Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort of) at Bath Theatre Royal

 Way back in September, I booked a ticket to go to see Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort of) in Bath, because I like Jane Austen, and so why not? And then I forgot about it until it popped up on my calendar, so it felt like a nice surprise! 

It was a lot of fun - it has a small, all female cast, with each of the actors playing multiple roles.

It's a familiar story, framed as being told by the servants, which allows for some helpful exposition (Although I admit that there was a point where I wanted to shout "no, that's not how an entail works..!") 

And it's told in unashamedly modern english, with the characters bursting into (Karaoke ) song at regular intervals (except Mary. Not you, Mary!)

Which is a lot of fun - Lizzie Bennett singing Carly Simon's  'You're so Vain' in response to Mr Darcy's criticism of her at the Meryton Ball was a highlight, although I think my favourite was, perhaps, Lady Catherine de Burgh's reference to her nephew, Christopher, before 'Lady in Red' is played..

Lots of breaking the 4th wall and asides to the audience, and impressive switching between characters (Mrs Bennett to Mr Darcy!) 

Well worth seeing if you have the opportunity https://prideandprejudicesortof.com/uk-tour

Barons and Charters and Literary Fun

I don't live far from Wincanton, but for some reason I have never visited, or been to the Discworld Emporium , which lives there.

I almost didn't get there today. I decided to go. Which turned out to be more of a challenge than I had anticipated. 

The road,you see, was closed. The diversion signs were .. unhelpful. For which read 'one sign sending you down a  tiny lane with grass growing up the middle, and then No More Signs.

And each time I tried to find Wincanton, I got back to another road block. I would have given up, but I am stubborn, and I had a full tank of petrol and nothing else I needed to do (unless you count housework, of course) so I decided that I would get to Wincanton, even if I had to go round it and sneak up on it from the wrong side.and having made that choice, I did then manage to get there.

The Discworld Emporium is easy enough to find once you get into the town, and it is, as might be expected, full of lovely things and interesting people.  (and yes, of course I bought things. How not?)

After leaving Wincanton, I headed to Salisbury, which, as part of the celebration of the 800th Anniversary of Magna Carta, (Salisbury  Cathedral holds one of the 4 remaining original charters) currently has a 'Barons' Charter' trail, with 25 Barons, each decorated by a different artist.

Discworld Knight

With a link to my first port of call, one of the Barons is the Discworld Knight, decorated by Paul Kidby, and featureing a sword covered in Feegles, and a back covered in a wide range of Discworld characters, from Granny Weatherwax, to Susan Sto Helit, the Librarian (Oook), Lord Vetinari and Tiffany Aching. And more Feegles, of course. 

Discworld Knight (Back)

I didn't seek out all 25 Barons, but I did find a fair few - one celebrating the 800th anniversary, and standing just outside the cathedral (the Charter itself is kept in the Chapter House)

Another I liked was the 'Astro Baron' in full NASA gear, and 

'Looking forward Looking Back', which has a trompe l'oeil painting of the interior of the cathedral on it. 

 As well as the Barons, I visited the cathedral, which I have not been to for years. It has a lovely, modern font, in which one can see the reflections of the roof and stained glass windows.                                                                                                                           There is a beautiful, perfectly proportioned chapter house, (in which Salisbury's copy of Magna Carta is displayed in a glass case in a modern and not very beautiful tent, presumably to protect it from excessive light) 

In the cloisters, I had a brief and unexpected encounter with a small bat. It had, it appeared, fallen, and was in danger of getting squished. Several people had tried to pick it up using leaflets, which were of course rather shiny and hard to grip, so it occurred to me that if I emptied out my cotton, Neil Gaiman quoting tote bag, I could use that to give it something to grip, so it could be moved somewhere safer.

