Milestones – or Millstones?
Virtual Eighth
Poetry Performance, 6th June and On-Line
Review by M. Grierson
It’s a small audience that turns up to June’s online Poetry Performance, perhaps because the vaccine roll-out and the better weather mean that the poetically inclined are heading outdoors to reflect on the world they have been denied over the past year or so. You might say it’s a milestone: which, as chance would have it, is the theme of tonight’s readings. Your MC is the redoubtable Clive Rowland, who once more does sterling work keeping things moving and accentuating the positive. Would it be fair to suggest that, at times, he has his work cut out for him?
First on the bill is Pratibha Castle. They say self-praise is no recommendation, but she fearlessly announces that she will be reading from her forthcoming award-winning debut pamphlet. Fortunately, she lives up to her hype: the poems from A Triptych of Birds and A Few Loose Feathers prove among the best of the evening, and show Castle to be a confident, engaging reader.
Her “Padraig, who drove the snakes out of Ireland” evokes Heaney, with an agricultural reminiscence of the speaker’s father and her association of him with Ireland’s patron saint. “Afterwards” meanwhile reflects on Mammy’s passing with honesty and an attention to the particular, whether that is the London accents of the ambulance drivers who collect her body, or the dead woman’s “fingers like fallen plums”.
Read more…Camping It Up
What the Dickens?!
by David Hovatter
The Questors Theatre, The Courtyard Outdoor Theatre until 31st May
Review by Poppy Rose Jervis
On a bright day and buzz-wuzzing with anticipation, we find ourselves sitting in a courtyard (maybe not 19th Century flag-stoned type, of which many appear in Dicken’s work), and with a pocket full of curiosity in spite of shops being closed, and having been released, not from debtors prison but the ‘locked-in’ Covid jail where, although not paying a debt to society, we have all certainly been doing our bit for it’s good (the concept of which Dickens, social critic, would have approved and had plenty to say on the matter) and thinking to ourselves, ‘What the dickens is What the Dickens!? !? and ‘What for this pun and minced oath?’.
Swap the damp, dark alleyways of Old London Town for a pleasant outdoor, leafy setting in the Queen of the Suburbs (Ealing), coupled with a gentle warming sun and light breeze (and even a little bird song), throw in an all-female cast in place of all men and you will get the idea …
No, wait, swap the pleasant outdoor setting in the Queen of the Suburbs for a 20th Century holiday camp and think Dickens meets Carry on Butlins, fasten your socially distanced seatbelt for an energetic tumble with deliciously different transportation into 1960’s Dickens’ Butlins Land, David Hovatter (writer and director) style and you’re almost there.
Then hi-de-hi-ing in no quiet voice, pack your pre-conceived ideas (along with your political correctness) firmly away in your battered old suitcase, shove it into a bedroom at Bognor Regis, leave it there, and you’ve just about made it.
Read more…Flourishing in Adversity
Talking Lockdown, Episode Two
Arts Richmond, 19th of May and on YouTube
Review by Simone de Almeida
The second instalment of Art Richmond’s popular Talking Lockdown series was a breath of fresh air and familiarity amidst the constant change and chaos that seems to define the ‘new normal’ we have begun to settle into. It brought a warmth that truly strengthened the sense of community that has often been hard to find during lockdown, due to social distancing and other safety precautions, that have prevented us from reconnecting to our loved ones and getting back in touch with the things we enjoy.
Following a warm welcome from Sir Vince Cable, we were joined by a panel of distinguished guests with careers in artistic and literary fields, who provided their insight into how lockdown has affected them and their individual professions, and sharing their experiences on what has truly been an unprecedented period.
The talk delved into the unique experiences of news reporters, theatre producers, opera directors, and poets, shining a light on other aspects of lockdown we don’t often get the chance to learn of or think about. This was especially true of the discussions on the changes that have had to be made, and the amount of effort and work that had gone on behind the scenes in order to keep events and experiences running as smoothly as possible within lockdown guidelines, which we have all been a little guilty of neglecting to appreciate!
Read more…Maybe Soon
Virtual Seventh
Poetry Performance, On-Line, 9th May
Review by Thomas Forsythe
The merry merry month of May has cheered that eclectic band of poets, Poetry Performance, with the possibility that it may soon bring the chance of returning from the internet back to real-life three-dimensional encounters in The Adelaide, its Teddington home. Its latest on-line outing is inspired by the theme for the month, appropriately “May”.
