A teddy bear wearing devil horns: "it’s a nervous thing"

Very chuffed to nab last minute tickets for The Acid Test, by Anna Reiss, at The Royal Court on Monday! Known to me as the inspirationally young playwright who wrote something and won an award last year, I definitely wanted to see something of hers.

Enthusiastically asked to enter “flat number 11 please” by the FOH usher, me and my favourite theatre-buddy Milly squealing at this prospect..! and entered a female, fairy-lighted flat. Beautifully laid bare, the scene was charmingly messy and disordered: girly knickers drying on the maiden, Take a Break! placed  beside the television, next to it Catch Me If You Can on DVD, a bottle of pale pink nail varnish behind the television, and various other bits of debris strewn around the room – receipts, odd shoes, a tube of Pringles. Like the play itself the scene was so real it was hard to believe that it had actually been created.

 A cuddly toy placed on the shelf, wearing sequin devil horns goes on to observe the Friday night in the flat. We learn that the mess belongs to Dana, Ruth and Jessica; each character so believable and representative of the 20-year-old girls that live today; the blonde n pretty likeable one, the childish indie kid and the slightly macho moody yet ‘deeper’ one. The story starts to unfold once Jessica (macho n moody) brings her dad back to the flat, after he’s been thrown out of the family home. Hysterically awkward at first, dad is offered a drink and things start to un-ravel. During the long, drink fuelled evening, a dysfunctional father-daughter relationship is revealed, one that cannot be blamed on a violent abusive past but one based on simple hatred. The three of them (being dad, Dana and Ruth) turn on Jessica, as Dana and Ruth become uncomfortably affectionate towards the dad.

The direction has a wonderful subtleness to it – everything from chocolate smears on dad’s work shirt (after creepily making strawberries and melted chocolate for the girls) to Jessica’s excruciating body language I found unforgettable. This may be a bit rash (but fuck it, I’m a blogger, I can be opinionated!!): want to get more problem-audiences into theatre? Put on more work like this. A brilliant example of a true, domestic situation that each and everyone one of us can relate to.

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POSTCARD OF THE WEEK: No. 6

Going To Work

LS Lowry, 1959

“This art is a terrible business”  -  L S Lowry, 1887 - 1976

Happy Single’s Day! (was what I thought on the 14th)

by Nico van der Merwe

¡San Valentín!  As a single pringle, here’s 3 things I loved this week, besides male company: 

·         My first lesson of Spanish. I’m actually fucking doing it! Hurray. I’m totally trying to steer clear of any self-absorbed diary-like entries (!), so to keep this post arts focussed, an arty Spanish fact for you:

Madrid’s International Contemporary Art Fair, ARCO, celebrates its 30^th anniversary this year, and will showcase art from 197 international galleries from 21 countries. ARCO (the largest contemporary art fair in Spain), seeks to revive the interest for modern art, despite the economic crisis.

·         Brighton Rock. Kings Speech, Black Swan, Kings Speech, Black Swan, Kin... but Brighton Rock is what I choose to see. I thought it was excellent! Chillingly brutal, well paced and stylishly updated to the 60s. Especially liked the ending; seemingly happy (‘Pinky’ gets his comeuppance). But in fact it is not so; the ending ending is grim. Intrigued? Maybe I need to read the book before I can truly judge the film – as I am frantically doing now, with Never Let Me Go (really hard to get into, but it’s worth getting into, I’m told!)

Sam Riley's "dead-eyed look" as Pinky. Throughout, his face is so tensed you never see his teeth, except for the once, revealing a snaggle tooth. Now thats chilling!

·          The London Met Arts Society: it is finally on its feet!

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POSTCARD OF THE WEEK: No. 5

Miroslav Bartak

Dynamite Ink (UK)

I found this, along with two other postcards of a similar nature, in a little stationary shop by uni (Holloway Road) for 25p. I smile every time I look at this one J

How so subtly witty is this one?! Comic images of her hacking at the man’s arm with underlying ideas of objectification (putting yourself on show maybe?). And of course I think of meaty masculinised Britain. Or have I got it totally, totally wrong?

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So, what did I really think about the Antonioni Project? Apart from “I can’t say Antonionioo!!”

Ivo van Hove’s Antonioni Project is based on the scripts of three films by Michelangelo Antonioni. Merging live performance, projection and film, Hove explores the intimate relationships between several couples under a number of different circumstances. The piece reminded me very much of the film (and play) Closer, in a sense that sex is thrown about: everyone is pretty much ‘getting off’ with each other. But visually, it was beautiful, and once again it challenged my usually hostility towards uses of technology!   

But (and please excuse my use of the word) what about the subtitles. Hmm. Of course, a play spoken in non-English is no indication of quality levels, but I do (and did) believe that it affects theatrical experience as a whole. Does having to concentrate on English translation not interfere with what you actually see? Of course it does! (Well, me and Milly thought so).

The language did intrigue me however, sparking wonders of Dutch culture and where the play was actually ‘set’. The rich and attractive characters come together at the end for one smart yet long, hazy party, held together by the glorious onstage jazz band and made memorable by the heavenly balloon scene.

A wonderful evening at the Barbican with my beautiful Mil!

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POSTCARD OF THE WEEK: No. 4



Songthrush

John Gould 1804-1881

One of many from the vast 'Chris collection'! Amongst the random, retro, cheesy, cheery, crap and cracking cards, this one stood out. Reminds me of being little and riffling through my Dad’s bird-watching books!

Check out the radio-active eggs! Maybe toxic pollution was anticipated earlier than we thought.

More from the amazing Athena range soooooon!

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Turner and Turner

Watching The Painter at the Arcola last night got me thinking about the Turner Prize this year.

Written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, the play is about JMW Turner (18^th century landscape artist), his life and the people that surround him. Apparently Turner bought his paints in the Arcola’s new location, which was why the writer was asked to write a play about him (ooh).

So first off, I’d totally recommend The Painter!! The domestic ‘situations’ that make up the performance are dramatic and gripping, while the characters are entirely believable yet so intriguing.

See it next Tuesday if you can, its pay what you can; now there’s a plan.

Under 26s can see it for free, trust me.

But the Turner Prize. What did everyone think this year? Susan Philipsz’s Lowlands Away, featured three recordings of a traditional Scottish folk song, sung by the artist. Speakers were situated in opposing corners of the room, but the piece was formerly performed under a bridge in Glasgow (pretty magical ay). I’ve always been rather sceptical of sound, or in fact any technical installations, but this piece for me was an exception. I bloody loved it! The alternating intonations were eerie yet wondrous; ultimately atmospheric. And Susan Philipsz: I instantly liked her because she was a woman (and friendly in the Turner film) and I think Rob (my proudly Scottish housemate) did because she was Glaswegian. Well done Philipsz! (I still wear your badge).