I first came across the Horrible Histories books when I was in primary school, back 25 years ago! Saying that out loud seems such a long time ago. I enjoyed the humour bringing history to life. I still do to this day and I’ll be sharing the books with my children when they are studying a particular area.
They even now have a TV series!
That’s what drew me to the show. Coming to see Horrible Histories Terrible Tudors on stage, with a live performance, known modern songs with a twist, to remember the past, the humorous acting. The show was delivered by just two actors who were very clever portraying and changing their costumes, voices and style for each character. They started with Richard III through to Elizabeth I.
I was in the 2nd row, in the wheelchair space, and I had a great view, could clearly see the fantastic expressions.
The show ran for just over an hour, without an interval.
It was fun interactive show! It looked almost full and was so good to see the audience participation.
I keep singing, divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived, to remember Henry VII’s 6 wives. That’s helped jog my memory!
I came along to the Sherman foyer about an hour before the show started as they had colour in sheets and booklets for children to help explain what happens at a theatre. I thought this was such a good idea. In the past before Covid, I occasionally volunteered with the Sherman theatre through the Sherman 5 scheme. It was my first time back after a couple of years.
Sherman 5 is a fantastic scheme to support people to attend the theatre, whether they have never been before or haven’t been in a long time. It’s for people who face barriers and / or are at a disadvantage. A great opportunity for all of the community.
I return to Cardiff to Easter festivities. If you’re going to hear anything classical around this time of year live, its usually one of Bach’s Passions. What was originally planned for Easter 2020, we finally get to hear the St Matthew Passion at St David’s Hall. I genuinely don’t recall there being a performance of it in all my time frequenting the venue.
I make it a tradition to listen to the EMI recording of the Philharmonia doing the Matthew Passion with Otto Klemperer conducting. I doubt you could find a better recording, well regarded as one of the greatest ever on disc. So with this, I didn’t want to compare too much with the BBC NOW getting it’s live outing after a two year hiatus.
It’s a regal affair, the formulated sophistication of this Passion lingering in every bar. It commands a lot out of it’s listeners, with most going along with the thick translation in the gaudy looking programmes. Jeremy Budd took over the narrative role of the Evangelist after Gwilym Bower had to drop out. Budd keeps the whole passion in check along with conductor Harry Bicket, a new face to the regular Cardiff concert goer though, having a command over all the musicians and chorus. I cant begin to comprehend how demanding it would be to keep up the momentum of the over two hours Bach has blessed us with. Budd is subtle and calming, telling of Jesus’ last days with a detached nature. His voice never stops being lovely, quite golden even if the role gives little to no ornament.
It’s always jolting to hear Jesus as a bass, here sung with conviction by David Shipley. You’d expect it to be an intense role and it frequently is. Shipley given little flickers of acting here and there, with a touching voice. Soprano Mhairi Lawson getting arguably some of the finest solos, the famous aria used in the films of Tarkovsky. There is a glamorous feel to Lawson, she sings with much splendour, Jess Dandy the contralto both getting a sweetly scented duet together. Dandy also sings from the heart, a voice as clear as a window pain. Antony Gregory as tenor is in and out of the score, though a well suited guest and often the lighter side of the men’s earthy voice ranges. Baritone James Newby ended the line up of soloists, coming into his own when getting some flurried solos.
Of note is the orchestra is separated into two sets and there is no brass nor percussion. One wonders what the first audiences would have thought of a work like this nearly 300 years ago, or even the audiences Mendelssohn reintroduced the work to, after it having dropped out of favour for around one hundred years. The Viola de gamba is also present, not used enough with it’s nuanced charm. It takes a lot to focus on the entire piece, cough syrup prevented me from taking in the entire second part. Though there are very few theatrical elements to the passion, recent years have seen stagings, something I’d be keen to see. The BBC National Chorus of Wales also blossomed here, the opening a highlight, the fiery finale perhaps the most bone chilling passage in the entire work.
Finally another masterpiece of Western music to tick off the bucket list.
With the pandemic having made the future uncertain, we’ve been compelled to look back at the past, to the glory days of our youth when everything seemed possible. That’s always been the magic behind Bill Kenwright’s smash-hit jukebox franchise, Dreamboats & Petticoats, based on the multimillion selling compilation albums. The latest installment, Bringing On Back The Good Times!, is the third in the series, but you don’t need to have seen the first two to enjoy this fabulous, feel-good show.