Which was what happened.   The bat was moved gently to the hedge bordering the cloisters, where it clambered from the bag onto the hedge, and a little later a verger appeared to keep an eye on it and to ensure that it was not disturbed or injured. I suspect that it was a young one and had perhaps mis-judged a landing, and then had trouble getting off the ground to take off again. And there was no sign of it when I went back through the cloisters half an hour later, after visiting Magna Carta, which I think is a good sign!

After leaving the cathedral, I noticed that one of the houses in the Close was owned by the National Trust, so I decided to visit. It is Mompesson House, and is fairly small for a National Trust property.   It is an 18thC house (just, having been completed in 1701)                                                                                                                                  It is a nice house, and also has a claim to fame as having been used as a location for the 1995 film version of 'Sense and Sensibility' (Emma Thompson et. al.) in which it  appeared as Mrs Jennings' townhouse.  The house has, as well as it's  collection of glassware, and some nice plasterwork, has a number of props and costumes from the file (in the picture, the headless gentleman is in fact Alan Rickman / Colonel Brandon's suit) 

There were some bonnets, too (although they were not, I think, Alan Rickman's).

All in all, it was an interesting day out, and it did not start to rain until I was nearly home.

An Excellent start to the Bath Festival of Literature

The Bath Festival of Literature  started yesterday evening, and I went to the first of the events I have booked, today. They were very different - one an interview with Mark Bostridge, who is the biographer of Vera Brittain, was an advisor on the film 'Testament of Youth' and who has just written a new book, Vera Brittain and the First World War. The second event was Austentatious, an improvised Jane Austen play...

I enjoyed both events.

Mark Bostridge was interviewed by Elizabeth Day, who is herself a novelist and a journalist for the Observer. Bostridge explained that he felt Brittain's story was a compelling one, particularly in being one of the first to address and explore the grief of the war, rather than its heroism, but also to show how it was possible to move on.

He spoke about the difficulty of writing a biography of someone with a living family; the family will say they want truth, but may not want it when they hear it.. he gave a couple of examples. 

One was a letter which Brittain wrote to her friend after her marriage, saying extremely uncomplimentary things about her husband on their wedding night, and the other, later, about an unpublished memoir written by her brother Edward's Commanding Officer, in which he disclosed that Edward had been warned by his CO that his letters to another officer were being read. Bostridge linked this to an incident in Brittain's novel 'Honourable Estate' in which a character caught having sex with another man deliberately got himself killed by going over the top. Bostridge explained the social and legal consequences of homosexual behaviour, at the time. 

He did explain that of course it is impossible know with any certainty whether Edward was gay(although he did attend Uppingham school, which was apparently exposed as being notorious for bullying and "filthy behaviour" . . 

He also spoke about the importance of realizing that Testament of Youth was written some 15 years after the event, and that having also read Brittain's letters and diary, it was fascinating to see the change to her attitude. For instance, her diaries show a very patriotic, almost Jingoistic enthusiasm at the start of the war, and was enthusiastic about her brother joining up, which is not reflected in the finished work.

Bostridge said that he was, on the whole, happy with the film - other than the scene where Brittoai learns about Leighton's death. He also pointed out that the film is somewhat misleading in how Brittain's parents treated her wish to attend University - he sad that Brittain's mother was very enthusiastic and supportive, and that Britton herself had reservations, fearing that going to Oxford would make it harder for her to marry well! 

All in all, very interesting. I haven't yet seen the Testament of Youth film but do want to do so. 

I then headed over to the Forum, for Austentatious. 

Which was a complete change of pace, and a whole lot of fun. 

It is an improvised performance of a 'lost' Austen(esque) novel based on a title suggested by the audience - in this case,'Who cares what colour *that* dress is', beating 'Maids in Waiting' (Described by the cast as 'the Made in Essex of its day) and described as one of Austen's 700+ lost novels..

The play was performed by a cast of 5, masquerading as a cast of thousands (well, 10s, anyway) and included a ball, an elopement, some jam, many references to what happened 'last time', and a happy ending for at least one couple! 

