May 2009 Archives

Mike McCartney tells a good anecdote - and to be fair he has plenty of them up his sleeve stretching right back to his Liverpool boyhood.
Yesterday he opened a "mini-60s" exhibition of four photographs featuring early images of the Beatles and off-beat shots of the Scaffold.
They are a "teaser" of a much bigger exhibition of his work which will go into the new Museum of Liverpool.
MIke joked that it was the smallest exhibition he'd ever launched and he should have had a tiny ribbon and a giant pair of shears to cut it.

A CAST of the world's outsiders populate Laurence Wilson's new play.
Lost Monsters, which touches on Shakespeare's The Tempest as its base material, is part of the Everyman's commitment to new writing, and the 50th 'homegrown' production at the Everyman and Playhouse since 2004.
It's an impressive record, and Wilson's off-beat, mystical-tinged tale has the potential - albeit currently raw - to be one of its most enduring results.
The play is set in a run-down house trapped/cocooned in an other-worldly vortex in the middle of a motorway.
Designer Simon Daw's set is inventive, with the house encircled from above by a twisted carnage of metal crash barriers which drop, when required to create the illusion of trees.
The home is owned by mysterious loner Richard (the always watchable Joe McGann), a man of strange contradictions - an oddball seemingly intelligent and educated yet willing to believe the tales of armageddon pedalled in lurid red top headlines that flutter from the hard shoulder.
Into his world tumble a "trio of tinkering tykes" on the run from the law; hard nut - but, as we discover, soft-centred - Mickey (Nick Moss), heavily-pregnant dreamer artist Sian (Rebecca Ross), and autistic child-man Jonesy (Kevin Trainor) who sucks up knowledge and rattles off facts and figures at eye-watering speed before demanding to be tickled like a five-year-old..
In Jonesy, Wilson has created a genius of a character. It could be stereotypical, but it's not.
Yet he's such a force of nature, played with brilliance by Trainor, that at times it threatens to upset the balance of the play, which takes on two different complexions depending on whether he is on stage or not.
The action builds to a sustained and engrossing peak during the first half, but then seems to lose impetus before being wrapped up in a disappointingly pat ending.
Wilson is a talented writer of dialogue with an irresistible turn of phrase, which makes it surprising that the speeches he gives Ross's Sian feel awkward, while some of the references to the troubles of the modern world feel shoehorned in to a play which is often inspired but - at present - ultimately flawed.
7/10: Magical Mystery Flaw

Performers and writers/creators come together for one of Liverpool's regular Organic Cherry evenings at the Bluecoat tonight.
There will be performances from Mandy Romero, local singer/songwriters Kaya and Laura Leigh, BBC resident poet Laura Walsh and local legends Impropriety as well as a "surprise helping" of other talented writers, actors and directors.
This is Organic Cherry's third event since it was launched to give new writers a platform for their work.
So far organisers have had 11 new scripts, two guest comperes, four films, eight performers including musicians, dancers, poets, comedians, and two plays - The Ass Code and Beating Berlusconi.
Tickets are £3 online at https://www.patronbase.com/_BC/Productions/1024/Performances, by calling 0151-702 5324 or at The Bluecoat.

Open auditions take place this Friday for 'young Helen' the Empire's autumn production of Twopence to Cross the Mersey.
The role, previously played by young actress Jamie Clarke, is central in Helen Forrester's true story of how she and her formerly wealthy family had to leave behind the nannies and servants and survive in the slums of Liverpool during the depression of the 1930s.
Last time open auditions were held in 2004, hundreds of hopefuls turned up.
And as a direct result of Jamie appearing in Twopence she was spotted by a leading West End agent and signed up.
Co-producer Alan Fennah says: "Finding home grown talent is important to us and, providing they can sing and act to a high standard, everyone who comes to the audition is in with a chance."
The show also sees the return of Pauline Daniels in the role of Helen Forrester senior and Mark Moraghan as Helen's father John.
Auditions will take place in the Empire Theatre's Atrium bar from 10am and are open for girls aged 16 to 21.
For more information visit www.pulse-records.co.uk or www.LiverpoolEmpire.org.uk

Well, here we are at the end of May and there's no sign of a let up in the city's arts diary.
So what does this week have in store?

First up, Laurence Wilson's new play Lost Monsters, loosely based on Shakespeare's The Tempest, gets its press night at the Everyman tomorrow.
The show centres around three teens who travel the country playing slot machines until a freak accident one night leaves them stranded outside a house belonging to the mysterious Richard, played by Joe McGann.

Across the water, Bill Kenwright shows his faith in the newly-refurbished New Brighton Floral Pavilion by bringing his touring production of Agatha Christie's Spiders Web for a week-long run. The show stars Butterflies' Bruce Montague and Catherine Shipton, erstwhile of Casualty.

Pauline Daniels' Actors Studio plays host to new young writers/actors in Scouse Potatoes from tomorrow until Saturday, while the Shaolin Warriors fetch up at the Empire for one night only on Thursday and Tmesis, formerly the Momentum theatre company, is at the Unity.

Not forgetting the final Vasily Petrenko-conducted concert of the main RLPO season at the Philharmonic Hall this Thursday - the programme features Elgar's weighty First Symphony, Gershwin's delightful American in Paris and the UK premiere of contemporary American composer Jennifer Higdon's violin concerto performed by the musician she wrote it for, Hilary Hahn.

Incidently, more of Petrenko later - see the Echo today for my "half-way" chat with the conductor who is coming to the end of the first three years of his six year tenure at the Phil, and read separately on my blog the Petrenko thoughts which didn't end up in the final article.....

I realised the other day - well, to be honest it was pointed out to me - that I hadn't updated this blog in a while.
Things have obviously changed a little since I started Culturechat. Capital of Culture has been and gone, and so has my "culture reporter" title.
But it has been replaced by the moniker of Arts Editor, a job I (also) truly love, and therefore this blog is going to be getting a revamp.
It will still be called Culturechat, and that's still what I am going to do - just with bells on.
I hope to bring readers plenty on news, all my reviews, recommendations for the week ahead, a rundown of the forthcoming month, and yes, behind-the-scenes gossip too.
The blog will be promoted on my weekly Friday arts page, and of course I welcome feedback from you the reader about the topics I post, what you are interested in, your own reviews of shows you've been to and what concerns you about Liverpool arts in this post-2008 world.
So welcome to first-time readers, and welcome back to those who've been here before.
I'm kicking off this new dawn with a look at this week - what's going on and what I recommend.

You can tell Liverpool was - and is - Capital of Culture. Even people's body art has a cultural theme in this city.
I was sitting on the bus to work this morning when I noticed the woman sitting in front of me had a tattoo on the back of her next.
Looking more closely, it turned out to be an inch-long piece of musical stave - featuring a bass clef and 3/4 time, but not, sadly, any tune picked out. You'd need an arm or leg for that.......