Bits and pieces: World Naked Bike Ride London 2012

Anyone in Piccadilly Circus Saturday afternoon would have found themselves stopping to appreciate the cheek of several hundred cyclists taking part in the annual World Naked Bike Ride. A clothing-optional event, it aims to promote more sustainable means of transport and a generally more body-positive culture. While the numbers seemed down this year (possibly due to the windy weather that made things a little chilly), they made up for being more colourful and noisier than years past. And there was some unexpected laughs as a family in a car somehow managed to get caught amongst the cyclists. The mother shouting abuse at naked cyclists while their children in the back seats with wide-open stares was an amusing diversion.

Of course, the event is so large nowadays that it is still possible for some cyclists to get caught amongst the traffic. Being naked in Piccadilly Circus with hoards of people and traffic around you surely must count as the stuff of worst nightmares, although these Brazilians didn't seem to mind that much...

It may not be art but it is one of the more creative forms of protest to be seen on the streets of London. For those of you that like cycling (and full frontal nudity) there are more photos here...

Slaughterhouse theatre: Meat

Meat is now playing at Theatre 503 in Battersea. It is part melodrama, part comedy and part lesson in slaughterhouse technique set in the industrial heartland of the north of England.

The story focusses on Vincent, a man who works in a meat processing factory. He has a run in with the local youth yoof and then things get a little messy. Soon as events spiral out of control it becomes a bit difficult to explain to his wife and daughter just what he has been doing working all that overtime. The abbatoir becomes a metaphor for a lot of the things that are going wrong in his town and in his life.

The performances by cast of four are vigorous and intense. Vincent, as played by Graham Turner is a shifty character and he keeps you wondering if the years of experience cutting the carotid artery of animals on an assembly line has given him other ideas about dealing with wild youth on an industrial scale. His wife Tracy Brabin (of the Sainsbury adverts fame) is locked in a power struggle of domesticated proportions and the interplay between them is the focus of the drama. While Ian Weichardt looks way too nice to be a knife-weilding-mugger youth, the choreography between him and Turner in the climatic scene will have audiences on the edge of their seats. It's not gross out violence in the Grand Guignol style, but it still will go some way to explain why the gastro pub downstairs has run out of ketchup.

Part of the enjoyment of this piece is how the story eventually unfolds. Lines that at first could be assumed to be idle banter soon become apparent to be yielding much more. But for a play that gives detailed descriptions about the correct way to cut an animal, it is a shame that a few choice cuts weren't provided to the source material. Particularly in some of the more obvious parts of the story at the begining.



Still, the piece can be appreciated for what it is and playwright Jimmy Osborne is someone to watch. The production is also very imaginatively staged and lit and scenes move back and forth between abbatoir and home. Depicting the work at the abbatoir using pillows and red foam falling to the floor is particularly evocative. And it has some fabulous art work (opposite) of pigs heads and other meaty bits for its poster which puts you in the right frame of mind even before entering the theatre. Worth a look and be sure to eat downstairs at The Latchmere pub as well as they serve a pretty good burger...

Meat runs at Theatre503 in Battersea until 30 June, Tuesday to Sunday. Tickets are £14 with concessions available. Sundays are also pay what you can.

listen to ‘Ab-boo-toir: Meat’ on Audioboo

Art in mildly sadomasochistic times: Gérard Rancinan's Wonderful World

The LondonNewcastle Project Space in Redchurch Street is home to a fabulously frothy and deliciously naughty exhibition of photographer Gerard Rancinan's work called Wonderful World. Rancinan is known for his dynamic and hyper-realistic pieces. Production of one of the pieces on exhibition is depicted in the video clip from French television. It is painstaking and eye-catching work, particularly with half naked models (even if they are wearing cartoon masks and put into positions that echo religious iconography).

Wonderful World is the concluding part of his Trilogy of the Moderns. The everyday meets the kinky, pop culture meets street culture and religious icons meet cartoon icons in a series of images that explore the search for happiness (real or drug induced) in a confused and odd sort of world. So naturally it all suits the Shoreditch area well.

Beautifully presented with fifteen large images surrounded by props, costumes and other features, it is a lot of fun and takes a few good barbs at crap art and celebrity obsessed culture. The exhibition also includes a purpose built set that will serve as the vehicle for the public casting, shooting and unveiling of the final composition in this series on site.

