Jan Svankmajer - tma svetlo tma

jan svankmajer darkness light darkness 1989

Hello, fellow theatre-adorers, long time no see!!! I thought you all might be interested in this fab Jan Svankmajer film from 1989... Cheaper and shorter than Pete Hall's 50th anniversary production of GODOT, dontchafink!!!

Plucked from the headlines

Wouldnt it be luvvvverleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee to see these three in Trev's touring bonkbuster My Fair Lady???? I'm wasted as a brilliant theatre director - I should be in casting!!!


Orl I want is a bonk round 'ere Wiv a little bit of bloomin' luck!

I'm back!

Sorry, fokes - I know, I know: it's been TOO LONG! (as the bishop said to the actress after a matinee of Hamlet!). I plead no excuse - it's just, quite litrally, I have had NOTHING to BLOG!!! Theatre is going through a renaissance again, which is fab. As far as I understand there are now MORE PLAYS ABOUT IRAQ THAN AT ANY TIME IN HISTORY and this can only be a GOOD THING!!! For if theatre is to stay relivant then it must ONLY deal with ISSUES. I'm sick and tired of IRRELIVANT PLAYS and MUSICALS!!! In fact I've just applied for an Arts Council grant to go to Basra to research a DRAMATIC CRITIQUE of TONY BLAIR!!! Col says I'm sure to get funding cos his best mate Alyssia got one for her brilliant ATTACK on the Israel/Contra scandal (if I got some of those details wrong, forgive me, I'm not very interested in politics, just people, esp people who've lost a limb or three...).

Another good sign - Mark Ravenbald has twenty-five plays and musicals now running in the West End!!! Plus those endless columns in the broadsheets berating emerging talent!!! He's great!! Truly, the Noel Cowerd de nos jours!!!

So these are fab times to be working in the theatre. And Celebrity X Factor too!!! Truly, a wonderful time to be alive!!!

Hiatus

My dearest loyal subscribers, I am taking a month's sabbatical: to rest my brain and recharge my passion for THEATRE. I have been moved, occasionally overwhelmingly so, by your silent support for what I have to say.

As Sammy Beckett (now in his hundredth glorious year) said when he received his 1962 Oliver Award for Shortest Masterpiece:

Aaaarghhh!!

Aaaaaaarrrgghh!!!!! And aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggghhhh!!!

And on top of that aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggghhhhh!!!

I call on Sir Jeremy Irons and his great mate, Sir David Poirot, and also Sir Lord King Bendhisley, to join me in a mass picket of Culture Secretary Sir Tessa Jowels, this Friday!!!

NO MORE UNFAIR CRITICISM!!! WE ARE ARTISTES (plus one MFA)!!! WE CANNOT BE SILENCED!!!!

Whatsonstage.com

I have recently been contributing to that fine website, whatsonstage.com You always get a properly intellectuous debate (important for an intelligent & committed theatre practitionist and MFA, I'm sure you'll agree). Recently, there has been a particularly illuminous discussion about noisy theatregoers (who I cannot stand, by the way - there, cards on the table).

A "June" recently contributed this post (click on link) to this discussion. You can view the whole thread here.

What do you think? Should four course meals be compulsory in the West End? Would Ibsen be better served if you had a Big Mac between acts? Please add your comments below. After all, if theatre isn't about anything what are we all doing with our lives?!

The Laurence Oliver Awards 2006

Laurence Oliver - possibly and arguably our finest thesp in recent memory - gave his name to these awards that they might continue to furnish the glittering West End with award-winning shows and other thesps. THEREFORE THEY SHOULD BE AWARDED ONLY TO THE DESERVING. Yes, I'm referring to YOU, Mr ----- --------- (name disguised to prevent libel). You are a DISGRACE to thespianism, with your pointy eyes and flirtationousness with younger unformed talent. I rest my case.

