Biography of a year

One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson
That Fateful Year: 1914 by Mark Bostridge

It is no secret that I like to read non-fiction, in fact so far this year I've read a lot more fact than fiction but one new trend that I really like is the fashion for picking a year or a season and writing its biography.

Last year Bryson's 1927 made my top 5 books and I loved the way that he flitted from topic to topic, place to place, person to person but connected them all to tell the story of just a few months. I know his style is light and almost whimsical but it was also informative and got a lovely balance between being too scatty and too in depth.  I raced through it.

Mark Bostridge's book about 1914 can't be quite as light-hearted but he does manage to pick a wide variety of stories to show what England was like in the last few months before the First World War broke out.  He moves from child murder on a train, to the Prime Minister's love affair with a much younger woman to the serious situations caused by the Suffragettes and the Irish Troubles. The war almost sneaks up on you, and even by the end of 1914 the true horror hasn't quite hit home to most people.  There is also a lovely chapter all about the Burston School Strike here in Norfolk - something I'd heard of but not known much about.

Both authors manage to bring their subjects to life in a way that a straight history or the biography of just one person could never do.  They are popular reads not complicated reference tomes but they are good starting points and both have excellent bibliographies if you want to explore further.

Theatre 2014: Review Two

The Duchess of Malfi, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London. January 2014

I've been excited about this play for a long time, and even more so since I have been studying the theatres of the Jacobean era and first of all let me say that this didn't disappoint.

Over the past few years I've seen the outside of the new Playhouse take shape on visits to the Globe and I've also been following in the interior build thanks to the photos posted by The Globe on their website. A quick Google search shows the stages of the build and it has to be said that the CGI projections of what the finished building looked like were accurate but don't do it justice.

Inside it is like travelling in time (except thankfully without the aromas!) the theatre is all made of wood and lit with beeswax candles that are on movable chandeliers as well as some fixed candle sticks on the pillars.  Actors also carry candlesticks with them as they move about the space. The candles are also lit and extinguished throughout the performance so there is the lovely smell of wax and smoke at times too!

Now the play. I saw the Duchess of Malfi in 2012 and liked it very much, although looking back now I remember incidents and the Duchess clearly but the rest of the play and the actors have faded completely from my memory.
The version at the SWP managed to be physically lighter than the version I saw before, despite using no modern lighting. This made the impact of the darker scenes greater as you really noticed when the mood changed, it also meant that the characters themselves were more visible and I found all of the roles easy to distinguish and keep track of. Seeing the actors all of the time also meant that I got into the rhythm much quicker.
The flickering light and small space made the play feel very claustrophobic (in the right way) as an audience member you were complicit in the action and could see every small flicker of emotion on the characters' faces.

The horror scene however wasn't as effective in this version, I had forgotten when it occurred in the play but just didn't buy into the scene at all. However I did have many more goosebumps running up and down my arms throughout the play and it was scarier over all.

This version also lost a lot of the carnality I remember from the version at the Old Vic, however this did mean that we saw the action unfold rather than have it told to us.  Ferdinand's unhealthy obsession with his sister and descent into madness were much clearer in this version, and thoroughly creepy.

It was nice to see some of the main Globe's actors in a smaller space, and also to see similar styles of theatre from the open air stage scaled down but still visible in the new space.

However the new theatre isn't without problems, it feels cramped even after making use of the cloakroom. Leg room is an issue and Mr Norfolkbookworm with his long thigh bones was very uncomfortable. The Globe have always said that no seat in either of their Playhouses has a totally unrestricted view of the stage this is more true in the indoor theatre than ever. We had a very good view of the stage from our favourite area at the back of the Upper Gallery but even leaning forward we couldn't see the pit (unlike at the outdoor theatre) and seeing as the standing spots are twice the price of the Groundling area (listed on line as having the best view for only £5) the view from them appeared to be dreadful.

None of this has put me off, I'm going back in about 6 weeks to see the next Jacobean play performed. I loved the play and the playhouse but with a few reservations about the seating.

This images from Reuters gives a feel for the interior...

