menu

REVIEW: The Herbal Bed @ Theatre Royal

The-Herbal-Bed-ShakespearedTHE HERBAL BED

PETER WHELAN

Theatre Royal Brighton

“Love changes us. Love’s alchemy! In that furnace everything changes. Hard stone shatters, iron goes soft and turns to liquid… and so do we… in love’s fire”

Based upon real events from Stratford-upon-Avon in the summer of 1613, The Herbal Bed is a tense thriller about human desire. When William Shakespeare’s daughter is slandered and accused of adultery, her family fall under intense public scrutiny. Culminating in a dramatic trial at Worcester Cathedral, the scandal threatens to destroy her family’s reputation within their tight-knit community.  Originally produced to great acclaim by the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Herbal Bed gave writer Peter Whelan his award of Playwright of the Year

4

Director James Dacre draws convincing performances from all the actors involved and they all provide engaging believable performances, this is very much an ensemble piece and the subtle changes of status, honour and reputation are teased out well with the focus on the different power and privilege of the characters. The artful and studied design from Jonathan Fensom just adds so much to setting the atmosphere of this performance and the garden feels alive, and the place of hope, assignation, scandal and private actions that reverberate greatly on the public stage.  Emma Lowndes brings depth to Susana’s character and her performance is superb, Michael Mears’s sinister grey Puritan Vicar General is a lofty shadow of judgmental zeal, quite delightfully perfect.  Jonathan Guy Lewis as the husband doing what he thinks he must while (not) dealing with this things he can’t – is a soft portrait of compromise and work.  It’s a strong cast, cast well.

This lovely play, more than a marriage drama, more than a thriller, more than a period piece and more than the sum of its parts is lovely theatre and the Theatre Royal is a superb space to enjoy it.   Whelan’s slow long gaze at people and the actions that drive them to follow their hearts, observe their commitments and find the best way to be human is set in amongst the great puritan upheavals of Shakespeare’s time (it was the Puritans who eventual closed down the Globe, tore it down in fact.) and gives us a human focus to the great conversation of freedom of conscience, belief and spiritual relationships, both with love and with God, however that might be played out and the interplay between personal, social and reputation, which like today, rules the actions of so many people.

The-Herbal-Bed-Mark-Douet

There’s big themes being looked at here, about the nature of privacy, of social expectations, of being an intelligent women in a society where that’s not wanted, about truth in a world where nothing is certain anymore, about empirical attitudes overturning credulous superstitions and about character and intention, all displayed in small precise peeps into the interlocking lives of these characters and their internal and external conversations. Whelan’s deft and clever prose always keeping his ear to the ground of the bawdy fruity dialogue of the time, giving us laughter and profoundness is equal measure. His gentle precise pressure on the narrative pedal keeps the plot ticking along and  all the parts have been rotated into place for a rollicking second half, the court scene is wonderfully intense, reminded me of The Crucible, all puritan rigorous sneer and searing quivering intensity where no one can win and there’s no way out of the all-seeing judgement of God.

The-Herbal-Bed

This is a lovely piece of work, of plausible women doing daily struggle in a world where there’s no rewards for thier gender for intelligence, companion, adventure or discovery, whose wiles and ability to see the bigger picture and spin a greater, more convincing story steers a ship of male fools safely to shore.  My companion was enchanted by the evening and by the wonderful use of Tudor vernacular for the various herbs and plants being referred to throughout the play.

The-Herbal-Beda

An English Touring Theatre production more info here.

Until March 26

Theatre Royal

New Road 

Brighton 

 

 

PREVIEW: Fringe: Peter Joannou Brighton’s Singing Barber

Brighton’s Singing Barber Peter Joannou will once again be singing his heart out from his upstairs shop window in the historic Lanes, during The Brighton Fringe Festival!

WEB.600

Inspired by Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin and Elvis Presley; Peter sings songs from The Great American Songbook and his favourites include New York, New York, That’s Amore, I left My Heart in San Francisco and My Way.

He says: “’I have sung all my life but one day I looked up at my window and saw a wonderful and unique stage, The Brighton Fringe Festival gave me the support to fulfil the dream! I love it!’’

In December 2015 Peter released an original song and video written by Al Huggins called Illusion which he will be singing in his Fringe show.

This will be Peters third appearance at the Brighton Fringe Festival. Every year the audiences have increased with some days more than 200 people turning up to listen to him sing.

He has been featured on Neil Pringle’s radio show on BBC Sussex several times and also on Boogalu Stu’s radio show on Juice Fm.


Event: Next Please with Peter Joannou, Brighton’s Singing Barber

Where: Upstairs at 10 Middle Street, Brighton

When: for dates and times view: http://www.peterjoannou.com/

Cost: Free, non-ticketed (1hr) donations to Cancer Research UK

Brighton-based musical comedian reaches final of national competition

Hannah Brackenbury
Hannah Brackenbury

Brighton-based musical comedy performer Hannah Brackenbury has reached the final of a prestigious national competition.

