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Halloween fun run raises over £850 for local HIV charity

On October 28, over 160 people donned their most terrifying outfits to take part in the inaugural Halloween Fun Run in Hove, raising over £850 for local HIV charity, The Sussex Beacon.

The family friendly event consisted of a 5k run for adults and a mini mile along the prom for the kids. Everyone wore Halloween costumes and there were prizes for the best dressed.

The Halloween Fun Run was organised by E3 and sponsored by Glencairn Consulting, a local IT company.

Simon Dowe
Simon Dowe

Simon Dowe, Chief Executive of The Sussex Beacon, said: “This was a brilliant event, I’ve never seen such a cheery bunch of vampires, ghosts and ghouls. Not only was it good fun, but all the money raised will go directly towards helping local people living with HIV, so it was for a great cause too. Huge thanks go to everyone involved in organising this, we’re hoping it will become an annual event and that the blood-thirsty creatures will get their trainers on for us again next year.”

The Sussex Beacon provides specialist support and care for people living with HIV through both inpatient and outpatient services. It helps hundreds of people living with HIV in Sussex each year and was rated ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission last year.

 

OPERA REVIEW: The life to come by Fry & Mander

THE LIFE TO COME

Libretto by Stephen Fry

Music by Louis Mander

An Opera in Two Acts based on a story  by EM Forster

This examination of male love, devotion to duty, missionary zeal, colonial hypocrisy and righteous entitlement of the white British middle classes of Edwardian England is a surprising piece of work.  Filled with suppressed passion, missed opportunity and tragic abandonment the opera examines the life of Missionary and Chief, Edwardian Christian Missionary Paul Pinmay and the African Tribal chief he came to convert, Vithobai, who experience an intense emotional and sexual bond which is forbidden by the English Church, although utterly acceptable to Vithobai’s beliefs and leads to misunderstanding, exploitation and murder, so far, so normal for Rodean on a Sunday afternoon.

Mander’s music is relentless, pulling like an emotional tide on the feelings, rising and falling, swamping and leaving us high and dry and then with a final tsunami of force shocking us into silence.  Fry’s libretto, struggling with the understated shame and muttering indignity of EM Forster’s short story ‘the life to come’ which was not published until two years after Forster’s death, does it’s best to explore and express this multitude of complex emotions.

The music a lyrical flowing narrative with echoes of early Britten and Copeland which filled the space and kept the emotional core of this piece steady and relative to the sometimes complex actions on stage. Often the music underscored and emphasised the subtleties of emotion that the acting failed to adequately demonstrate, there was some superb harp and strong pizzicato work and an energetic and symbolic use of percussion which was mesmerising. I suspect the actors played safe particularly in the anguish and regret of their sexual appetites and how they had given into them, but the music certainly didn’t. Giving full range to the regret and despair that a man of that time, space and apparent character might feel the next morning.

See the synopsis here

Martin Lindau playing Paul Pinmay gave us rich textured singing, expressive and honest, his acting sometimes melodramatic but his singing superb,  Themba Mvula as Vithobai – was the stronger of the pair, his lyrical voice shone with tone and emotion and he fully engaged and convinced his own personal confusion and patience. The supporting singers were all rather good, along with a rather large chorus who gave some excellent supporting singing and filled the space with the fervour and voices necessary to convince of the tensions between public and private lives in colonial Africa.

Never an easy subject – this opera is a potential minefield of racist, homophobic anti-religious attitudes – it is remarkable in its ability to carefully walk through such concern by keeping its focus on the personal & spiritual experiences of the characters.  Fry’s libretto is a little staid on occasion but it’s also refreshing to listen to the voice of such a staunch and eloquent atheist being applied to religious dogma and doggerel and the very real harm it has caused to the expression of love in all its infinite variety.   It’s the first time in a long time when I’ve  thought ‘you deserved that you sanctimonious  worm‘ at the inevitable nasty end of one of the protagonists. I felt for Vithobai’s betrayal.

So much opera is shot through with religious kowtowing and the corrosive, many tentacled self preserving privilege of white male hetrosexual christianity, its bracing to hear something which poses them as the dark side. The director Jonathan Butcher has performed a subtle piece of magic here and it’s strengthened as a piece of theatre for the boldness of vision displayed by the cast

This terrible ironic opera is a study of victims, regret and forgiveness, but ultimately it’s a cautionary tale about love:  As Vithobai says, ‘“I forgive you, I do not forgive, both are the same.”’

Surrey Opera presented this world premiere, with professional principals, chorus and orchestra, directed and conducted by Jonathan Butcher at Rodean School theatre.

 

OPINION: We Need To Talk About Kevin. But not for long……

As the skeletons of sexual misconduct began to pour out of Harvey Weinstein’s closet and unlock the gates of the palace of Westminster, a quiet yet uncomfortable thought slipped into my thoughts that ‘it won’t be long before one of those skeletons comes along waving a rainbow flag’.

Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey

However, I was still unprepared for the Kevin Spacey statement this week. The allegations themselves are a whole other debate, that I was not surprised by them is in itself a depressing indictment on our times but Mr. Spacey’s response has drawn ire from all corners of the international LGBT+ communities.

Kevin Spacey has during his illustrious career, remained publicly private about his sexual orientation. Rumours have abounded for decades, and a few knowing eyebrows raised when Mr. Spacey was robbed whilst walking his dog in a South London park at 4.30am when living in London during his ten-year stint as artistic director of The Old Vic Theatre.

