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MACBETH: The Globe: Review

I’ve always been obsessed with the porter in Macbeth. What an oddity he is, stumbling, exploding, ambling, running at full pelt onto the stage – depending on which production you’re seeing – and rambling on about equivocators and the primrose way. He either sets the tone of a production like no other character can, or just sticks out like a sore thumb, as if dumped in the middle of something he has very little to do with.

Macbeth

In actress Eve Best’s directorial debut, the porter is played by veteran drag artiste Bette Bourne who, I’m afraid, falls in the latter camp and has nothing much to do with the rest of the production. That said, Bourne is the most interesting thing in it, made up like a clown complete with red nose, startled eyebrows, and pancake-white make-up, stumbling around drunk but trying hard to retain his poise.

Otherwise, this Jacobean-costumed Macbeth is rather a middling affair, neither great nor gawd blimey bad, which means a pleasant time is to be had at the Globe rather than a startlingly interesting one.

I went to a matinee performance on a sweltering day when half of the groundlings were school kids out on their end of year jolly (or their teacher’s idea of a jolly) so what with their constant cracking of water bottles, the helicopters overhead, and the odd suicidal pigeon, it made for a lively atmosphere.

Joseph Millson makes a beefcake Macbeth, all trimmed black beard and shiny white teeth, but although his delivery’s perfect, he lacks passion until the “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” speech when suddenly depth appears only to be quickly swallowed up again by frantic action.

Best directs the Scottish play ably and straightforwardly with the only surprise being the humour she brings out in the piece. When Banquo’s ghost (Billy Boyd) marches towards Macbeth along a trestle table, you expect him to put his arms out in front of him and to start doing zombie moans whilst Scooby Doo pops his head up from under the table. The school kids in the audience certainly loved that bit, and every other tension-breaking moment, but after a while the humour was a bit much to take in such a dark play.

Macbeth

Samantha Spiro is a diminutive ball of fury as Lady Macbeth, an out of character part for this actor who’s most usually seen in lighter roles. Her ‘out damned spot’ sleepwalking moment is quietly unnerving. A rasping gasp at every intake of Spiro’s breath is quite disconcerting and I sat there wondering if she smoked heavily or had a wasting lung disease. Spiro and Millson only ever seem to quite gel as a couple when he has his hands round her throat (never a good sign in a marriage).

The set is sparse – the ramparts of a castle in brown and off-white – and the costumes all dun-coloured which adds to the sense of ordinariness that pervades this production, although Olly Fox’s music is rather lively. Pepping things up no end with a rousing pipe and drum accompaniment to the cast’s opening jig (don’t worry: the traditional closing one is there too), the authentic sounding music drives the action forward.

In the end though, I just didn’t believe in Macbeth’s inner life enough and if that fails to grasp the entrails, then the production is really just going through the (albeit very interesting) motions. It is, in a way, the perfect ‘in’ to Shakespeare for kids as there’s an admirably clear line through the play, the dialogue is spoken clearly, the actions match the words, and the humour will keep their interest. Mine just waned.

WHAT: Macbeth

WHERE: The Globe, Bankside, London

WHEN: Various times until October 13

TICKETS: £5 – £39

FOR MORE INFO: CLICK HERE:

RUNNING TIME: two and a half hours

WOULD I SEE IT AGAIN: Yes, but only because it’s the Globe

Hove MP Weatherley Scales new heights

Mike Weatherley, MP
Mike Weatherley, MP

Mike Weatherley, the Conservative MP for Hove and Portslade, has visited a new sporting venue in his constituency.

He met business owners Tom and James at their new indoor bouldering centre on the Victoria Road Trading Estate, which is a 5 minute walk from Portslade Station.

Mike scaled the new climbing wall at the centre which he had previously supported the planning application for before it was approved by Brighton & Hove City Council.

Bouldering is a fast-growing branch of rock climbing, where people climb without ropes over safety matting at heights of up to 4 or 5 metres. There are no knots to tie, no harnesses to put on – leaving the climber free to enjoy climbing in its purest, simplest form.

Mike said:

“Boulder Brighton is a fantastic new sporting asset for Hove and Portslade as well as the city as a whole. I really enjoyed having a little climb and can completely see the appeal of bouldering as a great way to exercise. I’ll definitely be back and I wish Tom and James the best of luck with their venture.”

