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Month: October 2019

REVIEW: METAMORFOSI TRECENTO @ BREMF

Posted on by Eric Page

METAMORFOSI TRECENTO

La Fonte Musica

Alena Dantcheva and Francesca Cassinari sopranos
Gianluca Ferrarini tenor
Susanne Ansorg and Teodoro Baù medieval fiddles
Michele Pasotti lute, director

This renowned Italian ensemble La Fonte Musica presented this well balanced  programme of music from their latest Diapason d’or-winning recording. The music being a selection of 14th century music which clearly show the early metamorphosis of these ancient myths into things pliable and mutable to the traditions of courtly love of the transformations of Ovid’s myths in the 14th-century Ars Nova. The music was accompanied by projections of mysterious and fantastical images from medieval manuscripts.

La Fonte Musica say of their name; The fonte (fountain) alludes first of all to the fountaine, a topos in medieval poetry, a place of regeneration and life, centre of the garden and a symbol of pleasure. The fountain (fonte) is also a place of music and of the Muses, its symbolic roots deepen into classical myth.

The programe flowed with allegory, myth and some lovely touches of humor which brought to life this music and allowed us into the privllaged  lives of the elite who would have enjoyed it. With an emphasis on courtly love  each piece was a rediscovery, tantalizingly familiar in many ways but then original and touching in its own space.   Ansorg and Baù  brought a harmonic resonance to the evening which underpinned the flowing lyrical singing of the three principal singers all of whose voices were superb, with Passotti directing from the lute providing a counter musical encouragement, filled with passion and ethereal joy. He also has the most delightful habit of rising onto his toes whilst playing, it makes him seem to levitate around the music.

The high-point of this concert for me was the late 14th century ‘En attendant’ by Filippotto da Casertawhic – it flowed around the warm acoustic graces of St Georges church giving us a passionate insight into the devout heart of this music.

See the full listing of music performed here.

As my charming and well informed companion commented, it was very interesting to see music which would only have perhaps had an academic following two decades ago enjoying such a warm welcomed and presentation to a full audience who appreciated the delicate charms of this very early music.

The BREMF is a platform for such musical exploring and we are lucky to have a festival with such commitment to authentic presentations from world class musicians of rare and exotic music from our distant cultural past.  They are researched, then brought back to life for our enjoyment by ensembles such as La Fonte Musica. Catch them if you can.

You can learn more about La Fonte Musica on their website and to buy tickets for up and coming performances or see the full programme of concerts, workshops and presentations from the Brighton Early Music Festival on their website.

An enjoyable evening out at the BREMF only slightly marred by the rather high bar prices, possibly the highest prices we’ve paid recently at any event.

Exposed: The Scale of Transphobia Online

Posted on by Gscene Editorial Team

Exposed: The Scale of Transphobia Online

Exploring transphobia and pro-trans conversation on social media.

Brighton based company Brandwatch and national Anti-bullying charity & campaigners Ditch the Label joined forces to analyze 10 million online posts over a 3½ year period to explore online transphobia.

Using the largest dataset of its kind. They  uncovered 1.5 million transphobic comments amid the wider conversation around trans people.

This report does not make for light reading as it uncovers the shocking and inhumane ways in which transgender people are targeted, harassed, and abused on digital platforms.

The online posts  uncovered, some of which have been shared thousands of times, range in severity from transphobic attitudes through to genocide and violence.  Ditch the Label’s has categorised this using a Pyramid of Transphobia based on the Pyramid of Hate. This pyramid shows transphobic attitudes and behaviors in segments growing in severity from bottom to top. Modelled similarly to the Pyramid of Hate the Pyramid of Transphobia shows how behaviors categorized on the lower tier can support and lead to higher-level ones. When these attitudes and behaviors are challenged, escalation can be stopped.

Using the largest dataset of its kind, the report explores how left unchallenged, digital hate speech can and does evolve into acts of physical violence committed towards trans people.

One important finding is that constructive, pro-trans conversation far outweighs the negative.

Politics and race were the largest themes found within the transphobic comments, while other topics like gender and religion appear at a lower rate. The data didn’t show major differences between conversations from the US and the UK, although parenting and sports are twice as likely to be associated with transphobia in the UK.

