Tag: drama

The French novel always went further than the English novel did, until the latter did it in ‘daring’ pastiche of the French in another art-form. This blog is my preparation to see the National Theatre live- streaming of Christopher Hampton’s ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuse’, adapted from the novel by Choderlos de Laclos written in 1782.

June 6, 2026

The French novel always went further than the English novel did, until the latter did it in ‘daring’ pastiche of the French in another art-form. This blog is my preparation to see the National Theatre live- streaming of Christopher Hampton’s ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuse‘, adapted from the novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos written in 1782. … More The French novel always went further than the English novel did, until the latter did it in ‘daring’ pastiche of the French in another art-form. This blog is my preparation to see the National Theatre live- streaming of Christopher Hampton’s ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuse’, adapted from the novel by Choderlos de Laclos written in 1782.

Walking to the ‘The Playhouse’ at Horden from Warren St. to see Hamlet in the First Quarto

May 30, 2026

The walk was short but I didn’t know that when I parked up on Warren Street between Twelfth Street and Eleventh Street (pit villages and towns oft have numbered streets, lined on each sides by redbrick terraces, rather than names – perhaps to emphasise the fact that they housed such numbers of men, in the … More Walking to the ‘The Playhouse’ at Horden from Warren St. to see Hamlet in the First Quarto

I doubt I would I be the ‘playboy’? This blog is my preparation to see the National Theatre streamed version of the play at the Reel Cinema, Bishop Auckland on Thursday 28th May.

May 9, 2026

I doubt I would I be the ‘playboy’? At the end of John Millington Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World, the so-styled playboy, Christy Mahon, realises that he has been transformed into an incarnated idea destined forever to represent a life of constant playtime and being the object of ‘game’ and joy in the … More I doubt I would I be the ‘playboy’? This blog is my preparation to see the National Theatre streamed version of the play at the Reel Cinema, Bishop Auckland on Thursday 28th May.

Perhaps the answer is ‘ a moment of anticipation’! This blog reflects on Eugene O’Neill (1956) ‘A Long Day’s Journey Into Night’ in anticipation of seeing a production revived by Elysium Theatre Company at the Gala Theatre Durham on 19th May 2026.

May 4, 2026

Perhaps the answer is ‘ a moment of anticipation’! A young man and his father are lost to the consumption of hoarded whiskey until the woman, who is their mother and wife respectively, enters pale as a ghost carrying her ancient wedding dress. At this point the youth’s ‘head jerks and his eyes open’, though … More Perhaps the answer is ‘ a moment of anticipation’! This blog reflects on Eugene O’Neill (1956) ‘A Long Day’s Journey Into Night’ in anticipation of seeing a production revived by Elysium Theatre Company at the Gala Theatre Durham on 19th May 2026.

Making you the man of nerve or nerves you are: from hard resilience to soft and fearful retreat. A case study based on Nicholas Boggs (2026) ‘Baldwin: A  Love Story’ and the import he detects in Baldwin’s role as director of ‘Düşenin Dostu’ (‘Friend of the Fallen’ in English), the Turkish version of John Herbert’s ‘Fortune and Men’s Eyes’ in Istanbul.

April 21, 2026

Making you the man of nerve you are: from hard resilience to soft retreat. A case study based on Nicholas Boggs (2026) Baldwin: A  Love Story and the import he detects in Baldwin’s role as director of Düşenin Dostu (Friend of the Fallen in English), the Turkish version with its tellingly moralistic new Turkish title, of … More Making you the man of nerve or nerves you are: from hard resilience to soft and fearful retreat. A case study based on Nicholas Boggs (2026) ‘Baldwin: A  Love Story’ and the import he detects in Baldwin’s role as director of ‘Düşenin Dostu’ (‘Friend of the Fallen’ in English), the Turkish version of John Herbert’s ‘Fortune and Men’s Eyes’ in Istanbul.

Cashing in on ‘Thy sweet love remembered’:Some preliminary thoughts on Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 before some historical reflection on its use in queer literary culture in the twentieth century

April 19, 2026

Sonnet 29 is used to provide the title, and is quoted in full as its message, by a non-binary character in prison named by inmates as ‘Mona’ (after Mona Lisa), of John Herbert’s Fortune and Men’s Eyes, an important if not a very good queer play, and in 1971 a minor film, no longer easily … More Cashing in on ‘Thy sweet love remembered’:Some preliminary thoughts on Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 before some historical reflection on its use in queer literary culture in the twentieth century

Each day I wish I could find the will to write things ‘technically harder’ than is the norm in order to give me significantly ‘better practice’ in writing. This blog examines as a case study: Rupert Brooke’s one-act play: ‘Lithuania’ to show whether he could, as Maurice Bowra claims he wanted to in writing it, forefront ‘the expression of character, not of personal feeling, …’.

March 17, 2026

Each day I wish I could find the will to write things ‘technically harder’ than is the norm in order to give me significantly ‘better practice’ in writing. This blog examines as a case study: Rupert Brooke’s one-act play: ‘Lithuania’ to show whether he could, as Maurice Bowra claims he wanted to in writing it, … More Each day I wish I could find the will to write things ‘technically harder’ than is the norm in order to give me significantly ‘better practice’ in writing. This blog examines as a case study: Rupert Brooke’s one-act play: ‘Lithuania’ to show whether he could, as Maurice Bowra claims he wanted to in writing it, forefront ‘the expression of character, not of personal feeling, …’.

Samuel Beckett was as meticulous about writing his stage directions as he was in writing poetic prose, and contingent character-based exclamations, of the monologues and dialogues spoken on the stage. How radically will Gary Oldman dare, if at all, to rewrite both the stage directions and words of Beckett’s spoken by him as ‘Krapp’.

April 17, 2025

Gary Oldman viewing the auditorium of the York Theatre Royal, on whose stage he opened performance last night for the first time of the play by Samuel Beckett, under his own direction, Krapp’s Last Tape. I see it at 7.30 p.m. on 22nd April. Photograph from theatre website: see https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/latest/gary-oldman-stars-in-samuel-becketts-krapps-last-tape-at-york-theatre-royal/ I will see Gary Oldman … More Samuel Beckett was as meticulous about writing his stage directions as he was in writing poetic prose, and contingent character-based exclamations, of the monologues and dialogues spoken on the stage. How radically will Gary Oldman dare, if at all, to rewrite both the stage directions and words of Beckett’s spoken by him as ‘Krapp’.