menu

LETTER TO EDITOR: Time to acknowledge the superb work of Paul and Ducie

I’m very saddened to see that there are certain elements of our community have nothing better to do than make nasty comments about people who have for many years worked tirelessly with little thanks to make Brighton Pride the huge success it is.

Gareth Lloyd, Chair of Peer Action
Gareth Lloyd, Chair of Peer Action

Without the superb work of Paul Kemp and Dulcie Weaver, Pride simply wouldn’t happen and Peer Action via the Rainbow Fund would not be able to help people in the local community suffering from HIV or the social stigma and isolation that it is still attached to it.

Pride provides a financial lifeline for numerous small charities in the Brighton & Hove area that simply wouldn’t exist without the sterling efforts of the Pride team and The Rainbow Fund.

At Peer Action without the support of the Rainbow Fund we would not be able to continue to support our members within the community. The money provided by the Rainbow Fund allows us to provide activities such as Yoga, and therapeutic treatments for our service users which they simply wouldn’t be able to afford if they were to obtain this privately.

We also appreciate the support and guidance that the Rainbow Fund has given and continue to give  to help us run the charity with a very small number of very dedicated volunteers.

I’ve noted the Facegroup have made a complaint about the ticket prices this is nothing new but people need to understand that organising a very large event on this scale is seriously expensive.

In years gone by local councils were able to give grants to offset the cost but with the onset of Government budget cuts they can no longer do this.

One of the major costs in running an event such as this is policing. Brighton Pride have little or no control over this cost which is very substantial and organisers simply have to pay.

With no subsidies, the only way to raise the money to run these events is by sponsorship or increase ticket prices.

These individuals should concentrate their campaigning efforts on central government whose policy of austerity and cuts in council funding are the real reasons why the cost of Pride is going up.

Keep up the good work.

On behalf of the trustees of Peer Action.

We stand with Pride.

Gareth Lloyd – Chair Of Trustees at Peer Action

OPERA REVIEW: Satyagraha @ENO

Satyagraha

ENO

First staged in 2007, Phelim McDermott’s highly acclaimed, spectacularly theatrical production is a visual feast following the early life of Gandhi in South Africa and his non-violent campaigning against segregation and racism and named after his word for Non-violence (for which there is no word in any language in the whole word, which is worth noting.) This opera by Phillip Glass is formed of three mains segments each taking a long and visually dreamlike look at Gandhi’s life but also at the people who inspired, helped, supported and worked with him. Tolstoy, Tagore and Martin Luther King guide the three sections of the work and also the development and maturity of both the principals of Satyagraha as a non-violent form of resistance and also its musical principals as presented by Glass.

They are not always easy to tease out in direct personality but the overall effect, and one that mounts throughout this work is of a progression of cooperative thought and action towards a better world, facing struggle with dignity and numbers and always choosing the non-violent path. The music mirrors and echoes this tension between aggression and non-violent movement and action.  It often made no sense to me at all, not helped by it being sung in Sanskrit and there are no surtitles, but this adds to the dreamlike and ritualistic properties of the night. I abandoned myself to it, was lifted by it and was in the moment of its momentum. Various text is projected onto the stage for this production and becomes a filmatic part of the action.

Satyagraha is instilled with theatrical flair by the award-winning director designer partnership of Improbable’s Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch and they weave an utterly transfixing account of this complex life with its bare and simple meaning and vision. The use of puppets and silt walking actors and dancers, simplistic repetitive props which writhe and transform into battling giants or huge disturbing animals, the suggestions of city and oppressive oligarchies with a sneering, menacing almost Terry Gillingham surrealist edge is impressive and convincing. The constant feeling of both stillness and movement is kept in a contradictory balance at the heart of the action. It’s not an easy thing to write about or to digest as fact, it’s all metaphor, shadow, suggestion and oddness, but the overall effect is beautiful, although sometimes unsettlingly so.

The music is pure Glass, but with luscious space in this opera for the singers and rather than regulate them to supporting roles, Glass has presented them out front, in full parity with the music and sometimes even guiding it, I was impressed by the subtle and often convoluted ways in which the singers and the music met at repeated moments of joint emotional clarity and I felt convinced again that there was a deeper level to the often mechanical and empirical dissections of Glass’s music. The first time I watched this opera, I learned to love Glass, this revival gave me added warmth and depth, and it’s still superb.

Toby Spence portrayal of Gandhi is humble and convincing, it doesn’t matter that he’s singing in Sanskrit, he’s gentle, soft and compelling and carries the work on his immensely dignified shoulders and his lyrical tenor voice.

Charlotte Beament as Ghandi’s secretary Miss Schlesen was astonishing too, her voice rising up into the highest ranges and is generous with a sharp ethereal edge to the combined singing, I was enchanted by her.