Written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, the story centres around sweethearts Laura (Elizabeth Carter) and Bobby (David Ribi), as their musical dreams threaten to keep them apart. While Laura’s chart-topping success earns her a starry residency in Torquay and equal billing with Frankie Howerd, Bobby is booked for the summer at the far-less glamorous Butlins in Bognor Regis, along with his old crew from St Mungo’s Youth Club. With both his career and his relationship in jeopardy, Bobby makes one final bid to save both: a wildcard run at becoming Britain’s entry in the Eurovision Song Contest.
The show really captures the feel of the era, thanks to an energetic cast, playful direction, and magnificent renditions of some of the decade’s most beloved songs, from Pretty Woman and C’mon Everybody to Keep on Running and Mony Mony. Sean Cavanagh’s colourful set of scrapbooked ticket stubs and album sleeves, and Carole Todd’s zesty choreography, also capture the fun and flamboyance of the decade. It’s a non-stop party from beginning to end: a joyous celebration of the music that made us, featuring more iconic tunes than you can shake a (rhythm) stick at! Everything is played and sung live onstage, and you won’t find a finer ensemble this side of the 60s. Ribi is excellent as the budding Buddy Holly and Carter as the Lesley Gore-alike, while Alastair Hill as the roving eyed frontman of Norman and the Conquests is responsible for some of the funniest moments in the show, especially when paired with Lauren Anderson-Oakley as his beleaguered wife, Sue.
The song list is bursting at the seams with some of the most iconic tunes in music history, and they’ve never sounded better than they do here. For a band aptly called ‘the Conquests’, they really do take no prisoners – so huge kudos to Benji Lord on bass, Joe Sterling on electric guitar, Alan Howell on acoustic, Daniel Kofi Wealthyland on drums, and musical director Sheridan Lloyd on keys. There’s fantastic musical backup by Lauren Chinery and Chloe Edwards-Wood on sax (and dancing) duties, plus some bravura brass courtesy of Rob Gathercole and Mike Lloyd, the latter of whom also plays a tyrannical Butlins Redcoat who steals every scene he’s in (imagine if Tom Hardy’s Charles Bronson joined the cast of Hi-De-Hi and you’re halfway there).
The songs fly so thick and fast that there’s often not enough time to applaud them all, which is what happens when the incredible Samara Clarke sings an utterly breathtaking rendition of Where the Boys Are. And while the music is staggering (Baby Now That I’ve Found You is a knockout), some of the show’s most powerful moments come from their a capella arrangements of Blue Moon (a real showcase for David Luke) and Come Softly to Me. Lord, Sterling and Gathercole playing twee Eurovision hopefuls was a standout (The Kennies were robbed!) and David Benson’s pitch-perfect Kenneth Williams’ ‘Ma crepe suzette’ bit had everyone in stitches. The cast also boasts a genuine star of the 1960s music scene: Mark Wynter (of Venus in Blue Jeans and Go Away Little Girl fame), who portrays Laura’s sagacious manager, Larry.
The show really comes to life in the second half, and while some of the ‘lead in’ dialogue is tenuous at best (‘How would you describe Laura?’ Cue ‘Pretty Woman’) but it’s all very tongue in cheek and who needs an excuse to sing Roy Orbison, anyway? If you experienced the music yourself the first time round, or if you’ve grown up listening to your parents’ or grandparents’ records, this show is a must-see. The 1960s aren’t just an escape: they’re a mirror. It was a time, like ours, filled with rebellion, political upheaval, and the threat of war on the horizon. The songs, and the performances, underscore the show’s clearest, loveliest message: that the good times will return, and better than ever.
(4 / 5) Whistler’s Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan
(4 / 5) Kyōsai: The Israel Goldman Collection
A final gallery trip would be an action packed afternoon at the Royal Academy. In Whistler’s Woman in White show, we get a telling scope on Joanna Hiffernan, Irish model and muse to many an artist of her time. The show features her in many frames and other women in white from the era, Willkie Collin’s book of the same name getting referenced and a poster print from a staging looms over most viewers. A Klimt painting remains a thing of beauty, though we crave his more exuberant gold pieces. Rossetti’s painting of The Annunciation is one of the finest work here, of a slim build, the biblical image compress to a narrow canvass of tension. Truly something to marvel at.
Perhaps most fascinating is Joanna in Gustave Courbet’s Jo, the Irish Woman. Most remarkable, there are three version of the very same painting and it remains unclear which is the original. How fascinating to pick up on the slight variations in each of them, her eyes more sunken in one, her cheeks more rouge in another. It’s quite a candid work and it remained a highlight. Courbet’s Seascapes on the other hand felt quite pedestrian and of little interest, I spent a very short amount of time with them.