Photo from @Viv Groskop's twitter feed and (C) Viv Groskop

It was a whole lot of fun. Austentatious are currently touring - well worth seeing if you can (dates on their website, here)

I am looking forward to several ore Bath Lit Fest events next weekend including seeing Kazuo Ishiguro, and Celia Imrie.

Bath Kids Lit Fest 2013 - Part 1

This year's Bath Festival of Children's Literature started last weekend - sadly 2 of the events I booked for were cancelled at the last minute.

Restoration of  King Charles II

 Judith Kerr, author of 'When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit', as well as the 'Mog' books and 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea' sadly had to cancel her event due to ill health (given that she is now 90, this is perhaps not surprising, but it is disappointing, despite that), and then last Saturday I arrived at the Holburne Museum for Dave McKean's event, and was met with the news that he had been caught up in huge delays n the M25 so couldn't make it. 

And then I missed the event with Meg Rosoff as I got stuck at work and couldn't get to Bath in time. So I've only been to 2 out of 5 booked events so far.

On Saturday, as I was already at the museum when I learned about the cancellation, and as  I have never been round it (despite driving past on a regular basis) I decided to use the unexpected free hour to look round the museum.

Its primarily an art museum, so lots of painting, but also has some interesting textiles - I loved this embroidery/applique which depicts the Restoration of Charles II (and the background- you can see him hiding in the oak tree, behind the picture of his in all his majesty!) and dates from around 1665. 

Holburne Museum

There's also a lovely collection of spoons, and some dodgy antiquities picked up by Holburne during his Grand Tour.

It's not a big museum, but I enjoyed browsing the exhibits. And it's a beautiful building!

I also took the opportunity to have a wander around Sydney Gardens - they were laid out in around 1795 (this bridge over the canal was erected in 1800) and were, apparently, very popular with the residents of Regency Bath - Jane Austen included.

It's divided by the railway, as well as the canal, now, but there is a lovely, sweeping bath stone bridge over it, and it is down in a cutting, so it doesn't impinge too much on the park.

I don't think the tennis courts were there in Jane Austen's day, but I dare say the grass, trees, and squirrels were pretty similar (although presumably the squirrels would have been red, not grey.

I was back in Bath on Sunday, to go to David Levithan's event. 

David Levithan

He was reading from his book Every Day, which explores what happens when you (quite literally) wake up in a different body (someone else's ) every day, and when you decide that you want to keep in contact with a person you meet one of those days. 

It's an interesting concept. He mentioned that he definitely  sees, and intended the book to be (among other things) a transgender book, but that he finds it interesting that people talking about the book focus on the gender issues and less on other issues which are equally part of the  concept. (I haven't read the book yet, so I can't comment specifically).

I was also really interested to hear him talk about collaborating with other writers (it's fun!) and to say that he is not a visual writer - he doesn't 'see' how his characters and their rooms and familes look (so found it much less traumatic then his co-writer Rachel Cohn when their book was adapted, when looking at which actors were cast!

It was an interesting event, and I'm looking forward to reading Every Day - the only book of David's which I've read before is Boy Meets Boy.

Friday evening saw me back in Bath for Malorie Blackman's event. 

Malorie Blackman

I've read her 'Noughts and Crosses' series, which are excellent, and of course she is currently serving as Children's Laureate.She is currently promoting her new novel, Noble Conflict, which is a dystopian novel, set in a future society, and explored (so far as I can tell for the reviews and the conversation at this event) what happens when you find out that the Good Guys you've aligned yourself are maybe not-so-good.

In talking about the book, Malorie explained that she is fascinated by questions, and mentioned issues such as the security for the Olympics (guns on the roofs of blocks of flats), CCTV in public spaces (do you believe that if you have nothing to hide, you've nothing to fear) the actions of whistle-blowers such as Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, and also the issue of who owns, and writes history (history is written by the conquerors, not the conquered, and the written history of a literary society ends to survive longer, and to oust, the verbal history of oral cultures.