Theatre 2014: Review One

A Christmas Package, The Blakeney Players, Blakeney. January 2014.

As ever this review cannot be totally impartial as I do know one of the cast.

Wow - what a start to 2014's theatre!

The opening number of this winter's show from the talented Blakeney Players put a lot of professional theatre to shame with the timing and choreography. Apart from at the ballet I don't know that I saw a better dance routine in 2013.

The story as ever is thin but that isn't the point of the play at all, it is about having fun - both for the cast and the audience - and I think that yesterday that was the case completely.  In 90 minutes we moved from dance routines to opera via pop songs and Punch and Judy. The action went from London to Moscow via Paris and Venice and Thunderbird 2 cooked the Christmas turkey in a very clever piece of staging.

The play also had the scariest scene I have ever seen on stage during a musical number where all the female case wore Olivia Newton-John masks and the men John Travolta ones - the result was scarier than any monster Doctor Who have come up with, including the Weeping Angels or the kid in a gas mask...

The scenery wobbled, the jokes were dreadful but as ever the enthusiasm made up for it all. One of the funniest things I've seen since their last play - I already can't wait for the summer show!

some of the cast - photo from the EDP website.

Nose to the grindstone

Versions on a theme.

2014 has started in a novel fashion for me - one that has involved no novels in fact.  I had two essays due in the middle of January and I have been holed up at home writing them.

Both were challenging in their own ways but I have been boring the pants off anyone who comes near me with the things I've been discovering.

There's more than one version of several Shakespeare plays. Some of these versions differ greatly to the one that we think we know today.  Hamlet for instance, in Quarto One, has half the number of lines, the story takes place in a different order and the "To be or not to be" speech doesn't appear. To be honest Hamlet is nowhere near my top 10 of Shakespeare's plays and I cheered to find a shorter version!

I've been looking into Henry V for the past month as the two versions of this text are both very different and quite similar.  The Quarto version makes for a very different play than the more familiar Folio and again an iconic speech is missing - this time "Once more unto the breach..."

Henry V is a deceptive play which ever version you read and I'm pleased  to report that even after studying it for a month, reading several versions, and many critical texts it remains one of my favourite plays.

Jamie Parker as Henry V, Globe 2012 (picture from Evening Standard)

Books of the Year 2013

Top Titles

In 2013 my reading slowed down towards the end of the year as my studies started, sure I am still reading but now it is a lot of chapters from books or article journals rather than whole books from cover to cover.

That being said in 2013 I did still manage to read 218 books, a fair chunk of these were non-fiction and very few were re-reads. I think I read the least children's books ever this year too!

Picking my top reads was actually very hard - the top two came easily but after that I had to pour over my reading journal to narrow it down, and even then I had to cheat!  Please note that these lists are simply the best books I read this year and *not* the best books published this year!

Top 10 Fiction:

1. The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain
2. The Yohnalasse Riding Camp for Girls by Anton Disclafani
3. Wars of the Roses: Stormbird by Conn Iggulden
4. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
5. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
6. Austerlitz by W G Sebald
7. The Marlowe Papers by Ros Barber
8. Longbourn by Jo Baker
9. Fortunately the Milk by Neil Gaiman
10. Stoner by John Williams

Some of these choices surprise even me...I read Disclafani's book back in January and thought it was brilliant, but never expected it to stay in my top 10 let alone in my top 2 - it set the bar very high for all other books this year!

The Marlowe Papers is a book in verse and about the idea that Shakespeare's plays were written by Marlowe, I should have loathed it but instead found it gripping.  Equally I've not got on that well with many of Neil Gaiman's books (to the horror of my reading group) but yet this deceptively simple book has really stuck with me.

Top 5 Non Fiction:

1. An Astronaut's Guide to Life of Earth by Commander Chris Hadfield
2. A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor
3. The Old Ways by Robert MacFarlane
4. One Summer: 1927 by Bill Bryson
5. White Hart, Red Lion by Nick Asbury

Honorable mentions in the non fiction category have to go to the 12 short books published by Penguin to celebrate the 150th birthday of the Tube especially 32 Stops by Danny Dorling about the Central Line which was a real eye-opener.

