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REVIEW: Books Reckless Paper Birds by John McCullough

Reckless Paper Birds

John McCullough

Like the Queer love child of Elizabeth Smart’s  ‘By Grand Central Station’ and Roger McGough this new collection of atomic poems from John McCullough  is mind blowing excellent. I’ve been a huge fan of McCullough from the off and this new collection of poetry continues to convince that we have the new voice of a generation living amongst us.  His utterly authentic passionate observations ring true, his Queer sensibility a lodestone for his wit and crepuscular yearnings. Sigh, he’s fucking excellent.

Forged out of passion, his experiences on Grindr, walking in Brighton, seeing the cracks in our world and prying them open with his pen to scratch at our skin and eyeballs until they see how things should be seen, McCullough cannot be argued with. His words linger in the shadows of the mind, slowly percolating through into the karst of our conscience.  Reading him is like dreaming underwater while mermaids tear at your flesh. His sublime, seductive and startling poems demand a second and third reading, sensually writhing and turning under examination like DNA into an endless alphabet of metaphorical suggestions.

They also demand understanding and it’s this subtle sotto voice undertone to these poems which is the real triumph, alone they delight, together they enchant and whisper of the absolute triumph of imagination. The books left me breathless. Read it.

Out now for more info or to buy this books see the publishers website 

£9.99

 

REVIEW: Agrippina @ Royal Opera House

Agrippina

Royal Opera House

Covent Garden

Co-production with Bavarian State Opera, Munich, and Dutch National Opera

Directory Barry Kosky’s minimalist rather darkly funny but thrilling  Agrippina gives us a candid insight into humanity, power and the games people play to get what they think they really want. Agrippina is the ultimate political operator – outrageous and blatant in her pursuit of power. In the title role, Joyce DiDonato heads a specialist cast in Handel’s early operatic success, a calling card when he moved to London.

This early opera from Handel, he wrote it at 24 in Venice follows the machinations, manipulations, seductions and awful plotting of Agrippina as she attempts to secure her son as the next Emperor of Rome.   The score boasts a succession of brilliant Baroque jewels – one after another come the bright, sparkling arias.

Read the full synopsis here:

Joyce Didinato’s Agrippina is superb, a tiger mom with sass, as ruthless as she is beguiling a sensual snake with a sharp seductive tongue this updated presentation of Agrippina as a knowing,  kingmaker is a subtle embrace of the agency of this triumphant female character.  Her voice is equally powerful, in complete control, with humour and balance and some stand out moments of exquisite coloratura.

Conducted with real verve by Russian Maxim Emelyanychev The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment are on top form, playing with a luxurious beauty which underscores the emotional action onstage and unfolds the delicious harmonic textures of this beautiful music with clarity, honesty and a passion which makes this rather long opera skip along at a brisk pace.  This is Handel at its very best and the combination of playing and singing is superb and worth putting up with the distracting and rather dull set for, but although the music and singing thrills it’s oddly unconvincing as whole. There’s a cynical hollowness at the centre of this piece which perhaps reflects the heartless power hunger of the main protagonist.

Rebecca Ringst’s set was endless in motion, but with no real reason, metal boxes, bright light and noisy automatic blinds, it allowed for some backgrounding and was in perpetual movement, distractingly loud on occasion I found myself wondering about rubber wheels and electric motors in a most distracting way.  It projected a harsh world of corporate power, callous, designer, and empty of conviction, just ambition. This is also a problem with the production when the sophisticated irony which carries this narrative so well is reduced to farce or sexgames and underplays the serious nature of the plot with a silly frivolousness.  Kosky’s style plays well with audiences but I felt it reflected not so well on such a fine musical production of this Handel jewel.

DiDonato gives a stand out performance, the best I’ve ever heard from her, capturing astonishing bravado in her performance and having as much fun as possible, even rocking it up a touch with microphone and Jaggerseque moves celebrating her triumphs.  Her ruthless callous advancing of Nero to the throne is played with a narrative thrust which seduces and shocks, a convincing performance on so many levels.

Iestyn Davies as Ottone is breath-taking, his closing aria of the first act Voi che udite  “You who hear” follows a wretched betrayal and usurping of fortune after being jumped on by his erstwhile allies. Dripping with blood and confusion he sings with a heart-breaking virtue. I was transported, Davies, one of a few superb counter tenors in this production was astonishingly good.  Franco Fagioli gives a trembling, tattooed, quixotic early Nero, entitled, deluded and imprinted on his mother still, his voice covering all these straining emotions with the hint of psychosis underneath, he chilled & thrilled with perfection.  When he’s down in the audience scheming for his ambitions and apparently sharing grief it’s a seriously funny moment.

