And so I'm here again. New Years Eve.
Last time I was here on this blog writing about New Years Eve it was 31st December 2012, and I was looking back on a year that didn't appear to have too much going for it. Career-wise I was drifting, doing two zero-hour contract jobs that meant my weekly income could fluctuate wildly and that weren't going to satisfy me intellectually in the long-term. On the personal front, whilst 2012 saw my relationship with my other half definitely move forward out of the rut that it had been in for the best part of 8 years (I'd always known it was that long, but there's something about it being actually written down that makes it much more starker and unacceptable), the movement was that small that I was the only person that would have been able to register it.
To that end I laid down a few targets (I shied away from the word resolution for the simple fact that I wanted to give myself every chance of accomplishing them) for 2013. Here's how I got on....
Target one was to blog more, and I gave myself the specific target of updating the blog at least once a week. A simple glance upwards at the menu listing the number of blogs that I actually published over the last 12 months will be enough to tell you that, although I did publish blog posts over the last twelve months, I came absolutely nowhere near to that stated target. I even revised my target in June to the equivalent of one post every fortnight, which, if I had followed it through, would have meant making at least 15 posts to this blog during the second half of the year.
Ahem.
In my defence, just as I posted in June, this has partly been to do with being overwhelmed with work, certainly over the last two months anyway, and partly to do with writing blog posts that are far too long and complicated, leaving me with at least half a dozen uncompleted blog posts that have no relevance to the world today. So I think the official verdict on this target is: must do better. A lot better.
Target two was to work on the career, having by the end of the year formed a clear idea
of where I am going, planned how I am going to get there and be putting
it into action. Like target one, this is probably best summed up by saying must do better. I am still working two jobs, on zero-hours contracts, but the jobs (or, to be more precise, one of them) have at least changed and my hours are much more predictable, even if my work-life balance has gone completely out of kilter in the process. In the process I have ruled out the back-up career as a viable alternative, purely for reasons related to the sake of my sanity, so that's progress of sorts isn't it? Anyway, if I get any time to myself then this is what will be my priority for next year.
Target three was to sort my relationship out. This is where the real progress in my life has been made this year. His nibs and myself have spent so much more time together: we have not only met up with each other so much more frequently but we've gone away for weekends on a regular basis and have even had our first proper holiday. The verdict for this part of 2013 is definitely a positive one: we've made real progress in the relationship. The logistical problems caused by living in two different parts of the country are still there, and realistically we can't go much further as a couple without resolving them (which fundamentally means me moving to be with him as he is tied to his geographical location because of work), but as a couple we definitely end 2013 in much better shape than we began it in.
So, overall, 2013 leaves me better off than it found me in, but in some aspects of my life, not by much. Will 2014 finally be the year I get my sh*t together? Watch this space.....
Tuesday, 31 December 2013
Tuesday, 13 August 2013
Review: Edinburgh Fringe, Day 3
Sunday being a day of rest and all that, it was decided to
take things a little more gently yesterday morning, and not get in to Edinburgh
quite so early. The previous days at the Festival had mostly been spontaneous,
but Sunday was a little more planned out as there were some shows that had
caught the eye but, for one reason or another, we’d not managed to attend. The
first of those shows didn’t start until 4pm however, so we still had plenty of
time to catch another show beforehand. We’d nothing particular in mind, so as
one of the shows that we were going to attend was at the top end of the price
scale we thought we might save a bit of cash and see if there was anything of
interest on at the Half-Price Hut (located on the Mound) at the right time before heading off
elsewhere. There were a couple of things on offer that looked OK, but we
decided in the end to go for some more improvisation.
Show 1: The Maydays Confessions
The premise of this show is that, prior to the start, the members of the audience are given a slip of paper on which they are
to write down a secret that they are happy for the Maydays to use as a basis
for their improvised sketches (the confessions are completely anonymised so that the
audience doesn't have to worry about everyone knowing exactly who it was that did
whatever comes out of the tin). I didn't put anything in the tin to be pulled out (as always almost happens, my mind drew a complete blank at the precise moment I was asked to put something down), but Suse did and her confession happened to be the first one to be pulled out of the tin. It was nothing particularly scandalous, but it has now been immortalised in song, which was rather amusing! I have to confess though, out of all of the shows that I saw at the Festival, this was my least favourite. Some of the improvisations were funny and I did enjoy them. But at least 50% of the time - if not more - I have to confess to being disappointed with what they came up with and I felt that some didn't work at all. I guess this shows how difficult true improvisational comedy is: the other improv comedy shows I went to see (and enjoyed) both had clearly defined parameters that they knew that they would be working within before they started their shows. My opinion about The Maydays was not, however, universal: Suse enjoyed it more than I did and she felt that the humourous sketches were more plentiful than I did. So, in conclusion, if improvisation is your thing then why not go and give The Maydays a try? If, however, you like your comedy with a bit more structure, like I do, then I would recommend going for something else.
http://www.themaydays.co.uk/index.html, Underbelly Cowgate 2.20pm, 1hr, until August 25th.
Show 2: Champagne Cabaret
http://www.ozcabaret.com/, The Hispaniola 4.00pm, 1hr, Jul 31, Aug 1-4, 6-11, 13-18, 20-25th.
Show 2: Ivo Graham
https://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedy/ivo-graham-binoculars, Pleasance Courtyard 6.00pm, 1hr, Jul 31, Aug 1-11, 13-25th.