Munroe Bergdorf Model and trans actavsit said “I was interested to see the relationship between transphobia and racism and do feel that racist people see transphobia as a tool to legitimize their racism. I’ve had transphobic comments on photos of me mixed in with nazi speech on a number of times. Transphobia is seen as a valid opinion. We never look at racism, sexism or homophobia and say it’s an opinion, so why is transphobia such a ‘free for all’?

Liam Hackett, Ditch The Label CEO  said “As a cisgender ally to the trans community, I have seen how dangerous online communities can be as echo chambers for self-radicalization. My hope is that this report will bring the problem to the forefront of public conversation, and encourage an urgent review of hate speech guidelines on social platforms and in law. If you are affected by any of the issues in this report, please know that you aren’t alone and support is available at DitchtheLabel.org”

 

Content and trigger warning: Please be aware that in places the data presented in this infographic is uncensored.  If you’re younger than 16 please seek parental advice before exploring this infographic. This analysis touches on topics including transphobia, racism, mentions of sexual assault, misogyny and misogynoir.

You can view the full online report here: 

REVIEW: Theatre Hansard @ National Theatre

Posted on by Brian Butler

Hansard

National Theatre

London

Simon Woods’ debut play about a mediocre Tory Government Minister and his ultra-left wife is a delicious cocktail of angry ripostes, bitter memories , lost ambition,  and political obsessions set in 1988 England.

The date is important because the magical Alex Jennings , as MP Robin Hesketh, is a key figure in the introduction of the much-despised Section 28 of the Local Government Act  forbidding schools to promote or even discuss homosexuality with their pupils.

It’s Saturday and it’s Robin’s birthday at the family weekend Cotswold cottage – all bathed in creamy sunlight  with a cosy Aga stove in the back wall. But rather like the highly dangerous-looking Bloody Mary Robin mixes onstage there’s a trap lying in wait for him from his bitter, unfulfilled wife Diane, played with venomous glee by Lindsay Duncan.

The two characters have verbal crossfire worthy of Albee or Coward . He has a passionate hatred of Labour and all things liberal-minded; she hates what she sees as the petty , squalid , uncaring dogmatism of the Tory ruling class.

Both actors are on top form in this 90 minute battle of the sexes and intellects. One lobs a verbal hand grenade at the other only to have it lobbed back, detonating at their feet.

Woods is brilliant at throw-away one-liners which resonated well with the Brexit-weary audience. She asks why is it that the natural party of Government is inherently bad at it. His hatred of “ book readers and theatregoers “ is matched by his loathing and disdain for the Labour opposition front bench – “ badly  dressed geography teachers” he calls them.

His unconscious irony is never better displayed than his assertion that “ you can’t go around telling children they can be whatever they want to be in life “ . This is the heart of Woods’ polemic . The wife queries – is the Government catching the mood of the electorate  or creating it ? Sounds a bit topical to me !

Margaret Thatcher is the unseen Godot  of this play . Robin lovingly if blindly defends her apparent uncaring nature – Diane rips into her with a verbal chainsaw taking no prisoners.

Toryism is simple for Robin “ people don’t want the world to change. They want to feel safe and in the majority. “

When a startling revelation about their dead teenage son is disclosed in the play’s closing moments , it’s as if a great boil has been lanced and a sad peace descends on the household.

Jennings, sharp but world-weary and Duncan , lashing tongue and devastating looks are utterly brilliant.

It’s a story of squandered lives and unhappy compromises – fit for our times.

Hansard runs in repertoire at the National Theatre, London until 25 November .

 

10th Anniversary AIDS Memorial Fundraiser in memory of James Ledward for The Sussex Beacon

Posted on by Contributor

Fundraiser for The Sussex Beacon and in memory of James Ledward – 10th Anniversary of the Brighton AIDS Memorial

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the AIDS memorial in Brighton, its sculptor Romany Mark Bruce, has produced an exclusive limited edition of ten smaller replicas that are 50cm high and made from aluminium resin.

The first edition will be auctioned at The Sussex Beacon’s annual Halloween fundraising event at The Grand Hotel on Thursday 31st October.

The second will be used to raise funds for the Rainbow Fund in memory of James Ledward.

