Everett deserves an Oscar for portrayal of Wilde

The Judas Kiss - Richmond Theatre

How wonderful to be back in the Richmond Theatre. Relaxed, friendly and steeped in Victorian opulence, this theatre has old-fashioned charm, fine acoustics, and good seats - what more could you want? 

A play with Rupert Everett and Freddie Fox is a good start and their current performances in The Judas Kiss are outstanding. Everett plays Oscar Wilde and Fox his devoted but eventual perfidious lover in this revival of the play which was rather sniffed at when it premiered in London in 1998. The first production featured Liam Neeson as Wilde and was directed by Richard Eyre so one wonders why it wasn’t an outright triumph, but it is a very wordy play with little action and in the wrong hands it could lumber along.

It needs poke and panache and Everett and the cast in this new production deliver with confidence and energy, even down to the butler, waiter and chambermaid who introduce humour and warmth in the first act, set in the Cadogan Hotel in 1895.

Wilde is avoiding the public following the collapse of his libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry. He faces arrest and inevitable imprisonment but has the chance to escape to exile, aided by his former lover Robbie Ross, brilliantly played with devoted and quiet restraint by Cal MacAnich. Everett, with his towering stature and strong features, convincingly portrays the lumbering Wilde, teasing and frustrating his friends with his apparent nonchalence about his fate, his desire to enjoy lobster for lunch and his obsessive delight in giving the hotel staff generous tips.

In contrast to Everett’s lumbering Wilde, Freddie Fox as Lord Alfred ‘Bosie’ Douglas, is like an excited puppy, eager to please and full of optimism. With wonderfully clear diction and great energy, this role could have been written for Fox. He uses the whole stage, moving around his often static lover, getting energy and different moods from hidden corners or the light from a window. I was enthralled by the Neil Armfield’s ingenious direction, squeezing every ounce of potential from a simple yet glorious set and employing occasional slowness of pace to give poignancy, but never tedium.

David Hare’s script is wordy but wise - so many wonderful observations and thoughts spill from Wilde’s lips and Everett delivers them faultlessly. For the whole of Act 2 he sits heavily in his chair in a Naples guesthouse, while Bosie flirts and cavorts with his new lover, an Italian fisherman with a scant wardrobe. Observing with fond interest, Wilde ruminates on his life and his fate and we listen intently to his every word until he finally heaves himself to his feet to bid farewell to his beloved Bosie. Left alone in his room, settled once again in his chair, Wilde is shrouded in a leaden coat of despair. His despondency permeates through the theatre and, as a single light fades, we wonder if he will ever find the strength to move again.

The Judas Kiss is at The Duke of Yorks, London from January 9th 2013

Driving Miss Daisy

at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

Somehow I missed the film when it came out in 1989, so it was good to go and see this production at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre without any preconceived expectations. 

People often think the film came first but in fact Driving Miss Daisy was first written as a play by Alfred Uhry in 1987.

It tells the story of two very different characters living in the southern states of America at the height of the Civil Rights Movements in the 1050s and 60s and how, despite their social differences, they are drawn together. They come from very different sides of the American race divide. Hoke, played by Rising Damp’s Don Warrington, is a gentle, black, poor widower. Daisy, played by Gwen Taylor, is a rich, white, retired Jewish school teacher and she is growing old. They are both fiercely proud and apparently independent and when Daisy’s son (Ian Porter) appoints Hoke as her driver she is outraged and adamant that she does not need his help. She holds out for 6 days then reluctantly agrees he can drive her to the Piggley Wiggley store.

“Well, well,” says Hoke in amazement, “It took 6 days for her to agree to that - same time as it took God to create the world”. 

Between 1948 and 1973, while enormous upheavals go on in the world, the relationship between these two reflects political and social changes in America. For those who know the name Matin Luther King, but can’t quite recall what he did, director David Esbjornson has kindly employed the use of projections to help clarify events and many of them are very moving. The set is minimal but effective. A bench and a couple of chairs simulate the car, indeed cars, where many of Miss Daisy and Hoke’s most important conversations take place.

