Little Baby Jesus by Arinzé Kene, Orange Tree Theatre, 26 October 2019

Janie and I are a somewhat split jury on this one. I really enjoyed the play, finding it entertaining and suitably dramatic. The first half has a much lighter tone than the second. Janie found the first half rather silly and trivial, while she found the second half too long and ponderous.

If the reviews are anything to go by, I called this one “right”, but don’t tell Janie that. Here is a link to the reviews.

Janie and I were able to agree that the three young performers put in excellent performances. In particular Janie was surprised to learn that Khai Shaw has only just graduated from Rose Bruford, as he seemed so confident and assured in his performance. But all three performers – Anyebe Godwin and Rachel Nwokoro included, are relatively new to the stage yet pulled off superb, energetic performances.

I was attracted to book this production because Janie and I had been so taken with playwright Arinzé Kene’s performance piece, Misty,at the Bush last year:

I learn from the programme – which is also a helpful play text with another Kene play, Estate Walls, to read in my spare time – that Little Baby Jesus is actually an early work by Arinzé Kene. The play is being reworked at The Orange Tree some eight years after it was written and performed at the Ovalhouse Theatre. Interesting also that Kene originally worked on the piece with Chè Walker, whose Time Is Love/Tiempo es Amor we very much enjoyed at The Finborough a few months ago:

But returning to Little Baby Jesus, there are signs that it is an early work; I understand Janie’s sense that the first half is somewhat unstructured with the three performers introducing their main characters and also performing a lot of secondary characters to introduce the stories. I found it fun seeing that material unfold but Janie probably wasn’t the only person in the audience who found some of it confusing and the language, at times, hard to penetrate.

The second half has a completely different atmosphere, as the youngsters all, for different but in each case tragic (or potentially tragic) reasons, need to grow up in a hurry.

As is often the case with youthful playwrights (Kene was in his early 20s still when he wrote this piece – what a great sign of burgeoning talent) I could see a little too clearly where some of his ideas came from. Structurally, I was reminded of Faith Healer by Brian Friel. And surely the most shocking scene in the second half, when the youths find an abandoned baby, is partly based on and deliberately reminiscent of Saved by Edward Bond.

But this is the way that fine young writers find their own voice and Arinzé Kene surely has a fascinating voice with colourful stories to tell. I highly commend this production of Little Baby Jesus and I shall surely be looking out for his Kene’s work again.

Here is a link to The Orange Tree resources on Little Baby Jesus.

The Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond - geograph.org.uk - 398198

Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton, Playground Theatre, 24 October 2019

Press night at the Playground Theatre, a new venue in Notting Hill (Latimer Road) at the invitation of First Floor Presents. I saw and reviewed its production Lemons Lemons Lemons at Barons Court a few months ago…

…yet First Floor invited me again. Thank you. I’m glad.

I very much enjoyed seeing this production of Gaslight. It is very well acted on the whole and an interesting take on the piece.

Here is a link to the Playground Theatre resource on this production.

Also another link, to an interesting Guardian piece about Gaslight, which talks about this production and another, very different style of production currently at Watford. It also has a clip from George Cukor’s 1944 Hollywood version of Gaslight.

Possibly a little unfair, then, for me to watch a clip of Ingrid Bergman as Bella and then, a few minutes later, watch Jemima Murphy play the part live. Jemima’s own fault for sending me that link, I suppose.

I had only ever seen Gaslight in its movie forms before – there was also a 1940 British film version directed by Thorold Dickinson (Alfred Hitchcock didn’t make a Gaslight, although many a pundit thinks he did) – but Gaslight is probably more suited as a theatre work than as a film. In any case, Jemima Murphy in particular did well as Bella in the “intimate but not claustrophobic” setting of a 100-or-so seater theatre.

ALL PHOTOS BY WILLIAM WATERWORTH – Jordan Wallace as Jack and Jemima Murphy as Bella

Patrick Hamilton is, for me, a frustrating writer. His novels are intriguing, well-written and have become far better known latterly than during his lifetime, when they mostly flopped. He made his dosh from more crowd-pleasing, melodramatic fare for the theatre; not least Rope and Gaslight.