The Brighton Rainbow Fund, founded by James, is the central hub for fundraising within the Brighton and Hove LGBTQ+ communities, and distributes grants to local projects which benefit the lives of hundreds of individuals within those communities.

Following the tragic death of James Ledward, Romany Mark Bruce said ‘In 2007 James Ledward invited me to submit a proposal for the AIDS Memorial. To be involved in the project was a great honour and privilege. It took over two years to complete and during that time James supported and encouraged me with humour and great kindness. He gave me the opportunity to remember my soulmate, Paul Tay, after whom it is named. For that I am truly indebted to James and his contribution to the LGBTQ community is immeasurable and one which should never be forgotten.’

Tickets for The Halloween Horror Show, which include a three-course meal and show, are £65 each and can be purchased via The Sussex Beacon on 01273 694222.

For further information please contact David Hill or 07803 967368

PREVIEW:TRANSFORMERS @BREMF Consort of Voices

Posted on by Eric Page

WITH its theme of Metamorphosis, the Festival will present twenty seven events across Brighton & Hove this autumn, exploring transformation in many intriguing ways.

Deborah Roberts, Artistic Director, says: “The idea of things undergoing transforming change has long fascinated the human race. Our 2019 Festival explores the 2,000-year-old stories in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, as well as musical and social transformation over the centuries. We end the Festival with a re-creation of the medieval Feast of Fools, which reversed all the social hierarchy for a few days and allowed a ‘letting off of steam’ for people living under the control of a feudal system. Our own times are certainly troubled, with society at war with itself, the threat of runaway climate change, and a political system with which many are disillusioned. Our message is musical, and all about bringing people together positively. What better reminder that many of these themes have resonated throughout history?”

Headline events include the  BREMF Consort of Voices TRANSFORMERS performance where great renaissance masterpieces  are miraculously reworked  with Deborah Roberts director Composers frequently reworked their own music into later compositions, but this programme looks at some substantial transformations and expansions of earlier works by later composers. Includes music by Josquin, Rore, Senfl and Gombert; with movements from Monteverdi’s 1610 Mass In illo tempore, based on Gombert’s motet.

 Taking place at St Martins church and finishing with a recent version of Tallis’s 40-part motet, Spem in alium arranged for 11 voices by Mick Swithinbank this looks at being a superb evening my musical discovery

For more info or to book tickets see the BREMF website

Martin Fisher Foundation raise £134.43 at bus launch

Posted on by Contributor

The Martin Fisher Foundation collected £134.43 at their new liveried  bus launch on 5th October 2019.

The bus is covered with purple Queen of the Night tulips, Martin’s favourite flower, while panels inside the bus give people the facts around HIV and aim to reduce the stigma and misinformation around the virus. They also talk about Martin’s life and work and recent advances in HIV treatment.

The bus launch brought together Martin’s family, Lawson Unit staff and other local HIV charities, as well as the charity’s patron Baroness Joyce Gould, Peter Kyle MP, Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP and Brighton & Hove Bus colleagues. Lunch Positive and the Co-Op supplied free refreshments.

Local artist Dan Locke talked about his design for the new bus as the bus toured the city and travelled to the Lawson Unit. Blue viruses feature at the rear of the bus, which become fewer and disappear towards the front, representing the city moving ‘Towards Zero’ new HIV cases by 2025.

With a good turnout for the launch and committed bucket shakers the volunteers on the day who staffed the area around The Plaza in Kingsway, Hove did an excellent job of raising funds.

All monies raised goes toward the aims of the Martin Fisher Foundation.

You can learn more about the MF Foundation here. Keep your eyes out for the new bus as it’s working the cities busiest bus routes.

Sink the Pink and Jonny Bongo to launch UK Pride 2020 in Newcastle

Posted on by Graham Robson

Two of the UK’s top club nights, Sink the Pink and Jonny Bongo, will team up next summer to kick off UK Pride 2020 in the North East, set to take place from July 17-19 and hosted by LGBTQ+ charity Northern Pride.

Organisers have huge plans for the weekend event, which will take place at Newcastle’s Town Moor and is sponsored by Barclays, with a Bongo’s Bingo Fundraiser on Friday, July 17 featuring host Jonny Bongo and queer party favourites, Sink the Pink.