For more information about Boulder Brighton, CLICK HERE:  

SOME LIKE IT HOTTER: Connaught Theatre, Worthing: Review

Some Like It Hot

I think some of the grey heads in the Connaught audience were being scratched at the start of Some Like it Hotter when a bewildered man in an anorak clutching a woman’s make-up box wandered onto the stage with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. Had he just made a wrong turn on the way to the loos?

But no, this was Red Hot Charlie (Patrick Bridgman) and he, like us, was entering the Some Like it Hotter Memorial Experience.“Sorry pal, you’ve kicked the bucket,” cackled Jack Lemmon happily, and off we went.

Turns out that when you cark it, you go to a place between life and wherever you’re destined to end up. This is commonly known as purgatory, but not in this play. Here it’s a party: you get to experience once again the time of your life when you were at your happiest and for Charlie it was watching Some Like it Hot when he was 10 and sitting on the sofa next to dear old mum.

So here he is, in a Chicago speakeasy in 1929 and a shoot-out is about to kick off.

At first, the set up of this gentle comedy musical written by Richard Hurford can appear a little confusing. Does Charlie meet Lemmon, Curtis and Monroe or Jerry, Joe and Sugar or Daphne, Josephine and Sugar? But when you grasp that it’s the Hollywood actors themselves who are stuck in this stairwell to heaven, having to play their most famous creations until, well, they don’t know when, it becomes a little clearer.

And when Charlie first sets eyes upon Marilyn you know that a love story of sorts is going to be involved: one, in fact, that turns out to be rather sweet and poignant and not at all what you’d expect. And boy does Sarah Applewood look like Marilyn.

Some Like It Hot

Set in a crumbling theatre with a broken-down stage, not-so-grand piano, and a sparkling mirror ball, Charlie relives his film fantasy scene by famous scene, while the banter is about life, death, love, fame and his mum. Along the way we get some cracking 1920’s tunes – Sweet Georgia Brown, Yes Sir, That’s My Baby – with the whole cast of six (the main actors plus two on stage stagehands) swinging along on various instruments. The voices are not so hot – more like tepid – but adequate to carry off the task at hand and arthritic toes were tapping and old bodies swaying.

Sometimes Some Like it Hotter moves a little slowly, but it’s never less than charming as Monroe keeps in character for every minute of the 2 hours running time. I was watching her closely from the front row (as you do) and her face never once dropped out of Monroe-mode, not once, and it’s a very difficult mode to keep up, with the face being mobile at all times. No wonder Charlie loved watching her all those years ago. Ah, but there’s that twist again. They have a secret. “Me and Charlie go way back,” breathes Marilyn again and again. But in what way, we wonder.

Daniel Lloyd as Lemmon has that larger than life sense of fun although he doesn’t resemble him at all. He’s got that Daphne chuckle down to a tee though. Paul Matania’s Curtis is more of a look-a-like (although he looks far more like Daniel Radcliffe if anyone ever thought to make him into a stick of rock) and sound-a-like. The Radcliffe look is more pronounced when he appears in the natty naval look as Junior, the Cary Grant of the Riviera.

As laydees, the pair excel, with Matania playing Jerry playing Daphne looking like he/she’s just stepped out of an Aubrey Beardsley drawing, whereas Lloyd as Joe as as Josephine just looks like Terry Scott in a dress. Charlie soon joins them (“I want to catch the train to Florida and dress up in women’s clothes”) in a tasseled flapper dress that barely covers his arse and which made the audience reach for their sunglasses at the sight of his lilywhite legs. He’s having the best fun this side of the doors to heaven.

Apart from versions of the film’s famous scenes, nothing much happens but chat and songs, but the characters come across poignantly and you wish them the ‘happy endings’ they so ardently desire. There’s some very silly humour – apparently Daphne was 25 before she even heard the word ‘pelvis’ and even then she thought it was a wild animal – and a nice bit of irony when they make a long legal speech about how the play has nothing at all to do with the film of the same name.

The twist in the plot isn’t exactly a shocker, but it’s satisfying enough, and fear not: we do, of course, get the funniest last line in film history, plus a couple of songs as encores for good measure.

The night before I went to see Some Like It Hotter, I’d been to the press night of Dirty Dancing in the West End. Guess which one I liked more. Yes, sometimes those little old plays in those little old local theatres that no one but oldies think of going to, have more heart and soul than half a dozen West End shows put together.