Was it really 10 years ago that we saw Rope at the Almeida…

…yes, but I only Ogblogged it a couple of years ago.

But despite my low expectations from Patrick Hamilton as a playwright, First Floor’s production of Gaslight strangely worked for me.

I’m not sure if the script has been cut; I’m guessing that it has and quite rightly so, if the play was originally as long as most 1930s numb-bum-fests. But in any case the directing and acting focused well on the psychological elements of the play, leaving the melodrama and weak crime thriller plot mercifully in the background.

It is, after all, the psychological elements of this play that give it enduring relevance. Gaslighting has become a verb in psychological parlance, increasingly used to describe the several forms of domestic, mental abuse depicted in the piece and sadly all too common in our society.

Just imagine if the term Ogblogging were to become a verb? At least that would be positive rather than negative activity. I don’t think anyone has ever felt trolled by an Ogblog reference.

But I digress. Gaslight.

Rough justice? Jemima Murphy as Bella with Joe McArdle as Rough

Fine supporting work especially from Joe McArdle as Rough, Rebecca Ashley as Elizabeth and Grace Howard as Nancy. In truth Jordan Wallace seemed under-powered for his role as Jack in the first act; I suspect the young actor was very nervous at the start of press night. The slow start in the first act is not helped by the script, but it is quite a short act (there are four) and the piece warms up quite quickly. Jordan Wallace came into his own in the final act, during which his bullying became more sinister and…

***SPOILER ALERT***

…Jack’s comeuppance worked very well. The final act was far and away the highlight for me, with all of the performers well warmed up and neatly directed.

I’d also like to put in a word for the venue, The Playground Theatre, which apparently has been used as studio space for developmental work for several decades, but has only recently been converted for use as a fringe theatre venue and very cosy-looking cafe. I briefly met the artistic directors, Peter Tate and Anthony Biggs, who made me feel very welcome and spoke passionately about their project.

But returning to this production of Gaslight at the Playground Theatre, I was largely impressed and certainly entertained. I commend it – running until 10 November.

A History Of Water In The Middle East by Sabrina Mahfouz, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 19 October 2019

Bus outside The Royal Court, Sloane Square - geograph.org.uk - 1089253

Another day, another play, another “aftermath of Sykes-Picot” imaginative piece of theatre. Hot on the heels of our thoroughly entertaining evening at The Swan on Monday…

…this hugely entertaining and thought-provoking piece about the Middle East.

Here is a link to the Royal Court Theatre resources on A History Of Water In The Middle East.

Writer and performer Sabrina Mahfouz pulls no punches in blaming colonial powers past and present for many of the Middle East’s woes. While taking care to avoid attacking particular Middle-Eastern peoples, her lens does therefore focus almost exclusively on colonial interests without considering the intra-Middle-Eastern proxy wars and conflicts that surely also play a major part in the multifarious problems in that region.

But it would be impossible to be historically comprehensive and profoundly nuanced in a 70 minute piece that also seeks to entertain as well as inform. This piece does both with aplomb.

Along with Sabrina Mahfouz, highly talented multi-instrumentalist musician/composer Kareem Samara, plus excellent performers Laura Hanna (who sings magnificently) and David Mumeni (who doesn’t), have pulled off a superb performance piece.

At one point Mumeni sings, karaoke-style, a Suez Canal version of Sweet Caroline that would have worked in NewsRevue had that show started in 1956 rather than 1979. Personally I’d have tidied up some of the scansion, but we’ll let that pass; I suspect the scansion deficiencies were deliberate, for effect. Laura Hanna’s operatic-style aria for an heroic female plumber in Jordan 30 years hence was also an absolute highlight for me.

But despite the fun aspects, the piece is also about that troubled region and impending crises. While campaigners of the Extinction Rebellion kind might be accused of exaggerating for effect, this piece points out, accurately, that Yemen is already one of the most profound humanitarian crises the world has ever seen and that is before that sorry nation runs out of water; an imminent disaster with little sign of any redress.

There was so much going on in this piece, Janie and I were both grateful for the playtext-style programme so we could/can read bits of the text on reflection and in discussion.

At the time of writing (the day after we saw the show), there are still some tickets available for the Royal Court run. Here is a link that finds reviews and the like. We hope this piece gets a transfer and thus a wider audience. It is intelligent, informative, entertaining and witty. We’d recommend this piece/production highly.