Of course, it all lead up to the big guns. Whistler’s Woman in White was the dazzling finale to this mostly fine exhibit. Joanna glows here, her red hair almost veil like with strangely little detail in it. As if a bride, she holds a flower and is atop a wolf skin rug. This is a moving encounter, Whilst proving his mastery though other work in the show would also prove this. She looks beyond the viewer as if lost in another realm, adding to the dreamy quality of the whole encounter. I can’t gush enough about this painting. Though quite a small exhibit, it’s effect is monumental.
Following on was something drastically different. Kawanabe Kyōsai’s work from Japan makes for a highly amusing and often touching apparition. It’s the ink work that really makes it. Some of the fine folklore and depictions of animals stand out. A female ghost is a horrible sight on one screen, a shocking sight in keeping with the superstition of his home country. The West adored his work and it’s easy to see why. Even just a cat with such a look of contentment makes for a joy to gaze upon. Some of the more outrageous drawings involves the bottoms and testicles of the figures, the latter being affronted by another more curious cat. You could almost hear the slide whistle.
The detailing on the robes of some women in the art is another eye watering detail. Also noteworthy how some of the crow works are highly figurative, the ink generously spread around, yet still it is clearly a crow. It’s the beak that gives it away, as well as the obvious black ink usage. A giant wide-spread panel sees demons and creatures, looking as if it was created yesterday, such was it’s fine quality (Gerald Scarf would lap it up!). This has clearly been well looked after (dating from 1871-1889. This would clearly go on to influence manga and anime, staples of Japanese culture today. Another fine show, for another fine artist.
At the Royal Academy of Arts, Whistler’s Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan continues till 22 May 2022 and Kyōsai: The Israel Goldman Collection till 19 June 2022.
My time in London has mostly been swallowed up by theatre and music. Itching to see more fine art shows, I approached the Hayward Gallery to get my fix.
Starting with Louise Bourgeois: The Woven Child, this was a partially haunting experience in my view. The French-American artist had a long career and this show lingers with work from the last 20 years of her long life. Real clothes and textiles drape certain installations, bones and wire haunt others. The act of birth and motherhood dominate a lot of the imagery. Her cloth heads and figures disturb for their uncanny qualities, shapes and forms are colourful and pleasing in other work. The gallery itself was busy to witness these worn pieces, alive in the macabre mood which stung in the air.
Female forms hang from the air, half the body a lumpy spiral with the loss of a head and arms. Bourgeois makes you see the female form anew through these warped, bumpy bodies. An element of bondage creeps in, with the hangings, the wrappings and use of cloths making for steamy, messed up sights. It can leave you puzzled and enthralled. One installation featured the roots of a tree, with a wooden hand perfectly fitting into one branch of the root, another pleasing sight. The black, headless bodies in an apparent act of coitus as perhaps the most messed up things in the entire exhibit. I found myself awash in a fight or flight response to it all.
Of course her giant spider creature, (her most famous piece) makes an outing, perhaps the true highlight of the show. Resting on a metal cage, along with its very own eggs, the work appears powerful if fragile, inspired if taxing to make. Visitors really drink in this and you could feel the love with may a photo taken with the momma spider creation. Bourgeois spoke of her family as if spiders: always mending and repairing. Her lovely insight about a spider never getting angry when its web is broken just making it anew, is a nice quote for the wistful state out world is today.
It is a gallery experience which is entrancing, but might just leave a bad taste in the mouth.
My time in London is wrapping up. A day spent with English National Opera would herald a fine last day in the capital and I couldn’t have been happier. Though my health has comprised my enjoyment somewhat, I ventured on the New Harewood Artists recital at St Martin’s-in-the-Field.
I found joy in hearing more of Clara Schumann and her friend Brahms, in a mostly Germanic programme from bass William Thomas. With smouldering good looks and a surprising, volcanic voice, William has much promise, this set from him proving how perfect he would be for Don Giovanni and possibly some Wagner baddies, the Russian repertoire a must. There was a sensuality with these German lieder, a romance often awash in the joy of nature, true love and broken hearts. This was an opening I found very impressive.
A coughing fit would prevent me from hearing all of soprano Alexandra Oomens. I did get to savour Night by composer of colour Florence B. Price and sadly with eyes streaming and throat raging, I had to leave to acquire water. I stood at the back for the rest of the concert. What I did hear of Alexandra was an exquisite voice that I was upset I missed most of. Her recent outing in ENO’s HMS Pinafore proves her quick wit and broad repertoire outings. I can only apologise for my temperamental throat.