Show 2: Mixed Doubles
Having failed to get into either of the last two shows that we wanted, we were at a little bit of a loss. So off to the Half-Price Hut we went again! Whilst there previously I'd had a look at what was coming up later and spotted this show, but as we had already decided to go to see Ivo Graham at that time there seemed little point in buying tickets. As the saying goes, as one door closes another one opens. I can't say whether Ivo Graham was any good, but what I can say is that Mixed Doubles was. A sketch show featuring two men and two women, it was very funny and highly enjoyable. Taking a look at, amongst others, modern friendships, dating and parenting practices, office behaviour and Andy Murray, Mixed Doubles produced a set that was fast and furious, with each tightly scripted sketch lasting no more than a couple of minutes. I would have quite happily paid full price for this show, so the fact that I got it at half its cost was a bonus! A show that is well worth catching.
http://www.mixed-doubles.co.uk/, Just the Tonic at The Caves 6.00pm, 1hr, Aug 1-12, 14-25th.
Show 3: Matt Lacey: Classroom Warrior
Suse left me in Edinburgh after Mixed Doubles as she had to get ready for work the next day, but as there were still plenty more shows left to see I figured that I might as well stay and catch at least one more show. I didn't have anything in particular in mind so decided to see what I could find. Scrolling through my app nothing really caught my eye until I saw this one. As I work in education it sounded like it could be quite amusing, and as I figured I had just enough time to walk across the city to catch it I headed away from the main Fringe venues to the French Quarter where the venue was. The premise of the show is that the audience are parents looking to send their children to the school, and Lacey plays every one of the various teachers who have come to speak to the audience about what their children will be studying at the school. It's a very tightly scripted show, but that doesn't mean that Lacey is afraid to go off script a little and interact with his audience. The characters in the show are memorable - Lacey's most famous creation inevitably makes an appearance in this show, but for my money he is trumped by the P.E. teacher - and the show itself is very funny and well worth making the effort to leave the Royal Mile and all the venues located around there.
https://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedy/matt-lacey-classroom-warrior-free, The Voodoo Rooms 7.30pm, 1hr, Aug 3-12, 14-18, 20-24.
Day 3: The Verdict
In some ways this day was a bit of a mixed bag, due to a) my sense of humour failure at The Maydays Confessions and b) our failure to get into the two shows that we had actually planned to see on the day. But both Mixed Doubles and Matt Lacey: Classroom Warrior both made up for that. They were both excellent and made picking out my favourite show of the day difficult. But in the end I had to go for Matt Lacey: Classroom Warrior as my pick of the day - it was just a joy from start to finish, and was a great way to end my Fringe Festival experience.
http://www.ozcabaret.com/, The Hispaniola 4.00pm, 1hr, Jul 31, Aug 1-4, 6-11, 13-18, 20-25th.
https://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedy/ivo-graham-binoculars, Pleasance Courtyard 6.00pm, 1hr, Jul 31, Aug 1-11, 13-25th.
Show 2: Mixed Doubles
Having failed to get into either of the last two shows that we wanted, we were at a little bit of a loss. So off to the Half-Price Hut we went again! Whilst there previously I'd had a look at what was coming up later and spotted this show, but as we had already decided to go to see Ivo Graham at that time there seemed little point in buying tickets. As the saying goes, as one door closes another one opens. I can't say whether Ivo Graham was any good, but what I can say is that Mixed Doubles was. A sketch show featuring two men and two women, it was very funny and highly enjoyable. Taking a look at, amongst others, modern friendships, dating and parenting practices, office behaviour and Andy Murray, Mixed Doubles produced a set that was fast and furious, with each tightly scripted sketch lasting no more than a couple of minutes. I would have quite happily paid full price for this show, so the fact that I got it at half its cost was a bonus! A show that is well worth catching.
http://www.mixed-doubles.co.uk/, Just the Tonic at The Caves 6.00pm, 1hr, Aug 1-12, 14-25th.
Show 3: Matt Lacey: Classroom Warrior
Suse left me in Edinburgh after Mixed Doubles as she had to get ready for work the next day, but as there were still plenty more shows left to see I figured that I might as well stay and catch at least one more show. I didn't have anything in particular in mind so decided to see what I could find. Scrolling through my app nothing really caught my eye until I saw this one. As I work in education it sounded like it could be quite amusing, and as I figured I had just enough time to walk across the city to catch it I headed away from the main Fringe venues to the French Quarter where the venue was. The premise of the show is that the audience are parents looking to send their children to the school, and Lacey plays every one of the various teachers who have come to speak to the audience about what their children will be studying at the school. It's a very tightly scripted show, but that doesn't mean that Lacey is afraid to go off script a little and interact with his audience. The characters in the show are memorable - Lacey's most famous creation inevitably makes an appearance in this show, but for my money he is trumped by the P.E. teacher - and the show itself is very funny and well worth making the effort to leave the Royal Mile and all the venues located around there.
https://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedy/matt-lacey-classroom-warrior-free, The Voodoo Rooms 7.30pm, 1hr, Aug 3-12, 14-18, 20-24.
