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Table Manners/ Chichester Festival Theatre

Alan Ayckbourn is the supreme and sublime observer of middle class life which might explain his enduring appeal as the only seat to be had in the auditorium was next to me as I quite forgot I purchased  two sometime ago. Table Manners is part of the Norman Conquest trilogy though oddly you  can [...]

October 13, 2017 // 0 Comments

Oh What a Lovely War

I am often asked how and why my interest in World War One began. The first long playing record I bought was the Joan Littlewood production  of Oh What A Lovely War in 1964. Yesterday in the car I listened to the whole of it. It starred two actors who are hardly known these days but huge talents: [...]

October 7, 2017 // 0 Comments

Cabaret at Proud

For the third time week I open my post with the words “I did not know what to expect.” This time in relation to a night at Proud Cabaret in Kemptown, that lively and predominately gay area between Brighton Pier and the Marina. My hairdresser’s ex-partner is/was the manager and he [...]

September 23, 2017 // 0 Comments

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 [...]

August 27, 2017 // 0 Comments

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 [...]

August 25, 2017 // 0 Comments

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 [...]

August 20, 2017 // 0 Comments

It’s in the telling …

There is – as Northern Irish comic Frank Carson was wont to ruminate – something in the way jokes are told that makes them funny, or is that makes them funnier, or indeed less so, depending (of course) upon the skill and timing of the teller. For my part, I don’t regard myself as a naturally [...]

August 6, 2017 // 0 Comments

Fiddler on the Roof/ Chichester Festival Theatre

I’m old enough to recall the sixties version of Fiddler on the Roof starring Topol and Miriam Karlin. It was a wonderful production reflecting how musicals have moved on from Broadway musical comedies to shows with more stirring stories. A musical about a life in an orthodox Jewish community [...]

July 22, 2017 // 0 Comments

42nd Street

I have written before how a traditional musical has been bowdlerised by changes of plot, location or story. 42nd Street did not fall into this trap. You could have seen this production when the film was released in 1933. And why change anything? The musical has three songs which are still well [...]

July 15, 2017 // 0 Comments

The Lion King/ Lyceum Theatre

Last night Bob Tickler organised a trip to The Lion King to celebrate the birthday of his Godson. A long term musical branded by Disney is not really my bag but one should go with an open mind. This was helped by a pre theatre meal at Joe Allen’s. This has been going even longer than any [...]

June 10, 2017 // 0 Comments

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