Sham 69 - Brixton Electric

The Brixton Fridge has re-opened as the Brixton Electric and we went along to see the original Sham 69 line-up back together again wondering if they could still cut it after all this time. It didn't take long to realise they could, Jimmy Pursey prowling the stage and Dave Parsons on guitar as if it was 1977 again. All the old favourites got a run out, including raucous versions of 'Borstal Breakout', 'If The Kids Are United' and 'Hurry Up Harry' as well as newer songs 'Stockwell' and the amusing 'Asbo Sports Day'. The audience seemed to be mostly made up of 45-55 year olds wishing they were teenagers again, enjoying the nostalgia-fest.

An evening of one act plays - Network Theatre, Waterloo

To the Network Theatre in Waterloo, situated in a railway arch so you hear the trains rumbling overhead, to see Kunst Critique contributor Sue Catten tread the boards. She plays the daughter in Trevaunance Cove and delivers a monologue that by common consent was the highlight of the night, holding the audiences attention throughout.

The plays were as follows:

Trevaunance Cove by David Gray

A man and woman meet by chance on a dramatic Cornish cliff top in 1940. With the Nazis just across the channel set ready to invade, she optimistically suggests they meet again in ten years’ time at the same place. She promises him that the world of the future will be safer, happier and free. Many decades later their daughter is drawn to the same spot. 

A play which looks at the emotional power of a landscape and the human propensity to invent stories and romanticise memories. 

Psych101 by Andy Furmage

In a psychologist's treatment room, a routine session is not all that it seems to be. Over the course of the session a battle of wits develops with both psychologist (Paula) and patient (Sarah) battling for control. Paula and Sarah play cat and mouse with the truth through a series of flashbacks, until the final shocking revelation that Paula is sleeping with Sarah's husband.

The Gold Diggers of 2035 by David Gray and cast

A deadly virus has wiped out most of the population. Those that have survived have been left without the use of their left hands – except a now demonised minority who cannot use their right hands. Everyone is still traumatised, confused about what has happened and about where the world is going –  even viewing an old film of two-handed people is shocking and controversial. Then a special visitor drops in and kick-starts the healing process.

A blackly comic and atmospheric science fiction story which looks at how groups can be victimised and questions the accepted notions of beauty.

Aldgate East tube station

One of my favourite underground stations (and kicking off the new occasional Kunst Critique series 'My favourite London Underground stations') although it's hard to explain why. It's shabby and the yellow hue given off by the tiles reminds me of the inside of the smoking carriges back when smoking was still permitted on the underground (it seems amazing now and the smoking cars were truly disgusting). I like the view from the entrance/exit at both ends of the station looking down on the platforms, although possibly the best thing about it is it's only yards from the Whitechapel Gallery and Freedom Books, the anarchist bookshop.

Wilhelm Sasnal - Whitechapel Gallery

The show features works by the Polish artist frojm the last ten years. The first room displays Sasnal's works from 2005-11, and then you work your way backwards to his earlier paintings. He often produces paintings in a minimalist graphic style but also in an abstract or pop style, this exhibition showcases Sasnal's versatility and wide-ranging ability and is well worth a visit (especially as it's free).

Midnight in Paris‏, dir Woody Allen

Midnight in Paris opens with an homage to Paris with a jazz soundtrack in much the same way as Manhattan opened with scenes of New York and the Gershwin soundtrack.
The main character Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) is a would be novelist, in Paris with his finance & mother & father -in-law to be (the father-in-law is a right wing republican which enables Allen to get in possibly the first attack in a movie on the tea party). He travels back in time at night & meets characters from 1920's Paris, which leads to an amusing line before he realises what has happened when he can't believe the coincidence of meeting someone called F Scott Fitzgerald who has a wife named Zelda. He proceeds to meet all the arty types of 20's Paris including Hemingway, who is last seen drunk & trying to find someone to fight him, Gertrude Stein, Cole Porter, Picasso & Salvador Dali who is fixated on talking about the horn of a rhino.
Pender then travels back further in time to the 1890's and belle époque Paris & meets Toulouse-Lautrec. However he then realises that all this searching for a golden past just the allure of nostalgia & he should accept the present for what it is and create his own life.
I took a while to warm to Owen Wilson in the 'Woody Allen' role, I think possibly because the role was so similar to the ones Allen used to play but Wilson just isn't as funny.
The film was charming, beautiful and amusing, Allen's best, or, at least to me, most enjoyable for a long time.

Widnes Future Flower Sculpture

Following an international design competition in 2010, won by architects Tonkin Liu, the Widnes Future Flower is constructed of 120 galvanised steel petals around a central stem, standing 14m high and 3m in diameter.

3 mini wind turbines power 60 LED lights which reflect off the petals, with the intensity and colour determined by the wind speed and direction.

It stands between the river Mersey and the Sankey canal on a 300 acre site blighted by former chemical works but now reclaimed and remediated as a nature reserve.

It represents the combination of industry and nature on the same site, and the successful transformation of one of the many such areas in this part of the country.

The flower rises quite dramatically out of the mud flats and reed beds and, on a sunny day, makes a good mid-point on a stroll from the award-winning Catalyst Museum, through Spike Island park and upstream along the Mersey.

Unfortunately, on a bad day, it can all be just a bit too grey and, whilst in theory the lights are a lovely idea, in practice you don’t want to be in an isolated spot in Widnes, between a river and a canal, at night.

 

No one knows about Persian Cats (2009), director Bahman Ghobadi

The film portrays a surprisingly vibrant youth culture in Tehran. It is
filmed in documentary style, without government permission and hand-held
cameras. The storyline is very simple: With the help of their manager
Nadar, two young indie rockers Negar and Ashkan look for passports,
visas and band members to play at a London concert. As part of their
quest, we are shown the full breadth of the music scene in Teheran, from
rap to indie rock. The bands portrayed, who all play themselves, produce
an excellent soundtrack. Although police oppression and poverty lurk in
the background, this is basically a very optimistic film, carried by the
courage, energy, creative power and liberal attitudes of the
protagonists.

Liza S