Month: September 2012

This House by James Graham, Cottesloe Theatre, 22 September 2012

This was a bit unfortunate for us, as we were there for a preview and Phil Daniels had just been forced to pull out of the leading role, so we saw the understudy (Andrew Frame I think, although we might have had a temporary understudy our night) reading from the script.

Even so, I don’t think this was really our type of play.

The Cottesloe had been laid out like the House of Commons, with the audience on both sides forming the back benches.

The play is basically about the chaotic era of the hung parliament in the mid-to-late 1970s; not least the scheming of the whips to try to get some semblance of business done in trying times.

At the time of writing (March 2018) this seems like a hark back to halcyon days, but in 2012 I think we were supposed to be thinking, “thank goodness our 2012 coalition is so much saner and more stable – politics is just more mature now, isn’t it?”

Below is the trailer:

There were some amusing lines, but it was all a bit obvious and of course, as the case with all dramatisation of historical events, there was no suspense for us in the “what happens next” department because we lived through it all as youngsters.

As a play, it all felt a bit “tell” rather than “show”.

I have a lot of time for John Graham as a playwright but this one didn’t really do the business for us and I don’t think it was just the unfortunate understudy business – we’ve seen enough theatre to be able to adjust and allow for that.

We saw Beth (from downstairs) and her dad across the political divide; I discovered afterwards that they got more out of it than we did…

…as did most of the critics, who hailed the piece and the production – click here for a link to the reviews – so don’t listen to us.

A Musical Feast: From Schein To Telemann, Academy Of Ancient Music, Wigmore Hall, 21 September 2012

You don’t have to be a Telemaniac (nor a Beliber) to have enjoyed this concert …but it helps.

We absolutely loved it, but then we are lovers of Baroque music by the likes of Telemann and Biber.

Further, we were treated to some early Baroque by Schein and Simpson, to whet our appetites and to show us how table music emerged as a genre in the 17th century.

Here is a link to the Wigmore Hall resource for that evening.

The Academy Of Ancient Music (AAM), bless ’em, have put their full programme up on their website, so I am sure this entitles me to add a link to their pdf – there is some really interesting reading material in the programme.

Below is a short vid that shows the AAM under Richard Egarr rehearsing a Telemann concerto – one of my favourites as it happens:

Below is a nice selection of Telemann Tafelmusik – but not by AAM:

Finally, for those unfamiliar with Thomas Simpson (as we were) who would like to hear a small sample – below a little woodwind sampler, provenance unknown beyond the YouTube details provided:

Yours For The Asking by Ana Diosdado, Orange Tree Theatre, 7 September 2012

A few days after the end of our Olympic/Paralympic experiences, Janie and I returned to the scene of the (alleged but utterly refuted) crime from just before the Olympics; Richmond:

Mottled Lines by Archie W Maddocks, Orange Tree Theatre, 13 July 2012

This time we saw Yours For The Asking, a Spanish play from the late Franco era in the 1970’s.

Here is the Orange Tree resource on this play/production.

We rather liked this one. It was about a model who advertises a fragrance getting embroiled in a scandal. The themes seemed very modern and relevant in 2012; a prescient play in many ways.

The plot was a little hard to swallow and Sam Walters’ orthodoxy for not shortening scripts made it drag a bit, especially the second half.

Still, it was well performed by some of the Orange tree regulars and we thought it had been a worthwhile visit.

It didn’t go down too well with most of the critics – click here for a link to reviews.

 

London 2012 Paralympic Games, ExCel Centre, 3 September 2012

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Volleyball was possibly the most watchable of the sports we saw

Following our three days at the Olympic games for badminton, tennis and hockey, Janie and I were well up for our Monday at the Paralympic Games a few weeks later.

I booked a day at the ExCel Centre, as we hadn’t got to see any Olympic events there and I liked the spec. for such tickets, which was basically a confirmed booking for one sport at one time, with an open ticket to see any other sport that day, on a walk-up basis, if there were seats available.

We planned to get to the ExCel via North Greenwich Tube and then the Emirates Air Line Cable Car across the Thames. This was mostly an excuse to take a quick look at the O2 (at that point neither of us had been) and to try out the cable car.

Photos of our day, including the cable car ride and the Paralympic events, are all in this Flickr album (along with photos from our day at the Olympic Park in August) – click here.

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Weightlifting isn’t really my cup of tea in either its Olympic or Paralympic form, but this was fascinating to see

When planning our day at the ExCel, Janie had marked off several sports on the schedule which she hoped to see. I suggested that we manage our expectations, as I knew the days had all sold out, so I thought that the “walk up” element might be very limited.

As it turned out, the days had clearly been sold with a view to most people moving around and watching several sports. The stewarding was of the very highest standard, so that each time we asked a steward for advice, along the lines of “we’ve already seen volleyball and are firmly booked to see boccia later, we quite fancy…what do you suggest we do next?” you’d get a sensible answer and help to find a good event to watch at that time.

Very cleverly planned and executed by the organisers and stewards respectively. The upshot was that visitors all seemed to be getting loads to see and every event had a large crowd. By that stage of that summer, believe me, the London crowds knew how to make noise and enjoy watching sport; any sport.

Boccia; in truth not very watchable but clearly very skillful
Boccia; in truth not very watchable but clearly very skillful

So, we started off with the seated volleyball, which was very exciting indeed to watch – I’d certainly volunteer to watch that again.

Then weightlifting, which frankly doesn’t float my boat in any format but was fascinating to see in its Paralympic form.

In truth, the boccia was the least watchable of the sports we saw, but it is a sport that severely disabled people can play. Or elderly people; indeed a few months later my mother proudly showed me a boccia certificate that she had won at Nightingale, although she didn’t quite remember what she had played or whether she had enjoyed playing it.

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Table tennis, or, as Boris would have it, wiff-waff

We rounded off our day with the table tennis, which was very exciting and watchable. In effect we sort-of got to see two sports in this event, as some of the matches were wheelchair while others were standing. As with lawn tennis, the wheelchair version of the game is quite different from the standing version of the game; both good to watch, just differently so. We watched the table tennis for quite a while before heading home, very satisfied indeed.

We loved this day; it is one of our favourite memories of that summer.

England v South Africa, One Day International, Lord’s, 2 September 2012

Well I have made my excuses for my poor memory of the Lord’s Test Match that year (Olympic summer blah blah)…

…they apply similarly to the ODI a couple of weeks later.

Here’s the scorecard – a happy ending for England this time.

It has the look of one of those “win the toss, bowl, win the match” one day matches that you tend to get at Lord’s in September.

I vaguely remember it being slow going and always feeling that England should be able to time and therefore win the chase, which they did.

But in truth, I think Janie and I had our minds half on our Paralympics day, which was all set for the next day.

Still, there’s no such thing as a bad day watching cricket at Lord’s, so for sure we had a good day.