The Musical Comedy Awards is an annual celebration showcasing the best new acts in this specialist field of comedy, and having reached the semi-finals twice before the 37-year-old has this year claimed a place as one of six acts who will compete for the title at the Udderbelly on London’s South Bank on April 9.

Hannah, who moved to Brighton from Derby in 2009, has been a regular on the comedy circuit and is a popular performer around Brighton’s gay scene, establishing the Funny Girls comedy night at The Caroline of Brunswick as well as taking on the role of musical director with the long-running all-female improv troupe The Short & Girlie Show.

Her comedy songs received international attention last year when she released a parody video of a Taylor Swift hit, rewritten on the theme of lesbian couples and their cats. This year she will be embarking on a tour to promote her second album of original comedy songs entitled Jumbled, the follow-up to her 2009 release Postcard from Brighton which featured the songs Car Boot Sale and The L Word.

Hannah said: “It’s been a really great year for me and to reach the final of the Musical Comedy Awards is the icing on the cake. I’m so excited at the prospect of performing at such a unique venue, and the standard of acts has been exceptionally high this year so I’m honoured to be sharing a stage with these fantastic up-and-coming performers.

“It will be a nerve-wracking night as each act has just 15 minutes to impress the panel of judges so I will have to choose my songs carefully. My tour starts the next day at The Marlborough Theatre, so it will be a very busy weekend but it would be amazing to bring the trophy back to Brighton!”

To purchase a ticket for the final at the Udderbelly, click here:

For more information about Hanna, click here: 

Taylor Swift parody video:-

For dates on Hanna’s coming tour:

WEB.600.3

PREVIEW: A Dirty Get-Away!

Award winning Second Impression present their 21st consecutive première at the Brighton Fringe, with an energetic cast of five actors.

A Dirty Get-Away

Stranded by severe snowstorms, three identically dressed strangers disturb the rural calm of a young woman living in a remote Sussex cottage.

Who are these weird visitors? What exactly are they looking for? This farcical comedy untangles a web of confusion whilst creating even more!

 “Second Impression… unexpected and very funny.” Public Reviews

Second Impression Theatre comprises performing artists from Brighton, UK who are committed to staging new, innovative, memorable and often absurd theatre. Premièring work at the Brighton Fringe, productions are then taken to London.

“This is what Fringe Theatre is all about!”  The List

WEB.600.2


Event: A Dirty Get-Away! Written & Directed By David Weedall

Where: Bird Studios, Vantage Point, New England Road, Brighton BN1 4GW

When: May 18, 19, 20, 21

Time: 8pm

Cost: £10.00 (£8.00 concs) from Brighton Fringe Box Office on 01273  917272

To book online, click here:

(Parking and Licensed Bar Available)

For more information about Second Impression Theatre Company, click here:

Facebook:

Twitter: 

Keep fit and healthy with Bear-Patrol Runners

Adam Betteridge
Adam Betteridge

As a kid, Adam Betteridge was never particularly good at sports. Too much testosterone required – which at the time he didn’t seem to have a lot of. 4 Half Marathons and a complete Marathon later this is his story.

It seemed I was of a more artistic persuasion destined instead to share time with school-friends singing in choirs and playing musical instruments. In a world of sport apparently dominated by straight men, I figured that’s just the way it was for gays like me.

About 20 years went by and, apart from the occasional venture into the local gym, I pretty much veered away from outdoor sports. But in 2010, that started to change.

I’d become part of a group called Bear-Patrol and together we started to encourage each other to do fun things to raise money for charity. Whether it was sports days, camping, jumping out of a plane or something else – to say we started throwing ourselves into things would probably be an understatement.

A few of the guys and girls decided to take part in the Brighton Half Marathon running in aid of the Sussex Beacon. With my plaster cast firmly wedged to my leg (yes I has previously broken it and no I did not do it either running or falling down the stairs at Revenge), I could only watch with some degree of awe as my fellows took on what was for me the ultimate challenge. Long distance running. Even just the thought of it made me shudder somewhere deep in side. I hated running. Where was the fun in that?

Not one to be left out, a group of us non-runners got together to show our support for those actually running, and on the day of the Half Marathon in 2012, we volunteered together to look after one of the ‘Water Stations’ – where we help thirsty runners avoid dehydration along the route by dishing out bottles of water or sports drinks as they dashed passed. And there I got to feel for the very first time that surge of pride and excitement as the various members of our merry gang ran passed. Of all shapes, sizes and even ages – I recall one of our runners even had metal hips – I remembering thinking “Wow these guys have really achieved something!”

