At Home He Feels Like A Tourist

  • Slaves of Solitude at the Hampstead Theatre review ***

    Slaves of Solitude Hampstead Theatre, 8th November 2017 As this blog testifies I spend a lot of time in theatres, (too much I think), but the SO is far more circumspect in her choices. Occasionally, very occasionally, the SO’s desire to see a play, and her enjoyment thereof, outstrips mine. Slaves of…

  • Luciano Berio: London Sinfonietta at Kings Place review *****

    Luciano Berio: Theatre of the World London Sinfonietta, Kings Place Choir, Jonathan Cross (presenter), John Woolrich (curator) Kings Place, 4th November Lucy Schaufer – mezzo-soprano Michael Cox – flute Darragh Morgan – violin Paul Silverthorne – viola Timothy Lines – clarinet Lucy Wakeford – harp Young violinists from Waltham Forest…

  • Scythians exhibition at the British Museum ****

    Scythians: Warriors of Ancient Siberia British Museum, 2nd November 2017 I have been bowled over by most of the recent exhibitions I have seen at the British Museum, covering the history of Sicily, the art of South Africa, US modernist art printmaking, (The American Dream at the British Museum review ****),…

  • The Party film review ****

     The Party, 2nd November 2017 Other than Orlando this was the first Sally Potter film I had seen. Neither have I seen any of her theatrical events. Which is surprisingly because I would have thought I was bang up the target audience for her work. Ho, hum. So much to…

  • Australian Chamber Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall review ****

    Australian Chamber Orchestra, Richard Tognetti (director), Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano) Royal Festival Hall, 3rd November 2017 Bach The Art of Fugue Contrapunctus 1 to 4 Mozart Piano Concerto 15 Shostakovich Two Pieces for String Octet Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence There is something truly thrilling about watching a group of string players,…

  • Soutine’s Portraits at the Courtauld Gallery review ****

    Soutine’s Portraits: Cooks, Waiters and Bellboys Courtauld Gallery, 31st October 2017 I am afraid that the joys of Soutine’s paintings have passed me by in the past. I could see the vibrant colours and intense animation but all that skew-whiffedness left me a bit bewildered. On my last visit to…

  • St George and the Dragon at the National Theatre review ***

    Saint George and the Dragon National Theatre, 31st October 2017 This must have looked a great idea on paper. A state of the nation play, with much to say about ill at ease contemporary Britain, told as allegory, in a format and staging that nods to a fairy tale. Writer…

  • Mother Courage and Her Children at the Southwark Playhouse review ***

    Mother Courage and Her Children Southwark Playhouse, 7th November 2017 Hmmm. I am torn. This was a mixed bag and no mistake. The good stuff first. Well it is Brecht so there will always be big issues to chew on, although here the anti-war appeal that lies at the heart…

  • Suzy Storck at the Gate Theatre review ****

    Suzy Storck Gate Theatre, 4th November 2017 The Gate under Ellen McDougall has found another blinding play, this time courtesy of French writer Magali Mougel (translated by Chris Campbell). Visceral only begins to describe it. Ms Mougel has created a modern-day Medea and invested it with an arresting, and bleak,…

  • Minefield at the Royal Court Theatre *****

    Minefield The Royal Court Theatre, 7th November 2017 Argentinian writer, Lola Arias, in her own words, explores the “overlap zones between reality and fiction”. Minefield though is all reality, in the rawest, most uncomfortable and, ultimately, moving way imaginable. She has devised a powerful piece of theatre, documenting the tragedy…