So far I've not seen many lists of books that are to be published in 2014 and so I don't know what to expect - I'm just hoping that the next Conn Iggulden book will be out soon, but as yet there is nothing on his website. 

Theatrical Review of 2013

Favourites from 2013

A bumper year for theatre visits this year as I saw 34 productions live plus a handful of 'as lives' in the theatre.  Some things didn't live up to my expectations - People and Mojo spring to mind instantly for this category.

I met a play that I actively loathed - Macbeth at the Trafalgar Studios, but luckily the version staged later in the year at The Globe reminded me that I do like the play when it is done well.

In no particular order my top five theatrical performances from 2013 are:

1. The Color Purple at the Chocolate Menier Theatre
2. Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake at the Theatre Royal, Norwich
3. The Henry VI trilogy at The Globe
4. The Merchant of Venice at Norwich Cathedral
5. Blue Stockings at The Globe

Near misses from my top 5 included Privates on Parade, Proof, and The Snowman!

In 2014 I am already looking forward to visiting the new Sam Wanamaker Theatre, seeing King Lear with Simon Russell Beale at the National Theatre and all of the summer season at The Globe.

I'm also hoping that there is a revival of Journey's End soon as I really want to see it again and that the trope of having a toilet/vomiting on stage soon vanishes!

Theatrical Interlude 34

The Snowman, Peacock Theatre, London. December 2013.

My love of theatre is possible spreading too far as on this outing I was accompanied by my dad, my sister and my 3 1/2 year old nephew.  Who in their right mind would take a pre-schooler to London, to the theatre, five days before Christmas...

I'm pleased to say that we had an absolutely brilliant time at this production. It is sensibly formed of two 45 minute acts telling the simple, well loved, story by Raymond Briggs. In the first half the little boy builds the snowman, he comes to life and they explore the house. Just before the interval the boy and snowman fly off the stage to the famous song We're Walking in the Air.

After a decent 20 minute break we come back and the duo are still flying but quickly land at the North Pole and have their adventures with Father Christmas and the other snowmen.  There are two added plot lines here as the Snowman falls in love with the snow queen and then has to fight Jack Frost for her love.  For once additions to a story fit completely and really do add to the tale.

Just like in the book and on the film after the pair fly home there is a thaw and the inevitable happens - which left the three adults in our party with a huge lumps in our throats.

Oh - and all of this is a ballet, not a word is uttered.

Unsurprisingly the audience was full of children at our matinee and I'm happy to say that they mostly behaved better than adult audiences at other plays I've seen! As for my nephew - he was pretty much on the edge of his seat throughout with his eyes like saucers in wonder. In his words, and echoed by us all, it was "magical".

I think that we'd all like to see this again next year but hopefully MummyNorfolkbookworm won't be poorly and she'll be able to come too...

Theatrical Interlude 33

Richard II, RSC at The Barbican, London. December 2013.

This play is one of the ones that I've looked at in a little bit of detail this semester and so for the first time I went into the auditorium with some insight into the play. For which I am quite glad.

Whilst this was a good production, with actors who were clearly at home speaking Shakespeare's words clearly - as if they were normal dialogue and not something special -  the start of the first half to me seemed a little unclear.

From the reading I've done I knew why the King behaved as he did but I didn't see that on the stage. In fact the start of the play was only explained in the last half of the last act...

On the plus side other scenes that I'd read in the play but that hadn't made an impact on me for their importance did make a lot more sense on seeing them on the stage, but even then to make them stick out perhaps they were over played a little for some light relief in a dark play?

The plot of Richard II is very similar to that of Edward II (history does repeat itself after all!) and having seen both plays in quick succession I can say that while Edward II was quite frankly a little too experimental at times I found it was easier to understand why that King had to be deposed. In Richard II he was a little wishy-washy, vague and had too much self importance but the real reasons why his nobles felt he should go didn't come across. I know that in general it is better to show than to tell but in this case I thought we needed a little more of both!

I'm very pleased to have seen this production as David Tennant was very good but apart from his hair and the overall impression of the play I don't think anything else from the production will stay with me - it was a nice way to spend an afternoon but not a standout production for me.

