A double dose of drama, and some Hot Words

“Never boring for a split second” was Noel Coward’s view of Harold Pinter’s dramas: that's certainly true for Theatre Royal Bath’s new production of The Homecoming, arguably  the most Pinteresque of all this playwright's plays. Complex family relationships are revealed by conversational interaction which, whether brutal or benign, always seems banal. On a superb set (designer Liz Ashcroft) conveying in its spaciness the isolation of each inhabitant, director Jamie Glover ensures that every utterance contributes to the sense of non-connection and personal fantasy. The whole saga is brutal, physically and emotionally, yet the stylised unreality of speech with Pinter's iconic pauses and nonsequiturs ensure that it’s more intriguing than scary.All the men are steeped in their own delusions, never fully interacting, their speeches full of self-important fantasies. When these are challenged they crumple, several times literally. They don’t listen to each other, except to scoff. In reality these men are weak and seedy, and when Ruth arrives, the prism tilts. In a society more than ever concerned with gender roles, it’s interesting to surmise what Ruth’s effortless dominance signifies. Her husband’s passivity is as bizarre as her behaviour, and the unseen children are another insoluble: it’s almost as if Pinter didn't want his puzzling play to be ‘solved’ at all...

There are big names here: Mathew Horne - a million miles now from Stacey’s patient adoring Gavin - is impressive as Lenny, one of the strange sons of Max, who is well played by Keith Allen (Trainspotting), and the rest of the cast all have strings of credits. Shanaya Rafaat takes the role of Ruth, the wife who accepts her husband’s family’s offer to adopt her as a whore with the unforgettable farewell to her husband ‘Don’t become a stranger’; Ian Bartholomew is moving as Sam, the more-nearly-normal brother of Max; Geoffrey Lumb is touching as the quiet boxer and Sam Alexander plays Teddy, the homecoming brother.  The best thing I've seen on that stage for a long while. Images: Alan Henning

                                                                                                        

We move, theatrically speaking, now from the social attitudes of England in the 20th Century to those prevailing in 1782, when 133 men and women were thrown off the Zong slave ship as unwanted 'cargo' to preserve their drinking water. The radio version of The Meaning of Zong, produced by Bristol Old Vic, was broadcast on Radio 3 last year (reviewed in this blog March 28) and was both shocking and moving , but this full-stage 2-act version brought spectacular imagery and sound to the tragedy. Giles Terera, who took the role of the agitator for justice Olaudah Equiano (an actual 18th Century campaigner who was himself a stolen for slavery as a child) has been working with director Tom Morris for six years to bring this story to the stage. During that time Bristol became a hub for Black Lives Matter protests, culminating in the toppling of the Colston statue to join the bones of the many black slaves drowned there for their insurance money. As a case study of an era when black men and women were simply cargo, and their

killers were prosecuted not for murder but for an insurance scam, this is fascinating, but it's superb as theatrical performance too, shifting from spectacular displays of djembe drumming (Sediki Dembelo, music designer & performer) to dreamlike sequences under the sea, then shifting to eloquent arguments as the legal case is gathering momentum. Paul Higgins is brilliant as Granville Sharp, nearly worn out by his lonely role of opposition to the slave trade, but sharp enough to see the case through.  Jean Chan's stage & costume design enhanced every mood, with wooden planks a powerful link between the scenes whether as ship decks or menacing threats. Images @curtisrichardphotography.

Readers with particular interest in the theatre bits of this blog will find more on Plays International website here, and here 😊 

Moving on now to a group enterprise in environmental awareness:  Poets have been concerned about the damage caused by mankind to the earth's environment since at least 1820, when John Clare published Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Nature but since COP 26 this concern has become - in the southwest at least - a coordinated effort to create positive change, through raised awareness and informed action. Hot Poets is the result of a collaboration between performance poets Liv Torc and Chris Redmond, supported by a raft of institutions and individuals, and last year they produced a collection of 12 Poems About Saving the World.  Liv and Chris have now taken Hot Poets a stage further, with online workshops to create performance pieces about a chosen environmental project: this week they hosted two readings. At the session on Monday (thank you David Thompson for inviting me!) all of the sixteen poems presented were excellent: impressive in their research, compelling in their message, cleverly crafted, and moving in their delivery. 

The diversity of chosen projects was fascinating, as was the diversity of approaches to crafting a poem: 

Angela Higgs wrote from the future, 'remembering' the transformation of brown-fill sites to solar farms, while Tokoni mourned the sinking islands ('is it home when you can no longer stand on it?') and Jay Farley's marvellous combination of scientific research and clever word play actually managed to convince me that mushrooms can, or at least could, save the world... 

Music spot this week goes to the marvellous Brue River Band, who promised and delivered 'floor-filling funky blues' at the Sun Inn on Saturday - a friendly venue great for atmosphere but not for photos - and Sunday saw quite a lot of people at Rise Community Centre in  Whittox Lane chapel for a fabulous exhibition of wildlife recorded in Easthill, the most ancient of all Frome's undeveloped sites. As well as a large number of screens filled with superb images and fascinating information, there were quizzes to inform and intrigue, cakes and plants for sale, and music to enhance the mood. 

Signing off this week on a personal note: my devoted MacBook, constant companion for the last 7 years, had a heart attack on Thursday and has been dying by degrees. It's currently on a life support system - a new separate keyboard - but requires so many rests, and splutters for words so often, (eg this paragraph has taken 5 minutes) that I've had buy a replacement, on which, hopefully, normal service will eventually be resumed. Massive appreciation to David Goodman, without whose technical - and emotional - support, my MacCrisis would be still unresolved.  Off now to the Proof Pudding book club, for review-sharing and cake.