Last but not least, New Zealand born Sāmoan baritone Benson Wilson grappled with war and it’s aftermath. You can’t think of George Butterworth without thinking of A Shropshire Lad, a staple of WW1 memorials. These tender and often considerate songs were as English as cricket, builder’s tea and bulldogs. A touching orb seemed to hover over each song, the lingering sense of loss and regret is never far away. Butterworth was one of over the million men who lost their life at The Somme. Benson has meaty vocals, his looming stature and rugged nature also evident. The end with Robert Wiremu’s Ake Ake Kia Kaha E (Victory and Glory), the feel of an Italian art song, leading to a soaring haka, which rang out into the church. Marvellous.
The conclude all three singers offered a trio from Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. Witty and delightful, this fragments again, proved the power of these three singers, talent and more talent. It’s only up from here!
Sad is a deep dark comedy about the messiness of life, fragmented mental breakdowns & the overall sadness that the effects of life can have on humanity as a result of loss, failure, regret, disappointment & remorse.
Sad is produced by Felicity Paterson, directed by Marie McCarthy and written by ‘Victoria Willing’ held at the Omnibus Theatre starring Debra Baker as Gloria, Kevin Golding as Graham, Daniel as Lucus Hare & Izabella Urbanowicz as Magda. Sad explores the themes of pain, fear, loneliness, hurt, distress and trauma.
The powerful emotions felt when watching this play are super relatable! The original & authentic scenarios & resonating characters which we’ve all encountered at some stage in our lives is why! A truly strong emphasis on passive aggression, discrimination, subjection, perversion, secrecy, corruption, societal class, relationship issues and dysfunctional families.
Real life inflicting experiences which all contribute towards making our worlds an even sadder place from the outside looking in! Not to mention being let down by the system when they’re the only ones we can depend on. Sad!
Gloria, the adorable agitator & irritated instigator lives with her partner Graham in solitude where she finds harmony alone by herself, squating in the attic all day. Gloria’s conflicting insecurities & mid life crisis mentally blocks her till she refuses to express herself without being contentious. Being affectionate, loveable, warm & transparent towards her loved ones is too much to redeem. Pride soon becomes the foundation of Gloria eating away at her friendships, costing her relationship and being the ultimate maker or breaker of her destiny which only she can decide alongside Grapham’s support!
A compelling production that gives a strong reminder into a broken elderly woman’s mindset, livelihood and ongoing struggles which proves old age doesn’t mean life’s completely figured out! A play to help us acknowledge the what ifs and buts as we journal are life events! how easy life gradually becomes to loose yourself whilst trying to re-find yourself in the midsts of the internal chaos we desperately try to suppress rather than address.
One of the latest additions to the Welsh Women’s Classics series published by Honno Welsh Women’s Press, Spring’s GreenShadow is a novel based on a true story – that of the author herself. Cecily Mackworth, born in the early years of the twentieth century, (1911) was a journalist, author, and poet born and brought up in Wales who later lived in Paris during a period of political turbulence.
First published in 1952, set in both Wales and Paris, this new edition of Mackworth’s novel has a lengthy introduction by historian and biographer Angela John, an honorary professor of Swansea University.
And thereby lies the rub, for worthy and meticulous in detail as is John’s introduction, it also to some extent gives the game away. In many respects, Cecily Mackworth’s own story can be seen as similar to that of the novel’s fictional heroine, Laura Gethryn. However, any sense of deja vue is justified giving as it does the raison d’ȇtre of the novel.
As the story opens the reader is introduced to Laura, the intellectually inclined and high-spirited daughter of a father left broken and emasculated by the first World War and a mother, made demanding and bad tempered by events. The early years of Laura’s life are spent living with her parents in Monmouthshire where her father’s family have been landowners for many generations. Continually berated by her parents for not conforming to the dictates of the time regarding a woman’s role in life and a daughter’s duty – i.e.to make a good marriage – Laura’s frustration erupts into action when she comes under the influence of the working-class intellectual Mr Howells. Rebelling against her mother’s refusal to allow her to pursue her education, Laura escapes to begin a new life with the Howells family
The focus on woman’s emancipation gives a contemporary feel to this novel, despite it being evocative of a bygone era. Mackworth’s brilliant descriptive powers give a vivid and at times uncomfortable portrayal of life as it was back in the early part of the twentieth century for an ambitious woman writer determined to bring some unpleasant truths to the notice of the powers that be.
While it has to be said that this part of her book is to a degree biographical, giving as it does a close resemblance to Mackworth’s own experiences as a woman who was herself involved in at times dangerous confrontations regarding a number of controversial issues., it is none the worse for doing so.