Day 3: The Verdict
In some ways this day was a bit of a mixed bag, due to a) my sense of humour failure at The Maydays Confessions and b) our failure to get into the two shows that we had actually planned to see on the day. But both Mixed Doubles and Matt Lacey: Classroom Warrior both made up for that. They were both excellent and made picking out my favourite show of the day difficult. But in the end I had to go for Matt Lacey: Classroom Warrior as my pick of the day - it was just a joy from start to finish, and was a great way to end my Fringe Festival experience.
Monday, 12 August 2013
Review: Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Day 2
On Friday I was at the Festival alone, going wherever my fancy took me. Yesterday, however, saw me come to the Festival with my friend, Susan (or Suse, to give her the name by which she's commonly known by amongst our group of friends), which added an extra dimension to the day as it meant that decisions on which shows to go and see would have to be negotiated between us to take account of our differing tastes in comedy.
Show 1: Mansfield Presents Lovers' Vows
This was our first show, and it was an easy one to settle on. Both of us are Austen fans (the fact that I went for Austentatious yesterday should have made that one clear anyway) and both of us having a liking for Mansfield Park (1814) - which, in itself is slightly unusual, Fanny Price being one of her least well-liked heroines - meant that when we found out about this show it suited both of us. An original production, the play centres around the decision of the Bertram children to perform Elizabeth Inchbald's Lovers Vows (1798) and, using excerpts from Austen's novel, imagines the Mansfield theatricals more comprehensively played out. Somewhat predictably the characters of Mrs Norris and Mr Rushworth provide the comic aspects of the play, whilst the other characters provide more dramatic ones. The play-within-a-play conceit is used here to interesting effect, as Lovers Vows is performed by the Bertrams and Crawfords using eighteenth century theatrical techniques (to a lesser or greater effect, depending on each character's own ability to disguise their emotions) whilst their off-stage dramas are played out using the naturalistic style developed in the late nineteenth century. The production is one that mainly uses student actors, and this is evident in some of the performances. Nevertheless this is an enjoyable hour well spent for fans of Mansfield Park that fleshes out a crucial part of the novel that the author only hints at.
http://www.charlotteproductions.org/, Paradise in Augustine's 12.05am, 1hr, August 5-10th, 13th-17th.
Show 2: Impromptu Shakespeare
The decision to attend this show was made purely on the basis that we both have a couple of German friends from our postgraduate days, and dearly though we love them, sense of humour is not top of the list when describing their characters, So, for sheer novelty value, we decided that a German comedian simply couldn't be missed. As it turned out, we nearly did because although the show was listed as taking place in Base Nightclub in the Fringe app, the venue in which the show was taking place was called Beat Nightclub above the door. After we had managed to sort out that confusion, it turned out that a lot of people wanted to see a German comedian. So many had turned out, in fact, that ten minutes of the gig was lost to Schulte-Loh searching for the keys to the venue's mezzanine floor so that people had a reasonable amount of room to enjoy his show in rather than lurk at the back squashed in. Once the show eventually got under way, Schulte-Loh proved that you can be German and funny. His comedy was observational in origin and, as a lot of it came from his interaction with the audience, proved him to be extremely quick witted as well as having quite a dry sense of humour. The amount of audience interaction that he engaged in - at least 30% of the time he was either talking to or about someone in the audience - meant that you came away feeling like this gig was a one-off rather than something off the Festival production line, to be repeated ad infinitum until the end of the month, although he's definitely not an improvised comic.
The one thing that has so far been missing from my Edinburgh experience is seeing a 'big' name comedian. Whilst Widdicombe is not the biggest name in comedy at the moment (although if you asked me to name who that was, I couldn't), his omnipresence on comedic panel shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats, The Last Leg and Mock the Week mean that he has permeated the public's consciousness in a way that most of the Fringe performers haven't (so far anyway!). As our last show had finished at 7.30pm, Suse and I thought that we might try and take in a 'big' name to round off our Saturday evening. But as I was, by now, completely out of battery power on my phone (damn you Apple! Why do you have to make such good mobiles with such bad battery power?!), it was decided to adjourn to a hostelry to imbibe some liquid refreshment and take advantage of said hostelry's access to electricity to recharge my phone for a little while, to therefore enable ourselves to actually find their way to the venue. Ah! Those best made plans! Firstly it took us an age to actually find a place for us to have a drink in, purely and simply on the grounds of space. Then, when we not only managed to find somewhere that would accommodate us but also had a plug going spare that I could use to add a small charge to my phone, we decided to make our way to the venue not by using our GPS-enabled phones (my battery was still the problem and Suse's GPS just wouldn't load) but courtesy of the directions given to us by some fairly pished gentleman at a nearby table, which resulted in us walking around the houses for so long that we didn't actually arrive at the venue until about 5 minutes before the gig. Predictably there were no tickets left by this time (although maybe there wouldn't have been even if we hadn't have listened to the drunks given it was Saturday night), so I still haven't seen a 'big' name comedian at Edinburgh. In the words of the song that used to break my heart when I was younger, maybe tomorrow....
http://www.joshwiddicombe.com/, Assembly George Square 9.00pm, 1 hr, August 1-6, 8-13, 15.