Where we once had saint’s days, we now have a “special” day it seems for everything. (Apparently today is World Lawnmower Day.) Clive Rowland, the Master of Ceremonies, reminded us (if we hithertofore even knew) that the day, the first Sunday in May, was World Laughter Day.
Picking up this point, there were quite a few poems with the light-hearted themes that mark this month. Robin Clarke’s May I is a love poem, for this is the season when “a young man’s fancy…” The young man’s seduction is hobbled by his shyness, but he carefully ask permission for each move. But then again, as he admits, these words were “… never said. / They were just floating in my head”. Fran Thurling’s one liner, “The Pink Cherry Blossom” speaks succinctly for the season. Jackie Howting’s thoughts went to May spent in Corfu with her A May Zing, so evocatively describing Greece in spring that you could almost hear the trizonia crickets singing and smell the oregano.
Read more…Le Mot Unjuste
Chantecoq and the Mystery of the Blue Train
by Arthur Bernède, translated by Andrew K. Lawston
Review by Matthew Grierson
For a great sleuth, a detail speaks volumes. In the world of Parisian detective M. Chantecoq, however, volumes are spoken about every last detail.
No part of The Mystery of the Blue Train arrives without being extensively prefaced, described, attested in dialogue and recapitulated, as though the various hands behind it – the detective himself, his fictional amanuensis, author Arthur Bernède and translator Andrew Lawston – each want to make sure they’ve had a say on the matter. Rather than being snappy or smart, the dialogue has the laboured quality of bad radio play, with characters patiently explaining to one another things they patently already know. When they’re avoiding that pitfall, they can’t resist elaborate periphrasis: as the detective instructs his factotum to remove a disguise, for instance, he tells him to “reclaim your normal physiognomy” rather than “take off your mask”.
You may not have heard of Chantecoq before, the concoction of prolific French writer Bernède in the 1920s. For those who are interested I won’t précis the fictional sleuth’s career here because his résumé is given out as frequently as a calling card in the course of this mystery. The real mystery is why we need a translation: there’s no shortage of golden-age crime already, and this one is a long way from the crispness of a Christie or wit of a Wallace.
Read more…Requiem
by Simone de Almeida
Simone De Almeida’s poem, Requiem won the category prize for Arts Richmond’s Young Writers competition 2019-20.
She was awarded the distinction of Senior Laureate at the Young Writers Festival 2020
On the edge of insanity-
Blind to the fragmentary quandaries,
Ice melting;
Yet we heat our frozen hearts-
Connected yet we fall apart.
Materialistic desires,
Empty promises and counterfeit smiles.
Hide and seek,
In the game of your lies.
Naïve, is that so?
Incompetent and inept?
We are the future-
But you cannot perceive it yet.
Losing sanity,
To find yourself.
As ever, disregard:
The history book on the shelf.
The last time –
Though we’ve heard it countless times.
Say we’ll be fine –
In the darkness of your silence.
Simone de Almeida, March 2020
Photography by Thomas Jacobson
Once in a Lifetime
The Arts Richmond Young Writers Festival
The Stage Company, at the Exchange Theatre, Twickenham, 28th March
A review by Simone De Almeida
Simone De Almeida is one of our younger reviewers. Now aged thirteen, she was awarded the distinction of Senior Laureate in Arts Richmond’s Young Writers Festival in 2020 for her poem, Requiem.
Here she reviews the 2021 Young Writers Festival
As a bright, white light illuminated the stage, I leant forward on the edge of my seat in anticipation, knowing already that what I was about to witness would be undoubtedly spectacular. The first category of finalists was that of Year 4 and under, and to say I was amazed by the quality of work would be an understatement. Each piece was so captivating, following truly unique storylines to create something so incredibly original. The plots were so imaginative, ranging from the story of an unlikely friendship between a snow wolf and a polar bear cub, to the tale of a puppy finding a loving home.
Over time, I have noticed that it can often be all too easy to become wrapped up in complexity, valuing writing by length and vocabulary, but the work of these talented young authors served as an all too welcome reminder that there is so much joy to be found in work that is truly inspired. Each piece was truly brought to life by the incredibly talented actors, who delivered each performance with such passion and enthusiasm; it was thrilling to watch.
The next category performed was years 5 and 6, and I was awestruck by the emotion conveyed in their pieces. They took such complex subjects such as autism, ADHD, and dyslexia, and moulded them into something so raw and beautiful. It was evident that each author wrote from the heart, as there was such passion in their work; they perfectly understood the power of their words, and harnessed this to create something really poignant and moving.