Making an exhibition of myself?

The Georgians Revealed, The British Library, London. December 2013.

A recent training day at the British Library has become one of my work highlights of the year.  We're going to be working on a very exciting project next year in conjunction with the BL and as a pre-Christmas treat 2 colleagues and I got to spend the day getting to know the library a little better.

We had a brief tour of the library including into one of the Reading Rooms and from that I now really do want to spend one day there during my MA if at all possible, although it is possible that I will find the silence too oppressive for good work!

After the training we had a couple of hours free and very kindly we were given free tickets to the latest exhibition in the library, all about the Georgians.  None of us knew much about the era but by the end we all wanted to read/reread the novels, go to a ball and try on the costumes.

The exhibition starts with a wonderfully innovative time line putting the period into historical and political context but then the main exhibition is all about the social side of the era using books and artifacts to illustrate this.  It was incredibly interesting and informative even with no real prior knowledge of the time and it would be easy to spend hours in the exhibition pouring over everything.  I was incredibly taken with the books about the formal dances, including the foot plans for people dancing a quadrille.  I have two left feet and could see I'd have been no asset at a ball.

The real highlight for the three of us was the 1799 map of London that has been turned into flooring just as you leave the exhibition. We spent ages working out where modern buildings were and what we recognised from today.  Also the chance to say we walked right across London is too good to miss!

The exhibition is on until March and even at £9 is worth every penny, I'm tempted to go back.

Theatrical Interlude 32

Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Norwich Theatre Royal. November 2013.

Another great London production on tour in Norwich and this one came highly recommended by mum and dad - they saw it for their 40th wedding anniversary!

It has been a long time since I've watched the original movie but I think that this was a pretty good adaptation even if at times it did feel a little too fast so that the tension and pathos didn't have time to build. I don't think that this is the point of the show however as it is just a vehicle (pun intended) to showcase some good singing (except Jason Donovan's on the night we saw it!) and some amazing costumes.

The whole production was slick and shiny but for some reason I didn't quite come out with the full-on feel good factor I was hoping for, and that other musicals have left me with.  I wasn't humming any of the songs, and while I did enjoying myself on the night there are no stand out moments replaying themselves in my mind.  It also didn't manage to convey any of the coy naughtiness that I thought it might - but that may be because I saw an Alan Bennett play earlier in the day and that was rude!

I did enjoy my night but there is nothing in this musical that makes me want to see it again, which is a shame as I can see that it was a really good production! Mr Norfolkbookworm and I had seats in the stalls this time and although not sold as restricted view seats we did miss some of the action to the side of the stage, I'm wondering if all the really good bits happened there?!

Theatre at the movies (again!)

The Habit of Art, National Theatre Live (Encore), Cinema City, Norwich. November 2013.

After seeing a few plays by Alan Bennett, and always feeling slightly annoyed that the original History Boys passed  me by, I was really pleased when the National Theatre announced that they'd be broadcasting The Habit of Art as part of their 50th birthday celebrations.

Once more I went in without knowing anything about the play but as ever this didn't matter because the story was totally accessible and the plot comprehensible.  I quite like plays within plays and so from the off I was predisposed to like this one I suppose.

Like everything Alan Bennett writes this was very funny, very rude and very sly - I don't think I've laughed so much in public since I saw Noises Off! There wasn't quite the poignancy in the script as in more recent Bennett works, but that was provided by seeing the late Richard Griffiths on stage.  I do wish that I'd seen him in something live before he died - c'est la vie.

This was a great way to spend a cold, wet winter Monday and I am really pleased how many NTLive performances (as well as those from the RSC and Donmar Warehouse) have already been announced for 2014. Much as I like going to London seeing fabulous things like this in Norwich is a real treat.

Theatrical Interlude 31

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, Theatre Royal, Norwich. November 2013.

Last year I tried opera for the first time and found that, at least the one I saw, wasn't for me. Since then I've been thinking about ballet and trying to find one to see.  The version of Romeo and Juliet choreographed by Macmillan has been recommended but I'd also heard a lot about the Matthew Bourne's staging of Swan Lake, thus when I found out it was coming to Norwich I knew I had to see it.