How I Lost My Virginity Three Times In Less Than A Week, Yet Didn’t Lose A Match, 10, 14 & 15 October 2019

One of the many wonderful things about real tennis is that every court is significantly different and each has an interesting history and prevailing culture.

Before this week, I had tried seven courts other than my home court at Lord’s. This week I lost my virginity on three more courts. That takes my tally up to eleven. There are fewer than 50 active courts in the world.

10th October 2019: The Hamsters v The Dedanists, Hampton Court Palace

I was honoured to be selected to debut for The Dedanists in this fixture. This selection could only possibly be to do with the progress I am making with my skills at tennis, so the request that came through shortly after my selection; “would you mind also being the match reporter for this match?” was clearly a coincidental, additional honour.

Me and Dedanist doubles partner James McDermott: with thanks to Carl Snitcher for several photographs from that day, not least those that depict me.

I arranged to give Dedanist team captain Carl Snitcher a lift to and from the match, which enabled Carl to concentrate on vital captaincy duties (such as enjoying some wine with the oppo) and gave us both a chance to have very pleasant conversations to and from the match.

Alastair Robson fizzes the ball over the net while Carl Snitcher guards Henry VIII

The match report, hacked by yours truly, needs no repeating here, as it is available on The Dedanists match report blog page – click here for a link to that site…

…or click here for a scrape of that page with the relevant report at the top of the page for posterity.

In true Harris match report style, you can learn vital details about the food and beverage, not just the tennis.

Iain Harvey larking about
Ian Harris marking a bout

I even got to mark the final rubber of the match; another first for me. I rather enjoyed that role. In fact, I enjoyed every bit of that day at Hampton Court Palace.

14 October 2019: Leamington Tennis Court Club

Janie and I had arranged a short trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon to see A Museum In Baghdad, so I put out some feelers to see if I could arrange some tennis at one or both of the clubs nearby. Real tennis folk are incredibly welcoming, so it was with great ease (on my own part) that I quickly had arrangements to try both.

On the Monday; Leamington, thanks to Alastair Robson.

Arriving at Leamington; thanks to Janie for the pictures and vids
Peter & I prepare to serve, Johnny looks on, Alastair is hazard-end bound

We had a very enjoyable game of doubles. Peter was an excellent partner to have on an alien court; full of praise when things went well for me and full of patience on the many occasions I ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. He, Alastair and Johnny clearly play for the enjoyment of the sport, the exercise and the social side of it.

All five of us enjoyed a good lunch at Gusto, about three minutes walk from the club. Between snapping and chomping, Janie did a bit of shopping in Leamington while waiting for us to finish playing. According to Janie, Monday lunchtime shopping in Leamington is currently an even more rarefied activity than real tennis.

15 October 2019: Moreton Morrell Tennis Court Club

John Franklin very kindly arranged for me to play at that other Midlands real tennis court/club; Moreton Morrell. So Janie and I diverted/stopped off there on the way home from Stratford.

Parking Up Dumbo Outside Moreton Morrell

Built in 1905, a wealthy American member of Leamington resolved his differences with that long-established club by building his own court and starting his own club on his country estate.

John welcomes me to Moreton
Moreton’s variant of the Hampton Court scoring abacus

While the Leamington surface is as bouncy as I have encountered, the Moreton Morrell surface is even less bouncy than Lord’s…

…but if you hit one of the cracks on the surface anything might happen:

John and I had a very good game. We pretty much always have a very good game; the handicapping system doing its job with precision. A one-set-all draw, as indeed was the doubles fixture in Leamington the previous day.

John, Janie and I went on to the Lighthorne Pavilion Cafe for lunch; a charming place nearby, suitably based at a local cricket club but open all year round. A very pleasant environment in which to unwind, eat and chat after a game of tennis.

So there it went; my virginity on three real tennis courts, now lost for ever; but I didn’t lose any of the matches and I do very much hope to play on all three courts again.

A Museum In Baghdad by Hannah Khalil, Royal Shakespeare Company, Swan Theatre, 14 October 2019

Gertrude Bell, 1909, in what is now Iraq

Janie and I saw a preview of this superb production at the Swan, about a week before press night.