My mind was made up. Inspired by the efforts of so many others, I decided once and for all I was going to challenge my lifelong dislike of long distance running. I would start training to enter the Brighton Half Marathon 2013.

WEB.600

Being someone who would normally struggle to run for a bus, I was more than a little anxious to say the least. I tentatively joined the Bear-Patrol Runners group on Facebook and watched the various members in the group encourage each other online, share tips and experiences, set mutually convenient times to run, listen patiently to each others struggles. I assumed I’d probably look frightful running anything more than a few meters, so on someones suggestion, I did a few solo runs first. I still remember how nervous I was before that first relatively short run. It did feel strange at first, and to be fair I was probably waddling more than running, but after I finished I was amazed at how good I felt. The blood pumping around my system somehow gave me a bit of buzz – which I have to say I rather enjoyed

As my confidence began to grow, I decided to join the main group on one of their weekly Sunday morning runs starting off from the rather exotic location by the car wash in Asda Car Park at Brighton Marina. I was immediately struck as to how friendly and welcoming everyone was. Whilst I was encouraged to run as far as I could, I was left to decide where my own limits were. If I only wanted to run a short distance, that was fine, If I wanted to join one of the more experience runners on a longer run – that was fine too. And a real bonus was – we all meet up after at a local cafe and tuck into our favourite guilty pleasure – whether it was a piece of cake or a full English breakfast. There really is nothing like the taste of it having just burned off all the calories in advance. Some of the guys just come along to the cafe whether they have run or not. Everyone really is welcome.

WEB.600.4

5 years later, I have somehow managed to take part in 4 Half Marathons and even managed a Marathon. If I was to have asked myself 5 years ago if I had thought that this could have been possible, I would have probably just laughed at the ridiculousness of the idea.

And beyond that, sitting around have a natter and cuppa after a long run has motivated various members of the group to take on further personal challenges, including hiking up Mount Snowdon in Wales and Scafell Pike in the Lake District

Plans are now afoot to arrange a 5 Year Anniversary for all people involved in the Bear Patrol Runners activities, which is set to take place on Sunday 5th June at the Seattle Hotel in Brighton Marina. So if you are interested in meeting a few of the people involved in the group, whether as a runner or as a member of the Water Station, why not pop along for a cup of tea and natter…you just never know what you might feel inspired to do!

For more info about Bear-Patrol Runners, click here:

WEB.600.7

OPINION: The Gays of Twitter Strike Again

It’s the day after the academy awards and amongst the news that Leonardo DiCaprio had finally won the best actor Oscar, bleating, shady comments and pitchforks in hand were to be seen on Twitter as the gay community were up in arms.

WEB.600

The aim of their anger? Singer and songwriter Sam Smith. Not only were they moaning at Sam for losing weight/being fat/being gay/singing/they were attacking him for being misinformed.

His crime? He got some information wrong during his acceptance speech at the Oscars.

Instead of congratulating the openly out singer on his win, they took to their keyboards and started spurting hate. Some of the things I was reading on Twitter actually shocked me and I couldn’t help but fling my laptop open and start writing this missive as I feel the gays of Twitter have actually missed the point here.

During his acceptance speech, Sam said: “I stand here tonight as a proud gay man and I hope that we can all stand together as equals one day. I read an article a few months ago by Sir Ian McKellen, and he said that no openly gay man had ever won an Oscar. If this is the case, even, if it isn’t the case, I want to dedicate this to the LGBT community all around the world” and while he was actually referring to Sir Ian saying that no openly gay actor had received an Oscar, the gays of Twitter took to their keyboards to instantly slag the young singer off.

Firstly, gay people have won Oscars before, but fine, a possibly glib but forgivable mistake. Secondly they made it personal, attacking him for standing up and being himself as a gay entertainer, noted for his outstanding performance.

Enter Dustin Lance Black, Tom Daley’s fiancé, who decided to join in the Twitter debate and pour petrol over the already substantial flames. Black said: “Hey Sam Smith, if you have no idea who I am, it may be time to stop texting my fiancee” along with the video of his 2009 Oscar acceptance speech for his screenplay of the film Milk. Shady. A few hours later, he added; “THE POINT: knowing our LGBTQ+ history is important. We stand on the shoulders of countless brave men and women who paved the way for us” and while I agree with Tom Daley’s fiancé, I disagree with the way he handled it. As someone who makes shows about history, especially LGBTQ+ history, it’s important that we know our past. It seems many people have forgotten how hard we had to fight to get to this point and openly attacking Sam on his lack of knowledge via Twitter just doesn’t sit right with me.

Surely Dustin Lance Black and Sam Smith should be singing from the same hymn sheet, rather than throwing spears. As an out and proud celebrity, you have a level of duty of care you have to uphold and I’m afraid Black’s Twitter attack was everything but. When LGBTQ+ people in the spotlight are applauded and awarded for something they’ve achieved and, in front of an audience of billions, are comfortable enough to be proud of who they are, why are they being attacked? If we want to overcome homophobia and hatred, how can we start when we have so much smoke within our own camps?