Show 1: Mansfield Presents Lovers' Vows
This was our first show, and it was an easy one to settle on. Both of us are Austen fans (the fact that I went for Austentatious yesterday should have made that one clear anyway) and both of us having a liking for Mansfield Park (1814) - which, in itself is slightly unusual, Fanny Price being one of her least well-liked heroines - meant that when we found out about this show it suited both of us. An original production, the play centres around the decision of the Bertram children to perform Elizabeth Inchbald's Lovers Vows (1798) and, using excerpts from Austen's novel, imagines the Mansfield theatricals more comprehensively played out. Somewhat predictably the characters of Mrs Norris and Mr Rushworth provide the comic aspects of the play, whilst the other characters provide more dramatic ones. The play-within-a-play conceit is used here to interesting effect, as Lovers Vows is performed by the Bertrams and Crawfords using eighteenth century theatrical techniques (to a lesser or greater effect, depending on each character's own ability to disguise their emotions) whilst their off-stage dramas are played out using the naturalistic style developed in the late nineteenth century. The production is one that mainly uses student actors, and this is evident in some of the performances. Nevertheless this is an enjoyable hour well spent for fans of Mansfield Park that fleshes out a crucial part of the novel that the author only hints at.
http://www.charlotteproductions.org/, Paradise in Augustine's 12.05am, 1hr, August 5-10th, 13th-17th.
Show 2: Impromptu Shakespeare
Like Austentatious yesterday, Impromptu Shakespeare is improvised comedy. Like the aforementioned show, the subject that is performed is determined by the audience, but this time the performers have a bit more control over the proceedings, giving the audience balls to be plucked out of a hat with themes for the play written on them. Admittedly the performers ask the audience members who select the themes to flesh them out a little with their own experiences of that will also be incorporated into the play, but this does seem somewhat less spontaneous. I know that the Impromptu Shakespeare performers have to have a working knowledge of thirty seven different plays rather than just six novels, but their method of selection seems a little less improvised than it could be. The play itself was quite funny, and, as with Friday, the actors proved their skill with their craft by managing to keep the conceit going throughout (one anachronism aside). Indeed, given the imperative to make the material conform to both Shakespearean plot and language, the actors did really well and they made it an enjoyable hour.
http://www.impromptushakespeare.com/ Underbelly Cowgate 2.10pm, 1 hr, until August 25th.
http://www.impromptushakespeare.com/ Underbelly Cowgate 2.10pm, 1 hr, until August 25th.
Show 3: Christian Schulte-Loh: Attack of the 50 Foot German Comedian
The decision to attend this show was made purely on the basis that we both have a couple of German friends from our postgraduate days, and dearly though we love them, sense of humour is not top of the list when describing their characters, So, for sheer novelty value, we decided that a German comedian simply couldn't be missed. As it turned out, we nearly did because although the show was listed as taking place in Base Nightclub in the Fringe app, the venue in which the show was taking place was called Beat Nightclub above the door. After we had managed to sort out that confusion, it turned out that a lot of people wanted to see a German comedian. So many had turned out, in fact, that ten minutes of the gig was lost to Schulte-Loh searching for the keys to the venue's mezzanine floor so that people had a reasonable amount of room to enjoy his show in rather than lurk at the back squashed in. Once the show eventually got under way, Schulte-Loh proved that you can be German and funny. His comedy was observational in origin and, as a lot of it came from his interaction with the audience, proved him to be extremely quick witted as well as having quite a dry sense of humour. The amount of audience interaction that he engaged in - at least 30% of the time he was either talking to or about someone in the audience - meant that you came away feeling like this gig was a one-off rather than something off the Festival production line, to be repeated ad infinitum until the end of the month, although he's definitely not an improvised comic.
http://www.germancomedian.com/, Base/Beat Nightclub 5.00pm, 60 mins, until August 24th.
Show 4: Rob Carter: Murder (and other hobbies)
This show was another spontaneous selection, having been decided on after we received a flyer as we left Impromptu Shakespeare (so all the flyering that goes on is apparently not a waste of time). The promised genre was Musical Comedy, something which I had yet to see during my Festival sojourn which was one of the primary reasons why it appealed to Suse and I. Via the medium of song, and innumerable musical genres, Carter gives the audience a slightly surreal view of a middle-class upbringing in West Sussex and beyond. There's a few bits of audience interaction in this show, most notably when one guy who had broken the cardinal rule of comedy shows by sitting in the front row managed to lose his shoes and shorts and had to spend the remainder of the show with only his boxer shorts preserving his modesty, but it is mostly fairly tightly scripted, and doesn't really go off the script too much. The show's conclusion in particular had everyone in fits of laughter and was a definite high point. Overall it was an enjoyable show, with the laughs coming quite regularly, and definitely worth an hour of your time if you're looking for a break from more traditional forms of comedy.
http://www.robcartercomedy.com/, Underbelly Cowgate 6.30pm, 1hr, until August 25th
Show 5: Josh Widdicombe: Incidentally....