Visitors to the gallery this weekend (9-10 June) will also find themselves auditioning for the casting call. If you have what it takes to make the final tableau you will be initially photographed mug shot style. If you're make it through then the shooting will take place on Tuesday in the gallery. Repeat visits over this month are recommended to savour this part art installation, part film set, part soap opera, part photoshop masterclass...

Work will continue on site through to the unveiling of the finished work at a reception on Wednesday 20th June. Go see it. Get photographed and be fabulously happy, regardless of what chemically enhanced state you may be in. Just don't tell Minnie what they do to Mickey...

It runs from Thursday 7th June 2012 until Sunday 24th June 2012.

Quick tips and leaving London for the weekend

I'm missing the Jubilee celebrations in favour of a trip to Italy so I will miss the the crowds as they pass (literally) outside my door. However there are plenty of tips for things to do on the weekend including:

• A handy guide to wake the neighbours up with the Sex Pistols
• Nudist street parties (well they did it for her 50th and look likely to do it again in E17)
• Scenes of a messy nature in Soho with various street parties around the gay bars...

Of course if you do make it to the South Bank the entire area is heaving with bars and restaurants including the very sensible National Theatre Propstore that serves local beers and is made up of sets and bits from past productions... A nice spot if you can get served... Or grab a seat...

A bit of syncopation and history: Ragtime

Ragtime the musical is currently playing at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. It's an epic musical based on E.L. Doctorow's novel that charts the tale of three families against the backdrop of the change, family, immigration, racism, strikes and unrest at the turn of the last century in America. It's an exhausting and exhilarating history lesson set to the music of ragtime, a genre of music that is predominantly recognisable for its syncopated rhythms. It was popular during the period, but then eclipsed by jazz and largely forgotten until a 1970s revival.

Of course it is neither the period nor the music that hits you first when you take your seats. The first shock is that the set which looks like a bomb has gone off. And for a story set in 1906 it all seems very contemporary. There is a poster from Obama's 2008 campaign proclaiming "Dare to Dream" towards the back with a gaping hole in it. In front of the hole is a pile of junk, dust and rubbish as if had exploded out from the sign. It does not look pretty, but it is incredibly evocative of not only more recent events such as 9/11 but also of the themes that prevail throughout the piece around change and the creative destruction of American capitalism that builds, renews, destroys and builds again.

Atmosphere aside, for an audience member who is not intimately familiar with American history (or the 16th century German historical figure Han Kohlhase - who is the inspiration for Coalhouse Walker), it's a clever way to draw you in. And as the light fades over Regents Park and the bird calls get louder (and the odd helicopter flies overhead) it works very well. Welcome modifications to the stage area brings the action into the audience and in your face. I had a buttocks eye view of actor Joshua Lacey as he dropped his trousers to commit an act of vandalism in the first half. There are other grander spectacles involving a flat top crane including Katie Brayben as Evelyn Nesbit on a giant swing and Stephane Anelli as Harry Houdini escaping from a straight jacket suspended upside down.

The story is somewhat melodramatic and there is enough material for a 12 part television series rather than a three hour musical. As an audience member you feel the weight of history on your shoulders and you feel like it is slapping you about a bit with it too. But the melodrama and the music keeps the story together, particularly as the three stories come together in the second act.

In a piece this big, voices to match the epic scale are required. But thankfully it isn't all big showstopper numbers and there is a number of delicate performances that add some welcome shades of grey to the proceedings. Rolan Bell as Coalhouse Walker (pictured above) performs with a mix of charisma, charm and a bit of terror. His final number, "Make Them Hear You," is not shouted out from the rooftops treetops but delivered quietly making it more of a spiritual event.

It won't be to everyone's tastes as the audioboo with @Johnnyfoxlondon below suggests, but it is one fascinating and contemplative night out at the theatre. And you would be hard pressed to find a more passionate and rousing performance show in London at the moment. Dress warmly and go. It runs until 8 September alternating with A Midsummer Night's Dream and tickets are available the usual outlets.

listen to ‘Late night boo: Ragtime’ on Audioboo

The night that was: At the theatre with Love Bites

Sunday night was an opportunity to catch a series of short one act plays - or as @johnnyfoxlondon and I liked to call them in the Audioboo below, snatches - at the Southwark Playhouse called Love Bites. It was one night only which was a shame as it was a lot of fun could do with running over a few Sunday nights for when people are looking for something strange and interesting to do.