Not only is Spring’s Green Shadow an interesting read in its own right as a novel, it has the additional benefit of historical worth, documenting as it does the mores of an era in which long-held beliefs both at home and abroad were questioned as the winds of change blew over Europe.
I returned to the Barbican, to watch American mezzo Joyce DiDonata who gave a supreme evening of hand picked songs and arias inspired by the thrill of nature. Even as we sat down, seeds had been left on our seats for us to take home, a sweet little gift. This had the feel of an ambitious work, the small platform Joyce loiters was constantly shifting, with two silver orbs courting around her, her own ring cycle if you will. Ives’ The Unanswered Question lost the trumpet and Joyce took on the role in an ethereal change to the notation. Rachel Portman’s premier of The First Morning of the World was a luscious evocation, leading to some Mahler, Copland and Gluck. Opera lovers will relish this buffet of sweet treats from Theodora, Orfeo ed Euridice and La Calisto.
I was filled with sheer joy to hear Joyce sing, the world simply glows when she does. There is a grand, sumptuous quality in her execution, I now know what all the fuss is about. Different languages are easily converted, Joyce easily going in between English, German and Italian with ease. A funny moment came when a part of the rotating rings disconnect and with a smile, she put a finger to her lips. The concluding Mahler, the final song from Rückert-Lieder was of such a devastating impact, I found it hard to keep things together. The words are of a figure dying, leaving the world to the feel of some of Mahler’s finest, calmest music. Joyce captured the intensity of the lieder and is one of perhaps the finest living singers to tackle it. I could have cried for longer.
Encores of Wagner and Handel were so appreciated. It also has to said how wonderful Joyce’s time spent with children in music workshops is, leading to a touching new song delivered by them all and performed to the audience of opera lovers and proud parents. She spoke of how we’ve changed after Covid and how they couldn’t find a choir for workshops in Luxembourg (think of that happening in Wales!). Children and adults alike need live music now after all we’ve been through. Grabbing her autograph, she remarked I was the first critic she’d met who was after such a thing. I will cherish it, just like this concert.
Please note this is a review of a preview performance
Floods of tributes for Steven Sondheim have poured in since his death in November. Send in the Clowns often gets in my head, I doubt I could think of a song more perfect. A legacy has been left with highs and lows, featuring lesser known stage work going back decades. Anyone Can Whistle is one such example.
The Grey Area Theatre and Alex Conder have taken a risk with this musical, certainly not one of his shows which comes to mind, more of a Pointless answer on that TV quiz (I remember getting Merrily We Roll Along as a winning answer). It reeks of mid 60’s, on the cusp of free love and the big revolutions of the day. The book by Arthur Laurents is not as sharp nor comical as it should be. Sondheim here has the promise of great songs, with that machine-gun quick lyricism that comes later, more defined more acclaimed pieces. The story tries to put under a microscope miracles, society, identity and the medical professions, yet doesn’t achieve any deep insight or whimsy. Strangely, there was a feel of Mark Twain and Dr Seuss for different reasons.
Past this, here is a peppy, diverse ensemble who put a lot of effort in a confined cat-walk with a band up on a rampart. The theatre has little of a set, a rock for the miracle MacGuffin to occur, some motels signs and a wheelbarrow full of glitter being passed of as the holy water. The leads have charisma. Jordan Broatch is J. Bowden Hapgood, Donovan meets The Darkness in a role full of subtle swagger and a happy-go lucky, deception. Alex Young gets most of the laughs as Cora Hoover Hooper, the silly-billy mayoress in a state of constant corruption, her only paranoia to be struck out of office, an act on a knife edge of occurring throughout. Christina Symone as Nurse Fay Apple, is the up tight sort, losing herself in her daft French disguise, proving some decent vocals. The full cast had enough energy to conduct electricity, the buzz of the space hard to deny. Costumes hark back to the psychedelic, hipster days, with an 80s nod in the second act as well.
I saw the last preview performance and noted the screens with music director Natalie Pound in the last two acts lost a signal, with some desperate attempts by a stagehand to fix this. The band were alive with the upbeat plateau that the musical little left. I feel the show might have suited a slighter large venue, I noted a few near slips off the platform, though nothing dramatic. Perhaps then you would be able to drink in the notorious sanatorium dance numbers, a larger rock set might have added to the drama as well.
Creating opportunities for a diverse range of people to experience and respond to sport, arts, culture and live events. / Lleisiau amrywiol o Gymru yn ymateb i'r celfyddydau a digwyddiadau byw
(3 / 5)
(4 / 5) Whistler’s Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan
(5 / 5)
