A Mad World My Masters...

Last week Stuart and I went to see A Mad World My Masters at the Barbican Theatre in London's glitzy Barbican Centre.

In the same vane as the National’s triumphant One Man, Two Guvnors this Jacobean comedy plays it was laughs - and crude laughs at that.

Transported to the seedy surroundings of 1950s Soho, Thomas Middleton’s wickedly funny comedy sees our hero Richard Follywit variously become a lord, a high-class call girl and – God forbid – a poor actor. But beautiful Soho tart, Miss Truly Kidman, is also on the scam: a whore to some, a religious instructor to others, and a debutante in need of an eligible bachelor to yet more.

In this mad, boisterous world, glamour rubs up against filth, and likes it; the posh mix with musicians, prostitutes and racketeers; and a dashing bachelor in need of quick cash is forced to live on his wits. Things are very bawdy here and the uproarious tale of deceits and disguises is played for the broadest of laughs. Joe Orton would have approved.

At times the persistent use of innuendo makes you feel you’re watching a Carry-On film. The conniving Dick Follywit tells us he is a man of “considerable endowment”. “Here’s the cock coming to bone the chicken,” declares the easily duped landowner Sir Bounteous Deersucker. The gags just keep on coming. Missus.

Great fun though.

Digital Revolution

On Friday Stuart and I went to the Digital Revolution exhibition at the Barbican Curve. It's a really cool show in 14 locations in and around the Barbican Centre - and in one case at a venue half a mile down the road.
The main exhibition covers the birth of digital video from early video games and computers such as Manic Miner, Commodore PET, Apple II, Tetris and Pong through to the latest electronics, video processing and sci-fi special effects. There are motion sensitive lasers that dance around you in a blacked out room, robot birds you can telephpne to chirp, lamps that react to your presence (I shadow boxed with one), cool video effects that modify your image in real-time - smoldering eyes, Maleficent wings etc. Loved it.

The Von Trapp Singers...

Last Saturday night Stuart I watched the gayest event of the year. No, not Eurovision. It was The Von Trapp Singers as presented by Pink Martini at the Barbican Hall in London's glitzy Barbican Centre.

We were intrigued to see what Pink Martini had done with the singing quartet - the great grand children of those mountain climbing Austrians.

We didn't wonder long. The every youthful Von Trapp Singers were great. Beautiful close harmony pop songs sung in French, Japanese, Rwandan, Hebrew, Portuguese, Spanish, oh and English. Fab.

Naturally we were treated to a sprinkling of songs from The Sound Of Music too but these were only some of the highlights among many others. In wasn't just a night of cover versions either. The only boy in the troupe August had written some new songs. And these were all pretty damned good.

During the performance we kept catching their eyes. Maybe because we were front row middle, three feet away and applauding rather too wildly for rather too long.

Icing on the cake was a guest appearance by Meow Meow. She all but stole the show.

They even did a nod to Eurovision at the end and sang Abba's Fernando. In Swedish.

Great grand mother Maria would have been proud.

The Testament Of Mary...

Last night Stuart and I went to see The Testament Of Mary at the Barbican Theatre in London's glitzy Barbican Centre.

Starring Fiona Shaw (loved her in True Blood) it's a one woman show telling the story of The Crucifixion from Jesus mother's perspective some years after the event.

It's was a powerful, thought provoking piece. And a master class in acting. Shaw commanded the stage, filling the space with Mary's rage, Mary's sadness, Mary’s memories.

It's a clever piece too which while being respectful to the classic story it also gives a more realistic interpretation of the events from a mother's point of view. It treads a careful but thoughtful line between respect and disbelief.

She is a loving mother cut out of her son's life. He has taken his own path and she struggles to understand it.

Starting out Mary could almost have quoted Monty Python's Life Of Brian and come out with, "he's a very naughty boy!" She goes on to describe The Disciples as, "my son's misfit friends." His miracles are recounted along the lines of, "well, I didn't see it happen myself but so-and-so swore it did." Indeed in many parts Mary categorically says that many of the myths surrounding Jesus were completely made up by the hysterical crowd or by those who wrote it down so many years later. As an example she recounts a dream that she shared with someone else and which then got retold as a fact and written down as such. She hints at sleight of hand too. At the wedding where the water is turned into wine she says, "six vases were indeed brought out from the back and there was certainly water in one of them. But as for the others..."