The one thing that has so far been missing from my Edinburgh experience is seeing a 'big' name comedian. Whilst Widdicombe is not the biggest name in comedy at the moment (although if you asked me to name who that was, I couldn't), his omnipresence on comedic panel shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats, The Last Leg and Mock the Week mean that he has permeated the public's consciousness in a way that most of the Fringe performers haven't (so far anyway!). As our last show had finished at 7.30pm, Suse and I thought that we might try and take in a 'big' name to round off our Saturday evening. But as I was, by now, completely out of battery power on my phone (damn you Apple! Why do you have to make such good mobiles with such bad battery power?!), it was decided to adjourn to a hostelry to imbibe some liquid refreshment and take advantage of said hostelry's access to electricity to recharge my phone for a little while, to therefore enable ourselves to actually find their way to the venue. Ah! Those best made plans! Firstly it took us an age to actually find a place for us to have a drink in, purely and simply on the grounds of space. Then, when we not only managed to find somewhere that would accommodate us but also had a plug going spare that I could use to add a small charge to my phone, we decided to make our way to the venue not by using our GPS-enabled phones (my battery was still the problem and Suse's GPS just wouldn't load) but courtesy of the directions given to us by some fairly pished gentleman at a nearby table, which resulted in us walking around the houses for so long that we didn't actually arrive at the venue until about 5 minutes before the gig. Predictably there were no tickets left by this time (although maybe there wouldn't have been even if we hadn't have listened to the drunks given it was Saturday night), so I still haven't seen a 'big' name comedian at Edinburgh. In the words of the song that used to break my heart when I was younger, maybe tomorrow....
http://www.joshwiddicombe.com/, Assembly George Square 9.00pm, 1 hr, August 1-6, 8-13, 15.
Day 2: The Verdict
Once again all the shows that I saw were enjoyable, and it was good having someone else with me to point me in the direction of shows I might not necessarily have considered otherwise. My pick of Day 2 though goes to Christian Schulte-Loh, who was really engaging and is someone that I'd definitely pay money to go and see again in the future!
Sunday, 11 August 2013
Review: Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Day 1
Despite, or perhaps because of the media hype, I've always wanted to attend the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I always intended to take advantage of my relative proximity to Edinburgh during the years I spent living in Newcastle-upon-Tyne by taking a day trip (or just hanging around Waverley station in the wee sma' hours until the first train back the following morning) to the Fringe, but somehow never got around to it. Living back in the North-West I thought my chance to attend had gone, as I was definitely not willing to shell out for the cost of rail fare and a hotel during the Fringe on top of the cost of attending various shows. But this year my luck was in. A close friend from my early postgraduate career had moved back to the "mother country" of Scotland and was now living in Stirling. A mere hour away from Edinburgh by train, Stirling was the perfect place for me to base myself for day trips to the festival, and with the additional perk of a very cheap rail fare up to Scotland, meant that it became a financially viable trip once more.
The plan for my first day at the festival was quite simple: there was one show that I definitely wanted to see, and after that I planned to go to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art to spend some time wandering around the special exhibition Witches and Wicked Bodies. But, as the Scottish national poet Robert Burns made plain in 'To a Mouse' (1785), what you plan and what actually happens are completely different...
Arriving at Waverley this morning with some time to kill before the show I really wanted to see began, I consulted the fringe app on my phone to see what was happening nearby whilst I waited. The first show to really catch my attention was:
Show 1: Grated Expectations
An original three-man play, Grated Expectations takes the audience on a journey through various scenes of the novels of Charles Dickens via the medium of one man's fractured mind. The scenes selected are ones that will be familiar to many and a current of humour runs throughout the selection. But never far from the surface is the play's insistence that the heart of Dickens is a dark one; that for all the sentimentality and mawkishness on display in his work, the most powerful currents are ones of deprivation, violence and death. As my first experience on the Fringe, this was a useful one, for whilst it had comedic elements to it, it was also thought-provoking in a way that straight comedy shows are generally not. It also provided me with a reminder of the harsh realities for the performers in the Fringe: including myself, the members of the audience numbered three. Numbers so small would have been bad enough in a venue that held only twenty or so seats; in a venue which might reasonably hold anything up to a hundred, it was downright awkward. I wouldn't say that I would have laughed any louder or more extensively than I did had there been more people in the audience, but given the very limited numbers there I was slightly conscious of the importance of my reaction to their performance. Fortunately the piece withstood such scrutiny and the time flew by. It was an enjoyable experience and a good introduction to what the Fringe is about.
http://www.gratedexpectations.co.uk/Site/Edinburgh_2013.html, theSpace on North Bridge 11.35am, 50mins, until August 10th.
Show 2: Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel
The plan for my first day at the festival was quite simple: there was one show that I definitely wanted to see, and after that I planned to go to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art to spend some time wandering around the special exhibition Witches and Wicked Bodies. But, as the Scottish national poet Robert Burns made plain in 'To a Mouse' (1785), what you plan and what actually happens are completely different...
Arriving at Waverley this morning with some time to kill before the show I really wanted to see began, I consulted the fringe app on my phone to see what was happening nearby whilst I waited. The first show to really catch my attention was:
Show 1: Grated Expectations
An original three-man play, Grated Expectations takes the audience on a journey through various scenes of the novels of Charles Dickens via the medium of one man's fractured mind. The scenes selected are ones that will be familiar to many and a current of humour runs throughout the selection. But never far from the surface is the play's insistence that the heart of Dickens is a dark one; that for all the sentimentality and mawkishness on display in his work, the most powerful currents are ones of deprivation, violence and death. As my first experience on the Fringe, this was a useful one, for whilst it had comedic elements to it, it was also thought-provoking in a way that straight comedy shows are generally not. It also provided me with a reminder of the harsh realities for the performers in the Fringe: including myself, the members of the audience numbered three. Numbers so small would have been bad enough in a venue that held only twenty or so seats; in a venue which might reasonably hold anything up to a hundred, it was downright awkward. I wouldn't say that I would have laughed any louder or more extensively than I did had there been more people in the audience, but given the very limited numbers there I was slightly conscious of the importance of my reaction to their performance. Fortunately the piece withstood such scrutiny and the time flew by. It was an enjoyable experience and a good introduction to what the Fringe is about.
http://www.gratedexpectations.co.uk/Site/Edinburgh_2013.html, theSpace on North Bridge 11.35am, 50mins, until August 10th.