We became fascinated with Gertrude Bell when we saw the film Letters From Baghdad and a panel discussion about it a couple of years ago at the Curzon.

Hence our enthusiasm to decamp to Stratford and see A Museum In Baghdad more or less as soon as it opened. The RSC explains and describes the piece in its resources here.

Playwright Hannah Khalil explains her thinking behind the piece here:

The following trailer explains little but does give a flavour of the atmospheric music and sensescape of the piece:

Janie and I loved the play/production and came away from the show buzzing from the quality of ideas, drama, sounds and emotions we experienced at The Swan.

Janie tends to dislike plays that overlap time periods (this play is set in 1926 and 2006) and mess with the linear telling of stories, not least because she often finds that confusing. But this one works so well and certainly worked for her, such that the overlapping of the two time-settings just added a little to the chaos of the situations being depicted, without interfering with the narrative line.

The production runs at The Swan for a few months before transferring to the Kiln in London. We have not yet been to the latter since its refurb, so wonder how well the piece will work there. It certainly worked wonderfully for us in the three-sided Swan setting. It certainly should appeal to Kiln audiences.

All of the acting was top notch, as was the design, sound and movement. Hard to single out performances, but Emma Fielding, Rendah Heywood and Rasoul Saghir were exceptional.

We were grateful to be staying just across the road in The Arden, as the heavens were in open mode that evening. We debriefed over a snack supper there. I believe I spotted Mark Ravenhill with his entourage, amongst the small number of people who decamped to the hotel after the show.

We loved A Museum In Baghdad – what else is there to say?

Postscript following press night: reviews of this production can be found through this link.

International Herring Fest And Awards, Jacquie Briegal’s Place, 9 October 2019

It is a well-known fact (amongst regular Ogblog readers and members of one particular branch of the cousinhood) that Jacquie Briegal’s place is the centre of international herring fest activity.

Briegal table c2016, thanks to Hils for the photo

Less well known is that Jacquie Briegal’s place is also the centre of international netball when Clare Briegal has federation matters to transact in London.

This year, unusually, Mark and Clare joined in person rather than via video link. It was great to see them both as it had been a while. Regulars Hilary, Michael, me and Janie were there, as were latter-day regulars Sonia, Josh and Melody.

Josh established a new tradition for the herring fest; hailing in the festival with a lengthy blow of the rams horn. I only captured the last 10 seconds or so of the blow, but it was a longer blow than that:

Michael arrived fashionably late, as usual, being the only one amongst us who actually observes Yom Kippur. But this year Janie was last of all, as she was on a reiki course that day.

Soon after Janie arrived, we discussed cricket and discovered that Clare knows David Kendix well through his involvement with netball rankings as well as cricket ones.

IMG_2340
Clare was suitably outspoken in the matter of my Championship tie

But let us get down to matters herring.

Jacquie had promised not to overdo it this year, but her underdone spread seems quite similar to her overdone spread.

Only four herrings competed for the coveted prize, though.

They were supplemented by chopped herring, egg and onion (Mark’s favourite food for the purposes of denigration rather than eating), several smoked salmon plates, fried fish balls, several salads and plentiful bread, including Mark’s home made challah, which was superb.

[Insert your own joke/pun on the theme of Mark being the bread winner in the Briegal household here]

Melody was concerned that I wasn’t writing down the results of my herring tastings, which, she said, gave her the lack of confidence she usually reserves for waiters who write nothing down and then mess up your restaurant order.

Quite right, Melody, for the results of the herring fest have totally escaped my mind this time and are therefore lost to all posterity…

…only kidding. I wrote down the results when Melody wasn’t looking.

  • Silver Herring 2019: sweet cure;
  • Gold Herring 2019: for the second year running, shmaltz.
Exceptional Schmaltz Herring in 2018.

As always, the evening was a lovely opportunity to catch up with the cousinhood and have a fishy, festive gathering. Jacquie, you’re a star!

Real Tennis Success: Through To A Tournament Semi-Final, Lord’s, 8 October 2019

This is not the first time I have won a quarter-final of something, but it is my first time getting through to a semi-final at real tennis. On this occasion, the H.D. Johns Doubles Tournament.