Read more…Last Word
Big Time
by Jonathan Holloway
Blue Fire Theatre, On-Line until 31st December
Review by Mark Aspen
St George’s Day, 23rd April is a day for patriotism. George of Lydda, a Roman soldier of Greek origin born in Cappadocia, remains a worthy symbol of valour and honour, venerated as a Patron Saint. St George is believed to have died on 23rd April 303 and, remarkably on the same day of the year, have at least three English kings, Wihtred, King of Kent in 725, Æthelred I, King of Wessex (brother of Alfred the Great) in 871 and Æthelred II “the Unready”, King of England in 1016. Moreover, 23rd April seems to be a popular day for the demise of poets, William Wordsworth of pleurisy in 1850, and Rupert Brooke in 1915 during the Great War, but the enemy was a tiny mosquito whose infected bite caused fatal sepsis.
However, it should go without saying that the most celebrated poet who died on St George’s Day is William Shakespeare. As an extra bonus, St George’s Day is traditionally also recognised as the day of his birth. Nevertheless, to die on this special day extends to other super-star writers not just those from this Sceptred Isle. Miguel de Cervantes, creator of Don Quixote, regarded as the first novel, whom the Spanish regard as their own Shakespeare, also died on 23rd April, and in the very same year as Shakespeare, 1616.
However, through a quirk of the calendar, 23rd April was not the same day for Cervantes and Shakespeare. It is this quirk that forms the nub of Jonathan Holloway’s radio play, Big Time, commissioned by the BBC in 2016, to mark the 400th anniversary of this occasion, and in which Simon Callow and Nicky Henson played Shakespeare and Cervantes.
David Garrick invented the word Bardolatry in 1749, but I am sure that Spaniards have a corresponding Cervantolatry, a word in Spanish for the same phenomenon. It may therefore seem odd that the Blue Fire Theatre Company has presented its excellent reworking of Big Time as part of its Famous People You’ve Never Heard Of podcast series.
Read more…Paths of Perception
Virtual Sixth
Poetry Performance, On-Line, 11th April
Review by Mark Aspen
(Part Two) Escapement Checked
Zulu spear to lime green handbag … now there’s eclecticism …
Since its followers have taken to the aether for their seleno-cyclic sharing of their poetry, Poetry Performance has each time chosen a theme. For its April virtual gathering the theme was “Spring”. When opening Part One of this review, I wondered whether our Teddington based poets would still have spring in their steps along such a well-trodden path of poesy. The vast majority of the Poetry Performance coterie went to the subject with voracious enthusiasm, turning stones and looking into all the nooks and crannies on this path. Most were positive about the season of rebirth, although there were some misgivings that spring “disturbs the equilibrium” (Judith Blakemore, Lockdown) and one (Ken Mason, The Spring) explored a winding side path adding a twist of homonymic horology. Thus Poetry Performance thoroughly saturated the theme of “Spring”.
Nevertheless, other themes are available … that lime green handbag for example. Heather Moulson has quite a knack in combining humour and nostalgia in her poems. In Handbag this was the first proper “grown-up” handbag, she had at eleven years old and, although she progressed onto a fashionable clutch bag in her teenage years, the smell of the leather in the early eponymous item stands the test of time. Her humour creates the foil for Heather Moulson’s metaphor for the reality of life.
Read more…Roget’s Revenge
Virtual Sixth
Poetry Performance, On-Line, 11th April
Review by Mark Aspen
(Part One) Spring Unwound
One of the important things that poetry can seek to achieve is to find new meaning. It could be argued that its job is to look more profoundly, or more expansively, or more askew and askance at the world of our perceptions and beyond. Among poetry’s many themes, are there any, we may ask, that have been saturated with perception?
Poetry Performance, the Teddington-based congregation of procreators and propagators of poetry think not. Its current series of on-line poetry readings usually has a theme, and for its April virtual gathering “Spring” was chosen as its, er, springboard for poetic creativity. Poetry Performance did not disappoint with four-fifths of its April offerings being on the theme of Spring, (one might add unusually so, as its chosen theme is often ignored). But, I hear you interject, haven’t all of our major poets and others, past and present, had a good crack at this subject? Nevertheless, why not, with its promise of new beginnings, all the kingdoms of flora and fauna being reborn, and of course the Resurrection at Easter, here is a glorious source of hope, something desperately needed in our straightened times.
The writers of Poetry Performance have dug their pens into the rich mines of their inkpots, and with all the enthusiasm of children discovering a cache of chocolate eggs, have excavated more fat nuggets from their theme. (See how this abundance of spring generates metaphors as richly mixed as the ingredients of a simnel cake!)
Read more…
Mark Aspen 