Bongo’s Bingo co-founder Jonny Bongo returns to Newcastle after the success of last year’s Pride event, where players won prizes including a Philip Schofield cut out, a mobility scooter and a holiday to Los Angeles. 
He will be joined on stage by Sink the Pink, which has taken London by storm since it was founded in 2008 and is known for its anything-goes dress code, flamboyant entertainers and inclusive atmosphere.

The LGBTQ+ club night now tours the country, taking up residence in a variety of unconventional venues including working men’s clubs and theatres, and has performed at Glastonbury, Bestival, Lovebox and Latitude, alongside top music acts.


Ste Dunn, Chair of Northern Pride, said: 
“We’re delighted to be hosting UK Pride next year and we know we have big shoes to fill, which is why it’s great to have a huge personality like Jonny Bongo returning to host Bongo’s Bingo for a second year.


“Sink the Pink celebrates everything our festival is about, paying homage to our shared history and creating a space where people from all backgrounds can embrace what makes them unique.


“Our plans for UK Pride are to make the event bigger and more diverse than ever before and I can’t think of any better way to get people in the spirit for everything else to come over the weekend.”


Northern Pride has already teased plans for an ambitious six month programme of events in the lead up to the summer festival, including panel discussions, history projects and pop up exhibitions.

Tickets, starting at £18, for Bongo’s Bingo with Sink the Pink are now on sale at www.northern-pride.co.uk/box-office

For more information about Northern Pride: www.northern-pride.co.uk

LGBTIQ+ History Club this sunday

Posted on by Contributor

Brighton Museum and Art Gallery monthly LGBTIQ+ History Club. This coming Sunday – October 27th – from 2:30

History Club are back with a double bill of  local historian Jane Traies, and local author Corinna Edwards-Colledge.

Bloomsbury’s Hidden Neighbours: a lesbian love triangle in rural Sussex

Jane Traies has been investigating a transatlantic tangle of same-sex relationships among some of the most distinguished women of the day. Caroline Spurgeon was one of the first women in the UK to become a university professor and was widely known as the author of important books about Chaucer and Shakespeare. Like many of this first generation of graduate career women, she chose female companionship rather than marriage, and lived for many years in a small Sussex village with her ‘faithful friend of forty years.’
However, on closer inspection, their story is not the simple lesbian romance it appears. The Bloomsbury Group were not, it seems, the only people ‘loving in triangles’ in that part of Sussex in the 1920s and 30s.

The extraordinary story of Roy Edwards
Local author, Corinna Edwards-Colledge, tells the extraordinary story of her uncle, Roy Edwards, and how he went from being a working class lad from Essex to a key member of the British Surrealist movement from the 1950’s into the 1980’s. Includes a chance to hear his poetry and see some of his recently discovered art works in all their homoerotic and lyrical glory!

Sunday October 27th – 2:30-4:30pm
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery

History club is open to all (18+) and is free, but please book a TICKET as capacity is limited and the club is always very busy.

If you have any questions, suggestions or comments then email info@queerinbrighton.co.uk

Brighton LGBTQ+ History Club is supported by Brighton Museums, Arts Council England, And by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

more info about the group 

REVIEW: Murder, Margaret and Me @ Devonshire Park: Eastbourne

Posted on by Eric Page

Murder, Margaret and Me 

Devonshire Park

Agatha Christie and Margaret Rutherford should never have been friends. But they were. Their paths crossed when they found themselves at the heart of one of British cinema’s most successful franchises. However, the Miss Marple films almost didn’t get made.

Murder, Margaret and Me is a story of friendship, identity and the achievement of women in the long-lost world of the silver screen.

It’s certainly a lovely piece of acting, three excellent actors interacting in some rather delightful character set pieces but the intersections of their lives seems forced, and oddly unfulfilling. Both of them have secrets, none of them terrible interesting to a modern audience and the really interesting parts of their lives used as throw away lines, not explored or chewed over, a missed opportunity to explore deeper . The high point of drama is the pilfering of some gooseberry jam from tea at Claridge’s  and the thrill that went though the Eastbourne audience was palpable. Perhaps I’m a bit jaded,  or perhaps I’m just so over gooseberry’s.

