The Revenger’s Tragedy

So you think Hamlet has a high body count? You aint seen nothing yet. One feels that the set designer for the Royal National Theatre’s latest production of The Revenger’s Tragedy had no option but to use a revolving stage…how else would the living characters be able to ‘bear up Those tragic bodies’ as the script instructs? Much easier to just rotate them off.

Seriously though, this is a glorious, rich and sexy production of this little performed play. The staging includes several emsemble pieces outside of the script, most notably at the start. It takes us 5 minutes to get to the opening line, as the revolving set does its work and the scene is set both literally and emotionally. We are shown the events leading up to the opening scene played out before us. From the graphic rape of Lord Antonio’s wife, to the money troubles of Vindice’s family. If you keep your eyes open and are on the ball (there’s a lot going on!) then there is no excuse for not knowing what the state of affairs is before things get going.

The programme notes liken the play to a feminist Hamlet, and the parallels are obvious. Much of the action turns on the decisions of women to be virtuous or otherwise. Men are very much subject to their passions - both lusty and vengeful - and it is up to the women to keep things clean. Some manage it, some don’t. The hero/anti-hero Vindice, in disguise, swears an oath to help the Duke’s son win over a local virgin to corruption. He then discovers that the lucky lady is, in fact, his sister. Whilst he is perfectly happy to break the laws of the land to avenge various deaths, he is not prepared to break his oath to warn his sister. It is much more acceptable to put his sister and mother to the test.

In another scene the perpetrator of the aforementioned rape is mistakenly sent for execution. One might be tempted to feel sorry for the victim of this mix up. However, all sympathy disappears when, before hearing of his fate, he marvels at how he can be locked up for a whole month for the the sake of just one woman!

My seat was in the front row and to the side, which was fantastic for catching all the nuances of characterisation as they came on and off the main set. From my side-on view I was also clearly able to see how they got so much blood on stage so quickly without actually severing an artery..but I won’t spoil it on here.

All in all a great evening. Entertaining, thought-provoking, and very very bloody!

Tainted Glove - the video

So during the cold and snowy winter months, intepid softballers take themselves down to Brixton for the indoor season.

This finished a few weeks ago, but was an absolute blast. It’s a fast and frantic version of the outdoor game. Innings are timed, balls bounce and can be caught off the walls and points are won and lost at a rate of knots.

Our captain, affectionately known as Gobby, brought along this video camera to a couple of sessions. This is the result. As I was operating the camera for most of it I only make a few fleeting appearances, but judging by the state of my ‘girlie’ throw, perhaps that’s a good thing!

The wait is almost over!

The comedy genius that is Snuff Box will be out on DVD from June 16th!

Who is your favourite muppet?

Mine is Rowlf

And so Easter has come and gone again.  An excuse to each chocolate and to dust off my Jesus Christ Superstar CD.  Yes, I know I blog regularly about being an atheist, but I love a bit of Webber and Rice (that could go a long way to explaining why I’m single!) and it’s a good old story.

This year I also decided that I’d give the new dramatisation on the BBC a go - The Passion.  There were lots of familiar faces amongst the apostles and filmed in Morocco it was a attractive and intriguing retelling of the story.  Unlike the musical version, this one unfolded in almost ‘real time’ spread over Holy week and portryed events right up to the discovery of the empty tomb and the resurrection.

The final scene made me think that perhaps those with faith are in some respects the lucky ones.  The final scene showed the risen Jesus reassuring one of the disciples (Peter?) that he would always be with him.  How reassuring must it be to feel that you always have a companion?  We all get lonely from time to time, but those with faith always believe that there is someone with them, watching over them, perhaps guiding them.

Of course, appreciating how something could be comforting doesn’t change my beliefs (or lack of them).  Just as wanting to believe something doesn’t make it so.  I am perfectly happy with my approach to life, but occasionally it’s interesting to have a glimpse into how the other half sees things.

Skipping through my playlist

I’ve been finding myself pressing ’skip’ on my mp3 player in shuffle mode more and more lately.  Nothing I have on there seems to suit my recent mood.  It got me thinking about the songs we write and listen to.  I’m not really in the mood for loved up romantic songs - mainly just because I’m not at that position in my life.  However, I’m also not sad about any past relationships or angry about the people I was in a relationship with.  It seems that most of the songs on my playlist fall into one of those three categories; loved up, heart broken or angry.