Show 2: Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel
This was the show that I'd earmarked to see today. Given that it was down to be a free show and that it was a show that was returning to the Fringe after a successful run last year, I thought that it would be popular so made my way straight to the venue. Even though I arrived half an hour before the show was due to begin, the size of the queue outside of the venue told me that I wasn't going to feel like I had done at the previous show (that I was just as much on show as the actual performers were), something which was confirmed to me when I found out I was 91st in line. As the strapline to the show suggested, the show was an hour long improv based around a title suggested by that day's audience. Once everyone had made their way into the venue - no small task as it was standing room only - the day's title was pulled out of a basket. Double 00Darcy was the suggestion that was selected, and the glint in the performers' eyes as this was announced suggested that what was to follow would be good. I was not wrong. The show was both extremely well performed and hilarious, with only a few pauses from the cast to even hint that this was an improvised show rather than a scripted one. The attention to generic detail was superb in both aspects - Double 00Darcy had his tea shaken not stirred, the villainous seductress attempts to catch our hero's eyes with an exotic roundel and a foreign card game and the action climaxes at the Lancaster Ball, otherwise known as the Thunder Ball. It was an hour well spent and I'd definitely consider going to see this show again if I had more time in Edinburgh.
http://austentatiousimpro.com/, Laughing Horse @ The Counting House 1.30pm, 1 hr, until August 25th.
After Austentatious the plan had been to head up to see the Wicked Bodies and Witches exhibition. But the scheduling for Austentatious had changed from what it had originally been billed, so by the time it actually finished I realised that, given the time it was going to take to actually walk from the comedy venue to the gallery, I probably wouldn't have that much time to look round the exhibition. So I decided to just stick with Fringe shows for the rest of the day.
Show 3: Darren Walsh: I am a Giant
After pottering around the Royal Mile for a bit, looking at all the show promoters and the various stalls set up to part me from my money, I decided that it was time to head to another show. I had been very tempted by a show by one of the Austentatious guys, but I decided to save that for another day. Instead I thought I'd go for something pulled up from my Fringe app again and this show was the one that caught my attention. A much shorter show than most of the ones that I'd seen being advertised, it also offered something different from what I'd seen before with an emphasis on word play and sight gags in the advertising summary. The show was true to its promise and proved to be an amusing half hour of punnery and visual gags that, amongst others, managed to highlight the closeness of dolphins to the leader of the Nazi Party. For all that though, the show's premise was wearing off by the end and I'm not sure I could have stood an hours worth of that type of comedy (or that it would be possible to write an hours worth of comedy solely punning). A definite case of less is more here I think.
http://www.iamagiant.co.uk/, Heroes @ The Hive 4.45pm, 30 mins, until August 25th.
Show 4: Old Jewish Jokes
For my final show I decided to go for something completely different to the last show I had seen, and a gig promising traditional one-liners seemed like just the job. Ivor Dembina's show combines traditional joke telling and observational comedy by framing the gags he tells within a comedic narrative of his own personal experience. The humour was, yet again, pleasant and not near the knuckle, which is probably a good way to wind down the day. The venue itself is sited in a smallish room off a noisy bar, and that could be somewhat distracting. So it's to Dembina's credit that despite the background noise, and the double interruption of late-comers to the show, that he managed to hold his audience's attention throughout the gig.
https://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedy/old-jewish-jokes, Laughing Horse @ Bar 50 6.00pm, 50 mins, until August 25th (excluding Tuesdays)
Day 1: The Verdict
So all in all it was a highly enjoyable day with some good picks. The best show of the days was, without a doubt, Austentatious; several times during yhe show I had to wipe away tears of laughter. I also learned a valuable lesson of Fringe festival going: 'free' shows aren't actually free in the traditional sense of the word. Although subsidised to a certain extent by festivals within the Fringe, performers at these shows stand at the exit to the show asking you to pay what you think the show is worth. It's so embarrassing to have to do the walk of shame out of the venue but not put anything in the pot because you don't have any or enough change! So tomorrow I will definitely make sure I have enough to not to have to do that!!!
Saturday, 1 June 2013
Review: A Doll's House, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
It's probably best to start this review by being upfront: I absolutely love Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House (1879). I remember the first time I picked it up when I was doing my Masters and being absolutely blown away by the play, and especially the final scene between the play's central protagonists Nora and Torvald Helmer. I remember being astounded by the power with which Ibsen was able to articulate Nora's journey towards self-knowledge and found the denouement heartbreakingly moving.
Despite my love for the play, however, in nearly ten years, I had yet to see it performed. So when I saw that the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester was putting on a production this month, and moreover that Nora was to be played by Cush Jumbo, an actor whom I had greatly admired two years ago for her performance of Rosalind in the Exchange's production of As You Like It, I was thrilled and knew I had to go and see it.
