Bath Festival has been urging us to JUMP IN their ten-day event this year, a compressed version of the usual music and literature festivals but still looking pretty jiggy with a wide range of lively events. Writer Alison Clink & I checked in to
Miniature Marvels, billed as a look at 'the art of the short story' though more accurately at the art of the three writers on the panel, with some overall comments from the Bath Spa lecturer chairing.
More stimulating was the screening of
Psycho, original black-and-white, with a live soundtrack from the Bath Philharmonic Orchestra, and never did that
eek eek eek! as Janet Leigh wriggles under the shower sound more scary...
Rosie Finnegan and I had front row seats in the art deco splendour of the Forum, originally built as a cinema though since a dance-school, bingo hall, and even a church.
I found I'd forgotten much about this Hitchcock classic ~ like that the second half is a whole other story with a second victim, and also how incredible Anthony Perkins is in this role.
And I also went along with Alison to hear Fay Weldon talk about her latest novel,
The Death of a She-Devil, in which she revisits her most infamous character 40 years later in a sequel that interviewer Alex Clark referred to cautiously as 'rather controversial' (for which read, widely
slagged off). Ms Weldon's responses were also rather controversial, which made the interview highly entertaining. 'They are young, they'll grow up' she says of her feminist detractors, and suggests 'as soon as women stop seeing themselves as victims of a patriarchy, their lives will improve.' Alex response is a sharp intake of breath and spluttered references to violence & misogyny, concluding 'Where has that all come from?' 'It may have come from the fact that men feel so disregarded,' says Fay sweetly, continuing to smile as the silence lengthens. The topic then shifts to her backlist and working habits. I'm pleased to hear that Fay's writing policy coincides with mine: 'The minute you get dressed you've had it,' she says, 'so I just don't get up.' Applause at the end was long & loud, and rightly so.
Feet First, the outdoor theatre group Annabelle Macfadyen and I co-run, has three days of bookings in Somerset for our TIME WALK with school parties in June so we've been checking out routes in our new venues... this week we had a superbly sunny day in
Ham Hill Country Park, a gorgeous area of grass and woodland with some fabulous ancient trees and, appropriately, a Time Stones sculpture.
Also relishing this burst of sunshine were the organisers of the
Campfire Conversations event in Frome on Thursday evening. Annabelle and Peter Macfadyen introduced
this project with a real campfire in the garden of the
Hubnub Centre followed by real conversations, with supper, inside in the Rye Bakery. The aim is to engage positively and imaginatively with real alternatives to present conflictive theories. It was Einstein, Annabelle reminded us in her succinct introduction, who said
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" and this radical approach has grown from a festival ethos, supported by Brian Eno and led by Pete Lawrence who recognised from his
Big Chill organising experience the possibilities generated by small group discussions. Also present were Indra Adnam and Pat Kane who were inspired by the Danish Alternative Party (and by Frome's 'Flat-pack Democracy') to create
The Alternative UK, not a party but a platform with the aim of 'reimagining politics'. They argue that the 'apathetic majority' is a misnomer: people are simply massively dissatisfied with party-politics as a concept. Conversations from the start revealed wide range of opinions among the fifty participants, but also a willingness to listen and discuss. (Probably it helped that the election was off-limits as a topic!)
My personal thought-of-the-night came from Pete Lawrence when campfire conversation turned to how long we'll have to wait for a revolution.
"The revolution has happened," he said,
"it’s happened in an unexpected way with unexpected people, but it has happened.” Brexit and Trump as the volcanic rumblings before the cosmic social eruption... it's a good thought.
Poetry and music were, of course, part of the mix of the night: Folk trio
Borrowed Light played as we arrived, and Vicki Burke's harp accompanied supper, after which Liv Torc read a funny & euphoric celebration of
Life and Rose Flint shared her beautifully hopeful poem
Because. Table conversations were clearly lively and fruitful but sadly (see moan below about my ongoing lurgy) I didn't stay long enough to hear Liv's summary, wondering:
What if... We become constellations of culture / Get Google maps to chart us / like a new universe / and trip advisor to rate the satisfaction / of our hearths and hearts / A roaring conflagration of voices / Grassroots twitching between our toes. It's viewable on her
facebook page and it's inspiring - do take a look.
So despite some real highlights this has been a sub-par kind of week, half-full of cancellations ~
The Island at
Tobacco Factory and three music sessions (trad jazz at Three Swans,
Pete Gage at Sam's Kitchen, and
Reg Meuross at the Grain Bar, all of whom I was sorry to miss.)
My voice is now a steady rasp rather than mostly mouthing with the odd fox-bark sound, and days have been fabulously sunny so happily I was able to end the week without missing John Law, Pete Maxfield and Billy Weir playing breathlessly exciting
jazz with Nic Sorensen at the Cornerhouse. I'll end with a picture of this, and one from the vibrant exhibition from
Artists 303 currently in the Round Tower, and hopes of full recovery next week.
And then for a complete change of focus, I was a time traveller for three days with Feet First, walking the story of the universe with Annabelle Macfadyen. We start 4.6 billion years ago and pace the earth's story from stardust to 2017 in 5-million-year steps, through catastrophes and the recoveries to the realisation that only in the last half-pace of our long journey does Sapiens appear. Every group of children ~ we did the walk for five groups, in three different Somerset venues ~ buzzed with fascinating questions afterwards, and their enthusiasm was awesome.
It's been a great week for parties and music. Here's Bonne Nouvelle performing at the Silk Mill, a venue which also proved superb for showing the paintings of David Moss in the exhibition which opened on Thursday ~ vibrant and visceral images inspired by nature, using landscapes, events and memories.
Our regular music events Roots Sessions at the Grain Bar and Jazz at the Cornerhouse both had something special this week: Howard Vause was guest singer for Graham Dent's jazz trio, bringing a cool sensuous ballad mood to a warm Sunday afternoon, and the folk/pop sounds of the Jupiter Owls were a definite hit on Wednesday night.
And as a Friday night bonus, the legendary Pete Gage Band rocked Sam's Kitchen ~ not one of my usual haunts as I'm not of a fan of their faux-industrial decor and inflated bar prices, but a fantastic quartet like this makes a visit compulsory. Pete's amazing voice creates uniquely vibrant shades of blue in the blues, and Paul Hartshorn's guitar playing is breathtaking.