War, slavery, and sunshine as winter officially ends

'Pink Mist' sounds like a lipstick shade or a girly cocktail but for the troops in Afghanistan, it meant the fine spray of blood in the air when a soldier is blown to bits. It's the title of Owen Sheers' extraordinary drama of three young men who, inspired only by paucity of alternatives, go to war and are all terminally damaged. This was first staged at Bristol Old Vic in 2015, returning 2017 and is now available online here until 22 April. 

The play is a kind of surrealist mix of poetry and dance, with high-energy performance and dream-like intensity from a small cast and the interpreter always visible beside the action like a lamenting Cassandra - it's all powerfully effective. The script was inspired by interviews from returned servicemen and their families, which makes it all the more harrowing that none of the soldiers was inspired to enlist for any reason other than frustration with their life options in Bristol, and none gave any consideration at any time to the larger issues of national conflict.  This casebook study of three urban boys who deserved a better life - Arthur, Hads and Taff - shows the ripple effect on families and questions the values of the society we live in. You can read more about the cast and production here:  recommended viewing, if only to appreciate the emotional impact & scope of staged theatre. 

Bristol Old Vic has been providing drama in a variety of ways throughout lockdown, with this week's diversity including an audio play on Radio 3: The Meaning of Zong, directed by Tom Morris and written by Giles Terera, recreates with emotional intensity the true story of the slave ship which in 1781 dumped hundreds of black men and women overboard and successfully claimed insurance for their lost 'cargo'.  Moving between the historical court case with real-life figures of abolitionist Granville Sharp & Olaudah Equiano (Samuel West & and Giles Terera) and imagined mystical scenes from 1781,  it's sometimes difficult to follow, but the facts of the case are dreadful enough to grip the listener throughout.

Southampton's Art House on Saturday featured a zoom-adapted performance of Kevin King of Egypt, a bizarre tale created by poetry performer & psychiatric nurse Rob Gee - who Frome audiences will remember from his popular visits to Merlin Theatre for Poetry Platter events. Kevin has bipolar disorder and we meet him in a mood of strange elation as he decides to break out of the psychiatric ward and head for Egypt. All he needs is his passport and a run of luck, and it seems at times that he may achieve both, as he somehow acquires a policeman's wallet, a malleable taxi-driver, and a small girl called Millie. Kevin is an immensely sympathetic character, despite his extraordinary behaviour: the points he makes about social controls are insightful, and there's a lot that's really funny in this deceptively simple, very skilful, monologue.

A contrast in zoom mood now:  At the Coalface is the title and theme of Frome poet Rebecca Brewin's collection of poems published by Blurb Books: her online launch on Thursday was hosted by Mike Grenville with an introduction from Helen Moore and harp interludes from Vicki Burke. This evocation of mining and miners' lives merges with a mining of the poet's own history, and Rebecca uses the power of lists to summarise, define, and deepen the experiences she evokes. An impressive launch for a complex collection. 

And my tale of The Invisible Granny was Thursday's featured Storyopathy event from Kilter Theatre in collaboration with Clare Reddaway's A Word in Your Ear fiction sessions. Sadly I missed the link to Olly Langdon's reading but my pestering messages got me through the waiting room in time to hear Dr Olly's suggestion of retrouvaille as a key theme which, although his therapist persona is spoofy, I felt gratifyingly insightful.  After the audience dispersed, the page stayed open long enough for a big old catchup chat with friends who'd booked to hear my story of Izzy Quirk who had never been on holiday and what happened when she did. 

Time for another look at a couple of Frome's Podcasters: what's brilliant about these audial sessions is that they aren't time-sensitive so if you miss one you can catch up any time later, or binge on them box-set style. Eleanor Talbot, seen here with Jessie and some of her jewellery designs, hosts Variations on a Theme which this week covers the topic of cover songs. Is the original always the best - or even the best-known? Case in point is the 1982 hit written by Tears for Fears' co-founder Roland Orzabal for the band, but Gary Jules' more powerful cover of Mad World was a massive Christmas hit in 2003.

Andy Wrintmore's podcast guest couldn't be more appropriate in the week we heard Easthill Field has been saved from development by the support team's efforts to research the wildlife and prove its value as ancient meadow, as the Giant Pod with Julian Hight focuses on Frome's punk-rocking self-taught tree specialist. This informative & entertaining session covers a wide range of topics including tree communication, 'forest bathing' in benign pheromones, and protection activism as well as his travels and those great tree books. Andy has now also given the podcast treatment to musician Nick Wilton, another fascinating Frome personality - who I'm proud to say, like Julian - and Andy himself - featured in my book Frome Unzipped - from prehistory to post-punk. So it's good to know 4000 year-old trees and neo-punk are both still thriving in Frome.

And finally... another 'Best Place to Live' list in the Sunday Times, another win for Frome as top place in the south west. Illustrating their accolade with a photo of the rapidly-depleting shops of Catherine Hill, the Sunday Times summary may not delight all residents by its enthusiasm for "tasteful Farrow & Ball tones" as a primary reasons for selection. At £84-119.00 for a 5 litre pot, F&B elegance represents everything that many long-standing residents resent about the 'gentrification' of Frome. Luckily there's a lot more to love about our town, including the passionate interest in its past & present history, reflected by online groups like Frome History & Mystery,  Frome Local, Frome Wildlife Watch, and more. Where else, I wonder, would my photos of a bit of ruined aqueduct, from an aborted idea at the end of the 18th Century, attract 6,824 views on facebook in 3 days? Here's the entries, now blocked: my book Frome Unzipped (p92-93) recounts the sad story of the failed project to create a canal link to Frome, despite the extraordinary inventiveness of James Fussell, and I'm learning more from comments now - including the inevitable financial scandal... (thanks Patrick Moss).