Malorie also spoke about her role as Children's laureate, and her concern at recent studies showing that many children and teens are embarrassed to be seen reading, and stressed that reading is great - whether you read paper books or e-books, novels or graphic novels or comics or picture books.

As with David's event, I'm looking forward to reading the book, and am glad I made it to the event!

This weekend I shall (all being well) be seeing David Almond and Patrick Ness, although sadly missing Philip Reeve.

In Which There Are More Writers

It's been a busy weekend.

On Friday I had tickets for another Bath Kids Lit. Fest event - an event with Johan Harstad, a Norwegian novelist and playwright whose first YA novel, 172 Hours on the Moon has recently been translated and published in English.

I was only able to stay for the first half of the event, as I also had a ticket for the theatre, and I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer. Johan explained that he had been asked to write a book to be given away to children as part of a cultural festival, and that the book turned out more frightening than originally expected, so ended up being distributed to older children than originally planned.

He spoke about his love of horror movies and books, and claimed that his intention in writing the novel was to cause people to be scared of the Moon... I haven't read the book yet, but I think it will be interesting!

from Bath Theatre Royal website
 (Mr Rushworth)

After leaving that event, I walked up to the theatre to see 'Mansfield Park', in a new adaptation fr the stage. I love Austen, but admit that 'Mansfield Park' is my least favourite of her works, partly, I think because it was a set book (with an uninspiring teacher) at A-Level, but also because I find it so hard to identify with Fanny Price, one of literature's wet blankets.

This production has slimmed down the cast of characters - there is no Mr Norris, No Julia Bertram, No Mr Yates, and Dr Grant, Mrs Grant and Lady Bertram do not appear on stage. The play moves quickly, and there is a good deal of humour, but perhaps inevitably, a lot of the nuances are lost.

Most importantly, Edmund's kindnesses to Fanny are limited to providing her with paper to write to her brother, when she first arrives, and ensuring that she is included in the trip to Sotherton, which, combined with his infatuation with Mary Crawford made it hard to see what Fanny saw in him....

However, despite this, the play is entertaining and witty. I may even go back and re-read the novel again.

Michael Morpurgo

On Saturday, I was back in Bath for 2 Kids Lit events, and a separate one run by Toppings (on of Bath's two wonderful independent bookshops)

The first event was Michael Morpurgo, who is the author of 'War Horse', and over 100 other books - his event was at the Forum, which started life as a (fabulously Art Deco) cinema - there were around 1,000 there, more than half of them children.

He spoke about the inspiration for 'War Horse', and claimed that the reason that many of his books feature characters called 'Michael' is because he is "deeply unimaginative". He also commented that there ought to be a requirement to have spent time as a teacher before they could become Education Secretary, and got the biggest cheer of the day!

It was clear that the children in the audience were enjoying themselves, and that Michael was as well!

Anthony Horowitz

Later on, I returned to the Forum for the event with Anthony Horowitz, author of the Alex Rider books, and of a series, Power of Five, which he has just completed by writing the 5th and final book, Oblivion. 

Horowitz came across as very enthusiastic about his work, and talked not only about the Alex Rider books, and Power of Five, but also about his TV work on Foyle's War, and about writing the Sherlock Holmes sequel, A Touch of Silk, It was entertaining, but I was left feeling it was all a bit superficial.

The final event which I attended was not part of the Kids Lit Fest, but the separate 'autumn book festival' which Toppings books are involved with. They had arranged for radio 4 presenter, James Naughtie, to come to speak about his book, The New Elizabethans. 

The book is a series of 60 essays, each of which started as the script for a  15 minute radio programmer. Each  essay is about a person (or persons) who are seen as 'new Elizabethans', so they are all people who are, or were, famous or extraordinary during the 60 years of the Queen's reign.

