Julius Caesar Redux

You may remember that I saw the Donmar's all women Shakespeare trilogy in London just before Christmas. The plays were filmed, and the first, Julius Caesar was shown at (a limited number of) cinemas on Wednesday.

I was very impressed when I saw it live (which happened to be one of the performances being filmed for this), which is why I wanted to see it again.

It's still very good. I did feel that, as with some other theatre broadcasts I've seen, that the camera was often focused in too close - by zooming in on the face of the person speaking, much of the subtly of the production as a whole was lost, and some of the camera angles, using cameras on the actors themselves, also detracted from the performances, as it made things, to my mind, a bit disjointed, and the production less coherent, which is a shame, as it was a really good production, and I didn't feel tht the filed version did it justice!

That said, it was still worth seeing, and if they show the other two, I will see them as well!

Stephen Fry, Cinema and cats

Last Wednesday there was another live broadcast to cinemas - not a play or ballet this time, but the lovely Mr Stephen Fry, talking as part of the publicity for his new book, 'More Fool Me'. 

The cinema had not sold many tickets, which I didn't find particularly surprising: it was a Wednesday night, plus the cinema has only fairly recently started to do the live theatre screenings or other 'art' events (unlike the two other cinemas  the district showing the live broadcasts, both of which have been showing 'art house' , rare and foreign language films for decades, and have therefore, naturally, built up a loyal audience for such films.

Which is relevant, as when we arrived (and it turned out that the start time had been changed by the broadcaster, so we had a wait) the cinema owner (Retired -I think his daughter(s) now run it) came into the auditorium, and having started well by welcoming us and explaining the reason for the delay, he then unfortunately decided to give us all a scolding about how if not enough people come to the live screenings then they won't be able to continue, and it involves  a lot of work,and how more people ought to come. 

It went on for about 10 minutes,  and really soured the evening. I can understand that he might be frustrated at the low turn out, but seemed to have missed the point that those of us sitting there, having bought tickets, are not the ones who need convincing. And I doubt anyone would show up in response to  a scolding.

Fortunately the evening improved once the broadcast began and Mr Fry came on screen.

He was (as anticipated) highly entertaining, in particular talking about his encounters with Prince Charles, (with passing reference to the perils of being friendly with impressionists, if you get unexpected personal phone calls from the heir to the throne..), who came to tea one Christmas. (Cue Rowan Atkinson frantically vacuuming, and discussions as to whether serving Battenburg cake would be considered a commentary on the Prince's ancestry, and what to serve to the bodyguards..

He also spoke about his current love of technology, and his love of reading and how important books and the mobile library were to him when he was growing up, and a little about his past use of cocaine, which is of course what made all the headlines the following morning.

An entertaining evening, apart from the poor start.

And the cats? They have had their second set of jabs, so they will be allowed to go outside very soon. I did take them each out briefly on a lead at the weekend, just in the back garden,which they both seemed to enjoy. 

I've had a new cat flap put in, but until they are a bit bigger, and have had their ops, won't be letting them out unsupervised (They will be getting their microchips while they are sedated for neutering, so they are not chipped yet)

Richard II (Again)

Some of you may remember that back in November, I went to Stratford Upon Avon with some friends, to see the RSC's production of Richard II. I enjoyed it a lot, and decided that I'd like to see it again, when it was broadcast to cinemas as part of the NTLive programme. I actually booked it on two separate dates, and failed to see it due to illness and house-selling issues, but I finally made it on Wednesday evening (fitting, perhaps, as Wednesday was Shakespeare's 450th Birthday!)

I went to Wells, where the cinema is very small, and lives in what used to be a scout hut, but it is very nice for all that, being independently run, with very friendly staff.

I enjoyed the production - seeing the screening meant being able to see more of the staging and scenery (mainly created by projections onto 'curtains' of very fine metal chain) 

As with other NTLive productions I've seen, I did have moments of wishing that the damn camera operators would just stay still, look at the stage , and stop zooming in and out. 

It's still an excellent production, and I still loved Nigel Lindsay's blunt, pragmatic Henry Bolingbroke, a man pushed to his limited and usurping the king almost out of sheer frustration!

I've booked to see this year's RSC broadcasts of Henry IV (parts I and II) there, too, which I'm looking forward to. 

Have I mentioned before what a splendid idea I think the NT Live broadcasts are?

Incidentally, for anyone who hasn't seen it, or who fancies seeing it again, Richard II is now available on DVD from the RSC shop.(and yes, I have ordered mine!)

War Horse

I've been hearing about the play, War Horse, for years (I think it has been on stage for 6 or 7 years, now), but have never got around to seeing it. 

I still haven't seen it on stage, but on Thursday evening, I was able to see it at my local cinema as part of the 'NT Live' programme.

I love the NT Live broadcasts.

I love going to the theatre, and I'm lucky that I manage to see a fair few shows, both locally and in London, but the broadcasts make it possible to see shows I wouldn't otherwise see, (or to see shows I enjoyed, again ) and of course it gives so many people the chance to see things they wouldn't otherwise be able to (and generally for much less than the cost of theatre tickets, particularly once you factor in travel!) 

