Anna Christie at the Donmar Warehouse, London...press night coming up on 9th August‏

Exiled from her home by the Old Devil Sea to the inland plains, Anna Christie's life changed forever at just five years of age. Fifteen years later, she is reunited with the father who sent her away and sets sail in search of a new beginning.
Eugene O'Neill's epic Pulitzer Award-winning play about love and forgiveness charts one woman's longing to forget the dark secrets of her
 past and hope for salvation
Ruth Wilson's portrayal as Anna ranges from the hardened drinking prostitute in the bar scene to a woman struggling with her emotions when she begins to fall for stoker Matt played by Jude Law. The duo give sterling matched performances when Anna confesses her past as Matt wants to marry her. His passions  violence, distress and finally his love all make way for glittering performance all the more poignant  by Wilson's perfect depiction of the troubled Anna.

The minalmist set and storm scene are captured beautifully, our emotions are held throughout this wonderfully timed performance

Performances are currently sold out but 10 tickets are available each day at 10.30 although you may be lucky and get returns as I did.

Sue Catten

Alnwick Castle

Unusually we were all agreed on the destination for our day out in the Northeast, everyone voted for Alnwick but for different reasons. The adults wished to see the garden whereas the kids were interested in the castle. Alnwick Castle was built just after the Norman Conquest, is the second largest inhabited castle in England and is home to the Duke of Northumberland and his family. None of this was of particular interest to the children though, they wanted to visit because it appeared in the Harry Potter films. I am reliably informed that it was the setting for the broomstick flying lesson in the first film. The castle itself is impressive, in good condition and not too crowded with either people or temporary structures even after the increased interest that appearing as Hogwarts must have brought. An interesting feature of the castle is the battlements are surmounted by amazing carved figures which apparently date from around 1300. They were presumably erectred to fool attackers into thinking there were more people defending the castle than there really were.

Angel of the North

On a recent trip to the Northeast we managed to take in the Angel of the North, Anthony Gormley's huge steel sculpture located in Gateshead, England. It is, unsurprisingly, much more impresssive 'in the flesh' than looking at pictures of it; however it is at its most awe-inspiring at that moment when you get to the top of the hill on the A1 and first catch sight of it. It must be an especially welcoming sight to exiles returning to the Geordie nation.

 

Five Symbolic Images:Bronze and Plaster Sculptures by Christopher Le Brun - One Canada Square, Canary Wharf

Christopher Le Brun is known primarily as a painter and printmaker and he came to sculpture relatively late in his career. In the leaflet that accompanies this exhibition he says that the sculptures represent an inner journey but they are not explicit as to their meaning. I must admit that most of the works here are not really my sort of thing, scuptures of wings seem to recur alot; possibly I'm missing the symbolism because it isn't explicit enough but to paraphrase Morrisey it say's nothing to me about my life. The beauty of going to see art though is that you nearly always find something that you enjoy or that interests you even if the exhibition isn't really your thing and I did rather like 'Stand' a bronze and steel sculpture pictured below.

What's Cookin' 4th Leytonstone Festival Sunday Picnic

The Fabulous Penterators / The Hightown Crows / The Curst Sons /
Benjamin Folke Thomas Band / Simon James Onions / Graham Larbey &
The Escape Committee / Texas Tea / The Lucky Strikes / The Dog Roses

Henry Reynolds Gardens in Leytonstone, E11 was once again the venue for the annual What's Cookin' picnic, which forms part of the Letonstone Festival. It was a lovely afternoon and the music was of the usual high standard. Highlights included The Fabulous Penterators who topped the bill and rounded of the day with rock n roll that got the audience dancing. The Dog Roses who are becoming big WC favourites with their bluegrass, Texas Tea a deut from Brisbane, the female singer had a good country voice although I preferred their more uptempo songs to the slower ones and my personal favourites The Lucky Strikes who have lost their singer and gained a banjo and fiddle player since I last saw them at WC. They were good before but I have to say I think they have got better, the bassist who has taken on vocal duties is good and the banjo/bass have given the band a more rootsier sounds and the songs more depth.

The large crowd suggests that the WC picnic has progressed from an event attended by locals to one that
people travel to from miles around. With the announcement, reported in yesterday's blog, that WC will no longer be based at the North Star pub we can only hope that another venue will be found near by and that the 5th annual picnic takes place next year.

What's Cookin' leaves North Star

What's Cookin', the Americana music club, has left the North Star pub in Leytonstone, its base for the last year. Here is Ramblin Steve's mailout : OK, a bit of news. This week will see our last shows at the North Star. So catch us while ya can! ... And then thats it for What's Cookin' for the foreseeable future. We do hope to have have 'What's Kickin'...Vol.5' out around September, and I think we'll find somewhere nice to do a release show for that. And tell ya what, Vol.5 is an absolute solid gold cracker, yer gonna love it... Have a good summer everyone!

http://www.whatscookin.co.uk/wchome.html

John Hoyland 1934 - 2011

Some images by John Hoyland, one of the greats of British post war abstract painting, who has died aged 78.