Oh yes. And Tifton College has been given a Plaque for Services to Craft by Pocks County Council. The officiating ceremony is next Tuesday, if you are in the area.

Theatre is changing (a manifesto)

Okay, I'm sorted (I think those chips helped - thanks, Col) . Sorry about my little sojorn away from bloggerdom, I think it was simply a need for fresh air after the intellectuous rigours of witnessing BLACKPUDDING* a week ago. In the intervening "jours" (a french word meaning, litrally, 'days': hence journal, journey, joury duty, jourst one cornetto, etc etc) I have had time to inwardly cogitate (I don't recommend this if you've been drinking heavily, by the way), and now I have come up with my All New All Fab Shaun Spock Theatre Green Room Manifesto des Arts Practicquel et Magnifique(s)TM

1) Art is a three letter word for a reason
2) Never compromise your Art
3) Theatre is Life
4) Life is Art
5) The artistic imperative is, at once, self-reflective but never narcissississitic**
6) Could I have extra salsa on that***

















And so, in conclusion, I offer you this, by way of a summation:

Be rigorous. Be true. Be artistic.

BUT ABOVE ALL

Be-have.







*thankyou to eagle-eyed blogfan Finty Germaine for pointing out my mistaken use of the 'gap' in the title
** check speling here+
+delete this footnote
***definitely delete this - it is extremely irrelevant and will only irritate my loyal fans

Recovering

I am tired. I fear theatre-going is too intellectuously demanding. My brain needs chips.

Black Pudding: A Masterpiece du Theatre

Oh my God, I can't not believe what a sheer MASTERPIECE (and I use the term correctly) the stunning new West End production of BLACK PUDDING is. It is sheerly and truly a masterpiece of the most purest kind, almost desicatted in its milieu and aspirancy. That fine thesp Robin Allham plays a mid-50s man who lives in what looks like a big white room with lots of rubbish cleverly spread everywhere (take a bow, Eastern European designer Orgula Ngkschtt). Into his sad batty old life comes nymphet and parvenu (note to self, check dictionary) Hattie (played by the skittish actrine Khloe June) . It transpires - in a deliciously dull threnody that occupies the full running time - that they know each other.

A truly fascinating evening's entertainment with a stunning coup-de-fordcortina at the climax, when the walls of the theatre quite litrally rise up, to reveal a totally diffrent set. A final dance de mort as the protagonists punch each other in the gizzards sets the seal for what has been - as I'm sure the crtics will atttest - an awesomely somnambulistical exercise in what I like to call Dead Theatre (a la Peter Brook, my hero).

Go see. Then go see it again. Then and only then - react (inwardly). You won't regret it.

Hello, loyal fans!!!

Gosh, it's been a while but I haven't forgotted you!!! No, indeed!!! Every night before zzzzz I think of you all going to your local theatres and SUPPORTING THE ARTS!!! Which is SO important because without theatre the world would quite litrally be BEREFT!!!

Anyway, enough of all this intellectualism: I just wanted to show you the amazing number of visiters I get EVERY WEEK!!! Already, we are almost at the significant 600 views point after only OVER SIX MONTHS!!! This is staggering, and a great testament to my writing abilities and creative energies, but also because I can see you truly care about art, like what I do!!!

Anyway, here's the figures!!

Shaun Spocks Green Room (sm5shaunspock) -- Site Summary --- Visits Total .......................... 393 Average per Day .................. 1 Average Visit Length .......... 0:00 This Week ........................ 4 Page Views Total .......................... 599 Average per Day .................. 1 Average per Visit .............. 1.0 This Week ........................ 4 http://sm5.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=sm5shaunspock --- Visits this Week --- Day Hour 1/24 1/25 1/26 1/27 1/28 1/29 1/30 Total ---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 4 --- Page Views this Week --- Day Hour 1/24 1/25 1/26 1/27 1/28 1/29 1/30 Total ---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 4


Until the next blog, toodlewink and happy theatre-going!!!!