in the show. <i>Beauty and the Beast</i> continues in the <a href="https://www.belvoirplayers.org/events/beauty-and-the-beast-the-pantomime/">Belvoir Studio Theatre until Saturday 6 January</a>. There are a handful of tickets left for performances before Christmas, with better availability later in the run.</p><p><i>Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the <a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alaninbelfast">Buy Me a Tea</a> button!</i></p>Alan in Belfast (Alan Meban)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04647690758839987063noreply@blogger.com0