Out and proud celebrities are still not as common as you’d think, even within the world of arts. We should be celebrating that Lance Black won an Oscar two years ago and we should be equally as proud that Sam Smith won an Oscar just last month.

Small things like this make a big global impact, which, might not be obvious to see from behind your Twitter feed. I’m not saying you need to like him, nor like his music but what I’m asking you to do is not attack play the hater card. You can dislike his music, fine. You can dislike him as a person, fine but attacking him on something that is a win for us, as a community, isn’t acceptable and in a world where homophobia is rife, just doesn’t make sense. Our fight needs to be strong and the only way you can be an openly out gay man today is because of the community that kicked, screamed and made a huge noise to just get us the same rights as everyone else.

As Dustin Lance Black said, knowing our LGBTQ+ history is important. It’s important to us as a community but you have to remember that the fight isn’t yet over. We still have mountains to climb and grouping together on Twitter to slag a LGBTQ+ Celebrity off because he dedicated his Oscar to us, a community, is just plain homophobia from inside our own camp. So next time you get behind that keyboard, remember where you came from and that our struggle hasn’t always been plain sailing as you’d like to believe.

Brighton Pride Diversity Games

In the summer of 2015 Brighton & Hove came together for a truly unique event, that saw community groups, businesses and individuals united by sport, regardless of sexuality, race, age or ability.

Pride Diversity Games logo

Pride Diversity Games are a citywide celebration reflecting the wonderful diversity of Brighton and Hove giving people of all shapes and sizes the opportunity to hop, skip and jump together in a variety of inclusive and fun sporting events while fundraising for the Rainbow Fund, who give grants to local LGBT organisations providing effective front line services to LGBT people in Brighton and Hove.

The Games are a partnership between Brighton Pride CIC in association with BLAGSS, TransCanSport, Sussex County FA, Sussex Cricket and will be staged over the weekend of Friday July 22 to Sunday July 24.

Sports events already confirmed for this year include football, golf, rugby, tennis, cricket and of course the Rainbow Run, as well as non-competitive sporting events such as yoga, Petanque, tennis for beginners, Pilates and walking.

Rainbow Run 2015
Rainbow Run 2015

Access to sports venues such as squash courts, badminton courts and basketball courts are also being made available at low prices for this special weekend.

Up to 1,000 participants and 500 visitors from all over the UK and Europe are expected to take part in the Games at venues including Sussex University Sports Complex, Hollingbury Golf Course, Preston Park and Hove Park.


Draft Timetable

Friday, July 22, 2016: Registration and Welcome event, evening

Saturday July 23, 2016: 

♦  Tennis tournament, Sussex University Sports Ground

♦  Golf tournament, Hollingbury Golf Course

♦  Football tournament, Sussex University Sports Ground

♦  Cricket tournament, Sussex University Sports Ground

Evening dinner and social events.

Sunday July 24, 2016:

♦  Rugby tournament, Hove Park

♦  5 km Rainbow Run, Preston Park

♦  Pride Diversity Games FunDay, Preston Park

♦  Award Ceremony, Preston Park

For more information and to register at for Diversity Games, click here:

BLAGSS Football: Diversity Games Football Tournament 2015
BLAGSS Football: Diversity Games Football Tournament 2015

City to honour Brighton and Hove’s Jewish heritage

The unveiling of a blue plaque to mark the home of Israel Samuel, the first recorded Jewish resident of Brighton, will form the centre piece of six-month of celebrations marking the 250 year anniversary of a Jewish presence in Brighton.

_DSC0004
Cllr Warren Morgan and former MP for Hove & Portslade Ivor Caplin

Celebrations start on Sunday, May 8 with a guided bus tour and visit to Middle Street Synagogue followed by the London Jewish Male Voice Choir in concert at 6.45pm.

The blue plaque will be unveiled in the presence of dignitaries and local politicians at 22 East Street, Brighton at 10.40am on Thursday, July 14, by the Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex.

Other highlights will include bus tours, art exhibitions, workshops and open days at Middle Street Synagogue considered by many as having the most stunning building interior after the Royal Pavilion.

The celebrations will end on November 13 with a remembrance service at 4.15pm in the Middle Street Synagogue.

Sussex Jewish Representative Council president, Beryl Sharpe told a press conference held at Amex Sports stadium called by former MP and Defence Minister Ivor Caplin and addressed by Leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, Warren Morgan, that the city’s Jewish population now amounts to only 3,000 people, adding it was difficult to keep accurate number as many Jews no longer affiliate to a synagogue or community organisation.

To book tickets for 250 year anniversary events, click here: 

X