The concept has been running for a few years and has produced over thirty new one-act plays. But this was my first Love Bites, which also was also a best of collection of the material so far. Some are self-contained stories, some are monologues and some could potentially be other stories. It is a great little concept that is simple and very entertaining. The writing was great and the works presented had something funny to say about the art of love. There were also a few surprises in store in some of the pieces. But best of all is the opportunity to see new work being tried out in a simple yet slick presentation with a talented group of actors.

Here is hoping that there are many more nights at the theatre involving Love Bites.

listen to ‘Interval boo: Love Bites’ on Audioboo

Plays on tour: Is there a (script) doctor in the house?

Doctor in the House has been doing the rounds of major centres this year and is playing at Richmond Theatre this week. Comedian and I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here winner Joe Pasquale plays the lead but he does not quite get the opportunity to let rip as much as you think you think he could or would like to. It's less laugh out loud and more smirk occasionally. Very occasionally. The material has been reworked from its source material and it seems to be missing any sense of bawdiness and adventure that could have made this a bit more fun.

Pasquale describes in the above clip that the show will make you come out of the theatre feeling like you had a little hot water bottle down your pants. Well there was a warm feeling in the theatre but it could have been due to the ambient temperatures outside. The cast try their best with the material they have, the set is lovely albeit a bit static since its the same awful med student accommodation in every scene (think Ladykillers off steroids). And of course any show where a moose head dispenses beer isn't totally the pits... But still...

It's at the Richmond Theatre this week and like a norovirus continues to run through cities across the land... Audioboo with @johnnyfoxlondon follows...

listen to ‘D.O.Aboo: Doctor In The House’ on Audioboo

Pain and passion: Cantina

The London Wonderground on the South Bank is currently playing host to Cantina, an Australian circus production that is unique in its blend of theatre and physical performance with a lashings of pain. Actually, a lot of pain. Broken glass, high heels, broken limbs feature so prominently it could be billed as the Cirque De Sade if that wasn't already the name for a fetish night in Canada.

The production manages to take the circus act and make it new by becoming sexy, violent and painful. Is it real or is it escapism? It is hard to tell but it is awfully enjoyable and classy night out full of laughs and some genuine surprises that will have audiences gasping.

Feel it, smell it: Leather Forever

Burlington Gardens is the home for an intriguing and beautiful exhibition by Hermès called Leather Forever. It celebrates the art of making products with leather along with showcasing some of the beautiful products made by the company over its 175 years.

There is the opportunity to feel and smell different leathers and watch the craftmanship in action working with the material. With a mix of lighting effects and different set pieces to compliment their range of products, it is at times an interactive experience and there is even a moment when you can be caught in a leather curtain. A lovely diversion that will have you wanting to head to the gift shop... If you know there is one just around the corner...

The Leather Forever exhibition is open from 10am to 6pm daily and admission is free. It runs through to 27 May.

Opera and horseplay: Falstaff

The Royal Opera's updated production of Verdi's Falstaff received mixed reviews from the audience on Tuesday night. Most people loved the performances, but when it was time for the production team to head onstage, there were some very audible boos (not to be confused with Audioboos). The gentleman next to me booed. He had had been tut tutting throughout most of the opera (particularly as the curtain went up revealing a dazzlingly bright 1950s kitchen in the second act), so it probably was not a surprise, but he did it with such gusto the sound reverberated around.

It is great that so many people are so passionate about Falstaff. It's a wonderful opera about a man who gets his comeuppance. While the production does update the setting from Elizabethan England to 1950s England, for the most part this change does not get in the way of the proceedings. The final scene in the second act in that kitchen was a little clunky and mistimed so much that it was obvious to most of the audience Falstaff wasn't thrown out with the laundry. And when it comes to the magical nymphs and fairies in the third act, things seem slightly stuck in a time warp.

But the closing scenes are lovely and the singing, particularly by the ladies is sweet and there is some fine music making here under the baton of Danielle Gatti. And there is the star turn in the final act by Rupert the horse, who managed to elicit laughs just by staring at Ambrogio Maestri. If there was a love story onstage, this was it...

It runs until 30 May. The closing night will also be televised on BP Summer Big Screens across the country. Check out the dates online.

Director Robert Carsen's case for updating productions follows... Should have explained this to the man to my right Tuesday... Although I suspect he would not have been interested in the rationale...
 


Photo credit Catherine Ashmore featuring scenes of adult themes and formica kitchens with Amanda Forsythe as Nannetta, Ana María Martínez as Alice Ford, Kai Rüütel as Meg Page in Robert Carsen's production of Falstaff.