The Uncensored Household
Every now and then I come across a gem of a find and this time it is Red Velvet, a play by Lolita Chakrabarti and starring her handsome husband, Adrian Lester!
Lester plays Aldridge a mid-19th century black actor who played at Covent Garden. He is outstanding, in fact he is almost too outstanding as he overshadows his co-stars
I have a beautiful hard back copy of the literary classic, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Even my copy with its font size 7 type it is the size of a brick. I have been looking at it for years thinking about reading, feeling guilty that I hadn’t, so a few days ago I finally picked it up and read the foreword. The following day one of my best friends rang me to say she had two tickets to watch Crime and Punishment at the Citz in Glasgow and I jumped with glee to be given a sneak preview into the book later that evening.
“Oh god” my friend gasped “what a tacky poster for a classic play, you can see his nipples for God’s sake”. He was referring to Sweet Bird of Youth by Tennessee Williams currently showing at the Old Vic.
The poster that so disgusted my well-heeled friend was of Kim Cattrall all glammed up in a 1950s feverish pose over a lovely naked man half her age.
Sold!
I went to see the play this week with three girlfriends and all of us, yes ALL of us, couldn’t think of a better combination of seeing our favourite SATC gal and Ripped Torso Man getting it on in our favourite theatre.
I feel bad recommending a play that’s coming to the end of its season but there is still a chance to get a ticket to The Winslow Boy by Terence Rattigan at The Old Vic, London. Believe the hype and Daily Telegraph reviews, it is so much fun to watch.
Set in Edwardian England, Winslow’s son is accused of stealing and expelled from school.
A rather shocking tale from Germany. The author of the award-winning play Clybourne Park, Bruce Norris, has refused permission to a Berlin theatre company to perform the play after learning that a lead character would appear blacked up.
Managers at the Deutsches Theatre said a female African-American character in the play was being performed by a white actress and producers would “experiment with make-up”
The Telegraph gave it an impressive 4 out of 5 for its brilliant depiction of British Asian Culture. The Evening Standard despairingly gave it 3 out of 5 for it’s bad taste and cliche. Bunty Chatterji gave it a 2 out of 5 for its embarrassing attempt to portray British Asian culture and its cliched relationship to Bollywood.
What a shame!
If you have children, live in or around London and haven’t taken advantage of this offer, then it is worth thinking about. Kids Week is to encourage more children to visit the theatre and for every adult ticket bought, a child goes free.
Theatre tickets are quite expensive so I found this offer a fantastic saving. My 3 year old loves the theatre and cannot wait to see The Tiger Who Came To Tea.
I went to see a play last night at Hampstead Theatre called Loyalty and it was very enjoyable. It’s only on until 13 August so if you can squeeze it in to your diary, do!
Loyalty is a fictionalised account of the lead up to the war in Iraq and subsequent events from the perspective of the wife of Tony Blair’s Chief of Staff but it is drawn from her very real experience. Who cares/ I hate Tony Blair/ we know he lied you think, but actually it’s amazing how many secrets there aren’t in a relationship
The Chatterjis Blog 