Gianluca Buratto’s Claudio is a callous vain sex manic, his singing profound and touching and filled with emotional conviction and longing but played for laughs too often. The pair jousting and jousting for Agrippina’s loving attention – toxic butch muscle boy Andrea Mastroni’s Pallante and emotionally crippled  Narciso from Eric Jurenas bounce off each other and combine voice sensually but their acting is camp and distracting, like pair of hyperactive spaniels desperate for a treat they leap and cavort across the stage.  Lucy Crowe’s Poppea never stops, flirting, flushing, laughing and sharply refining her power quietly under the cover of her beauty, she’s a joy to watch savouring the thrill of seduction and her voice echoing this sensual effervescence.

Kosky’s  still and crepuscular ending is a ravishingly slow movement from L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato  giving us an unsettling ending, Agrippina seems calm, all shuts down around her, but there’s no resolution to the passions and schisms unleashed on stage, just an disconcerting waiting for what ever happens next.

This Agrippina is not perfect but it is quite lovey. Worth checking out.

Until 11 October 2019

For more info see performance dates or to book tickets see the ROH website here:

All photo’s credit: ROH 2019 photographed by Bill Cooper.

REVIEW: Torch Song @The Turbine Theatre, Battersea

Torch Song

Harvey Fierstein

The Turbine Theatre

This production of acclaimed trilogy of plays now reworked by its original author into a more compact ‘Torch Song’ touches all the right levers and its emotional honesty and endless characters’ raw truth, often told directly to the audience,  makes this play a delight to watch. The hard earned humour is as earthy as it ever was and the beating heart of hope triumphant is the constant lamp light which leads this play though some of the darkest places that living can throw at us.  Harvey Fierstein’s fiercely fearless examination of loss, grief and painfully honest recovery of protagonist Arnold as he literally drags himself though life is a theatrical classic and this condensed edition gives us all the cream and goodness without feeling lite.

Matthew Needham is lovely, a willowy beanpole of a man, parred to his core by experience but still bending in the wind, learning, loving and never letting go of the need for potential and for a life lived well.  His asides are done with just the right knowing throw-away pain; the jokes come at a heavy price but are light and relentless. It’s curiously undated for a play set in such a distinct time and Needham gave a performance of his own, a different Arnold to Fiersteins  filmatic flaming fag but the same old querulous Queen.   Arnold being fucked in a back room while trying to make polite conversation was a hilarious monolog and arresting physical comedy from Needham the whole audience was doubled up laughing.

Dino Fetscher as Ed is not only visually striking- he’s such a handsome actor who is very easy on the thirsty eye – but his tender performance of the confusion of Ed’s life as he learns to hope for more whilst desperately trying to do what’s expected of him is touch perfect. The play allows an exploration of his bisexual sexuality with an honest clarity that gives insight into his needs and dreams. Ultimately Ed gives us the most complex character of the night, and touches real tangible fear and panic at points. He was a joy to watch.

In the second part Fugue in a Nursery, the action between the two couples on one big bed, blended with tight choreography of this four person, three conversation, two time-lines scene giving us a delightful head turning medley of meaning and truth, chopping with a furious pace which never lost of the narrative pace of this play but keeping the pressure of a tense emotional conversation at its heart.

The rest of the cast are a delight, all wonderful in their own ways.  Jay Lycurgo  plays the wonderfully energetic son David , full of cheek and sass, learning to love himself  and teaching Arnold how to be close enough to support but not close enough to stifle.   Daisy Boulton’s Laurel is pained but seriously real, her own feelings way out of the depth of the brittle gay men she meets,  she still connects and finds the things that resonate and tries to understand.  Rish Shah’s debut here as Alan is charming but ultimately this truncated play leaves this complex character unexplored,  Bernice Stegers as Ma is the final act gives us all we want from the rough diamond Jewish mother, slowly rising out of the shadow of grief and ultimately shows us where Arnold gets his strength in adversity from, as she wears the famous bunny slippers and tries to teach him about the permanence of grief, reaching across the angry abyss that has opening between them, we see a bridge of hope spanning out.  In what must be one of the best mother/gay son argument scenes in theatre we see them both circling what understanding each other is really going to cost them.   Brisling with anger and dramatic tension it never fails to raise the hairs on my arms, tonight was no exception.

