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Articles by Tim Holford-Smith

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About Tim Holford-Smith

Despite running his architectural practice full-time, Tim is a frequent theatre-goer and occasional am-dram producer. More Posts

Oh Jackie!

As a young man, I’m not quite sure why, I confess that found Jackie Kennedy (later Onassis) strangely attractive in a sexual sense. I suspect my devotion may have been borne of a sense of human compassion and sympathy for her in respect of JFK’s philandering nature and assassination, perhaps [...]

May 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Privacy

  There are several successful plays which are redefining the conventional frontiers of accepted theatre. The Drowning Man and Venice Preserved do not take place in a conventional theatre but in different public locations, e.g. in the case of the latter the Cutty Sark.  In a different way, [...]

May 16, 2014 // 0 Comments

Tis Pity She’s a Whore.

Given this play was first performed in 1626 and written before then, it has as its theme one with which a modern playwright might feel uncomfortable – namely, an incestuous and passionate love between brother and sister. Antonella has returned to Parma with her tutor friar and her father [...]

May 10, 2014 // 0 Comments

Another one bites the dust

This week came the news that Stephen Ward, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest musical offering at the Aldwych Theatre in the West End, is being taken off next month for the usual classic reason – lack of ticket sales. There’s little satisfaction to be had from the demise of a major creative [...]

February 26, 2014 // 0 Comments

Time to volunteer, methinks …

A few hours ago now, I just ‘came to’ for the second time today, nipped across to pick up my papers, had a spot of breakfast and settled down in front of the BBC Breakfast Show … as you do. You can criticise me on principle for ever buying it but, for all its naffness, I do find the Daily [...]

February 25, 2014 // 0 Comments

You never know until you ask

Yesterday my brothers and I met with my father and RF, a former public school chum of his (we’re talking the early 1940s here), for one of our twice-a-year group lunches. On this occasion, like the last, we came together at a superior Italian restaurant close to World’s End pub on New Kings [...]

January 15, 2014 // 0 Comments

Aladdin

I am a big admirer and enjoyer of pantomine. As I sit, or sometimes sleep, through the third act of King Lear or an Ibsen play, I sometimes think of the exuberance and audience enjoyment of pantomime which, although many of the stories come from the Grimm brothers, is a peculiarly British [...]

January 8, 2014 // 0 Comments

Dickens Abridged

I am a great admirer of cafe and fringe theatre. I have seen many a great piece of theatre start in such places: Godspell, The Rocky Horror Show, and more recently The 39 Steps. Its ticket pricing is fairer too. Sadly I could not praise Dickens Abridged which I saw yesterday at the Arts Theatre. [...]

December 25, 2013 // 0 Comments

The upside of losing

When I rose, as usual, at some ungodly hour this morning there was something missing from my life – the hapless England cricket team was no longer being humiliated in the Perth Ashes test match. Ever since they first arrived in Australia, it has been my practice to having the Sky Sports coverage, [...]

December 18, 2013 // 0 Comments

Nelson Mandela: a Personal Memoir

A few years ago I was invited to the press night of a South African musical. An acquaintance behind me who was the London PR agent of Charlton Heston asked me what I was doing there. Riled by this I said it was at the personal invitation of Nelson Mandela. This was a total fabrication. Mandela [...]

December 6, 2013 // 0 Comments

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