At the end, Mary had told her tale. And set a few things straight. Miracles or not, he was a naughty boy. But also her son. Blackout.

The audience rose to their feet. Shaw was a triumph.

Jean-Paul Gautier Exhibition...

Last Sunday Stuart and I went to see the Jean-Paul Gautier at the Barbican Art Gallery. It was amazeballs. The mannequins had video projections of faces on them that were sexy, creepy and funny all at the same time. Some winked, some talked, some sang. Oh and the clothes weren't bad either. And we got to see Madonna's conical bra outfit.

Lest We Forget...

Last Tuesday Darren and I went to the Barbican Theatre to see the English National Ballet perform Lest We Forget commemorating the centenary of the First World War.

Using contemporary choreographers and performing three new pieces (and one revival) this was not the ENB we were used to. This was a bare-footed ENB, a future-looking ENB, an exciting ENB - bravo say I.

Liam Scarlett’s No Man’s Land: The Ballet boy showed us women working in a munitions factory and the men at the front who did not all return. Very moving.
George Williamson’s Firebird: Sleek and sure-foted it was perhaps a piece that wasn't needed in the evening
Russell Maliphant’s Second Breath: A beautiful dream-like piece.
Akram Khan's Dust: A sensational, visceral piece that had the wow factor as Khan gyrated and convulsed about the stage and the company pulsated along with him.

Three cheers.

United Visual Artists: Momentum...

Last Friday lunchtime Bobby and I went to see the United Visual Artists: Momentum exhibition at the The Curve in the Barbican Centre. A few swinging lamps in a smokey darkened room. Meh.

Pop Art Design...

Last week Dave and I went to the Pop Art Design exhibition at the Barbican Art Gallery in London's glitzy Barbican Centre.

The Pop Art Design exhibition paints a new picture of Pop – but one that recognizes the central role played by design.

Design lead to Pop Art. Pop Art in turn inspired Design. Goto Line 10.
Eventual, some might argue, Pop ate itself.

The exhibition has over 200 works from dozens of artists and designers - Peter Blake, Pauline Boty, Judy Chicago, Richard Hamilton, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol et al. There are posters, magazines, album sleeves, as well as film, photography and documentation of Pop interiors and architecture. Worth a visit. And there's a Pop Art app too to accompany the exhibition which is quite nifty.
http://www.barbican.org.uk/apps/

Michael Clark Company...

The other week Stuart and I treated Darren to a return trip to see The Michael Clark Company perform three pieces (up from last year's two) at the Barbican Theatre in London's glitzy Barbican Centre.

No Jarvis Cocker in the flesh this time round but a Relaxed Muscle specially recorded video plus music from Scritti Politti complimented the new piece performed to some Sex Pistols. It was OK I suppose. Not quite the wow factor of last year though.

Richard II...

Last night Stuart and I went to see Richard II at the Barbican Theatre in London's glitzy Barbican Centre.

This Royal Shakespeare Company production starred David Tennant as the erstwhile king whose fey elf-like demeanor hid a cruel streak and a firm belief in the Divine Right of Kings. Set in a time when dueling, banishment and confiscation of lands were common place not enough of the former and too much of the latter leads to Richard's undoing.

Originally written as a tragedy it was reclassified as a history. I'm it's a bit of column A, a bit of column B.

Mr Tennant is excellent throughout conveying just the right amount of vulnerability and regal arrogance the role demands. The production itself is fine too with a chorus, musicians and a simple but effective set.

Four stars.

One of my favour Shakespeare speeches is in this play so I was all aquiver when I heard:-

This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

Jane Birkin...

Last Saturday night Stu and I went to see Jane Birkin perform Arabesque at the Barbican Hall in London’s glitzy Barbican Centre.

Serge Gainsbourg’s lover, collaborator and muse of fifteen years  was there playing live her reinterpretation of classic Gainsbourg songs with Maghreb rhythms and Eastern harmonies.

I was unfamiliar with much of the pieces but as it was all in French had fun translating it on the fly as well as enjoying the songs as a first time listener.

We loved it. Birkin had quite the stage presence and danced and sang like a teenager fifty years her junior.

