I saw Cinage’s Talkin’ About My Generation during the Edinburgh Fringe. It was performed in the Leeds Beckett room as part of an exhibition of the Richard Demarco archive to celebrate 70 years of the fringe. Many of the cast of Talkin’ celebrated their own 70th birthdays a fair while ago and the rest won’t … Continue reading
Posted by tooleyh …
The Women’s March on London January 21, 2017 (a snapshot)
Trafalgar Square 21st of January 2017. The rally that rounded off the Women’s March on London following the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the USA the day before and protesting against the values and attitudes he embodies, has finished. It’s been a long day and despite the brilliant sunshine, a cold one, especially … Continue reading
Peaky Blinders: Impossible Masculinity and the British Western
It’s now several weeks since Series 3 of the UK TV drama Peaky Blinders finished broadcasting but I have often found myself thinking about this drama Loosely based on actual historical events, it is set in post-World War 1 Birmingham (the British midlands) and follows the rise to power of a criminal gang dominated by … Continue reading
Reflecting on the ‘Hear Me Roar’ Feminist Arts Festival Lancaster March 2016
I am writing this post on ‘Hear Me Roar: Ages, Stages, Phases’ from a double perspective. Through one lens I see it as someone who was part of the team involved in organising this feminist arts festival (with most of the hard work being undertaken by unflagging, (very) creative producer, Leo Burtin.) Through the other … Continue reading
Announcing Hear Me Roar 2016: Ages, Stages, Phases in Lancaster 8-13th March
I am thrilled to draw your attention to Lancaster’s Feminist Arts Festival-Hear Me Roar 2016: Ages, Stages, Phases. This will take place in various venues around Lancaster (UK) between the 8-13th March Highlights include: World-renowned artist and activist Lois Weaver performs as her alter-ego, Tammy WhyNot, in What Tammy Needs to Know about Getting Old … Continue reading
Part 2: ‘Old Dears’ at the Chelsea Theatre London, 27th and 28th of November 2015
As indicated in my previous post, I want to continue discussing this LADA curated ‘Old Dears’ event, in the light of some themes opened up by Liz Aggiss’s show The English Channel (see post here) Penny Arcade. The spirit of ‘carnival’ that I identified in Aggiss’s piece was perhaps less obviously present in the performance given … Continue reading
‘Old Dears’ at the Chelsea Theatre London November 2015 (Part 1).
Curated by the Live Art Development Agency (LADA), ‘Old Dears’ took place over the 27th and 28th of November at the Chelsea Theatre, Worlds End, London and was billed as being dedicated to the ‘radical influential and fiercely feminist practices of an older generation of artists’. The impressive programme featuring women ranging from around 45 … Continue reading
Waking the Feminists .
On Wednesday 28 October, the Abbey Theatre, Ireland’s National Theatre, launched its programme to mark the centenary of the 1916 Rising – an event that ultimately led to the founding of the Irish State. The Abbey Theatre and its members were actively involved in both the Rising itself and the debates around the founding of … Continue reading
London Road ( film) Dukes Cinema, Lancaster, Summer 2015
I would have dearly liked to have seen London Road by Alecky Blythe (book and lyrics) and Adam Cork (music and lyrics) live at the National Theatre so I was pleased to catch up with the film adaption, a BBC production that has been touring cinema’s this summer. Advertisements declare it features the original cast … Continue reading
The Red Chair, Clod Ensemble, Nuffield Theatre Lancaster, Feb 2014.
I used to be scathing about storytelling for adults as a genre, perceiving it as all a bit too overstated and ‘hey nonny nonny’ for my taste. Then I encountered the brilliant ‘intercultural’ storyteller Vayu Naidu and had a road-to-Damascus revelation that just like any other mode of performance in the right hands, it can … Continue reading
Drama Queens Review 