WHAT: Some Like It Hotter

WHERE: Connaught Theatre, Worthing

WHEN: Tough luck, you’ve missed it unless it comes round on tour again

WOULD I SEE IT AGAIN: Yes, only I wouldn’t take my mother who’d never seen the film and was a little more bewildered than she usually is

 

Bishop of Chichester to officiate at Pride

Pride at St John's

Bishop Martin Warner, the Bishop of Chichester will be the keynote speaker and preacher at the Service of Welcome for Pride at St John’s Church, Preston Park on Saturday, August 3 from 1pm. The Bishop will be speaking at 2pm.

You do not need a ticket for Pride as the Church is located outside of the Pride site.

If you would like to march on the Pride, Gay Icons, LGBT Community Parade simply turn up on the seafront at Madeira Drive between 10-10.30am on Saturday, August 3 and look for the Christian banners.

EVENT: Pride at St Johns

WHERE: St John’s Church, Knoyle Road, Preston, Brighton BN1 6RB

WHEN: Saturday, August 3

TIME: From 1pm

For more information, CLICK HERE: 

 

Hollywood actor speaks out for marriage equality

Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming

Hollywood actor Alan Cumming has spoken out for marriage equality in a video recorded as part of the campaign for same-sex marriage in Scotland.

The Equality Network, the Scottish lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality charity, are running a campaign to change the law in Scotland where same-sex marriage remains banned.

Speaking from New York’s Times Square the Scottish-American actor, famous for his roles in X Men, The Good Wife, and his hit Broadway version of Macbeth, explains why equal marriage is important to him.

He said:

“I support equal marriage because I think equality is great, marriage is great, and everyone in Scotland should have the right to get married. It’s 2013 – come on people!”

“The reason equal marriage is so important to me is that I’m Scottish. I come from a country where I believe that people are fair and decent, and treat everyone equally, and we are talking a lot right now – there’s a lot of rhetoric about – how Scotland is going to be a fairer place in the future. Well it should be a fairer place for everyone right now.”

Since coming out as bisexual in 1998, Alan Cumming has been an outspoken advocate for LGBT equality. In 2005 he received the Vito Russo Award at the 16th Annual GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Awards for an outstanding contribution toward eliminating homophobia in the United States.

Cumming is originally from Aberfeldy in Perthshire (Scotland) but currently lives in Manhattan with his husband, the graphic artist Grant Shaffer, who he married after New York State passed its same-sex marriage legislation in 2011. Cumming and Shaffer had originally entered into a civil partnership in 2007.

The actor has urged marriage equality supporters in his native Scotland to keep up the pressure on politicians.

He said:

“Over the next few months the Scottish Parliament is going to be discussing equal marriage, and what you need to do is contact your MSP and make sure they’re going to vote the right way – the good and decent and Scottish way.”

Cumming is one of several well-known faces who recently took part in the Equality Network’s It’s Time video for marriage equality, which has had over 100,000 views since being launched at the end of June:

To view the video It’s Time, CLICK HERE:   

The Equality Network is urging marriage equality supporters to help the campaign in Scotland by donating to the cause and contacting politicians:

For more information, CLICK HERE: 

Hove MP Weatherley tackles Ministers on litter

Mike Weatherley, MP
Mike Weatherley, MP

Mike Weatherley, the Conservative MP for Hove and Portslade, has contacted his ministerial colleagues to see what they are doing to lead the country in keeping the streets tidy by tackling litter around Government departments.

Following repeated calls from residents about the state of the nation’s streets, Mike has tabled a number of Written Parliamentary Questions asking what exactly Ministers have done to tackle the problem of litter, specifically outside their own ministries.

Mike said:

“Litter is a big problem right across the country. Unfortunately, an army of lazy litter bugs defy conventional wisdom of using bins and instead simply use our streets and outdoor spaces. The wonderful beaches of Brighton & Hove, for example, have recently been plagued by beachgoers leaving mountains of litter. I hope that my ministerial colleagues will be leading the way in Keeping Britain Tidy.”

When the sun shines at the weekend and tourists come into the city, Brighton & Hove Council have to clean up 20 tons of litter on the Monday morning after the tourists leave. Local seafront traders have complained for a long time that there are not enough bins provided in Brighton & Hove for tourists to put their litter in.

 

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