Now before seeing it I knew nothing about the ballet or the story at all (I've not even seen Black Swan) and I decided that I wouldn't  look it up. I wondered if a whole story could be told completely through music and dance only.

I'm pleased to say that it really can, well at least in this version it really can. From curtain up in act one right through to the end I was spellbound, and by the end I did have tears rolling down my face. How talented are the dancers that I really forgot I was watching men on the stage but just saw swans gracefully moving and then violently reacting?

I know that some people who read my blog are going to see this later in the tour and so I'm not going to say much more - I want the impact for them to be as great as it was for me, but I am looking forward to talking with them about it afterwards!

I shall be eagerly scanning the theatre guides looking for more Matthew Bourne productions and equally really searching for a ballet to see at the Coliseum in London complete with live orchestra. Suggestions of what to see gratefully received.

A space sensation

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth - Chris Hadfield

I think that regular readers of my thoughts will realise that I have three main interests - reading, the theatre and manned space flight.  When two of these combine it is a real treat.

Commander Chris Hadfield was the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station during his nearly 6 months in space earlier in 2013. In that time his use of social media to share his experiences made him probably the best known astronaut since Neil Armstrong.

Just 6 months after his return to Earth, after spending the preceding 5 months in space, Hadfield has published his autobiography. I am guessing that perhaps he'd been working on it prior to flight as nothing about it feels rushed or incomplete, it is just a delight to read from cover to cover.

I've read a lot of astronaut (and cosmonaut) memoirs and this is easily in my top three.  Hadfield decided he wanted to be an astronaut in July 1969 as he watched Armstrong and Aldrin walk on the moon and set out in a very single minded fashion to make his dream come true.

However he is Canadian and despite this determination he seems unable to be nasty as he achieves his dream.he always comes across as a very nice person, Throughout the book recognises that he must have talent and ability but he remains humble and charts his mistakes clearly and gives tips for how he thinks a person should behave to get ahead and remain well liked.

The book doesn't contain too many technological details but I did learn a lot more about the other aspects of training, I also know more about going to the loo in space than I did before.  Hadfield drops tiny tidbits of gossip but never names names which just makes me want to read more, he is also far more open about his health problems before, during and after flight than I've ever known an astronaut be before.

If you only got interested in the space programme thanks to following @Cmdr_Hadfield you won't be disappointed in the book, and if like me you have a deeper interest I don't think you'll regret reading this book for moment.

Now if you'll excuse me I am off to haunt the website to see if I can meet Commander Hadfield when he is in the UK next month but I do urge you to watch his version of Space Oddity - the book tells you just how the video was made!

Theatrical Interlude 30

Mojo, Harold Pinter Theatre, London 2013.

I've been delaying writing this theatre visit up as even a few weeks on I am not sure how to do so fairly.

Rebecca and I were lucky enough to secure tickets to the very first preview performance of this revival and so in many ways this was like seeing a work in progress and it doesn't seem kind to write about it.

So...

It was a really interesting experience to see something that no one else had before, it had a stellar cast that threw everything they had into the performance and the first act was brilliant - fast paced, tense and just enough black humour to counter balance that.  It didn't matter that as an audience member I didn't really know what what going on - I've come to realise that it what I was supposed to feel as it is what the main characters on the stage are also feeling.

Act 2 wasn't as great, for me it was overlong with less humour. This time not really understanding the characters' motivation really meant I felt too far at sea to enjoy the experience fully.

However this was the first public performance and I am sure that if I was to revisit some of these points, especially the run time, would have been addressed. Sadly I just didn't like it enough to want to look out for the chance to see it again.

I do think that the problems I have with Mojo are all my own, many of the reviews I've read are much more positive and I must stress that there wasn't a weak link on stage. Perhaps I'm just too immersed in 450 year old plays at the moment to appreciate a modern play?

Mojo 'opens' on November 13th and I think that it will get pretty good reviews and with a cast including Ron Weasley, Merlin and Q from Bond it is always going to find an audience!

