A Family Affair with Samuel West

I went to see charity show called A Family Affair last night starring Timothy West, Prunella Scales and their son Samuel West, at the Oxford Playhouse. It was the first time I had seen them all together and it was truly spectacular. They each read from black folders, excerpts from plays etc. But the highlight of the evening personally for me was to see Sam performing a scene from Hamlet with his parents. I've always regretted not seeing Sam do Hamlet when he did the original show back in 2001. And now I have made my peace. From what I saw last night has convinced me more than ever that Sam could quite easily do Hamlet again. I mean if Mark Rylance and David Tennant can do it...then so could Sam! lol ;)

It was such a wonderful evening which raised lots of money for a good cause and I was really sad to see it end.

Here's another more detailed review...
A Family Affair

∗ wants to start a "Sam please do Hamlet again" petition ∗

A Tribute to Harold Pinter at Marxism 2009

© image of Sam West taken by m4sure

I went along last Sunday to the Marxism 2009 event here in London, that took place over a period of 5 days from 2-6 July. And attended the Harold Pinter talk at the Brunei Gallery. The speakers there were Samuel West and the Guardian theatre critic Michael Billington who has also written a few books on Pinter himself. The talk was fascinating for many reasons. To begin with for me personally, to discover that Pinter actually grew up a few streets away from where you live has always been most intriguing. The amount inner strength it took to break away from his meagre beginnings and to become one of the worlds greatest Playwrights is nothing short of amazing. It also meant that he understood real people. The inspiration he produced gave hope to many, that with enough faith in yourself anything is possible.

Both Sam and Michael discussed some of their personal experiences with Pinter, a few were moving and others were hilarious. Sam read from his own written speech that he did in response to Pinter's passing, and he also read from some of Pinter's plays and poems. With one of my favourites being Robert from BETRAYAL. Michael told us some of his very interesting interactions with Pinter as well. The evening ended with a short Q&A type discussion with the audience which at times was pretty amusing. It was a lovely and quite an emotional evening for everyone. Very informative, and great fun too. With the only person missing being Pinter himself, who I'm sure was there in spirit laughing at the lot of us!

Harold Pinter A Celebration...(Review)

Images from the programme

On Sunday 7 June 2009 at the National Theatre, I attended the memorial event for the legendary playwright, Harold Pinter who sadly passed away on Christmas Eve 2008. The stage was set as black with two rows of silver chairs which ran along two sides of a black square performance area. All the actors who took part in the show were seated on the chairs throughout, and took turns to deliver their pieces. Samuel West was on in the the second half. It was lovely to see him again, although from where us mere mortals were seated it would of taken the use of binoculars to see any of the actors faces properly! There was sadness as well as a lot of comedy and my favourite being "Mac" The evening finished after 2.5hrs with a big b&w picture of Harold Pinter appearing on the back of the stage area and the actors slowly leaving. Walking away with their heads bowed. That was very moving.

The evenings performances were...

Death, 1997.....Stephen Rea

Voices in the Tunnel.....Henry Woolf

From Celebration, 1999

Waiter.....................Jude Law

Lambert.................Henry Goodman

Julie........................Susan Wooldridge

Matt.......................Andy De La Tour

Prue........................Lindsay Duncan

Poems to A, Part 1

Paris, 1975.............Colin Firth

I Know the Place...Penelope Wilton

To Antonia, 1987...Kenneth Cranham

Apart from That, 2006

Gene........................Jeremy Irons

Lake.........................Indira Varma

From the Caretaker, 1959....David Bradley

The Black and White, 1959

First Old Woman....Eileen Atkins

Second Old Woman..Sheila Hancock

From Mac, 1966.....Douglas Hodge

From Old Times, 1970

Deeley......................Alan Rickman

Anna.........................Lindsay Duncan

Kate..........................Gina McKee

From The Homecoming, 1964.....Kenneth Cranham

From The Lover, 1962

Richard......................Jude Law

Sarah..........................Indira Varma

Arthur Wellard, 1981........Samuel West

Tess, 2000.........................Penelope Wilton

From The Birthday Party, 1957

Stanley.......................Kenneth Cranham

Goldberg....................Henry Goodman

McCann......................Lloyd Hutchinson

From Mac, 1966.................Douglas Hodge

From The Homecoming, 1964.....Lia Williams

From No Mans Land, 1974..........Andy De La Tour

Political Poems

The Bombs, 2003...........................................Roger Lloyd Pack

The Disappeared, 1998..................................Janie Dee

I shall Tear Off My Terrible Cap, 1951.......Harry Burton

Cricket at Night, 1995....................................Jeremy Irons

After Lunch, 2002..........................................Lindsay Duncan

Weather Forecast, 2003................................David Bradley

Meeting, 2002.................................................Gina McKee

From Betrayal, 1978

Emma...............................Janie Dee

Robert..............................Michael Sheen

From The Caretaker, 1959....Colin Firth

Poems to A, Part 2

It is here, 1990..................Jude Law

To My Wife, 2004.............Lia Williams
Poem (To A), 2007...........Jeremy Irons

From his Nobel Prize address, 2005...........Students From LAMDA

From Celebration..............Stephen Rea

Tennant’s Hamlet to air on BBC2

© The Stage



..David Tennant is to be reunited with the cast of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s acclaimed production of Hamlet in a screen version of the play for BBC2..