And this brings us to a flaw in this production, the often inaudible dialogue ie; the conversations that we couldn’t hear. Maybe it was because our seats were at the rear of the stalls but for the first 10 minutes I couldn’t catch a word of what Hoke said. And I so wanted to - the lines are precious in this piece. Ian Porter as Boolie delivered his lines well and up to the audience but both Hoke and Daisy often turned away or dropped the volume and this was frustrating.

However, in this 3 handed production the characters are endearing and charmingly portrayed. I did expect more initial friction between Miss Daisy and Hoke, mainly to emphasize the journey from their initial introduction to their final scene where there is true tenderness and, maybe even love. A bit of spice would also have added to the humour which was occasionally there but slightly restrained in a rather British way.

After 25 years together, Hoke and Miss Daisy grow together without realising how much they need each other. When she finally begins to lose her mental capabilities, Hoke is there for her and it is apparent that he is the only person she really cherishes spending her time with.

Driving Miss Daisy plays at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford until Saturday October 13.

Fircroft Summer Exhibition

Fircroft pulls out all the stops for yet another brilliant exhibition.

The Fircroft Summer Exhibition is bigger and better than ever this year. It’s always a pleasure just to visit the Taylor’s wonderful old Victorian home, let alone to immerse yourself in rooms full of original and wonderful works of art. Frank Taylor is a successful and prolific painter and every June he invites other artists to exhibit with him in his lovely home. His wife Christine prepares for the exhibition for months beforehand, liaising with artists whose work they admire.

Ceramics, jewellery, sculpture, drawings - everything is explored but I always linger longest by the paintings. 

This year I am bowled over by Keith Morton’s oil paintings. As a frustrated oil painter myself, I can stare for hours at the deft work of an accomplished painter such as Morton. How can so many colours make up a bunch of beetroot and still look OK? Such is the skill of an artist who can see beyond the surface.

Frank Taylor is not afraid of colour - his paintings are bold, confident and each tells its own story. He has travelled extensively and his paintings and prints are inspired by the landscape, architecture, people and art of distant places.

On the 3D side, John Maltby is always popular - his ceramics are fun, quirky and are attracting a lot of red dots as always. 

Lisa B Moorcroft, well know and much loved for her wonderful glassed ceramics, is the grand-daughter of William Moorcroft and the fourth generation of the famous firm of potters. She makes unique, colourful vases with designs based on flowers and creatures and specializes in slip trailing and under glaze colours with a lustre glaze - now collector’s items.

New this year are the wild and wacky metal works by Darrell Evanes - very Waterworld, and I love them. A couple of his pieces are currently exhibiting at The Lightbox in Woking.

Also beautiful to behold are outdoor sculptures by Zimbabwean sculptors that the Taylors have built relationship with over many years, helping many to gain significant recognition in the UK.

Some of these sculptures are massive, cast out of springstone, so called because by the Zimbabwean sculptors because the stone is so hard that the hammer springs back as they hit the chisel. There are also some huge pieces that look fab outdoors from sculptors nearer to home including Bristol-based Jo Jones whose piece ‘Hiding’ is simply beautiful. And don’t miss work by Harrogate metal sculptor, Steve Blaylock, who takes inspiration from nature, creating stunning metal versions of animals and plant life.

I particularly liked a serene sculpture by E. Sahondo called Head, a block of stone with a few swathes of hair and the simplest of faces - less is often more.

Just as I was exploring the garden and loving the range of sculpture styles it started to rain - a good excuse to back again next week.

The Fircroft Summer Exhibition runs until Sunday june 24th. Open daily from 11am to 5pm with late nights on Thursday until 8pm. Fircroft is off new road, on Albury heath. For more info call 01483 202333 or visit www.fircroft.info

Close the Coalhouse Door, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

Northern Stage and Live Theatre have collaborated to produce this remarkable musical based on a potted history of the miners. Written by Alan Plater 44 years ago, it now contains new material by Lee Hall which brings it up to date. The combined forces of these two excellent writers results in fluent dialogue and an abundance of wisecracks that clearly appealed to the Guildford audience.

