Drama in the wild: two forests, and a riverbank.

Most of my favourite stories throughout childhood involved small children made unhappy by rejection - The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and other such classics, all involving ultimate vindication and social acclaim. Bristol Old Vic has found a way to fit a tale of reckless robbers into this satisfying mould with Robin Hood: Legend of the Forgotten Forest, stirring into their novel mixture various fairytale memes and popular songs, to the delight of both children and adults in the audience. When young JJ (played by the most mature member of the cast incidentally) is given a magic book to comfort him, he finds his way into the most unusual version of the traditional story imaginable... and of course, becomes a hero. This festive offering has been devised by the Wardrobe Ensemble so narrative anarchy is guaranteed, though channelling Bryan Adams was a surprise. And there are masses of oblique references to other whacky tales and memorable absurdities - Alice's Wonderland, The Blues Brothers wild quest, BlackAdder, Peter Pan, Boris... in other words, plenty for the adult children in the audience to pick up on and relish. 

 My favourite characters were yuppy Will Scarlet (Tom England) and the very very very wicked Sheriff of Nottingham (James Newton, who was the boxer's girlfriend in The Rocky Horror Show at the Wardrobe Theatre last time I saw him.)  There's a message of hope though, as Robin finally decides "The days of greed are over," and abandons his trip to the Costa Sol to stay and to "fight for an England that is fair, to make our children proud."  Wouldn't that be nice.  Directed by Tom Brennan and Helena Middleton, full cast & credits here, Images are screenshots of the promo.

A dramatic move next night from fantasy forest to rural riverside, for Frome's Merlin Theatre's musical version of Kenneth Graham's famous classic The Wind in the Willows. With three -football-teams-worth of interacting animals, singing/dancing woodland creatures, and a live band, the slick & professional-looking delivery of this production was a tribute to everyone involved, especially director Claudia Pepler. Credit for costumes must go to the 17 dedicated hat/glove/tail and ear constructors: all were delightful with road-hog Toad, resplendent in an amazing pond-weed-colour costume with hair to match, absolutely standout. Huge credit to the dedication and talent of this team.

From theatrical forests and woodlands to the real thing: a visit with my family to Westonbirt Arboretum to wander the paths of the illuminated trees, with occasional interruptions for mulled wine or churros and chocolate...  A balmy evening - and the limited group-number ensured by the organisers - ensured a really lovely experience.

No music to report in this week's edition, as all these theatricals & visuals clashed with Wednesday's jazz and also with Saturday night's double-band bonanza in Frome. But I was back in town by Sunday evening for the final Proof Pudding Club meeting of the year. This reading-group-with-a-difference, conceived and led by Hunting Raven Bookshop manager Tina Gaysford-Waller, reports over coffee & cake in River House Cafe on the proof copies arriving in the shop each month - this time we had mulled wine & mince pies in honour of the season, and a Secret Santa book gift for everyone. Here's Tina's pic of some of the gift-pile as I forgot to take a snap, and to finish this week's bulletin, a look back at Monday night in the Hydeaway, Frome's fabulous 'speakeasy' - cocktails in a converted print shop with fellow writer Nikki Lloyd.

 

Forget the lost summer, there's post-equinox fizz now...

After a skimpy summer, and a heatwave that went awol, this was a good week for autumnal indulgence.

I've never before been to a Speakeasy, where you knock on a back alley door for entry into a den of alcoholic luxury,  but last week Eleanor Talbut initiated me into the HydeAway with its menu of exotic cocktails. In this Hollywood-rococo style bar we were served by professional mixologist Giles, who gave me the backstory of my negroni: he uses Holm Oak smoke to create the dramatic effect on arrival at the table, and sees cocktails as creative experiences, taking inspiration from memories of colour, smell and taste from childhood as well as the visual skills he used as a cameraman for BBC documentaries. Add Gilbert O'Sullivan in the background to complete the scene... another great night out with Ellie, 

which segues nicely into her latest podcast (here):  Déjà Vu is her topic this time, with the usual esoteric medley of tracks on the theme, plus an interview with me about my new book.

I'm not gonna lie, the big event for me this week was the official launch of Déjà Lu at Hunting Raven Books, hosted by dynamic manager Tina Gaisford-Waller, and well attended despite the evening storms.  Once again, thwarted by restrictive format of new improved Blogger, I've resorted to a screenshot image combo to show the welcome & support I enjoyed from Tina, who then took the shot of my audience, a smashing group who came up with great questions and were supportive throughout. 

Art now, and Somerset Open Studios continued throughout the week for the 205 artists particpating across the county - here's another report from a Frome studio: Clive Walley has developed his series of 'Birch trees in the mist' using tar applied by trowel after reading a book about the seige of Stalingrad and pondering on the primitive resources for art that would have been available to the soldiers.  By coincidence my photography that afternoon had included trees by the Frome river path, which in monochrome version are weirdly similar to these atmospheric images  - this is again a screen shot for comparison.

Friday night saw the opening of a solo exhibition from Mel Day at the WHY gallery in Frome. Mel is famed for her amazing twisted-metal writings and other art pieces, but these this prints and drawings show a different aspect of her skills, although these people are mostly bent and twisted too... Elegantly and impossibly contorted, their postures seem poignantly resonant of their internal lives, and perhaps all our lives nowadays.  Dancers and Dreamers is on until mid-November, so do visit if you're near Frome.  

Art is a useful segue into the Frome Independent, too, as this nationally-famous street market - cancelled for over a year - is now enjoying its first-Sunday-of-the-month status in the streets, alleys, and open spaces of our town, and art & craft feature even more than cheese!  (This month there were wild mushrooms too, collected by The Happy Forager). 

Local artist David Daniels who always pitches on Catherine Hill, has some fabulous new 'storyboards' of tiny landscapes, and - since encouraging young artists is a political act - these handcrafted resin earrings from the stall of Bristol jeweller Rosa Pietsch were irresistible too. And of course, there's the wonderful busking stage where superb sound is guarunteed from Luke Emery - this week with four top class acts: Nick Balura, the Bert Jansch of Frome, followed by the 'twisted blues and religious fervor of hugely popular The Back Wood Redeemers - then reggae rythms from the Mellowtones, and for the final hour, folk from Crossing the Rockies. Here's the irreligious Back Wood boys extolling their enjoyment of a chocolate Jesus. 

Party time this week started on Thursday at the Black Swan, with a welcome to Malcolm Lloyd, the incoming Chair of Trustees, with drinks & nibbles in the courtyard - a very pleasant occasion. And Friday's wedding party in Great Elm Village Hall had some great acts from a range of Frome performers all evening, and when the sound system collapsed, the Hoodoos simply leapt onto a bench and treated us to an unforgettable acoustic version of the Rattlin' Bog....

with Saturday's party at Frome's Rook Lane Chapel celebrating the birthday of a local opera singer who not only performed superbly herself but also inspired open-mic from many of her guests (who were polite enough to also applaud my unexpectedly-required and just-about-recalled poem rendition of You know it's a Fairytale) - was also impressive entertainment, again ending with dancing. So that's two nights of quality performances concluding with wonderful Anne singing like this converted nonconformist chapel was the Albert Hall.  The diversity of talent in this small town is astounding. 

And now that October has made the season officially autumn, it's time for the Ezra Pound poem that I generally offer at this time in the year:

And the days are not full enough

And the nights are not full enough

And life slips by like a field mouse

Not shaking the grass