So, having secured my ticket, how did I find the play? Well I have to confess to overall being a little disappointed in the production: it didn't blow me away like I thought it would do. But, given my love for the play as a text, I'm not sure whether the fault lay with the production itself or with my preconceptions about the play and how I imagine it should be performed (one of the reasons why I very rarely watch television adaptations of novels that I have read: the disconnect between a director's vision of a text and my vision of a text is often too great to allow me to enjoy the television production, and all I end up doing is a great impersonation of an old woman who has lost it a bit by shouting at the television screen about the many things that I believe are wrong with the adaptation rather than just enjoying the programme as a separate and discrete text). Jumbo plays up the doll-like aspects to Nora's character well - from the opening conceit of the macaroons through to the self-absorbed nature of her conversations with Krogstad - but I felt that this was focused on at the expense of showing the other side of Nora's character. For me at least, part of the pleasure of the play is Nora's slowly emerging consciousness of the falseness of her position and her resistance to that emerging consciousness: whilst the play itself is an excellent critique of patriarchal society and women's position within that society, when the play is performed as opposed to just read, it should first and foremost be a compelling portrayal of psychological drama. I felt that Jumbo's portrayal of Nora lacked a certain subtlety that made her performance 'good' rather than 'great' in this regard: too many small, yet pivotal, moments were either under or overplayed, so that the performance as a whole did not pack the punch that I was anticipating, but whether that was because of dramatic choices made by the actor or because I approached the play with unrealistic expectations is probably up for debate. Helmer was, I felt, generally successfully performed: David Sturzaker captured the character's inherent sanctimoniousness well, although his venality was not explored in any great detail. Jamie De Courcey, Kelly Hotten and Jack Tarlton all provided notable support to the main protagonists, with Tarlton in particular hitting all the right notes in his portrayal of Krogstad.
So, ultimately, what to make of this Doll's House? Overall it was an enjoyable experience, if not a completely satisfying one (for me at least anyway; from the applause ringing around the theatre at the end of the night, I think I was in a minority). However, whilst the central performance did not quite pack the punch that I was anticipating, what was a revelation to me was the humour that can be found within the play. A number of times the theatre rang out not to anguished words from the play's protagonists but to peals of laughter from the audience, a sure sign of the truism that there is a fine line between tragedy and comedy, leading me to the conclusion that in hands other than Ibsen's, the narrative of A Doll's House could easily make a farce. In so managing to open up a new perspective on the play for me, so this production of A Doll's House can be considered to have triumphed.
A Doll's House concludes at the Exchange tonight, Saturday 01 June 2013.
Despite my love for the play, however, in nearly ten years, I had yet to see it performed. So when I saw that the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester was putting on a production this month, and moreover that Nora was to be played by Cush Jumbo, an actor whom I had greatly admired two years ago for her performance of Rosalind in the Exchange's production of As You Like It, I was thrilled and knew I had to go and see it.
 |
| A seat with a view: one of the pleasures of the Exchange is that, as a theatre in the round, the audience not only gets a great view of all the action wherever they are seated, but when you're sat at stage level, you can get so close to the action that just walking to your seat takes you virtually into the set. |
So, having secured my ticket, how did I find the play? Well I have to confess to overall being a little disappointed in the production: it didn't blow me away like I thought it would do. But, given my love for the play as a text, I'm not sure whether the fault lay with the production itself or with my preconceptions about the play and how I imagine it should be performed (one of the reasons why I very rarely watch television adaptations of novels that I have read: the disconnect between a director's vision of a text and my vision of a text is often too great to allow me to enjoy the television production, and all I end up doing is a great impersonation of an old woman who has lost it a bit by shouting at the television screen about the many things that I believe are wrong with the adaptation rather than just enjoying the programme as a separate and discrete text). Jumbo plays up the doll-like aspects to Nora's character well - from the opening conceit of the macaroons through to the self-absorbed nature of her conversations with Krogstad - but I felt that this was focused on at the expense of showing the other side of Nora's character. For me at least, part of the pleasure of the play is Nora's slowly emerging consciousness of the falseness of her position and her resistance to that emerging consciousness: whilst the play itself is an excellent critique of patriarchal society and women's position within that society, when the play is performed as opposed to just read, it should first and foremost be a compelling portrayal of psychological drama. I felt that Jumbo's portrayal of Nora lacked a certain subtlety that made her performance 'good' rather than 'great' in this regard: too many small, yet pivotal, moments were either under or overplayed, so that the performance as a whole did not pack the punch that I was anticipating, but whether that was because of dramatic choices made by the actor or because I approached the play with unrealistic expectations is probably up for debate. Helmer was, I felt, generally successfully performed: David Sturzaker captured the character's inherent sanctimoniousness well, although his venality was not explored in any great detail. Jamie De Courcey, Kelly Hotten and Jack Tarlton all provided notable support to the main protagonists, with Tarlton in particular hitting all the right notes in his portrayal of Krogstad.
So, ultimately, what to make of this Doll's House? Overall it was an enjoyable experience, if not a completely satisfying one (for me at least anyway; from the applause ringing around the theatre at the end of the night, I think I was in a minority). However, whilst the central performance did not quite pack the punch that I was anticipating, what was a revelation to me was the humour that can be found within the play. A number of times the theatre rang out not to anguished words from the play's protagonists but to peals of laughter from the audience, a sure sign of the truism that there is a fine line between tragedy and comedy, leading me to the conclusion that in hands other than Ibsen's, the narrative of A Doll's House could easily make a farce. In so managing to open up a new perspective on the play for me, so this production of A Doll's House can be considered to have triumphed.