Apparently “the dog really needed ‘to go’”. But let us not mock the midnight needs of a single man and his dog, private lives are private. There is no rule that states LGBT+ people famous or otherwise, must buy into the coming out parade and adorn themselves with rainbows or politically champion our equality and need for change. It would be nice if they did, some do, all do not have to, life is about choices.

Interesting then Spacey should choose the exact moment to publicly acknowledge his homosexuality, when responding to an allegation that when 26 years old, he attempted to seduce a minor. An actor he had been working with who was 14 years old. Mr. Spacey has not denied the allegation although he does state that he has no memory of it. He also apologises to the actor, Anthony Rapp, in particular for “the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years” and for what would have been “deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour”. The remainder of his statement almost seeks to explain his actions in stating that; “this story has encouraged me to address other things about my life…. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man. I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behaviour”. You may describe lifting a 14-year-old boy on to your bed, and laying on top of him whilst drunk ‘a romantic encounter’, but I do not.

In response, fellow LGBT+ performer Wanda Sykes responded on twitter saying “you do not get to choose to hide under the rainbow” whilst Sue Perkins accused Spacey of throwing an entire community under the bus.

The LGBT+ communities, gay men in particular, will find disclosures such as this challenging to respond to, but we should think carefully before high fiving our female friends and their ‘me too’, then defending our own kind claiming sexual orientation torment, gay confusion and heteronormative repression as a reasonable excuse for sexual misconduct.

We were all tormented, confused and repressed – me too. But in this instance Spacey was 26 and his confusion and torment 14 years old.

The rainbow is a badge of honour not an exit visa out of self-responsibility. There are now, it seems, other allegations beginning to surface, not involving teenagers per se, but a potential abuse of position seems not unlikely.

Craig Hanlon-Smith
Craig Hanlon-Smith

I am not, in turn, throwing Kevin Spacey under the bus. Sexual repression is truly devastating and dangerous and we do not talk about it enough. If we are not free to make relationship mistakes as a youngster then we will make them as a grown up, time and again, trust me. It is dangerous and devastating. But so is making sexual advances upon a vulnerable teenager.

Kevin Spacey is also not an idiot. Acting aside, and he has demonstrated excellence in the field, he is a talented, highly creative and extremely intelligent artistic visionary and director. He ran one of the UK’s most highly thought of producing theatre’s for ten years, he is smart, and he knew what he was doing.

When he wrote his response to these allegations, the same criteria must be applied to its analysis. It is a clever and well thought out attempt at deflecting responsibility for inappropriate behaviour into the field of generating sympathy and proclaiming himself to be the victim. No. Just no.

Mr. Spacey, you did not stand with me before, you do not get to stand with me now.

By Craig Hanlon-Smith @craigscontinuum

PREVIEW: Brighton’s Artists Open Houses Xmas Festival 2017

Brighton’s Artist Open Houses returns this Christmas, between November 25–December 10.

Local artists and makers across the city will open their houses and studio spaces to the public, offering a rare opportunity to buy direct from the artists in their own homes.

The largest event of its kind in the UK, the festival will take place in Brighton, Hove, Ditchling and beyond, and there will be a diverse selection of arts, crafts, jewellery, ceramics, quirky gifts, homewares and much more on show.

For full listings, click here:

PREVIEW: 21st UK Jewish Film Festival: LGBT stories

The programme of this year’s UK International Jewish Film Festival, set to take place at various locations in London between November 9–26, has been announced and includes three films of LGBT+ interest.

Now in its 21st year, the film festival will include more than 70 feature, short and documentary films, including: The Cakemaker, the debut film by Ofir Raul Graizer which tells the story of a gay German baker and a weary Israeli widow grieving for the same man; The Fabulous Allan Carr, which reveals the story of one of the biggest Hollywood and Broadway producers who brought Grease and La Cage Aux Folles to the public; and Willard Israel: The Essential Link, the untold history of one of Berlin’s biggest department store owners who put his life on the line on many occasions being a socialist and a closet homosexual.

Michael Etherton, Chief Executive of the UK International Jewish Film Festival, says: “At the heart of this year’s festival is a spirit of openness to fresh ideas, new creative talent, and to telling stories from unexpected places that challenge stereotypes and preconceptions.”  

For the full programme, tickets and locations, click here:

PREVIEW: A Spectacular Night for Michael Topping

Some of the biggest acts in the business come together for A Spectacular Night for Michael Topping at the Two Brewers on Thursday, November 9.

The star-studded celebration of 50 years of outrageous cabaret genius from the man who amongst others was the Malitza to Dave Lynn and Topping to Butch will be hosted by Dave Lynn, Joe Simmons (Topping & Butch) and Son of a Tutu and starring; Sandra, Kelly Wilde, Miss Jason, Maisie Trollette, Jimmy Trollette, Susan Black, Tony Page, Jason Prince, Lola Lasagne, The Duchess and many, many more.

A night full of camp, music, laughter, auctions, raffles, and a few surprises is promised!


Event: A Spectacular Night for MICHAEL TOPPING

Where: Two Brewers, 114 Clapham High Street, London, SW4 7UJ

When: Thursday, November 9

Time: Doors open at 7pm – showtime 8pm

Cost: £15 (tickets only online booking fee charged).

To book tickets online,  

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