I enjoyed the show. The initial scenes are set in Devon, and I did find it slightly distracting that the actors accents ranged from actual Devon, to 'generic yokel', with a smattering of Irish, but fortunately it didn't throw me completely out of the story.

The puppets, which are made by the Handspring Puppet Company of Cape Town, are astonishing - the puppeteers are always visible, and the horses (and other puppets) are very obviously puppets, but at the same time they are completely convincing as horses - even while you can see the puppeteer moving the cogs and rods to make their ears move, or their flanks heave.

The plot isn't a complex one, but it manages to be gripping, and I admit that I may have been a little teary when Albert and Joey are finally reunited!

Well worth seeing if you have the opportunity!

Thor: The Dark World (WARNING: some mild Spoilers!)

They've just built a new cinema in the town centre, which means I can now go to see films on impulse, rather than having to actually plan ahead, and on Sunday afternoon I decided to wander down there to see 'Thor: The Dark World' , because, well, why not?

I haven't actually seen 'Thor', although I have seen 'Avengers Assemble' and frankly, felt that anything with Tom Hiddleston's 'Loki' in it would be worth seeing!

And it was. Lots of  CGI, of course, lots of fighting, not quite enough Loki (when is there ever enough Loki?) plenty of humour. (I do like that the current crop of Marvel films don't take themselves too seriously).

I enjoyed the London based settings. I have to say that Sir Christopher Wren had excellent forethought, when he built the Royal Hospital at Greenwich to withstand alien invasion so well...

There were some minor annoyances -the tube scene - I mean, dammit, they were filming in London for months and no-one checked a tube map? (As those who know me know, I have all the sense of direction and navigational ability of a concussed kitten, and even *I* know the tube map better than that...) On a more serious note, I was a little disappointed in the Darcy character, who played into the 'geeky, socially inept woman' trope. And Jane Foster, despite being a highly qualified scientist, seems to spend a lot of the film moping over a man (well, demi-god) and/or waiting to be rescued, which is a little disappointing.

In terms of plot, I thought the Aether was a bit too much like the Star Trek reboot 'red matter' - Inexplicable, Evil Red Gloop, and there seemed to be a bit of a plot hole- how come the Dark Elves have technology equal to, or better than that of Asgard, given they've been asleep for 5,000 years? especially as Asgard have been fighting quite a few battles in the meantime, so presumably have been honing their weapons tech.

However, despite all these issues, I did very much enjoy the film, and I'm glad I went. I may even get around to watching the first film, now. 

A Good Weekend

I had a bit of a shitty week, one way and another, so I was determined to enjoy the weekend, and to do some fun things.

If you've read my last post, you'll have seen that I spent parts of Saturday exploring Bristol via art. On Sunday I went for the arguably less high-brow option of  going to see the new Iron Man film.

I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet so will keep it vague.

I enjoyed the film - it's more about Tony Stark than it is about Iron Man, I like the way it references the Avengers Assemble film, and the fact that it doesn't take itself too seriously. I loved Ben Kingsley. And the little extra at the end of the credits.

There were a couple of things I didn't like- I would have liked a little more backstory for one or two of the characters, and there were a coupe of points at the end which left me going :-/ but on the whole I think it's a good, fun, film.

Also, there's lots of stuff getting blown up.

Timon of Athens

I’ve blogged before about the National Theatre Live broadcasts. I think they are an awesome idea, and I have very much enjoyed those which I’ve seen.

I had booked to see the most recent production, Timon , on 4th November, but couldn’t go as I was busy suffering from lurgy, but happily there was a second ‘encore’ showing on Sunday evening, so I was able to see it after all.

( photo from National Theatre site)

Timon is one of Shakespeare’s least known, and least frequently performed works, and I'm a big Shakespeare fan, so I was always going to be keen to see it. The fact it got excellent reviews was a bonus!

This production has a modern setting, which works very well. In the first half of the play, Timon is wealthy, sought-after, and renowned for his generosity. When he loses his wealth, his erstwhile friends (depicted as city bankers, socialites and trust fund hipsters) all drop away, refusing to assist him or lend him money.

Alcibiades and his followers are depicted as rioters, recalling last summers' riots, and after his successful invasion of Athens we see him joining the board of directors of an unspecified company. La plus sa change...

Simon Russell Beale's Timon was a slightly pathetic figure - even in his wealth, seeming uncomfortable with others, and later, in his poverty, unable to accept the genuine affection of his steward.

It's far from being a cheerful play, but it was exceptionally well done, and well worth seeing.

In Which There Are Super Heros!

I tend not to go to the cinema very often - not because I dislike it, but because I tend to think of seeing a film as something you do on the spur of the moment, rather than on a pre-planned, pre-booked basis, and as my nearest cinema is about half an hour away, this tend to mean that by the time I've thought of going, it's too late to get there before the film starts. All of which is a round about way of saying it's been a while since I last went to the cinema -I think the last twice I've been it was to see National Theatre Live broadcasts, which have been booked in advance.. before that, the last film I saw may well have been 'Coraline', which was 2009...
Anyway - I've been seeing lots of my friends tweeting about the new Avengers film and sounding very enthusiastic about it, so I decided to see whether it was showing locally, and the upshot was that my friend Cheryl and I headed over to Frome for the 6p.m. showing.