Anna-Clare Monk excelled with her polished top soprano giving graceful dull diligence to the role of Mrs Naidoo. Stephanie Marshall’s mezzo contrasts and flows with a lyrical richness that enchanted as Kasturbai, and the wonderfully formidable Sarah Pring reprises her role of Mrs Alexander and her Ninja umbrella. The ENO chorus work hard venting their contempt and rage or offering supreme almost angelic support they are triumphant in their clear and mesmerising voice.

Laren Kamensek very familiar with Glass and the ENO orchestra from her wonderful control of Akhnaten conducted with pure mathematical precision allowing the music to delicately & relentlessly unfold like an ancient origami secret box and the orchestra were like a ruthless finely oiled machine from the first note to the last, that’s a terrifically impressive pit.  They deserved the rapturous applause they received.

Act two is spectacular. Visually it’s astonishing, blending and weaving itself with an endless sense of movement, representing the public support for Gandhi in the printed press. I was transfixed as the second part rose to its crescendo and with the projections, movement of actors, changing lighting effects and full of force of voice and music from the singers at the front of the stage. This was opera at its best.

The third act is a slow wind down, with a few highlights from the ever delightful chorus but a lot of very, very slow progressions and acting, after the intense  brilliant heat of the second section it made me impatient and I had to check myself and relax, breath and keep myself calm and remind myself of its meditative meaning. I reminded myself a few times…..then a few times more.  It’s a long trek though and even with its meditative central theme and endlessly repeated arpeggios the third act is a little too long for me, with Mr Glass’s infinite variations.

Book now it’s a superb night, utterly divine; but invest a little to really enjoy it with just the slightest bit of reading up on the synopsis and ideas behind this Opera, and then with a little knowledge let yourself in for a wonderful night of quite unforgettable entertainment. You’ll may even leave humming a theme, it stayed with us all the way home. You will be both thrilled and stilled by this superb ENO production.

Until February 27, 2018

English National Opera, 

London Coliseum, St Martins Lane, London

Running time: 3hrs 15mins

For full details or to book tickets 020 7845 9300 or see the ENO website here:

 

 

LETTER TO EDITOR: Clare Project stand with Pride!

As a trans community representative, I want to express my support for Pride and the Rainbow Fund which benefits from it.

Dr Samuel Hall MBBS, FRCA
Dr Samuel Hall MBBS, FRCA, Chair of Clare Project

The Rainbow Fund is a crucial source of grant funding for many grass-roots community-led groups in the LGBT+/HIV sector including those run by, and for trans and non-binary people.

I know there has been unrest recently following the booking of Britney Spears at Pride 2018, including, unfortunately, negative comments and unfounded accusations about Pride organisers and the grant-making body Rainbow Fund. These organisations are fully accountable and transparent, standing up to scrutiny and deserve both the respect and support of the local LGBT+ communities.

Whilst I will not deny that there are ongoing issues of safety for trans people at Pride which cause concern, there is a genuine will to work to eradicate transphobic behaviour and make Pride fully accessible to all members of our communities.

Unrest over ticket prices and financial accessibility is mitigated by offering local LGBT+ folk a free ticket in exchange for volunteering in the park. This is a great way to give something back, show support to the team who get this amazing festival together and make sure that proceeds continue to come back into the local communities, benefitting us all, all year round.

Pride isn’t just a party, it is the hand that feeds us, and we cannot afford to bite.

Stand with Pride!

Dr Samuel Hall MBBS, FRCA
Chair Clare Project

LETTER TO EDITOR: MindOut Proud of Pride!

I am SO proud of Brighton Pride, and the fantastic work it does to raise money for local good causes.

Helen Jones, CEO MindOut
Helen Jones, CEO MindOut

The money raised to be distributed by the Rainbow Fund is a wonderful way to redistribute the profits from ticket sales. MindOut is very impressed and grateful for the work done to set up the £1 per ticket donations and the hard work that the volunteers who run the Rainbow Fund do each year to give out a range of grants.

We are very lucky in Brighton to have an LGBT+ fund which directly supports services to the most disadvantaged parts of our communities.  Currently Pride, via the Rainbow Fund, supports our work with LGBTQ people who experience suicidal distress and contributes to the costs of running an affordable LGBTQ counselling service.

I am really proud that Brighton Pride has kept Pride accessible for us all.  The Parade is a wonderful free event which anyone can attend and local residents can obtain a free ticket to the park in return for volunteering.  Pride has been flexible and helpful, giving us at MindOut volunteering tasks to do within our group work service, a boon for people who do not want to volunteer on the day.

The Pride organisers have consulted with community groups every year, listened to feedback and helped to sort out any problems or issues.  This has helped us feel part of the development of Pride, part of the delivery and able to offer our service users and volunteers every opportunity to get involved and attend whatever parts of the Pride festival they wish to.

Thank you Pride!

Helen Jones, CEO MindOut

X