August 8th, 2009
A very moving and well performed play. It is perhaps the best thing I have seen at Chichester for a long time. Everything came together to give a stunning evening. The acting was superb. Christopher Timothy played the part of Pa Joad. Portraying the anguish and futility of his life excellently. The dusk bowls in Oklahoma were caused by the farmers themselves, by the intensive farming methods. How much they new then that it was their fault I do not know.
The large cast of 22, made great use of the thrust stage and used it is such a way that you felt the play is going to be diminished in a normal theatre. You wanted to feel their hope in looking for jobs, but knew that it was a scam to pay the least amount of money to each worker. You could say it ended on a high note, as a death was put to use in helping another human being live. It was a sad play in that it showed how those that have exploited those that hadn’t. It also showed the shear determination of the human spirit in adversity.
Finally the set and water effects were amazing. The backdrop was used part as a billboard showing old adverts which added comment to what was happening on the stage and also as an optical illusion to disconcert you. By the end of the evening you would swear that they had tipped the stage so you felt that the audience were walking downhill to the exits!
All in all a very good evening.
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July 7th, 2009
It was a glorious weekend at Goodwood. I attended with my son on both the Saturday and Sunday. On the Saturday we spent the time going round the F1 cars and other various supercars. On the Sunday we were in the stand opposite the house watching the cars on the hill track. Highlights were Peter Fonda on a replica of the bike he had in Easy Rider. Born to be free was blasting out from Goodwood House as he rode up the track. Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Sterling Moss, Derek Bell and many others were there. The event celebrated 100 years of AUDI. The sculpture in front of Goodwood House was amazing, as you can see from the photograph.
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We also were able to hear and see Jenson Button
It was a great weekend. Unfortunately I was not able to take home a Buggatti Veyron!
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July 5th, 2009
What a shame. To me this production had nothing to do with Oklahoma, the state not the musical. This was one of the first films I remember seeing. Gordon MacRae riding through the corn field on a bright sunny day singing ‘O what a beautiful morning’ is one of my favourite movie moments. In this production it was portrayed more like a procession out a Brecht play. There is no real colour or brightness. It is made to feel very dark, but this is what John Doyle has set out to do. He does bring out a different feel to the musical, but in doing so it could take place anywhere. We are still discussing the significance of the rose petals and the apples.
That all aside the music dancing and singing are great and if you close your eyes you can transport yourself to Oklahoma.
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June 25th, 2009
I had a very interesting Tuesday evening. I went to the Dome in Brighton to hear Malcolm Gladwell speak. For those who don’t know who he is. He is the author of three books, Turning Point, Blink and his latest Outliers. Blink was about instant appraisals of people produced by our own conditioning. Outliers is about people with events that produce phenomenal outcomes.
His talk on Tuesday was about the financial crisis tying in with the American Civil War! It was all about the battle of Chancellorsville. General Hooker took over a very dispirited army. He was able to inspire them and get them food. Due to his spy network and the availability of a hot air balloon he was able to get much information about the other side who was commanded by Robert E Lee. Gladwell then spoke about a physiological test. Students were given two pages about a person and then asked to answer questions about him. They were then give a couple more pages and asked the same questions. They were given another couple of sheets again having to answer the questions. Finally they were given all the information about this person. The research showed that with the added information the students still only got around 27% right. The very interesting observation is that the students assessment of how well they did went up to nearly 90% when given all the information.
Getting back to the American Civil War, General Hooker had all this information coming in and made his own assumption of what was happening. He did not listen to his other Generals. He felt he new everything. He was beaten by Lee.
He was looked on as an expert, like all the top bankers who were dealing with our money. They all felt they new better and didn’t heed any warnings! The conclusion is that it is best to have someone who is humble in a position of power, who is not afraid to admit there are other possibilities, rather than an overconfident person who does not listen. Unfortunately we are drawn to the charismatic characters who are confident. We are told confidence is a good thing. Unfortunately it has caused the problems we are in now!
It was a very interesting talk. I came away with a signed copy of Outliers!
