Sweet Bird of Youth - Old Vic

Last night saw me back at the theatre to catch Tennessee Williams’ play Sweet Bird of Youth at the Old Vic. Two things drew me to this production the first being the play itself. I have the script from my A-Level English days so was intrigued to see how it would manifest itself on the stage, and how my interpretation and this production would differ.  I also wanted to see what Kim Cattrall was like when she’s not the firey Samantha Jones from Sex and the City. Although her character arguably has many similarities with Samantha, both women conscious of their age and the inevitability of aging: yet with such strong characters (and spending most of the show in some state of undress). 

The tensions and drama were so well presented, through the staging, lighting and acting that made you  feel that the extortionate full price tickets are worth it (although luckily I had got discounted tickets). The use of music was also very well done, with the same haunting theme appearing at key moments, which gave me a shiver every time it reappeared. Although part of me thinks a really good play needs no set at all (some of the best shows I’ve seen have been in the back of pubs with no scenary at all) the set for this show was beautiful and I really liked how it all changed to suit the different acts.  Starting out as the hotel room, then transforming into the house of Heavenly and her family, then into the hotel bar and finally back to the hotel with incredibly smooth changes.

In the programme Kim Cattrall states that one of the key things that drew her to the role was that the two main characters are equals rather than the typical vulnerable female characters of other Tennesse Williams plays.  Usually it is the woman in distress in his plays but here there is the “pairing of equal forces”. I also liked this fact, Alexandra Del Lago really was a force to be reckoned with despite her obvious vulnerability – and I think that’s what makes a great woman, behind that vulnerability frequently still associated with woman there has to be some real gumption (I love that word)

There are so many themes in this play; the passing of youth and mourning lost fame being the main ones although other themes that add to the power and impact of the play include segregation.  There was an audible gasp and sense of discomfort as the castration of a black youth was discussed – this only added to the constant level of unease and brought you to the historical context of the Southern States of the US in the 1950s. I felt on edge for most of the show, so much so that I frequently jumped out of my skin (to the annoyance of the person next to me).

It was interesting that both the main characters, Chance Wayne and Alexandra Del Lago, are suffering the same fear of aging yet there could easily be 30 years between them.  We know that Chance is 29 yet Alexandra Del Lagos age remains a mystery; she is a jaded Hollywood star who is facing up to the possibility that her career is over.  It’s interesting as I’m 22, and the number of my friends (including occasionally me) who are worrying about their age is bordering on ridiculous as in the majority of peoples eyes we are still incredibly young.  There’s that constant question of is age really just a number, and it is just how you feel?

The play could be considered a bit of a slow burner, it’s fairly long. But I liked the way we gradually realise what is going on.  Alexandra Del Lago wakes at the start in a state of amnesia and we are also in this position, wondering what the situation is, who is that man, where am I?  We gradually are able to piece together what takes place; with a sense of foreboding aided by the haunting theme reappearing each time we learn something new.  When Alexandra and Chance sleep together near the opening the lights dim and behind curtains we see the shadow of another girl, giving a glimpse into the real reason Chance is here – Heavenly.  I found this moment really powerful especially when at the end, Chance is left in the hotel as Alexandra returns to her career and the shadow of Heavenly reappears, slowly replaced by the men who are there to seek revenge on Chance. Makes me shiver just thinking about that ending, the applause came too soon for my liking.

I watched an interview where Kim Cattrall mentioned the similarities between Alexandra and Samantha, she said that she likes to play on this and make it obvious to the audience.  Although I’m a big fan of Sex and the City I felt it was a shame she felt this way, yes they are similar characters but surely the plays of Tennesse Williams have more depth than a 20-minute episode of Sex and the City. But that’s my only criticism, it was absolutely fantastic and the fact that Seth Numrich is dangerously handsome was just the cherry on the cake.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151294151662185&set=a.10151294150697185.1073741832.116694452184&type=3&theater

 The show closes on the 31 August so get there quick! You won't regret it. 

Bowie Is and Club to Catwalk

To distract myself from the seemingly endless job applications I decided to take myself to the V&A to see whether Bowie Is lived up to the hype and also check out the Club to Catwalk exhibition.

