20th October 2023

Every work of Art should have a Big Idea behind it. The Big Idea focuses the work and keeps it in check; it may well be the message the writer wishes to communicate.

The Big Idea principle can be applied to dramas (of all types including film), novels, poetry, fine art and so on. Music is more complex and will be discussed briefly later. I shall make brief references to four of Shakespeare’s plays and one poem – Edward Thomas, Adlestrop.

11th January 2024

Life is full of mysteries. For many people looking at a play schedule the letters AD against a performance may be one of these little mysteries. AD stands for Audio Described. Audio Description is a means by which people with all levels of vision impairment (VI) may enjoy the live theatre experience. Live experience means live audio description; so I sat down with two RSC audio describers to find out more.

21 March 2024

Acclaimed Actor, Samuel Barnett, currently starring in the RSC’s Ben and Imo, is an actor who has been phenomenally busy for his 20 odd years in acting; appearances began at the National Theatre in The History Boys and has continued through, among other things, Allelujah! (another Alan Bennett show), Kiss of the Spider Woman, to his recent solo show, Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen by Marcelo Dos Santos. He also led, as Detective Dirk Gently, in the Netflix serials, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. He is, at present, in the two-hander Ben and Imo (Mark Revenhill) at the RSC. I wished to find out a bit about his work creating his character, the composer Benjamin Britten, and his thoughts about plays and acting.