I'm so excited by this news... :)

Harold Pinter: A Celebration

.."A celebration of the work of Harold Pinter will be held on Sunday 7 June in the National's Olivier Theatre at 7.00pm.

Ian Rickson will direct excerpts and readings from Pinter's work. The performers will include Eileen Atkins, David Bradley, Kenneth Cranham, Janie Dee, Andy de la Tour, Lindsay Duncan, Colin Firth, Henry Goodman, Sheila Hancock, Douglas Hodge, Lloyd Hutchinson, Jude Law, Gina McKee, Sophie Okonedo, Stephen Rea, Alan Rickman, Michael Sheen, Indira Varma, Samuel West, Lia Williams, Penelope Wilton, Henry Woolf, and students from LAMDA"..

(And I have a ticket...lol)

A Dream within a Dream

by Edgar Allen Poe

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet, if Hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it, therefore, the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

Time is Out of Joint ~ Hamlet

Ethan Hawke as Hamlet (2000)

Let us go in together,
And still your fingers on your lips, I pray.
The time is out of joint—O cursèd spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!
Nay, come, let's go together.

Desiderata (latin for Things to be desired)

© Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Weird Facts That You Probably Didn't Know

© Metro.co.uk

• There's a mountain range the size of the Alps hidden underneath the ice of Antarctica - and nobody knows how it got there. The Gamburtsev Mountain Range stretches for 1,200km, and is up to 3,400m high - but because the ice is 4km deep, nobody's ever seen them. Current theories of how massive mountain ranges form (either by continental plates colliding, or through volcanic activity) don't seem to explain how these mountains might have been created. A scientific expedition is currently being planned to study them in more detail, in an effort to work out what they're doing there.

• The four suits now commonly used in a deck of cards originated from France around 1480. The kings on the cards are the faces of some of the great kings in history. The King of Spades is King David, who was regarded as the founder of the Judean royal dynasty by the 9th century BC. The King of Clubs is Alexander the Great, the ancient Greek King that conquered most of the world known to his countrymen. Hearts is King Charlemagne- leader of The Franks, who in the Middle Ages conquered most of Western Europe. And King of Diamonds is Julius Caesar, the Roman king who played a significant role in the transformation of the Roman Empire.

• On February 10, 1355 rioting broke out in Oxford between the scholars of the University and the townspeople - started by an argument over the quality of wine in a local tavern, during which 'saucy' words were spoken. Almost 100 people died in the ensuing fighting.

• The Niagara Falls ran dry on March 29, 1848, after an ice dam further up the Niagara River blocked the flow of water from Lake Erie. People were able to walk along the river bed for a day before the ice broke.

• A beer flood hit London in 1814 after a giant vat burst. More than 1million litres of booze spilled from a brewery in Tottenham Court Road, killing nine people – including one from alcohol poisoning.

• 14 ships and their crews were trapped when the Suez Canal was closed due to the 1967 Six-Day War. They remained stuck there for eight years – during which time they set up their own postal system (complete with stamps), held a mock Olympic games, and formed a yachting club. They were known as the 'Yellow Fleet', because of the amount of sand that collected on their decks.

• The unofficial anthem of Cornwall, The Song Of The Western Men (otherwsie known as 'Trelawny'), was composed by Robert Stephen Hawker, an eccentric, opium-smoking priest in 1824 – but he passed it off as a long-lost traditional poem, fooling Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens in the process.

• In 1997, scientists recorded a mysterious, powerful, low-frequency noise under the sea. The 'Bloop', as it is known, appeared to come from a gigantic animal, far larger than any known creature. What made it remains unknown.

A Family Reunion Video

∗ it could of done with some more Harry pix but it's still very good ∗

Stand up for Shakespeare Campaign

Stand up for Shakespeare campaign video...

.."The video clip above gives examples of children and young people living out the principles of the manifesto and interviews with actors who are key supporters of Stand up for Shakespeare, including David Tennant, Patrick Steward, Ian McKellen and Judi Dench. We hope it will inspire you and your students to support the manifesto!"..

Family Reunion time is now over

"Why I have this election I do not understand.
It must have been preparing always, and I see
what I always wanted. Strength demanded that
seems too much, is just strength enough.
I must follow the bright angels."

I went to last nights final performance of TS Eliot's play Family Reunion at the Donmar Theatre. My 5th time. But it so nearly didn't happen. Had to drag myself out of my sick bed to attend. I decided to go along to support Samuel West like I promised one last time, even if it finished me off in the process. I tried so hard not to have a coughing fit during the play. A difficult task I can tell you from way up in the rafters, better known as the notorious circle area. A place where the phantom birds like to hide, and secrets are kept. A world few seldom see...unless you happen to like heights and confined places. The show itself was excellent as ever, and I felt sad that it was all coming to an end. So much had happened during its run. Christmas had been and gone, the conflict in Gaza dominated the news, Harold Pinter's subsequent death, and the beginnings of a new year. All this, yet here in the Donmar time stood still for just over 2 hours. Some would say a perfect escape from the harsh realities of the outside world. When the play had uttered its last word and cheer, I made the lonely walk down the many flights of stairs, past the auto hunters, before I snuck out into the cold dark night to become just a memory again.