The lighting from James Whiteside is superb, gently leading the eye into the action, setting ambience and atmosphere with a subtle conviction, his nightclub setting up was filled with sly humour,  my companion adored it and was impressed with the production in general.

The real cigarette smoke puffed across the audience and real cooking & smells associated added a sensual delight and domestic tenderness to this play which was wonderfully convincing.  Costume is delightful; Ed’s trousers in particular are an arresting addition.  The small set is a lovely affair keeping us domestically cosy and allowing us out into the dressing rooms and darkrooms of the New York Gay scene.  Desiner Ryan Dawson Laight has done this small space proud.

Did I miss the songs and some the very deep drag humour, yes I did, but as this is Harvey Fierstein own chopping and pruning of the original trio of plays to make one strong narrative I kind of forgave it as, seduced from the opening monologue into the supreme efficiently and emotional punchiness of his writing, I let Torch Song do it’s stuff.

Over the last 40 years many of these cries for fairness and justice have been answered across the world, but its beating heart, the demand for love and respect on your own authentic terms still screams at the moon.  The final scene, although hefty and punchy has lost some of its tenderness and although I welled up, no tears come, whether than means I’ve become a cynical old queen in the last 20 years or the play fails to connect to its heart at the last I’ll leave up to you.

This is fundamentally a play about truth, everyone tells their truth, there is no judgement or blame (although plenty of shouting) and that’s the essence of superb writing. It speaks to us today as it did, not as raspy or shrill or urgent as it was then, but as matured, insistent and commanding.

The Theatre itself, stretching off into the brick vaulted distance is very comfortable, as you would imagine for an arts venue in such a swish developer led area, and is not only fully accessible but some thought has gone into what that actually means for people using the space. The staff couldn’t be more help and are charm itself. Cute too.  Although Nouveau-Battersea is a gleaming soulless Gattaca writ large the Turbine Theatre maintains some charm and character, cosily leaning into the bricks and mortar of reclaimed industrial Victorian might and its sophisticated lighting and staging units seem more than adequate for this production, I’d be interested to see how it changes the space for others to come.

A very easy journey up from Brighton,  Gatwick Express up to Victoria then number 44 bus ( outside the Grosvenor Hotel just outside station entrance) takes you a lovely 10 min journey through Chelsea and over Chelsea bridge, then it’s a short walk down to the riverfront and you’re there. Easy and a place I suspect I’m going to enjoy seeing develop its artistic breadth over the coming years and as Arnold says in the first few moments of the play ‘you get used to the rumbling of the trains overhead’.

Until 13th October

For more info or to book tickets see their website here:

 

PREVIEW: Something Underground – Lewes Festival of Solo Theatre

Something Underground, an award-winning local theatre company is running the first-ever Lewes Festival of Solo Theatre from November 8 to 10. Brian Butler previews an exciting line-up for the festival’s debut.

AT least 17 shows in one weekend looks like providing a wealth of entertainment in the Lewes area – many of them developed in Something Underground’s Grow Your Own Solo Show course, which has run since 2012.

Local performers will include Brighton-based award winning Ross Gurney-Randall, who offers a new 21st century take on Henry VIII.

Artistic director Jonathan Brown, who will also perform at the festival said: “The Sussex area has a lot of talent which is augmented by brilliant acts coming from London and further afield.”

Reduced cost passes will enable audiences to see many shows at lower prices.

Organisers say that the magic of solo performers is their energy and ability to connect directly with their audiences.

The offerings, over 3 days, include:

UpstagedLuanne Campbell is a desperate dancer waiting for a West End audition. What can possibly go wrong ?

Damien, performed by Daniel Finlay, is the story of Father Damien and his mission among a group of exiled lepers on a Hawaiian island.

And Before I Forget I Love You sees Pip Utton take us through the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s.

Hens features Olivia Nicholson as a doomed bride in Benidorm, soaking up the salsa, Sangria and sexscapades.

Crime Scene Illusion is an interactive show exploring a crime scene through storytelling and magic.

In Moon Tales, Kate Darach shows us 13 full moons and a woman representing each of them.

The Silent Stream has Jonathan Brown as the Prince Regent- the king in waiting – indulging in hedonism, women, gambling, drink and laudanum .

For full details of the festival, click here:

To book tickets online, click here:

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