I wouldn’t consider myself a Bowie fan, but after the hype surrounding the exhibition and the fact that it sold out so quickly, I really wanted to have a look.  The first room feature lots of bits and bobs. Costumes, pieces of sheet music, album covers, AMAZING platform shoes and films with collaborators of Bowie talking about working with him.  One thing I found particularly interesting was a computer programme, which Bowie had developed to randomly generate sentences that he may use as inspiration for lyrics or as the lyrics themselves.  Another interesting exhibit was a mime film starring Bowie as a character who finds a mask and uses it to perform but in the end can’t remove it, a thought provoking piece that really considers how his character became him and the two lines between Bowie the performer and the person blurred. Also, who knew Bowie was a mime artist! Something more pop stars nowadays should be doing in my opinion.

On entering the exhibition you were given a headset which was triggered into different Bowie tracks or commentaries as you moved around the exhibition.  I thought this was a fantastic idea however sometimes it felt like a bit of an information overload.  At one point I was trying to read a panel of text, which hearing another commentary in my head all fighting against the Bowie tracks playing out in the room itself.  If everyone is wearing headsets trying to watch documentary footage or listen to commentary it can be distracting to have music playing out in the room generally. Also, one other slight complaint about the headphones, they really started to hurt after a while, unless I just hadn’t managed to adjust them correctly.

Album cover shoot for Aladdin Sane, 1973. Photograph by Brian Duffy © Duffy Archivehttp://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/david-bowie-is/about-the-exhibition/

The most impressive element of the exhibition was one of the final spaces that featured huge screens showing footage of Bowie in concert.  The screens also hid some Bowie costumes that were revealed occasionally by lighting.  With spaces to sit and just take it all in, it was a fantastic immersive experience.  When they were showing footage of him performing Heroes I have to admit I got a bit emotional.  After it’s use throughout London 2012 I’m sure many people felt the same, it took me right back to the Olympic Stadium and cheering on David Weir’s victory lap after he won gold. One of my favourite things about music, how it can bring back emotions and particular events so clearly.

Overall it was a good exhibition, I think that avid Bowie fans would have appreciated it more than me although it was interesting to gain some background into songs I have grown up around.   The only thing I expected, that wasn’t really focused on much, was Bowie’s influence on the artists to follow him, but they had crammed a lot in regardless of this!

Next I headed off to see Club to Catwalk, London Fashion in the 1980s. There were some absolutely bonkers costumes there.  Apparently the London fashion schools were empty Fridays because all the students were busy preparing their costumes for clubs such as Blitz, were it seemed anything goes – the madder the better.   I loved watching the fashion show footage too, so much more fun than shows seem lately, with people just dancing all over the catwalk and one piece of footage where all the models fell to the floor and then a child runs out and jumps on them and they all rolled forward, creating a wave effect.  Brilliant!

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/exhibition-from-club-to-catwalk-london-fashion-in-the-80s/about-the-exhibition/

I’m not sure I’d consider wearing any of the costumes on display, maybe for fancy dress.  But it did make the 80s in London seem like a really fun place if you were in the right clique. 

Overall another fun day to myself exploring exhibitions, keep them coming please!

Time Capsule Discovery!

I’m currently in process of moving house, my parents are moving and as an unemployed ex-student I’m going with them.  This is going to be a tough time as I’ve lived here my whole life. My rooms almost packed and in the process I’ve come across some lovely memories and hilarious mementoes of my life. 

One of the things I found was a letter from my Gran.  We did a time capsule project at school when I was 12 and had to ask a relative to write a letter predicting what we would be doing in 6 years, not to be opened until we were 18. 

Here’s my Grans Predictions (some of them not far off!)

17/06/2003

Dear Lily,

You are now eighteen and these predictions I made for your six years ago.

You will have now decided which University you would like to go to. You will have gained the highest grades in your music, and play regularly in an orchestra.

You have a boyfriend also in the Orchestra, but have no intentions of getting married until you have finished your education and had a chance to see something of the world. Maybe playing in an orchestra abroad, Vienna perhaps.

I hope you will continue with your music, you have been so lucky to have had such opportunities to study it. It is something you will always be able to use to your advantage, either for pleasure or to earn your living with.

I think teaching will be another career you have considered.

Infants and Juniors so you will teach a variety of subjects.

I am sure you will be successful in whatever you decide to do.

All my best wishes for your future,

From Granny.