My A-level drama teacher used to say that ‘Happiness has no story’.  It seems to be that this isn’t quite right.  Happiness, at least when it is love induced has plenty to say for itself, but it’s that kind of general contentment that I’m experiencing at the moment that has no story…or at least no songs.

If anyone can suggest some tunes that might coincide with my current inbetweeny mood, then you might be able to make my tube journeys a little more musical.

Matt Berry at ULU

I bought my tickets way back in July, and last night it was finally time to take myself off to ULU to see Matt Berry perform live for the second time. When I saw him back in May I hadn’t known what to expect and although I loved the evening I didn’t know much of the material and the theatre venue made the atmosphere slightly more formal.

However, having bought his album ‘Opium’ at the last gig I am now more than familiar with all his wonderful, if at times less than conventional material and the ULU venue gave the whole thing much more of a gig feel.

He performed songs from the recently released AD/BC: A Rock Opera, a brilliant spoof of the musical genre and Jesus Christ Superstar in particular, along with the crowd pleasing ‘One Track Lover’ and Snuffbox theme and tracks from his album.

Mr Berry was recently seen in the second series of the channel 4 comedy ‘The IT Crowd’ and I was lucky enough to see a couple of these episodes being filmed back in May. He dutifully made reference to this by having his band play the theme tune and informing the audience that he had had a dream that he’d been in a programme that people actually watched…but it was only a dream.

Matt Berry and all his work should be much better known than they are. From the cult Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace to the genius, but never repeated Snuffbox its clever, dark and just plain funny and I’d recommend it to anybody who might have come across this post.

A big thank you to my lovely friend Ellen for coming with me.

Here are some pictures and a little video:

This made me smile…

Ceroc ‘n’ roll

Every night in the basements and backrooms of Britain another world is taking place.  That world is the world of Ceroc dancing.  Last night I entered that strange world when I went along with some softball friends to a Ceroc ‘learn to dance’ evening.

The night starts with everyone together learning a few steps and putting them together.  After each little practice the girls move around so that they have a new partner.  I have to admit that I really didn’t enjoy this part of the evening.  Most of the guys were fine, but there were a few who were taking it all very seriously and others who were, how can I say, a little patronising towards me.  They weren’t at all impressed by my beginners attempts and although I’d been assured that as the man takes the lead, if it all goes wrong then it’s his fault, I could see some of them were getting frustrated by my novice attempts.  I found that I was asking myself why I was subjecting myself to this kind of humiliation, when I could have been curled up at home with a hot chocolate.

I hate disappointing other people and I think I can now safely say that I am not very good at being led!  Maybe that tells me something about myself.  (Although, I think I’m quite happy with what it tells me)

The rest of the evening, however, was much more fun.  Us ‘beginners’ were taken aside for a more basic class, which was much less serious and much more of a laugh.  Then we joined back in with the ‘intermediates’ and the rest of the evening was given over to ‘freestyling’.

I’ve been aware the Ceroc existed for a few years now, and I had always wondered what it would be like to give it a go, but I don’t think I’ll be hurrying back.  I love dancing and I think I am quite good at it, but last night didn’t do much for my confidence.  I either like to know a routine and practise it before putting myself on show to others, or alternatively, I like to be able to express myself freely without the restriction of being led by a man.

I guess we learn something about ourselves everyday.

Latest Berry Sightings

Here is my favourite person in the world paying tribute to the late Ronnie Hazlehurst.

Ah, his real voice is even sexier than his stage voice. You’ve got to embrace those glottal stops. They add character.

And here he is in a Super Furry Animals video.

And last but not least the new promotional website for Smart Cars.

Let Dr Tridian (aka lovely Matt) take you on a trip down the road to enlightenment. Take the test to find out what kind of driver you are, and hang around at the end for the chanting session, or hear extracts from the self help book, “From dishevelled street urchin to inspirational genius.”

Yes, it’s all a big advert, but I can’t afford a car at the moment so it all goes over my head, and I just sit back and enjoy the white suit.

And so my obsession grows…

Tapirette