A Doll's House concludes at the Exchange tonight, Saturday 01 June 2013.
It's not going well.....
So, in my last post, on 28 January I wrote about how, although I had been visiting this blog and making progress with actually writing something, I was failing miserably to conclude those posts and publish them. I then expressed the hope that by publishing a short update on my failure to keep up with my stated aim of publishing a post once a week, it would in fact stimulate me to get all those posts that I have started completed.
As the French say, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
I do have some sort of excuse for the lack of posting in that work got a lot more hectic shortly after that post, and I barely had enough free time to get anything like a decent amount of sleep let alone do anything more substantial like write cohesively and in a concentrated enough time span to allow for completion in a reasonable amount of time. I have, once more, written a number of (extensive) posts about events that were then current, but due to lack of time to complete them during the height of their relevance, remain unfinished due to their being no point right now. I'm taking the long view though that what I have written, whilst not going to be published in their original form, can be used in some form or other, even if it takes time for that use to be realised. In the meantime I will revise my blogging aims somewhat for this year, perhaps this time being a bit more realistic about what I can achieve. So I will aim to post something, on average, at least once every two weeks for the remainder of the year. With about 30 weeks of the year left, that should mean around 15 posts by the end of December 2013. With this modest challenge set, even I should be able to manage this.....
As the French say, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
I do have some sort of excuse for the lack of posting in that work got a lot more hectic shortly after that post, and I barely had enough free time to get anything like a decent amount of sleep let alone do anything more substantial like write cohesively and in a concentrated enough time span to allow for completion in a reasonable amount of time. I have, once more, written a number of (extensive) posts about events that were then current, but due to lack of time to complete them during the height of their relevance, remain unfinished due to their being no point right now. I'm taking the long view though that what I have written, whilst not going to be published in their original form, can be used in some form or other, even if it takes time for that use to be realised. In the meantime I will revise my blogging aims somewhat for this year, perhaps this time being a bit more realistic about what I can achieve. So I will aim to post something, on average, at least once every two weeks for the remainder of the year. With about 30 weeks of the year left, that should mean around 15 posts by the end of December 2013. With this modest challenge set, even I should be able to manage this.....
Monday, 28 January 2013
News from Nowhere
On January 1 I published a blogpost that set myself three goals for 2013. The last two of these aims were relatively general and were to be worked on throughout the year: whether I had successfully achieved those aims or not would unfold over the space of the year; at this early stage in the calendar at least, there would be no clear signs of success or failure. Only one of these aims - the first of them - contained specific details to which I could be held accountable for. Relating to this blog, my first aim for 2013 was to make sure that I blogged at least once week.
Given that this is my first blogpost since January 1, I think it's fairly safe to say that, so far, 2013 is not going as I planned it to. That is not to say that my first New Year goal is a complete and utter failure. Not only have I looked at the blog between 1 January and now, but I have been working on some new posts. The problem is that, as with last year, those posts that I have been working on remain works in progress. So, by posting this short update about my lack of progress in posting updates to my blog, I'm intending to conclude the vicious circle I was recreating for myself for this year and begin a new, more virtuous circle of publication.
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
New Year, fresh start?
1 January 2013.
So here we are. A New Year.
A time for looking forward, for anticipating what is to come and for forging new paths.
I'm not sure that what I have in mind for the next 12 months could be strictly quantified as resolutions, but whether they are or not I certainly hope that they avoid the fate of most New Year resolutions.
1. Starting off simply, blog more. I started this blog off as a means of getting to write more in the hopes that this would in turn assist my other writing. But after starting my blog, aside from my post of yesterday all other posts begun last year either remain in draft format or ended up being deleted because they led nowhere or took so long to complete they were no longer relevant. So in 2013 I plan to update this blog at least once a week.
2. A more general aim for 2013 is to work on the career, having by the end of the year formed a clear idea of where I am going, planned how I am going to get there and be putting it into action.
3. My final aim for 2013 is to sort my relationship out. Whilst it's much better than it was it's still nowhere near where it needs to be if we're going to have a long-term future. It's not going to be easy to sort out - there are both emotional and logistical issues involved - but hopefully by the end of the year there'll be a lot less of them.
2013 - here I come.
So here we are. A New Year.
A time for looking forward, for anticipating what is to come and for forging new paths.
I'm not sure that what I have in mind for the next 12 months could be strictly quantified as resolutions, but whether they are or not I certainly hope that they avoid the fate of most New Year resolutions.
1. Starting off simply, blog more. I started this blog off as a means of getting to write more in the hopes that this would in turn assist my other writing. But after starting my blog, aside from my post of yesterday all other posts begun last year either remain in draft format or ended up being deleted because they led nowhere or took so long to complete they were no longer relevant. So in 2013 I plan to update this blog at least once a week.
2. A more general aim for 2013 is to work on the career, having by the end of the year formed a clear idea of where I am going, planned how I am going to get there and be putting it into action.
3. My final aim for 2013 is to sort my relationship out. Whilst it's much better than it was it's still nowhere near where it needs to be if we're going to have a long-term future. It's not going to be easy to sort out - there are both emotional and logistical issues involved - but hopefully by the end of the year there'll be a lot less of them.
2013 - here I come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)