She was not far off, and four years after my 18^th Birthday she is still pretty accurate!  I may not have achieved the highest grades possible throughout my education but will graduate in less than a month with a degree I'm proud of and I continue to play regularly in orchestras (although I've never had a boyfriend who's been in the orchestra with me!).  Traveling to Vienna with an orchestra is looking pretty unlikely in my future, however I was lucky enough travel to Germany, France , Edinburgh, Belgium and the USA with music tours!  I love her determination that I won’t marry until I’ve seen the world, my cousin who is a pilot has definitely managed to see more of it than me so far though.  I will definitely be continuing with my music, and for her to see this in me when I was 12 makes me confident it was the right path for me, whether it ends up as my hobbie or career.  Her teaching prediction is also accurate, I teach privately and have considered going into schools, however teaching a variety of subjects to primary school children isn't really for me. 

I’m tempted to ask her to write me another letter for me to open when I’m 30, and see whether these predictions are so accurate.

Paloma Faith and Laura Mvula - O2 Arena June 7th 2013

As my Mum’s 50^th Birthday present I brought her tickets to see Paloma Faith at the O2 with support from Laura Mvula. It was a night to celebrate as that was also the day of my final recital at Uni marking the end of my degree.

I was curious to see how Laura Mvula would fill such a huge arena as the O2 but she did not disappoint. She was wearing the most amazing peplum white skirt which made her stand out despite the fact that we were seated right at the back of the arena.  Her voice is so pure and beautiful that she soon had the whole venue entranced, and her chatter between songs only made her even more likable.

Paloma’s show however blew away all my expectations, I had expected a big show but was not sure whether the music would completely grip me as I had not been a big fan of her recorded material (prior to this gig at least!).  The show begun with her walking onto an empty stage, starting a record player with a slightly cheesy voiceover and singing a deliciously simple song.  The shows basic premise was that she began with nothing, and this was demonstrated beautifully with this serene opening.

As the show progressed more and more staging and musicians were added, and I have to say I did not immediately notice this happening, Paloma is such a captivating performer that this was almost not essential.  She has such a powerful voice, with only a few blips at the beginning which were completely forgotten.  She introduced her support, Laura Mvula, back on stage for a brilliant version of I Can’t Stand the Rain.

I loved all her soul covers, which fitted perfectly alongside her own material, particularly Liam Baileys who joined her on stage for a cover of Dark End of the Street.

Her performance with an artist who was new to me was the highlight of my night, Ty Taylor from the band Vintage Trouble, who was slightly reminiscent of performances I've watched of Otis Redding.

Paloma has such a bubbly personality that she really made the whole arena feel like they were her friends, she came from nothing and then, in her words, “Half filled the O2 Arena”.  It was obvious how big a deal this gig was for her, which was lovely as sometimes artists seem to take their luck for granted.  She was hilarious at the end when, instead of taking a bow and walking off she listed everybody’s names, even the stage crew (who were wearing tuxedo’s throughout the show) reading their names from a soggy piece of paper “There’s been a spillage!!”

Overall, this gig made me love Paloma as an artist, as well as the funny personality with the amazing dress sense I'd seen on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, she really knows how to put on a show!

The End is Near!

I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone from starting this blog with 6 months left, to now, with only just over 2 weeks to go! The dreaded Professional Investigation is almost done, 7000 words about Museum PR and then it’s just two assessed performance and I’m done!  I’ll be totally honest and say that the prospect of life after Uni is terrifying; this has come as a surprise for me as after placement I expected finding a job to be an easy ride. How wrong I was. 

                                                                                     

At the moment it does honestly feel like after June there’s just a big black hole resembling the rest of my life, I know this is slightly melodramatic.  Considering your options can present real challenges, I’ve been applying for jobs, which are exactly what I did on my placement and subsequent employment at the Horniman Museum for 15 months and getting rejections stating ‘not enough relevant experience’. What more do they want? After stating every single job specification in the application, and providing examples of how I have done exactly that job before, how can I be told I don’t have relevant experience, or that other applicants more closely matched the criteria for the role?

Perhaps my hearts just not in the applications after receiving so many rejections.

Or maybe the idiots at the University careers fair were right; with a music degree we can “just stand in the corner and play to the employees”, although if a company wants to pay me a decent wage to do this I’d be happy.  Maybe I’ll follow those comments up and write to them.

For any graduate finding employment is a challenge, and we are even being told that nowadays to get your dream job you need to go through 2 or 3 more internships, not great if your also trying to save to move out of home and start your own life.

I’m going to keep my options open and start applying for jobs I really have my heart set on, whether in the sector I did my placement or in other areas I'm passionate about, and see where that takes me. Wish me luck!