Light Travels in August

I am currently in Kyrgyzstan – midway through my three-legged August. First, we went to an island in the English Channel for some Shakespeare. It’s a National Trust property, and an excellently English summer evening. Adorable. By the time you are reading this, I am probably camping with sheep some 4,000 miles above sea-level. Google … Continue reading

The Bolshoi Ballet : Raymonda

Last week, I saw the Bolshoi Ballet. Alas, I was not in Moscow, though I’d have loved to see the theatre’s resplendent renovation in person. (You can watch a video about the refurb and get a sneak peek of the venue here. Hint: gold foil mixed with vodka!) Instead, I trekked to my local indy … Continue reading

Love in a Library

Lots of people aren’t into Opera. I get it. I do. The endlessly long running times. The ridiculous daytime-tv-worthy plots. The repetitive subtitles. There is a lot to put a gal off. BUT, hear me out.   Imagine you are sitting in a sunny library. A quiet space full of potential. A kind-eyed librarian gently … Continue reading

The Salon Project : A Night to Remember

I attended a piece of installation theatre. It was spectatorship and cultural commentary and fancy dress all rolled in one. It was fabulous. Probably best to start with how I found myself here and what happened when I arrived. ~ Dressed, pinned and cinched the other members of Jonquil and I assembled at a very … Continue reading

The Salon Project: Dressing the Set

I attended a piece of installation theater encompassing spectatorship, cultural commentary and camp costume party. It was fabulous. If you like you can start with how I found myself here. ~ When I’d booked my ticket to this fancy-dress-party masquerading as theater-cum-installation I’d been assigned to group Jonquil. The girl on the box office phone … Continue reading

The Salon Project: Anticipation

The Salon Project was the most interesting performance I’ve experienced in years. It had about as much to do with traditional theater as parkour does with ballet. Maverick, enticing and entirely topsy-turvy, the evening was devised to explore and interpret the Parisian Salon culture of the late 19th & early 20th Centuries. Learned, liberal folk … Continue reading

Edinburgh’s Festivals

My town in pretty famous. It has this thing in the summer where hundreds of people, some of them famous, come and put on shows. We are awash with talent (and, admittedly, a lot of un-talented deluded people). It’s crazy, messy, chaotic, art-tastic fun. It is also really hard to live your normal life through. … Continue reading