Chatterbox - still talking nonsense

Judy Blume Forever, currently streaming on Prime, took me right back to discovering that there were actually books written for people like me who were dealing with real life stuff like growing up, relationships and bullying rather than what appeared to be going on in the jolly hockey-sticks school stories that were prevalent at the time.   I adored Judy’s work even though she was clearly American.  It felt like she understood what might be going on on my head despite what I looked like on the outside, and that it was ok to think that a lot of what was happening in the world was wrong and it was ok to say so. She found a unique and real children's voice.   My first job was working in a children’s library and I well remember the kerfuffle and debates around whether to stock ‘Forever’ which was a sensitive, but open and non-judgemental look at a first sexual relationship from a girl’s point of view.  It was lovely to read a story where the girl wasn’t pun...

When Winston Went to War with the Wireless has a fair bit of Churchill (and Clemmie) but is much more interested in John Reith and his moral dilemmas.   I had  a bit of luck with the seating for this performance as I  had bought a standing ticket (I never mind standing for a play … means you can shuffle around a bit more) b ut there were a couple of unfilled seats and so the ushers anointed a couple of us with a  place to sit down instead.   By Jack Thorne, this play looks at the days of the General Strike and the role of the youthful BBC through the relationship between Reith (Stephen Campbell-Moore), Churchill ( Adrian Scarborough) and Stanley Ba l dwin (Haydn Gwynne).   I loved Gwynn as Baldwin and there were some great scenes between the main protagonists.  The politics is balanced with another three way relationship between Reith and his former lover Charlie Bowser (Lu ke Newberry) and his wife (Mariam Haque) and there were great performances...

I caught Paper Cut in preview, and with the lead (Callum Mardy as Kyle) apparently battling a grotty cold.     This is playing in the studio at the Park Theatre and had an audience of 40 or 50 people (I started counting but got distracted) so with no interval there was no opportunity to sneak out for an ice-cream or g&t when it all got a bit tough.     The play is set in the context of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ about a US soldier, wounded by an IED in Afghanistan (the ‘paper cut’ of the title) returning home.     With a disability, a huge amount of anger and drugs, and with a gun in his bag, we watch Kyle navigate his difficult relationship with his brother (Joe Bolland), the soldier he loved but now also discharged due to his sexuality (Prince Kundai),  and a potential new love (Tobie Donovan) who also represents wider society’s understanding and treatment of these men.     There’s a strong sense of camaraderie and love and some great blea...

I had failed to get tickets for the original outing of 4000 miles, which was due to play in 2020 but got cancelled by covid.  So, it was great to get another opportunity, this time with Sebastian Croft as Leo, but still with Eileen Atkins as Vera.  Set completely in Vera’s Manhattan apartment, Leo, her grandson, turns up out of the blue, she complaining she hasn’t got her teeth in, and he agitatedly pointing out that she still hasn’t changed the name on the door from her husband who died many years before.  This pithy scene sets the tone for the rest of the play, which is a thoughtful look at getting old and growing up, grief and communication. It’s not a loud, shouty sort of play, but allows the characters and relationships to show themselves through the various conversations they have over a few weeks and the stuff said, unsaid, or not heard between them.  There’s obviously an odd couple undertone here, both lefties but with different understanding of what that mea...

Just need to get this off my chest, so feel free to scroll on by if you aren't interested in this (not very) important issue. I'm back from spending some time in what was overall, a very nice hotel, but with the standard attitude to mirrors.  It actually doesn't matter whether it is a grotty B&B or a 5 star luxury hotel, the same issue appears each time.    I'm a person of a certain age who needs to spend some time with makeup, mirror and hairstyler before going out in public, and almost every hotel I have ever stayed in ignores this basic need.  In the latest hotel, they moved me to a new, much fancier, room but still the same issues. The obvious place to put makeup on and dry my hair would be the bathroom.  But, no plugs for my own hairstyler, misted up mirrors placed too high up the wall so that you need to stand (yes, even if a stool is provided), and harsh overhead lighting means that this isn't an option.   So, what about that dressing table/...

Day 1 - Flying….  I don’t love flying, it’s such a faff and always a bit stressful, having to have the right bits of paper and bags in the right place at the right time.  But, apart from being an hour late, this was ok, with a happy baby playing peep-bo most of the way.  We flew across Gozo on the way in and my first impression was Arabic rather than European… possibly because everything is so dry.  Lots of a beautiful coloured rock and stone but very few trees.  And not much green already (it’s only May..).   We stayed in Sliema which has an 80’s seaside town vibe, and none the worse for that.  Lots of noisy bars and incongruous sightings of M&S and Mothercare.  Not sure if I was on the Isle of Wight at times.  But the people we met were friendly and the first impression was of cheap and frequent public transport so we knew we definitely weren’t in the UK anymore.   Day 2 Valletta and TarxienTemples Our first hiccup was that the wea...

The last week or two here’s been a bit of a post colonial civil war theme running through my reading and watching Funny boy Streaming on Netflix, this 2020 film is a coming of  age story for a Tamil boy in post colonial Sri Lanka during the civil war. and based on the novel by Shyam Selvadurai (now on my reading list!).  Arjie is already a boy who doesn’t fit and as the tensions begin to mount between the Singhalese and Tamils, he finds that more than one of his identities are under attack.  Played by two actors and jumping back and forward between the boy and young man this is both a sweet story about a boy finding out who he is alongside a pretty brutal story about bigotry, hatred and violence.  Shocking statistic at the final credits that over 1 million Tamils became refugees during this period. Definitely worth a watch.  The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak Another story about a civil war, dealing with love and loss, but this time in novel form, in pos...