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Showing posts with the label Manuel Bau

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Extraordinary shenanigans: Extraordinary Women - Jermyn Street Theatre

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Compton Mackenzie’s novel about bed-hopping lesbians on Capri (here fictionalised as Sirene) and their escapades gets a musicalised treatment in this intimate show. It’s all a bit silly, really, and not much happens in the end. However, the musical succeeds in evoking a time, a place, and a mood with its sublime music and stellar cast. It’s currently playing at Jermyn Street Theatre . Set in the aftermath of World War I in 1919, Extraordinary Women explores the lives of unconventional women—chiefly English writer Aurora (Caroline Sheen) and her lover, Rosalba (Amy Ellen Richardson). Aurora has purchased a villa on the island with the hope of encouraging her part-time lover, Rosalba, to settle down with her exclusively. However, Rosalba, who is romantically involved with several women and depends on them for her lifestyle, is hesitant to commit. The story revolves around their on-again, off-again romance, along with the various affairs among the other women on Sirene. Meanwhile, the anc...
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Just giving and taking away: Charity Case @draytonarmsSW5

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I've often wondered if when someone dies after undertaking some impossible feat for a charity (like running the London Marathon), the charity exclaims, "Yes! We're going to make payroll!" Well, going by Charity Case, Jeff Page's look at the sector, they might do. Nobody dies in this brief look at the charity sector, but it's a hard graft constantly looking for money to survive while providing an essential service outsourced by the government. It's currently playing at Drayton Arms Theatre for this week.  The focus here is on a fictitious charity called Number 93. Funds are down, and expenses are up. The race is on to find some emergency funding. But is it an expensive overhead with high paying charity executives draining the money, or is it impossible demands by the government to deliver essential services for vulnerable children and adults?  Ahead of a deadline to confirm funds as a going concern, there are meetings with ministers, rock stars, cold-calli...
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Digging in: Checkpoint Chana @Finborough

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What do you do when you're a successful poet accused of semitism? How do you avoid the social media storm and the calls for an apology? These are the thoughts that come in Checkpoint Chana by Jeff Page. It's having its premiere at the Finborough Theatre following a reading at Finborough's Vibrant 2017 festival. It starts with Bev (Geraldine Somerville) complaining to her assistant Tasmin (Ulrika Krishnamurti). She has to write an apology  after one of her poems sets off a social media firestorm. It’s been labelled anti-Semitic after every other recent poem of hers has been ignored. The indignity of a respected poet needing to do this is compounded by problems in her personal life and pressure from her university. But she eventually relents to making an apology, and having a sympathetic interview scheduled. She’ll even do a talk at a North London arts centre.  Somerville is convincing as a person caught up in the drama that’s part of their own creation. But often the work s...
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