It's been a long time since,I read any Jane Austen, but my curiosity was aroused by the recent project to have the books rewritten by modern authors. Val MacDermid, the crime writer,is to tackle this one.
Northanger Abbey is an easy entertaining read - a parody of the Gothic novels of Mrs Radcliffe and others as well as the wry observational comedy of manners for,which Austen is well known.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Dark Earth - by Eastern Angles at Flag Fen
On a visit to Flag Fen about six weeks ago, we saw posters for this show, and decided to give it a whirl. From blistering heat to cold autumn evening - though the hint of chill and the bright moonlit skies added to the atmosphere when we arrived, and when we left the performance tent during the interval.
Eastern Angles is a touring theatre company founded in 1982 and based in East Anglia, at Ipswich and Peterborough. They perform in many rural venues, and around Peterborough. The play we watched has a cast of local amateur performers.
They are performing Dark Earth by Forbes Bramble. It is set in 1690, with William of Orange and Mary on the throne. A group of landowners and partners employ a Dutch engineer, Jacob de Vriess to drain Oxay Fen and convert it into productive farmland. Opposition comes from the local villagers, who use the fen for their food and materials for building, and also from the pastor whose fascination with archaeological finds brings him into head-on collision with the orthodoxy of the church. Against this background personal dramas play out, involving love, money, authoritarian family structures, witchcraft and two deaths.
The outstanding actor was Lucy Formby as Katja de Vriess. Her expert manipulation of the tragic and comic elements of her character was one of the high points of the show.
The sound effects were excellent - particularly the eerie bird calls. Visually it was striking - the puppets of birds, especially an egret, along with a pike, dogs and a hare. Sound and visuals combined dramatically in the scene where one of the villagers is drowned in the floods.
The setting itself with the floor space as water, as ice for some enjoyable skating scenes, as well as interiors was imaginatively used and fitted in with the reality outside.
Eastern Angles is a touring theatre company founded in 1982 and based in East Anglia, at Ipswich and Peterborough. They perform in many rural venues, and around Peterborough. The play we watched has a cast of local amateur performers.
They are performing Dark Earth by Forbes Bramble. It is set in 1690, with William of Orange and Mary on the throne. A group of landowners and partners employ a Dutch engineer, Jacob de Vriess to drain Oxay Fen and convert it into productive farmland. Opposition comes from the local villagers, who use the fen for their food and materials for building, and also from the pastor whose fascination with archaeological finds brings him into head-on collision with the orthodoxy of the church. Against this background personal dramas play out, involving love, money, authoritarian family structures, witchcraft and two deaths.
The outstanding actor was Lucy Formby as Katja de Vriess. Her expert manipulation of the tragic and comic elements of her character was one of the high points of the show.
The sound effects were excellent - particularly the eerie bird calls. Visually it was striking - the puppets of birds, especially an egret, along with a pike, dogs and a hare. Sound and visuals combined dramatically in the scene where one of the villagers is drowned in the floods.
The setting itself with the floor space as water, as ice for some enjoyable skating scenes, as well as interiors was imaginatively used and fitted in with the reality outside.
 |
| Sunset over the fens |
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
A Midsummer Night's Dream at Tolethorpe, Stamford.
This is a play I studied when I was eleven and it's one I remember pretty well. Sure, Leonie had reminded me of the "wild thyme" speech - she was learning it by heart with her kids, and involved me.
The play is ideal for an outdoor setting, and the Tolethorpe stage , with its back drop of trees, and its imaginative use of lighting and height was just the job. Romance, comedy, fantasy, fairies, magic potions, a jealous Oberon and a careless Puck all add to the magic. Very neatly set off by the workmen's acting of Pyramus and Thisbe.
Very entertaining.
The play is ideal for an outdoor setting, and the Tolethorpe stage , with its back drop of trees, and its imaginative use of lighting and height was just the job. Romance, comedy, fantasy, fairies, magic potions, a jealous Oberon and a careless Puck all add to the magic. Very neatly set off by the workmen's acting of Pyramus and Thisbe.
Very entertaining.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Le Ballon Rouge
I'm surprised that this was the first time I'd seen this 1956 film. Beautiful film shots, as the boy becomes possessed by or the possessor of a balloon with a will of its own. An odd, poetic short film.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Voice of the Fire by Alan Moore - a review in episodes . . .
I downloaded this after visiting Thomas Tresham's unfinished summer lodge, Lyveden New Bield, earlier this month.
June 7 2013:
I started reading last night, and am finding the first section pretty hard going. The idiosyncratic representation of the language and thought processes of "a half-witted man-child", as Neil Gaimann describes the narrator of this section almost gets in the way of what he is saying. I'm hoping it doesn't go on too long. So far it reminds me , but only a little, of Thursbitch by Alan Garner, which I love.
June 9th: I'm still struggling through this bit, and not sure how much of the story I'm following. Keep skipping pieces and getting annoyed with the syntax.
June 10th:
I skipped all of that bit - not sure the next section is going to grab me either. Things can only get better - I hope.
September 15th:
I think I shall not return to read the book.
June 7 2013:
I started reading last night, and am finding the first section pretty hard going. The idiosyncratic representation of the language and thought processes of "a half-witted man-child", as Neil Gaimann describes the narrator of this section almost gets in the way of what he is saying. I'm hoping it doesn't go on too long. So far it reminds me , but only a little, of Thursbitch by Alan Garner, which I love.
June 9th: I'm still struggling through this bit, and not sure how much of the story I'm following. Keep skipping pieces and getting annoyed with the syntax.
June 10th:
I skipped all of that bit - not sure the next section is going to grab me either. Things can only get better - I hope.
September 15th:
I think I shall not return to read the book.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Les Miserables
I started to read the book, but Victor Hugo goes on a bit for 21st century tastes. I think the film covered the chapters I've read in about ten minutes.
Not impressed though - too sentimental for my tastes, too dark and dismal in colouring, and I can't remember any of the songs - they sounded the same to me.
Some pretty people, and a bit of comic relief with the landlord and his lady, but all in all, I'm glad I have seen it, and even gladder that it's over.
Not impressed though - too sentimental for my tastes, too dark and dismal in colouring, and I can't remember any of the songs - they sounded the same to me.
Some pretty people, and a bit of comic relief with the landlord and his lady, but all in all, I'm glad I have seen it, and even gladder that it's over.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Drop Dead Fred (1991)
A quote from the Wikipedia entry:
It was savaged by critics; Leonard Maltin stated that "Phoebe Cates' appealing performance can't salvage this putrid mess ... recommended only for people who think nose-picking is funny."
Well - I guess I think nose-picking is funny! A light-hearted film with serious undertones about a poltergeist-like imaginary friend, who returns to help Lizzie when her marriage breaks down. An entertaining film to while away an evening. Main characters played by Phoebe Cates and Rik Mayall. Now, how come an American kid has an English imaginary friend?
It was savaged by critics; Leonard Maltin stated that "Phoebe Cates' appealing performance can't salvage this putrid mess ... recommended only for people who think nose-picking is funny."
Well - I guess I think nose-picking is funny! A light-hearted film with serious undertones about a poltergeist-like imaginary friend, who returns to help Lizzie when her marriage breaks down. An entertaining film to while away an evening. Main characters played by Phoebe Cates and Rik Mayall. Now, how come an American kid has an English imaginary friend?
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