A very able cast play members of a mining family, their friends and their neighbours. They also very effectively portray many influential figures of the time, simply by donning a hat, changing a jacket or adopting a different accent. Adam Barlow, who plays the vicar most of the play, has a real talent for this: his rendition of Harold Wilson is incredibly realistic despite him being a very different shape and size to the former Labour prime minister. Also adept at taking on many roles is Jane Holman who mainly plays Grandma but switches very naturally to an array of characters using a range of expressions and vocal dexterity.

There is a real energy exuding from the whole cast and their musical ability is brilliant. They play an impressive range of instruments, and the songs written by Alex Glasgow are belted out with confidence and passion. But without these bursts of music I fear this play may become a little over-wordy, and I felt it went off track a little in Act 2 when the humour turns slightly slapstick with a ventriloquist’s dummy (played convincingly by the aforementioned Barlow) and an overkill of blasts from plastic kazoos. With all these comic interludes it was hard to remember where we were in the plot. And actually, I wanted to learn more about the history miners - there was so much fascinating stuff in the programme, but only half of it reached the stage.

The story revolves around a jolly mining family and the ongoing dilemma as to whether the young men should stay in the mining village or spread their wings and see the world. The brotherly rival theme is strong, the inevitable fight over a girl ensues, and the terrible conditions of the miners is driven home. But it never sinks into mawkishness and this is clearly a show with a very light heart - the audience loved it and particularly enjoyed the jibes with local references, including the one about loos flushing in Guildford.

Soutra Gilmour has designed an impressive set with a huge silhouette of a colliery and a revolving stage that changes from family sitting room to the front of the red-bricked terraced house. Hall’s updates and intervention are brave but they usually work - a nice touch at the end has the whole cast wearing headphones and talking all at once as the collapse of the coal industry gives way to the rise of the call centre. A sombre consideration at the end of a jolly night out.

Tinx Newton

Coalhouse Door is at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford until Sat June 2, before it heads north. Box Office 01483 440000

Surrey Open Studios 2012

Woodbridge by Chris Forsey

I love the build up to the Open Studios. In sheds, halls, bedrooms, and even the odd studio across Surrey, artsists and craftsmen are hard at work putting their final pieces together before they throw their doors open to the public in June.

There's a sense of excitement, but also an element of 'lull before the storm' in some places. I witnessed some of this yesterday lunchtime when I visited Chris Forsey at his new studio in Dorking. The fact that he was sitting in a deckchair enjoying the sunshine was deceptive. He had, he assured me, smoothing his impressively paint-splattered apron, been up with the lark and been very productive all morning. A quick nose inside his studio confirmed this was true. There were pictures everywhere, all bearing the very distinctive Forsey style. I have 4 or 5 'Forseys' already and i wanted to get my mitts on some more but in order not to deplete his stocks, I will have to wait until June 9th and the start of this year's Open Studio event.

Chris now works out of Sandstone Studios and shares the space with ceramic artist Stephanie Wright and sculpture Nikki Taylor. It’s a fascinating place to visit as their work is so incredibly different. 

Chris’s paintings are expressive and colourful; he is inspired by rugged landscapes, changing light and atmosphere. Stephanie’s ceramics are cool, calm - inspired by the sea, a movement in time. Nikki works freehand in woven wire mesh, producing sensuous figure sculptures from small torso reliefs to life-size full figures. Her fascinating array of improvised tools will be on display during the Open Studios.

One studio, many styles - well worth a visit on your Open Studios trail. Sandstone Studios is No 123 in the Open Studios brochure which is available from libraries, galleries, art shops and other art related outlets.

Or visit the website: http://www.surreyopenstudios.org.uk

Further Open Studios updates to follow in this blog.......