Here the night's set list:-

Physique et sans issue
Ces petits riens
C'est comme ça
La chanson de Prévert
Élisa
Et quand bien même
L'Amour de moi
Couleur café
Anno "Close to the River"
Dépression au-dessus du jardin
Valse de Melody
Haine pour aime
Amours des feintes
She Left Home (instrumental)
Les Dessous Chics
Les clés du paradis
Fuir le bonheur de peur qu'il ne se sauve
Comment te dire adieu

Encore:
Baby Alone in Babylone
La Javanaise

Laurie Anderson and the Kronos Quartet...

Last Friday Paul and I went to the Barbican Hall to see Landfall - Laurie Anderson's latest work - this time a collaborative work with the Kronos Quartet.

These two new musical colossuses joined for a 75 minute mildly whimsical and often diverting rag bag of pieces which were at times captivating but at times frustratingly brief.

Anderson's stories of Hurricane Sandy, her flooded archive and the frustration of other people telling you about their dreams were engaging enough but like the musical works all too brief.

It's almost as if Anderson was too deferential to the Quartet with their sublime fiddling and so lost her own captivating performance style.

One aspect that really worked though was when letters, symbols and words fluttered across a screen at the back, magically coordinated by some computer software to the sounds being played

Next time though let's have our Laurie back doing what she does best. Solo work.

The Bride and the Bachelor...

Last night Stu, me, Oliver and Oz all went to the Barbican Art Gallery to see the new exhibition The Bride and the Bachelors: Duchamp with Cage, Cunningham, Rauschenberg and Johns.

The exhibition focused on Marcel Duchamp’s American legacy, tracing his relationship to four great modern masters – composer, John Cage, choreographer, Merce Cunningham, and visual artists Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. All artists that heralded the advent of Pop Art.

It was fun, funny, thought-provoking, daft and occasionally dull. Everything that art with a capital A should be in my opinion.

Sparks: Two Hands One Mouth...

Last Friday night Paul, Alistair and I went to see electronic duo Sparks perform their Two Hands One Mouth Tour at the Barbican Hall in London's glitzy... er... Barbican Centre.

The two hands (Ron Mael) and the one mouth (Russell Mael) were simply fabulous. Performing many of their hits including: This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us, Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth, The Number One Song in Heaven, Beat the Clock, When Do I Get to Sing "My Way" and Dick Around.

They've still got it.

And Ron stripped off at the end. No, really.

 

Michael Clark Company New Work 2012 (encore)..

Last night Stu, Tony and I to see the Michael Clark Company perform New Work 2012 at Barbican Theatre in London's glitzy Barbican Centre. Again. 

I have nothing more to add than what I said last time:-

 The double bill of contemporary dance was simply sensational. The first part was choreographed to music by Scritti Politti and the second, called "Who's Zoo?", to music including Pulp’s F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E and also by Relaxed Muscle. Relaxed Muscle (aka Jarvis Cocker's alter-ego Darren Spooner) actually performed live four of their songs; The Heavy, Let It Ride, Beastmaster and B-Real most of which is from their album A Heavy Nite With... And they were awesome.

 The show got brilliant reviews too. 'The most exhilarating new piece of contemporary dance to appear in Britain this year, by turns ravishing, outrageous, borderline certifiable, and sometimes all three at once.' - Daily Telegraph

 The only down side was perhaps that the running time was a tad short - just 80 mins *including* interval.

Michael Clark Company New Work 2012...

Last Friday Darren, Rachael, Stu and I went to see the Michael Clark Company perform New Work 2012 at Barbican Theatre in London's glitzy Barbican Centre.

The double bill of contemporary dance was simply sensational. The first part was choreographed to music by Scritti Politti and the second, called "Who's Zoo?", to music including Pulp’s F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E and also by Relaxed Muscle.

Relaxed Muscle (aka Jarvis Cocker's alter-ego Darren Spooner) actually performed live four of their songs; The Heavy, Let It Ride, Beastmaster and B-Real most of which is from their album A Heavy Nite With... And they were awesome.

The show got brilliant reviews too. 'The most exhilarating new piece of contemporary dance to appear in Britain this year, by turns ravishing, outrageous, borderline certifiable, and sometimes all three at once.' - Daily Telegraph

The only down side was perhaps that the running time was a tad short - just 80 mins *including* interval. We loved it so much we're going back again this Thursday!

Carousel...

Last night Stu and I went to see Opera North's Carousel in London's glitzy Barbican Theatre.

The singing was excellent, the acting very good, the staging good, the dancing not so good, the plot vile.

It's hard to really like a story of a no-good wife beater who knocks up his missus, comes a cropper robbing someone, and then comes back from the afterlife and strikes his teenage child.