My previous quarter-final victory was a wee while ago, at Alleyn’s School…

…so I’m thinking I might now be on a roll.

Sadly there is no video footage of the epic fives quarter-final battle between me and John Eltham, whereas the real tennis quarter-final has been videoed for all posterity…or at least until someone decides to clear down the MCC Real Tennis YouTube archive…

…that clear down must have happened quite soon after the match. I shall scrape the videos/highlights in future if I think they are worth preserving.

It resulted 6-1, 6-4.

Can Dominic and I progress on through the semi-final (next month) to finals day in December? That would be a unique achievement. We’ll try our very best.

Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. by Caryl Churchill, Royal Court Theatre, 5 October 2019

We have a split jury on this one. I found the production interesting and entertaining in equal measure. Janie didn’t much like it.

You can read the reviews for yourself – click here and then beyond.

Many of the reviews agree with me. Some of them agree with Janie. It was that sort of production.

Sort of four short plays – the longest, Imp, being an hour or so long and comprising the whole second half. I liked that play the best.

The other three were very short and took up the first half, interspersed with a juggler and an acrobat during the set changes between the three.

Here is a link to the Royal Court resources on this production/collection of plays.

Caryl Churchill stuff is always challenging and a bit different…this production was no different…if you see what I mean.

As a collection of plays, the production touches on themes such as violence in our society, myths and the relentless desire to turn just about anything into a marketing opportunity. The final play, Imp, brings several of those themes together, subtly, in an understated, domestic chamber play.

Excellent cast, direction and design throughout. But the standout performances, for me, were the quartet in Imp: Deborah Findlay, Louisa Harland, Toby Jones and Tom Mothersdale.

Bus outside The Royal Court, Sloane Square - geograph.org.uk - 1089253
Don’t think we’d have made it if we’d bussed it

We had terrible trouble getting to the Royal Court on time on this occasion – we really must allow more time in future. The journey seems to be taking longer by car now on a Saturday evening and we keep allowing less rather than more time. We arrived in the nick of time. Others didn’t. Our marriage has just about survived the hair-raising journey and the difference of opinion about the production. Just about.

Middlesex End Of Season Stuff, Lord’s, 30 September & 4 October 2019

With thanks to Colin Short for this and many of the photos.

The cricket season once again seemed to be over in the batting of an eyelid. Some wags might argue that Middlesex couldn’t even have batted an eyelid in the county championship towards the end of this season. But I’m not that sort of wag.

For both the members’ forum on the Monday and the end of season lunch on the Friday, I was able to secure suitably timed real tennis sessions, hopefully gaining lots of useful practice with my doubles partner, Dominic, ahead of our quarter-final appearance next week.

The Monday evening forum was a surprisingly civilised affair, with members expressing their disappointment with the championship season but little of the bile that some thought might emerge.

Chatting with several of the regulars at the post forum drinks, the mood was mostly quite optimistic for next season, hoping that the progress made this year with the white ball might filter through to the red ball cricket next season. It was also good to hear about several really promising youngsters coming through the seconds – I didn’t get to see any second team cricket this year.

Friday 4 October 2019

I was shocking at the tennis this morning – hopefully getting my bad match out of the way ahead of the proper match next week – whereas Dominic was terrific – hopefully going from strength to strength and then next week yet further strength.

Janie was fashionably late for the Middlesex event although mostly for the unfashionable reason that she had a power cut at Noddyland while doing the washing, which set her back time-wise. Then her cab didn’t show up.

Undaunted, Janie arrived ahead of the meal while Gus was doing the introductions.

Our table included Westy, Brigit, Geoff Norris, Charles Robbins, Jane Saxton and David Kendix – only the latter escaping Colin and his new iPhone camera towards the end of the event:

Jane & Westy
Colin showing off his new phone/camera to Ged (or should I say Ian?)
Geoff Norris coaching Stuart Law, while I look on and Daisy looks away
Geoff & Charles
Westy & Brigit
Ged & Daisy

But before we got to the point that there was all that detritus on our table, we dined on this:

With awards and stuff being done between courses
Dawid Malan was Players’ Player Of the Year AND Player Of The Year
David Fulton presents the Youth Player Of The Year award to Josh de Caires, via his helicopter dad, Michael.
The Women’s Squad pay tribute to retiring stalwart Beth Morgan (in bright red).