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June 11th, 2009
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May 28th, 2009
I went to see Cyrano de Bergerac at the Chichester Festival theatre on Tuesday night. This production is directed by Trevor Nunn. It was with some trepidation that I sat down to enjoy the performance, knowing that it was over 3 hours long.
Joseph Fiennes played the part of Cyrano with great finesse and a great nose. By the end of the play the nose did not catch your eye and you felt for the person underneath. Joseph Fiennes did an excellent job in the part. In the review outside the theatre it said that people were crying at the end. I did not see anybody crying but I did feel moved. It is not a happy ending due to his unrequited love for Roxanne.
The other cast members did a very good job and the set pieces were stunning particularly the battle scene at the barricades. Trevor Nunn is used to directing action scenes as his most famous work, Les Mis, shows.
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May 17th, 2009
What an interesting selection of films. Friday night was 92 minutes of Cheri with Michelle Pfeiffer and direct by Christopher Hampton. It seems amazing that it was 21 years ago that the two of them worked together on Dangerous Liaisons. They use a picture of her from Dangerous Liaisons in the film, showing her younger self. The film is based on the 1920’s novels by Colette set in 1900 Paris. Pfeiffer’s character Lea is asked by an old friend played very well by Kathy Bates to ‘educate’ her immature 19 year old son. There begins a 6 year affair between them, until his mother finds him a bride. Neither can live apart from each other. The story is very sumptuous to look at. The costumes particularly Michelle Pfeiffer’s. In the end the story with the ending is very unsatisfactory. It is very slow and the film seems very long.
Star Trek on the other hand goes very quickly. The film is shot with a lot of lighting flare, which does add to the action but makes a lot of the scenes indistinct. The story is well told, directed by JJ Abrams who wrote Lost on TV. My wife who knows nothing about Star Trek enjoyed it and so did I as there were a lot of references back to the old series. Simon Pegg played the part of Scotty adding a touch of humor to the film.
This film has given new life to the old franchise which is now over 40 years old.
Now to get on with the Newsletter!
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May 9th, 2009
I do apologise for the lack of a blog posting over the last few weeks. I aim to get back on form now with at least weekly blogs.
Two weeks ago I attended a course on pain control in Weybridge. The course was organised by the British Society for Occlusal Studies. The speaker was very stimulating. I came away knowing much more about chronic pain and how to treat it.
I will be taking part in the St Wilfrids Moonlight Walk on the 19th June and I am looking for sponsers for this cause.
Jonathon Myers completed the London Marathon in just over 5 hours. He unfortunately suffered a leg problem after 19 miles and walked most of the rest of the way. He hopes to do it again next year and get a time of under 4 hours.
The newsletter will be going out about the middle of May.
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April 19th, 2009
The Chichester Festival Theatre Season has now started in the main theatre. The first production is Hay Fever by Noel Coward. It was written in 1923 in two or three days, inspired by a in New York with Lorette Taylor and her Family. The family behaved appallingly and were blissfully ignorant of their guest. Hence the Bliss family was born about an ageing actress and her self absorbed family.
It is typical Chichester fair. Diana Rigg is much better in this than in the Cherry Orchard last year, but as one reviewer states, she is in theory too old for the part. However she still gives a great performance as the aging actress who now lives in the country and is thinking about a return to the London stage. Her comic timing and facial expression are fantastic. Simon Williams shuffles about the stage as the father self engrossed in his book writing. The surprise for me was Edward Bennett who played a buffoon who idolised Mrs Bliss, was last seen in Hamlet as Hamlet. He was the understudy of David Tennent, who was off with a bad back for most of the run. This part did not stretch him as much.
A very enjoyable evening after a hard days work that did not require too much thought.
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March 27th, 2009
What a lovely film. All about a dried up old action hero played by Burt Reynolds! who thinks he is going to Stratford upon Avon to act in King Lear for the RSC. It turns out that he is acting with an amateur group in Stratford St John. The theatre is in the middle of a farm. Derek Jacobi Samantha Bond and Imelda Staunton play the Amateurs. The film follows a tried and tested formula, Ian Hislop was one of the scriptwriters. It is a quaint British film and I haven’t laughed so much in ages.
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