I hope the bird brought you luck Sam. It was meant too. All the best for your next project, whatever that may be.

Love's Philosophy by Percy Shelley

The lady of the lake 2008

The fountains mingle with the river
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of Heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single,
All things by a law divine
In one spirit meet and mingle -
Why not I with thine?

Memories are for keeping

Take my hand and lead me to the light
I am fading fast and my heart grows so weary
Like a painting that crumbles at the slightest touch
I cannot disappear again if I live in your memories

Forgetfulness

© Billy Collins

The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
never even heard of,

As if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.

Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye
and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,
something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.

Whatever it is you are struggling to remember,
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue,
not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.

It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall,
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.

No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.

Sonnets from the Portuguese, XIII

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1770-1850)

If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love's sake only. Do not say
'I love her for her smile--her look--her way
Of speaking gently,--for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day'--
For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee,--and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry,--
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity.

Troilus and Crisyde

by Geoffrey Chaucer

`If no love is, O god, what fele I so?
And if love is, what thing and whiche is he!
If love be good, from whennes comth my wo?
If it be wikke, a wonder thinketh me,
Whenne every torment and adversitee
That cometh of him, may to me savory thinke;
For ay thurst I, the more that I it drinke.

The full version...
Troilus and Crisyde

Poet info...
Geoffrey Chaucer Bio

In Three Days

by Robert Browning

So, I shall see her in three days
And just one night, but nights are short,
Then two long hours, and that is morn.
See how I come, unchanged, unworn!
Feel, where my life broke off from thine,
How fresh the splinters keep and fine---
Only a touch and we combine!

Too long, this time of year, the days!
But nights, at least the nights are short.
As night shows where ger one moon is,
A hand's-breadth of pure light and bliss,
So life's night gives my lady birth
And my eyes hold her! What is worth
The rest of heaven, the rest of earth?

O loaded curls, release your store
Of warmth and scent, as once before
The tingling hair did, lights and darks
Outbreaking into fairy sparks,
When under curl and curl I pried
After the warmth and scent inside,
Thro' lights and darks how manifold---
The dark inspired, the light controlled
As early Art embrowns the gold.

What great fear, should one say, "Three days
"That change the world might change as well
"Your fortune; and if joy delays,
"Be happy that no worse befell!
''What small fear, if another says,
"Three days and one short night beside
"May throw no shadow on your ways;
"But years must teem with change untried,
"With chance not easily defied,
"With an end somewhere undescried.
''No fear!---or if a fear be born
This minute, it dies out in scorn.
Fear? I shall see her in three days
And one night, now the nights are short,
Then just two hours, and that is morn.

poet info...
Robert Browning Bio

Lucy Gray [or Solitude] by William Wordsworth

In memory of my maternal grandmother
(this was one of her favourite poems)

Oft I had heard of Lucy Gray,
And when I cross'd the Wild,
I chanc'd to see at break of day
The solitary Child.

No Mate, no comrade Lucy knew;
She dwelt on a wild Moor,
The sweetest Thing that ever grew
Beside a human door!

You yet may spy the Fawn at play,
The Hare upon the Green;
But the sweet face of Lucy Gray
Will never more be seen.

"To-night will be a stormy night,
You to the Town must go,
And take a lantern, Child, to light
Your Mother thro' the snow."

"That, Father! will I gladly do;
'Tis scarcely afternoon—
The Minster-clock has just struck two,
And yonder is the Moon."

At this the Father rais'd his hook
And snapp'd a faggot-band;
He plied his work, and Lucy took
The lantern in her hand.

Not blither is the mountain roe,
With many a wanton stroke
Her feet disperse, the powd'ry snow
That rises up like smoke.

The storm came on before its time,
She wander'd up and down,
And many a hill did Lucy climb
But never reach'd the Town.

The wretched Parents all that night
Went shouting far and wide;
But there was neither sound nor sight
To serve them for a guide.

At day-break on a hill they stood
That overlook'd the Moor;
And thence they saw the Bridge of Wood
A furlong from their door.

And now they homeward turn'd, and cry'd
"In Heaven we all shall meet!"
When in the snow the Mother spied
The print of Lucy's feet.

Then downward from the steep hill's edge
They track'd the footmarks small;
And through the broken hawthorn-hedge,
And by the long stone-wall;

And then an open field they cross'd,
The marks were still the same;
They track'd them on, nor ever lost,
And to the Bridge they came.

They follow'd from the snowy bank
The footmarks, one by one,
Into the middle of the plank,
And further there were none.

Yet some maintain that to this day
She is a living Child,
That you may see sweet Lucy Gray
Upon the lonesome Wild.

O'er rough and smooth she trips along,
And never looks behind;
And sings a solitary song
That whistles in the wind.