The cinema in Frome is small, and old -it only has one screen, it sells little, old fashioned bus-ticket type tickets and has a licenced bar, and after the adverts and before the start of the film the lights go up and  buy sweets or ice cream from a girl in a booth. (but does  awful lot of rustling in the early part of the film!) It is definitely a more interesting option than the local multiplex (and much cheaper)

I don't read a lot of comics, and my knowledge of The Avengers, and the Marvel universe generally is fairly limited - I read Neil Gaiman's '1602', and have seen the two 'Iron Man' films, but that's about it.

I really enjoyed the film. It's got lots of action and stuff blowing up, and it's also got great dialogue, and the characters, for the most part, do have actual character, which is not always the case for action- or super-hero films. I liked that Dr Banner was portrayed as being (at least as) smart as Tony Stark, and that Captain America's 1930s background was there in some of his comments and attitudes, without being too heavy-handed.

The fact that I wasn't familiar with Clint Barton/Hawkeye or his backstory, or Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow or hers didn't stand in the way of understanding or enjoying the film.

I shouls have liked to see a little more balance with both male and female super-heroes, but taken as a whole, I think the film is excellent - it was a lot of fun, and if (as seems inevitable) there is a sequal, I shall be going to see that, too.

In Which There is A Monster

I had hoped that I might be able to get a ticket to see Frankenstein at the National Theatre, but sadly it sold out so fast  I missed my chance.

However, all was not lost, as there were to be two performances filmed and broadcast live to cinemas, and I did manage to get a ticket for one of them, for Thursday evening.

As you may know,one of the features of this particular production is that the actors playing Victor Frankenstein and the Creature are alternating the roles. I saw Benedict Cumberbatch as Frankenstein and Jonny Lee Miller as the Creature, and I would love to see it with the roles reversed, to see how much changes.

The evening didn't start well, as it seems that the cinema had made a mistake and listed the show as starting at 7.30, when in fact it was 7! Luckily, this just meant that I had no time to grab anything to eat bfore the performance started, rather than meaning that I missed the start!

It is  a great play. It is in many ways more faithful to Mary Shelley's original novel than most of the film versions, in particular, the creature has, as in the novel, an articulate voice.. although not to start with!

The play starts with the Creature's "birth" and we then see him in a long, dialogue-free section of the play as he explores his body's capabilities, gradually learning to move, sit, and eventually to walk, and to explore the world around him.

We then see Frankenstein's rejection of his creation, and then the reception which the Creature gets as he goes out into the world. There was a lovely, if slightly inexplicable SteamPunk train, some fancy stage engineering and some unexpected humour to lighten the mood.

Unlike many versions of Frankenstein, this one presents a sympathetic Creature, despite his own murderous behaviour., and challenges Frankenstein's behaviour in creating, and then abandoning the creature. The Creature is the undoubted star of the show., and the issue as to who the monster is remains in question.

I thouroughly enjoyed the play, and I still want to see the live version, and the alternate version with Benedict Cumberbatch as the Creature, and Jonny Lee Miller as Fankenstein.

In Which I Listen

On Monday evening I wended my way back into Bath, to the Little Theeatre Cinema, for an evening with the always charming and erudite Mr Stephen Fry. Not, alas, in person - His Tweediness was at the Royal Festival Hall in London, but the wonders of modern tecchnology meant that his talk was to be live broadcast to about 60 cinemas up & down the country, Bath Little Theatre being one of them.

I dithered about going, becuase while it is a lovely little cinema, it isn't exactly cheap, and in addition I am going to be seeing Mr Fry on Friday, when he is speaking in Cambridge, but I decided it would be worth it, as  I suspect he won't be working from a script, and anyway, I could be prevented by a sudden meteorite strike or soemthing from going to Cambridge...

I'm glad I went. I had fun. Mr Fry read some short extract from his new book - one about sugar puffs, one about school, and one about meeting Hugh Laurie for the first ime. in beteen times, he talked, apparently without notes or preplanning.

He had a list of the various cinemas where the event was being screened, so took time to say hello to eveyone (except the places beginning with "C", who were accidentally missed out) together with a few asies about the various places, and some speculation about where 'Gorey' is - Mr Fry knew of the artist, Edward Gorey, but not the place (which is, it urns out, on Jersey)

there was some chat about Blackadder, with indidental impressions of some of those involved - lovely to hear Mr Fry impersonating Mr Atkinson and Mr Laurie, not to mention his description of taking Ben Elton, that well known leftie, to dinner at the Carlton Club (bastion of Old Tory politics) and startling Lord Hailsham...

Wonderful stuff.

And you know, I don't really care whether he says all the same things in Cambridge. I'd be quite happy to watch it all again . and I'm going to buy the book.