The 'Elizabethans' were selected by a panel, from nominations sent in to Radio 4 by listeners, and ranged from Sir Edmund Hillary, to Sir David Attenborough, to Jocelyn Bell Burnell, to others who were perhaps more unexpected - Simon Cowell, for instance...

Naughtie read several short extracts from the essays, and talked a little about some of the challenges - writing to a very tight deadline, writing about  people whom he knew personally, and so forth. I'm glad a went, although sadly I did have to leave just before the end, in order to catch my train home.

Jenny Nimmo at the Bath Festival of Children's Literature

It's been a mixed week - I managed to acquire a revolting cold and very scratchy sore throat, with the effect that as well as feeling rather like death warmed up I completely lost my voice for two days and had to take some time off work. Very frustrating, as I end up feeling guilty for having stayed home from work, and at the same time utterly exhausted and unable to do anything. I dispprove.

However, I was back in work on Friday, and on Friday evening my parents arrived to stay for the night. My mum wanted to see a Patchwork/Quilting exhitition at a local shop, and then they are travelling on to Derbyshire for a bellringing holiday.

It was nice to see them, especially as they are going to New Zealand shortly, and will be away for 7 weeks, so I will not have another opportunity to see them until the end of November.

Saturday brought my first visit to this year's Bath Festival of Children's Literature, to see Jenny Nimmo , author of the 'Snow Spider' and 'Charlie Bone' series of children's books. I remember reading, and enjoying, the Snow Spider when I was younger, and more recently have enjoyed the 'Charlie Bone' books - they are intended for children 8+ and have many of the staples of a rip-roaring read - boarding school with sinister teachers, magical gifts, missing parents and so on, as well non-(magically) talented children - lots of fun. From the answers in her Q&A session I learned that she has been comissioned to write a trilogy about the Red King - the ancestor of Charlie Bone and the other talented children, which should be interesting.

The event was held in one of the smaller rooms in the Guildhall, and I would guess that around 80-100 people were there, including a high proportion of children, which is always good to see. Jenny started by speaking a little about why she became a writer, having started by telling stories to her friends when she was at boarding school, and later being encouraged to write her first novel by her boss, when she was working on 'Jackanory' at the BBC. She then spoke a little about the Charlie Bone series, including calling up various volunteers from the audience to illustrate the various 'gifts' which the characters in Charlie Bone have, and then ended by taking questions from the audience, from children wanting to know whether she has any pets (yes, several cats), what 'gift' she would like to have (the ability to write without having to use a pen or keyboard) and who her favourite character is, from the Charlie Bone books (Uncle Peyton).

I always find it interesting to hear writers talking about what they do - in this instance, it was clear that Jenny was pitching her talk to the children, not to the accompanying parents, and that they appreciated this.

After the talk, there was a short queue for those wishing to get books signed.

As I wandered back towards the station (sneezing softly as I went) I was mildly surprised to meet several groups of elegant regency females (many with vastly fetching bonnets), several soldiers (or possibly members of the militia - I need a Miss Lydia Bennett to set me right) and one or two gentlemen, including a very young gentleman in a beautiful lilac coat.

I settled back in my seat on the train, wondering whether I was suffering from Bath-induced hallucinations, brought on by a combination of cold-virus and too much Georgette Heyer, but have now learned that it was all part of the Jane Austen festival, and specifically their (apparently successful) attempt to obtain the world record for the highest number of people in regency dress. (presumably entired from large events which took place during the Regency period are not eligible to enter...)

I find it mildly amusing that so many of Miss J. Austen's fans should chose to gather and celebrate her life in a city which she, like her creation Miss Anne Elliot, apparently coridally disliked. .

I was interested to learn, however, in reading about the festival, that when she visited Bath in 1799, Jane Austen stayed (in lodgings, with her brother & mother) at 13 Queen Square. The building is now the offices of a firm of solicitors and I have often attended meetings there, but had not been aware of the Austen connection. I wonder what she would make of its current use?