David Bellamy welcomes bugs at Wisley

I first met David Bellamy about 25 years ago when he appeared in an advert about plant fertilizers. He was full of life then, and he still is. Wearing a bright orange jumper and sporting an impressive white beard, he was down at RHS Wisley last week to open their new controlled-environment research facility. Despite the damp weather he was full of good cheer and still passionate about plants, bugs and conservation.

It was a busy event, attended by press, gardening boffs, and major supporters of Wisley, which, as part of the RHS, is a charity. Unfortunately by the time Prof Bellamy reached the coffee table, all the cups had been nabbed - but he waited patiently and eyed up the enormous chocolate cookies with me. "I'll don’t think I can eat a whole one," I said rather feebly. "Shall we share one then?" he said. I broke one in half, crumbs spilling everywhere. "Looks a bit like a soil sample" he chuckled.

But back to business; on the platform Roger Williams, RHS Head of Science explained how the RHS is keen to encourage environmentally and wildlife friendly gardening practices hence they are carrying out scientific research aimed at supporting gardeners.”

Biodiversity is being lost on a global scale but the good news is that more people than ever are wanting to garden for wildlife. hence there are more enquiries than ever about what to plant to attract bugs and insects. The new research will investigate whether a geographical origin of a garden plant is a significant factor in biodiversity richness. An average garden contains around 70% non-native pants to just 30% British native plants. Does this make a difference to our wildlife friends, do they care what we plant? The three year study should reveal some fascinating findings which will help gardeners make informed choices.

The Wisley research beds include slug and snail traps, pitfall traps for beetles, suction sampling which sucks up insects such as flies, aphids etc. (the RHS promise this doesn’t cause them trauma) and notes from volunteer observers who watch the beds for flying insects such as bees.

It’s amazing to think that so much is going on in our gardens without us noticing. At the Wisley test gardens, over 4,900 individual flying insects have visited flowers on the plots, including 13 species of butterfly and 13 species of bee. More than 250 different species of insects such as beetles have been found in the pitfall traps. In total, nearly 34,000 insects have been recorded during the 2 years of monitoring. Amazing - and quite heart warming. I shall look at those ants in my flower bed with new interest from now on.

More information: http://www.rhs.org.uk/science

Ham House targets youth through contemporary art

Covering the arts is always uplifting and it was a pleasure to attend the press night at Ham House for ‘Garden of Reason, A season of contemporary art in the garden’. Despite heavy showers, the marquee and gardens were packed with inspired people keen to see what the title was all about, and it was great to see so many students and young people there.

Simon Jenkins, Chairman of the National Trust, spoke about his particular affection for Ham House and explained how the National Trust is striving to change its image. They are keen to avoid NT properties becoming museums and want more interaction; they particularly want more young people to enjoy visiting them.

The NT spends a phenomenal amount of money restoring their old houses, but they are now moving away from just popping the old furniture back in when it’s done and are putting ‘new things into old houses’. “We are taking a risk,” said the charming Mr J, “We hope it works.”

The Garden of Reason has been created in response to Trust New Art, a partnership between Arts Council England and the National Trust to connect more people to NT sites through contemporary art and craft.

17 contemporary artists were invited to create new works for the 17th century gardens at Ham House. The 8 major themes interpret themes such as Tulipmania, democracy in ruins, arcadia redesigned, the impact of early scientific discovery by Galileo and Newton and other wacky titles.

4 'live art' commissions consider the status of cut grass, the relationship of Charles 1 to his whipping boy, Elizabeth Dysart as apothecary and oh, rather ordinary this one! - 17th century music.

Now if all of that doesn’t fascinate young people and get them through the doors of Ham House, I don’t know what will. 

This has been a massive collaboration between the NT, the Arts Council, curator Tessa Fitzjohn, local schools, students, teachers, volunteers at Ham House and it has created a very positive feeling throughout the house and the surrounding community.

Added to which, Ham House has to be one of the greatest hidden secrets on the outer fringes of London.
Be sure to go this summer to catch the contemporary art exhibition - ends September 23rd.

Ham House website - http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ham-house