After the awards, we were entertained by a highly skilled and entertaining magician. Some wags would suggest that he must have used magic to get our cricketers consistently to catch his deck of cards as it was thrown around for one of the tricks, but I’m not that sort of wag. The magician did somehow manage to extract a £20 note from Angus for his last trick – that could only possibly have been done by magic – the rest of that outstanding trick paled into insignificance after that initial piece of sorcery.

It seems to me that this event, only recently revamped as an awards lunch in this style, is going from strength to strength each year. The tone of the event is a superb mix of professionalism and clubiness; very much in keeping with Middlesex’s ethos.

Bound To Appear At The Old Bailey, 30 September 2019

Following Michael Mainelli’s admission as Aldermanic Sheriff of the City of London the previous Friday…

…I was bound to appear at the Old Bailey sooner or later. But it wasn’t until a few days before Michael’s admission that I was asked to join Michael and the judges for lunch on his first day as Sheriff, which I thought a very nice request and one that would be hard to turn down, despite the day not being overly convenient for the purpose.

The done thing is to stay on after lunch and watch the afternoon sitting of a case unfold for an hour or so; something that would interest me a great deal, but my itinerary for that day would not allow that post lunch hour. The kind administrators at The Old Bailey have arranged for me to return on another day, a few weeks hence, to observe a post-lunch sitting.

Anyway, I got to The Old Bailey in good time, which was just as well because security gave me a fairly thorough going-over. Try as we might, we couldn’t seem to find everything about my person that was making their gadgets go bleep.

I had visions of being taken down the cells and that the “phone-battery-gate” incident, as it would doubtless become known, which led to my (Michael’s business partner’s) arrest on his first day as Sheriff, becoming a legendary smear on Michael’s Aldermanic career.

But no, security eventually gave up on me, accepting that my cuff-links might be causing the relatively mild residuary bleeps. I was allowed in.

It was a relatively light day for The Old Bailey, with a minority of the courts sitting. The cases are a matter of public announcement and record – here and below is a link to the listing for the day of that visit.

I was one of five guests that day and five judges dined. Before lunch, we guests were hosted by Michael and Elisabeth in their Old Bailey apartment for drinks. This was an opportunity for Michael to explain the workings of the Old Bailey to us and explain the protocols for the rest of our visit.

As it was his first one, Michael has also written it up, although he has gone for an extremely quirky angle on the matter – click here or below:

I should perhaps explain that Michael has opted for a puffin as the animal atop his crest. Michael’s puffin is playing the bagpipes…obviously. You can read more about Michaels’ chain and crest by clicking here. The punchline, for those who choose not to click, is the motto: ordo ex χάος. Order out of chaos. Welcome to my world.

Then we guests were led into a reception room where we met most of the judges who were joining us for lunch. The traditional pre-lunch drink is a very flavoursome tomato juice.

There I learnt that coroners know how to have a good time when they gather for a convention, at least in the matter of witty after dinner speakers, such as John Spence.

Then the lunch itself, which was a light but very tasty vegetarian Indian meal.

There I learnt that judges don’t always pre-read the mini cvs that each guest is required to submit ahead of the lunch…but that judges can catch up pretty quickly on the content of five single paragraph cvs – who’d ‘ave thought it? The judges were excellent company. We discussed theatre, music and the Price Of Fish as well as their interesting cases.

There I also learnt that the knife crime epidemic is certainly manifesting itself in The Old Bailey schedule and that even genteel parts of London, such as my walking route twixt Notting Hill Gate and Lord’s, is not immune from such events. A slightly chilling thought ahead of my making that very walk later that very day.

But before braving the edgy, mean streets of Notting Hill Gate and St John’s Wood, I needed to say goodbye to the judges and my fellow guests, all of whom were sticking around in The Old Bailey.

After I descended the staircase to find myself back in the hands of the security team, I was much relieved to be shown the door rather than the next flight of stairs downwards for involuntary retention.

A very interesting lunch and I look forward very much to my return to see part of a case unfold.