Two older women, both hugely successful and with a level of agency unusual in women of that time circle each others carefully constructed public images, creeping closer and trying to learn what it is that’s real and authentic about the other. There are tender disclosures and gentle revels but the seriously barbaric truths in their lives, which possible drive and scare them are left to lurk in the shadows, but perhaps this is the point of this play. Not some clever pathological and forensic analysis of these women and what they thought of each other, but a more genteel, very English, entitled, posh colonial,  cardigans, tea and stiff upper lip bumping of actor and writer over something which gave them both value; Marple & fame. We discover their shared vulnerability and gather an understanding of the ways they have fought to protect themselves from the expectations of public and life in general.

Lin Blakley’s Agatha is perfectly in control, Sarah Parks’s ‘Peggy’ Rutherford all jutting jaw and turning head is wonderful, quiveringly real,  and never tips over into caricature, a lost type of English women, and Gilly Tompkins Spinster  performances is touch perfect. All three excel at bringing these formidable characters to life, but as real people, as women of their time and in context but allowing us to absorb their personal attitudes and gain some understanding, although not much, about them as people. The spinster narrative character which both links and unpicks their lives is a lovely touch, speaking directly to us with a glint and twinkle in her eye.

The performances-  which are a serenely good piece of theatre – are left as islands of meaning in a still narrative sea where we bob in moments of Sargasso stillness,  sighing and looking around, pulling our cardigans around us and listening to the clock ticking away the second until we can, decently have, another schooner of sherry.

My companion, under 40 and only knowing Marple from the television adaptations didn’t have a clue what was going on, who was being referenced, name-dropped or alluded to and although impressed by the gentle and convincing acting, loving the shoes and appreciating the set, left somewhat confused about the narrative aim of the plot. Not something you’d want to do from a play about the queen of denouement.

If you’re a fan of Christie, or Rutherford or appreciate a well done and gentle period setting for a play then get along for a superb evenings entertainment, if you’re excepting some gripping and interesting narrative then you’ll be disappointed although it’s very pleasant to watch in an un-challenging way.  It did leave me wanting to learn more about Rutherford’s curious personal life and relationships and her adoption in 1968 and full support of her trans daughter and (later) biographer- Dawn Langley Simmons, now there’s a real story waiting to be told.

Appreciative note for the programme, very stylish and informative

Until 26th October

for more info or to book tickets see the theatre website: 

REVIEW: The Entertainer @ Theatre Royal

Posted on by Brian Butler

Archie Rice – middle-aged, washed-up song and dance man has seen better audiences and better times.

Originally set in the Suez Crisis of the 1950’s , this John Osborne classic documented the end of Empire, the demise of the touring variety show in favour of tv and political downfall of the powerful. This version , starring Shane Richie, and directed by Sean O’Connor, has been moved forwards  to Thatcher’s Britain of the 80’s and the time of the Falklands conflict.

Again it’s a time of turmoil – unemployment, strikes and street riots, and what many considered a pointless war , so the transposition seems a sensible one.

More crucial to the success of this play with songs is the central actor playing Archie. TV soap star Shane Richie is electrifying as the man who tells us he is “ dead behind the eyes “ yet strangely the comedian/actor/singer imbues Rice with tremendous if at times vicious energy.

Heading a dysfunctional family – with drunken second wife, feisty old prejudiced father (a role wonderfully  crafted by Pip Donaghy ) and feisty principled daughter , he reins more with shouting humour than anything else. He  brings his stage act home, using his relatives with the same ironic disdain as he treats us as his theatre audience.

Diane Vickers is energised as the visiting daughter who seems to have woken up to political activism but isn’t quite sure why. Sara Crowe is the recipient of our pity as the much cuckolded wife who seems to have no purpose in life that doesn’t involve a gin bottle.

Following in the footsteps of three theatrical knights – Olivier, Gambon and Branagh – is no mean feat  – but Richie’s early career as a holiday camp entertainer and later game show host sets him in good stead for the constant inane patter that is Archie’s hallmark, and he works an audience like an old pro.

Funnily enough Osborne is too good at the jokes and Richie effortlessly makes us laugh , even when he is struggling with his inner emptiness.

It’s a great performance.  If you miss him this week, Richie is back in April reprising his West End role as a drag queen in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.

The Entertainer is at the Theatre Royal Brighton until 26 October.

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