Theatrical Interlude 29

Edward II, Oliver Stage, National Theatre, London. October 2013.

So much for not having so much time to blog - well I suppose I am reading less for fun currently and don't have so many book reviews to share.

This past weekend Rebecca and I had another of our London binges - this time two plays and two museums in the space of 36 hours (37 if you count the end of BST!). We were joined by another friend but she has more sense than us and just came for lunch and the first play - Marlowe's Edward II...

This was a mix of styles in performance as some of the actors were in period costume and others very much in modern dress. The same followed through with the set and staging and after a few moments to understand that this was the style I found that it didn't bother me too much. The swapping of genders for participants also took a while to settle in but the actors were so good this did also cease to be an issue.

The play itself is also a little bit of a mixture as it has a deceptively simple story line - bad king makes bad decisions and his lords rise up against him. However as plotting to overthrow a monarch is something best done in private how to show this, and all of the bad decisions, on stage...

This production used handheld cameras to follow the actors into less visible areas and at times there were two stories being told - the actors at the front of the stage and then the projected video feed on the walls to the side.

I think it worked.

I came away being bowled over by the quality of the actors and the power of the story but slightly less convinced on the staging.  The Oliver theatre has a wonderful revolving section and in my mind I'd imagined that being used to switch between parts of the story.

A lot of Edward's downfall comes about because he advances his (male) lovers politically and the existing nobles,naturally, don't particularly like this usurpation of their power. For me this play wasn't about their homophobia - when the king kisses his favourites (which he did a lot) the lords aren't shocked by this, or repulsed. It is the behaviour of the lovers as they flaunt their wealth, power and influence that enrages the establishment.

Gaveston (the King's lover and one cause of his downfall) was seated in the audience at the start and when he leapt from his seat and started talking to the stage I did wonder if there was an unhinged audience member. While this use of the whole theatre works at The Globe it felt a little awkward in this performance and made me long to see this either done in a more 'straight' fashion or actually at The Globe with full groundling participation.


This all sounds more negative than I actually felt on seeing the play as I enjoyed it a great deal.  It also makes an interesting comparison with this week's set uni text which is Richard II - another poor king who loses his life.

picture of the whole cast and crew of the play tweeted by the National Theatre and taken just after the curtain fell on the matinee that we saw.

Theatrical Interlude 28

The Cambridge Greek Play 2013, Arts Theatre, Cambridge. October 2013.

Three years ago a friend told us about a version of Agamemnon that was being shown in Cambridge, intrigued we went and had a nice time. Intrigued because this is company that only perform every three years and when they do so it is in the original ancient Greek.

The trip didn't start well, one of the party couldn't make it and the main road from Norwich to Cambridge was shut but eventually Mr Norfolkbookworm and I met Rebecca at Cambridge station and set forth to the city. The run of bad luck seemed to continue as a phone stopped working and all the restaurants were full when it came to needing lunch. However we found sustenance and all seemed to be going well.

We had great seats in the theatre, lots of leg room and soon settled in for what we'd told Rebecca was a great experience, yes the plays might be in a dead language but that didn't matter - there were surtitles, no different than a foreign language film...

This cycle two plays were performed Prometheus before the interval and The Frogs after, tragedy then comedy.

Prometheus wasn't to any of our tastes although I can see that if you know the play/Greek it offered a lot more.   The plot was simple Prometheus has helped Zeus to over throw his father but then has helped out the human race and angered Zeus. Who has him chained to a rock.  The next 55 minutes or so are all about why he is there. With singing.  I can see from my studies into theatre why this is considered a good play and I can also see a lot of the aspects of drama that I've been reading about and I mean no offence to the cast when I say on the whole we didn't enjoy this one.

After the interval it was a different matter. The Frogs, and especially this version, is bonkers. The god Dionysus has decided that there are no longer any good jokes being written so he is going to have to go to the Underworld and bring Euripides or Aeschylus back to life in order to have some amusement.  The god is however a coward and this leads to much humour, oh and some ancient Greek politics (not that different from our own really!).