Standout song was the joyous June is Busting' Out All Over. Sadly the sad You'll Never Walk Alone can't quite shake the Liverpool football club stigma however.

We enjoyed it just also agree with most critics. 3 stars.

Einstein on the Beach...

Last Friday Paul and I went to see Philip Glass's gargantuan minimalist classic Einstein on the Beach at the Barbican Theatre. We loved it. Agreeing with most of the critics. However... well, let my letter to the Barbican do the talking.

From: Jonathan Green
Sent: 06 May 2012 11:50
To: feedback@barbican.org.uk
Subject: Production Staff Behaviour at Barbican Theatre

I am writing to complain about the behaviour of production staff during the Philip Glass's Einstein on the Beach performance last Friday night 4th May 2012 at the Barbican Theatre. 

My friend and I sat in row S in seats 11 and 12 and directly behind us in row T were four men and one woman who talked loudly throughout the whole show.  Initially we believed that they were customers like us - it then became apparent they were actually production staff. We asked them to be quiet. They ignored us. This behaviour continued throughout the whole performance - all five hours of it.  Other patrons were also affects by this and moved away. Others asked them to be quiet - again these requests were ignored. 

There was no member of Barbican staff that we could find to complain to on the night. This was very frustrating. 

Here is a small snap shot of the ceaseless chatter that started from the beginning:-

"That's wrong. Too slow. Too slow. Where's the dry ice? Dry ice. DRY ICE! She's late. Where is she? No. NO! To the left. LEFT.  Lighting cue all wrong. That's it. Slowly, slowly. What we need to do is bring that one on quicker.  What's that? NO! NO!" etc etc etc etc 

I understand that technical issues do need to be addressed during performances but not at the expense of paying customers. 

My friend and I had waited 27 years to see such a landmark cultural show, we had been looking forward to the great music, ambitious staging and were happy to pay £100 for each ticket.  However this performance was ruined for us due to the production staff talking throughout the show. 

I am a Red Member , attend events at the Barbican frequently and have never had cause to complain about any aspect of the Barbican's usual excellent service. However on this occasion we both felt severely let down by the Barbican. 

I feel the need to draw this to your attention so other patrons don't experience similar incidents. 

Jonathan Green

Member: xxxxxxx

Booking ref: xxxxxxx

There's a sort of happy ending. The Barbican called me to apologise explaining that it was actually the director Robert Wilson behind us. They have offered me two free tickets for this Friday so I'm going again. To enjoy the opera in the way I imagine Mr Wilson intended. In peace.

Big and Small (Gross und Klein)...

Last Friday night Stu and I went to see Big and Small (Gross und Klein) at the Barbican Theatre in London's glitzy Barbican Centre.

Botho Strauss's play (with Martin Crimp sparkling translation) sees Cate Blanchett play a chattering woman, Lotte, who is desperate to belong. As the ten scenes play out we follow Lotte on her slightly surreal search for meaning and friendship.

Her travels take her to Morocco where she becomes alienated from the rest of the tour party, Essen where she becomes alienated from her husband and Saarbrücken where, well you've guessed it, things don't go well meeting up with her childhood friend. Even her brother doesn't seem to want to know.

But this particular Chatty Cathy is an eternal optimist and slightly too good for this world. She is the outsider always looking in - sometimes literally - as she does through a pane of frosted glass.

Ultimately we sympathise with Lotte and want her to find a human connection with someone. To the author's credit this never realised, the open-ending mirroring the ambiguity that happiness be achieved by anyone inhabiting our grossly materialist society.

Cate Blanchett puts on a dazzlingly uninhibited performance here and the standing ovation was well deserved. A triumph.

Blackmail...

Last Sunday night Stu and I went to the Barbican Hall to see a screening of Alfred Hitchcock's black and white silent film Blackmail (1929). The film was actually made in two versions at the same time - one with sound and one without. Not all cinemas had sound equipment - hence the two versions. The two versions even had a slightly different cast.
Our heroine Alice has stabbed to death a man who tried to rape her. Her boyfriend Frank, a policeman, covers it up; but Tracey, the local petty thief, tries to blackmail the couple. This leads to Tracey’s attempted arrest and a spectacular police chase which ends on the roof of the British Museum.
The new music, performed live by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, was scored by Neil Brand and was a UK premiere.
Great film. Great score. Great performance.