Better get ready
Spotted on the website of The Guardian this morning – a piece by Mark Sweney on the potential (or is it very real?) threat to mainstream television broadcasters from ‘new media’ giants, see here – THE [...]
Arts
Reality and perception
Regular readers of the Rust will be aware that for many years now I have been interested in both the possibilities – and moral/ethical issues attendant upon – presented by the rapid advances being made in the fields of robotic science, artificial intelligence and computer-generated [...]
We’ve all seen ’em from time to time
In the Rust traditions of firstly, ‘collecting’ lists and – secondly – of providing links for our readers to interesting articles spotted in the media, here’s one from the movie department: David Barnett, writing about the tome The Bad Movie Bible, as see today on [...]
La Cage aux Folles/ Theatre Royal Brighton
At ther moment gay drama is heralded but it was not always thus. La Cage aux Folles with its anthem I am What I am made a huge contribution. However it should not be forgotten that drag acts have existed for centuries in theatre. In Japan there were the “Onigita” professional male cross [...]
What’s sauce for the goose …
As I understand it from media reports overnight, Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn – who was once in favour of them on principle, has now rejected the proposal made earlier this week by shadow fire minister Chris Williamson, MP for Derby North, that ‘women only’ railways carriages should [...]
Clemenza di Tito & Don Pasquale/ Glyndebourne Festival
The Glyndebourne Festival ends this Sunday. I have seen four productions but the two I have not reviewed which I saw this week were Clemenza di Tito and Don Pasquale. Clemenza di Tito is the last opera Mozart wrote on the occasion of the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor. It’s not one of [...]
Frenchman’s Creek/ Daphne du Maurier
Frenchman’ s Creek is Daphne du Muriel’s only historical romance published in 1941. It reflects her ability to convey a sense of location, character and emotion but above all her competence in telling a story. The capacity to plot is one which critics rarely acknowledge but is probably [...]
The passing of a legend
Perhaps the biggest media story of the week was the news that UK national treasure and all-round entertainer Sir Bruce Forsyth CBE had died on Friday afternoon at the ripe old age of eighty-nine. As on other similar occasions, I am afraid I have not bothered to read the special six-page newspaper [...]
La Traviata
The role of Violetta the tart with a heart in La Traviata is one of the most demanding in opera. She is on stage virtually the whole opera first as a good time girl, then as a the responsible lover of Alfredo – but initially deemed not worthy enough by his family – and finally the [...]
Rod Steiger/Hollywood Legend
I have been offered a gig with a satellite arts programme on a series on the Hollywood Legends. We film critics get a bit sniffy about such work – it’s banal, trite, audience-driven but the reality is that few of us are that well paid or off to refuse the lucre, and most of all there is [...]