You really did have to be there to appreciate how funny and truly mad this play was, the jokes translate from stage to blog about as well as they do from ancient Greek to English - it really was all in the staging.  My mind melted when Charon and Dionysus are sitting in a row boat singing in Greek to the tune of O Sole Mio but the surtitles are showing the words to Row, Row, Row your Boat. Oh and apparently Greek frogs say brekekekex koax koax not ribbitt.

The day turned out to be great fun after all and I think Mr Norfolkbookworm and I will try to see the next play in 2016 but this really has reinforced to me that tragedies are my least favourite style of play overall, it isn't just Shakespeare!

An honour

Meeting Captain Alan Bean, astronaut (retd)

This past weekend I was in the presence of a truly great and inspirational man. Thanks to the efforts of Ken Willoughby, and Space Lectures, Mr Norfolkbookworm and I had the opportunity to go and hear one of only 12 men to walk on the moon speak.

It may have been a little crazy to drive from Norwich to Pontefract for a 90 minute talk but in the week that we lost another space legend (Scott Carpenter - fourth American in space) it seemed like the right thing to do.

Captain Bean flew on Apollo 12 and also on the second Skylab mission but his talk was not a dry "we did this, then we did that" lecture it was profound, poignant, fascinating and funny. One of the other audience members has done a wonderful job transcribing the event and if you'd like to see what caused me to have a huge lump in my throat and to join in a spontaneous standing ovation I reccommend having a read. It isn't a dry nerdy thing at all and you need no particular knowledge of the space programme to enjoy it.

After the talk Captain Bean signed autographs for the audience and spent a few moments with everyone in the queue - all 470 of us...

I felt as start stuck as a teenager meeting One Direction!

Theatrical Interlude 27

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare's Globe, London. October 2013.

I was beginning to think that I was never going to see this play at its best as once more the weather forecast was dire for the day Rebecca and I headed to London.  Luckily the rain band seemed to sweep right round Southwark and we stayed mostly dry.

This was the first Shakespeare play I'd seen since starting my MA and it just so happened that the first unit was all about outdoor theatre and the staging of Tudor plays in their original environment.  I was very glad that I had seen this play earlier in the season as at least for the first half I was a little distracted by putting the things I'd read earlier in the week into context.

As ever with the Globe I couldn't stay distracted for long as the quality of the acting just had me spellbound and I really did feel that I was in the middle of a fairy inspired dream/nightmare.  My last minute seat was a restricted view (more so than some others at the theatre) and I couldn't actually see much of the mechanicals' scene. This reinforced to me something that keeps coming up in my reading - people went to hear a play in Shakespeare's time. I may not have been able to see the slap stick action but I didn't miss a second of it thanks to the writing!

The Globe 2013 Season of Plenty closed on 13th October, I'm already haunting the website for hints as to what is coming next year but also I can't wait for the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse to open in January so I can see how the Jacobean indoor theatre would have worked!

Sporadic Posting Possible

I'm hoping that this won't be the case but there is the chance that postings on here may become fewer and may just be limited to theatre reviews until next summer as 18 years after I started my undergraduate degree at the wonderful University of East Anglia:

I am about to start an MA with the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham:

Expect lots of reviews of Shakespeare (as well as others when I can squeeze them in) but possibly not quite so many book reviews until I can treat myself to another book binge break!

Everyone was tweeting about...

Stoner by John Williams

Rediscovered classics are a weakness of mine and over the summer everyone seemed to be tweeting about Stoner and so I was looking forward to reading this on holiday.

It was another book that didn't disappoint although it is one of those books that it is hard to sum up for in a way the fact that not a lot happens is the point of the book.

It is well written, detailed and a real snapshot into academic life from the first half of the twentieth century but at the same time it is quite bleak and not what could be called an uplifting book.  None of the characters are entirely nice or easy to engage with but the story is so realistic that I found it to be a real page turner.

I'm very pleased I read the book, I will look out for more of William's novels but I'll know that they are books to read when I am in a calm, relaxed, happy state of mind otherwise I can see that the realistic settings could depress me.

This is a book I recommend but to whom I am not 100% certain!