Period drama
EVERY EPISODE of the period drama series Poirot is beautifully crafted. Every element, every piece of furniture, every prop, every location, are perfectly set in the 1930s world that Hercule Poirot inhabited. But hang on a minute. Here’s this fussy, old-fashioned, middle-aged detective, occupying an environment that was, in the 1930s, bang up-to-date. Are we really […]
I don’t know much about art…
BUT I KNOW WHAT I LIKE. You’ll have heard this time-worn phrase repeated time and again. But do you really know what you like? How can you tell? Some works of art are visually appealing, some are challenging, some are downright ugly. But you might find a basket of kittens too cheesy, and an ugly […]
See what you like
VISITING ART GALLERIES can be a rewarding experience. It can also be exhausting, as you trudge around room after room taking everything in until you’re overwhelmed by visual stimulation. My approach is to glance around each room, and then only look at the paintings or sculptures that catch my eye. Rather than spending 20 seconds […]
Spear carrying
THERE ARE MANY WALK-ON PARTS in Shakespeare’s plays, especially those produced with a budget large enough to pay for the actors. Watching a production of Julius Caesar, I was distracted by a spear-carrier in the background. He had no lines, and his only duty was to hold the spear and look like a guard. But he […]
The ballet problem
SOME YEARS AGO I was taken to a production of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Albert Hall. The performers managed a laudable interpretation of the fight scene in which Romeo slays Tybalt, and the balcony scene was delivered with an appropriate amount of passion. But when it came to Juliet visiting an apothecary to […]