Featured Post

Bear with me: Sun Bear @ParkTheatre

Image
If The Light House is an uplifting tale of survival, Sarah Richardson’s Sun Bear gives a contrasting take on this. Sarah plays Katy. We’re introduced to Katy as she runs through a list of pet office peeves with her endlessly perky coworkers, particularly about coworkers stealing her pens. It’s a hilarious opening monologue that would have you wishing you had her as a coworker to help relieve you from the boredom of petty office politics.  But something is not quite right in the perfect petty office, where people work together well. And that is her. And despite her protesting that she is fine, the pet peeves and the outbursts are becoming more frequent. As the piece progresses, maybe the problem lies in a past relationship, where Katy had to be home by a particular hour, not stay out late with office colleagues and not be drunk enough not to answer his calls. Perhaps the perky office colleagues are trying to help, and perhaps Katy is trying to reach out for help. It has simple staging
Travel: Things to do in Lyon

With the Lyon City Card you get free entry to many museums and galleries in Lyon. So over two days:
  • I saw Musée des Beaux Arts - great exhibition of art and antiquities and there wasn't the crowds so you could enjoy the Picassos and Reniors and Manets without fighting your way through the crowds. Of course this was Sunday morning the morning after the big football celebration that took place outside its doors so maybe people were a little tired.
  • Musée de la Civilisation Gallo-Romaine, which is next to the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre. Lyon was the centre of Gallic Roman Empire so there was plenty of ruins, mosaics and artefacts on display. I later caught a rehearsal at the amphitheatre for a play that was opening this week...
  • Musée Des Tissues and Musée des Arts Decoratifs. This was a quick Sunday trip but was well worth it to see (among other things) Napoleon and Josephine's bed that they used when they were in Lyon. The woman at the door was very helpful and didn't want me to leave even though I was running late to see the Musée des Beaux Arts before the Opera. I suspected it was in part because I was the only solo male here in a sea of women and the occasional husband dragged kicking and screaming. The collection reminded me of the V&A collection but on a smaller and distinctly French flavour.
  • Musée Lumiere which was on the site of the Lumiere Brothers factory and housed in the gorgeous art nouveau villa they lived in.
Travel: Theatre in Lyon

Saturday night's jazz concert was sold out so I went to Sunday afternoon's opera at the Opera National de Lyon which was Leos Janacek's "The Makropoulos Case". It was just as well. I was not familiar with Janacek's work but the music was so rich and dramatic that it is easy to become a fan overnight. The central role of a 300 year woman (its opera, don't ask) is also such a fantastic role for a strong dramatic soprano and Anja Silja didn't disappoint... Having played it at Glyndebourne and other places previously her performance drew a 10 minute applause.

The opera house itself is an interesting creation as well. Irenovatedovated in the early nineties and has a modern black and red and stainless steel interior while keeping the old facade of a much earlier structure. The all black can be a bit jarring at times (especially in the mens room as you don't quite know what you are looking at or walking into) but it is so French.

Travel: Eating in Lyon - Bouchons

But it wasn't all museums and arts... In between one has to eat and so I went to a couple of Bouchons while I was there. They provide set menu of gorgeousorgous things to eat and washed down with a Bordeaux or Beaujolais (from just up the road) it is a sensible dining experience.

The second night I went to a gay one, and after a long walk in the Parc de la Tete D'or, an opera and all those museums I was a little too exhausted to pronounce French in any comprehensible way. The chef took pity on me and (fortunately) spoke English very well. After the meal he grabbed my arm rather forcibly and told me, "I am sorry that I was so busy I didn't have time to talk to you." I told him that was okay but started to think... "hmm that was a strong and very intensive grip for somebody who is quite attractive". He looked me in the eye and told me that he wasn't French but Croatian and that I should go there as I would like it. I started to wonder if it wasn't such a busy night and if he wasn't working the place alone just what would my dining experience have ended up being at 23:20 as I began to leave... Oh well...

Popular posts from this blog

Opera and full frontal nudity: Rigoletto

Image
David McVicar's oddly modern production of Rigoletto is back at the Royal Opera House . This modern and minimalist dark production has evolved over the years. It is better lit now but there is still an orgy and full frontal nudity within the first thirty minutes. This enables anyone not in the stalls an excellent view of a flaccid penis and a nicely shaved bush. But as time goes it seems more and more superfluous to the main focus of this tragedy of a court jester who seeks revenge. Here is hoping that the production continues to evolve... Conductor John Eliot Gardiner keeps the music well paced. Dimitri Platanias in the title role sounded great and received a rapturous applause for his interpretation of the role. You get a sense more of the doting father rather than the court jester or cursed man here. Vittorio Grigolo plays the Duke and sounds too lovely to be the cad the role calls for, but it is hard not to like when he is on stage anyway. And it is easier to understan
Read more...

Fantasies: Afterglow @Swkplay

Image
Nowadays no self-respecting gay play can be staged without full frontal nudity of some kind. It feels like the default response for the modern gay play now that gay rights are no longer an issue .   Afterglow, currently playing at Southwark Playhouse , serves it up in spades. From the beginning, three men are in a bed, naked. There’s what appears to be a very brief exhalation of ecstasy, before the obligatory rush to the shower. But the gratuitous nudity and excellent performances can’t conceal this is a pretty conventional and predictable story about a fantasy couple.  The three men in the simultaneous orgasm at the start of the piece are Josh, Alex and Darius. Josh and Alex seem to live in a New York world where they can afford a rooftop apartment in Manhattan while holding jobs as a theatre director and a grad student in chemistry. As writer S. Asher Gelman based it on his own experiences, perhaps gay plays with full frontal nudity are the way to achieve financial security
Read more...

Play ball: Damn Yankees @LandorTheatre

Image
Damn Yankees at the Landor Theatre is one hell of a fun, sexy show. A great cast of dancers and singers give this show about a man who sells his soul to get on his beloved baseball team (and give them a chance of winning) new legs and balls. It also helps to up the ante with the sexiness with some healthy doses of cleavage and legs (and that's just the men). The musical is a retelling of the Faust story set in the 1950s when the New York Yankees dominated the game.
Read more...