Been Away

The lack of recent posts has been caused by us going on holiday!

Just before we went we were doing a play at The Blakehay, actually three short plays and some readings all under the title “Here Come the Girls” – one of three productions in the UK with that title at the moment (one of the otehrs was on at the Playhose at the same time!) … reasonable turn out.

We left straight from the last night to go to Gatwick and from there, after a flight delay, to el Gouna by the Red Sea for two weeks of sun and diving – well, for us mostly diving as we did 8 days (16 dives).

We got back last saturday morning at 3:30 … on Sunday we drove to Ilfracome to dive Lundy … the seals wouldn’t come in with us and it was a bit of a shock to the system to drop from 27 degree water to 15 and from 20 metre visability to 2 …. heh ho …

Weston Winter

Autumn is here, winter not so far away and the Westin Wheel is coming down. I’d secretly hoped it might become permanent but there you go – we rode it twice and enjoyed it – and loved seeing it lit up at night but now it will be no more.

Something else that will go from the square in front of the pier is the bloomin’ clock – thank goodness! Gosh that green clock on a pylon was so ugly. Apparently it used to sit on the front of the Bus Station in the square and was moved there when it closed – now that area is being done up big time the clock goes into storage!

Much of the front is now ripped up as the flood defences and improvements really get into a high gear, next year that whole area will look very different – wonderful.

The pier now has two barge cranes working on it as they start getting it all rebuilt.

Looks like the Tropicana may eventually be simply demolished though it’s likely to have one last lease of life as an open air venue next year. Who knows if the Henry Boot plans will ever really appear ….

Watery Moon

Is it just me or was the recent news story about finding water on the moon just horrifying?

I mean, in one report they announced that they’d found water locked up in the rocks and that this meant that they could build factories to extract the water to create rocket fuel to send us to other planets and support life.

Forgive me, but haven’t we already seen the effect of setting up factories to exploit non-renewable resources? Are we simply changing our plans so that instead of conserving resources we just use them up then move on to another planet?

Frankly the last thing any planet, moon or other rock in space needs is a species like us turning up on its doorstep!

Love Never Dies

Love Never Dies is the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera based on Frederick Forsyth’s book The Phantom of Manhattan.

It is 1907. Ten years after the mysterious disappearance of The Phantom from the Paris Opera House, Christine Daae accepts an offer to come to America and perform at the fabulous new playground for the rich – Coney Island. Arriving in New York with her husband Raoul and their son Gustave, Christine soon discovers the identity of the anonymous impresario who has lured her from France to sing.

Further announcements are expected on the 8th October, 23 years after the opening of Phantom …

September West End Theatre Sale

What’s happened to my free time?

Well, I agreed to do this big project you see … but the timescales were good and everything looked grand

However, the final delivery date is looming and appears to be set in stone … but the delivery of basic, working, bits to me so I can start my part just seems to suffer delay after delay after delay … so instead of having a few months as promised with plenty of stable, documented material I have a house of snad on which to try and produce a decent product …

The trouble is, I’m the last man in the chain so I suffer ALL the delays and yet if the whole project is late it looks like it’s all my fault – well guys it ain’t!

There, taht got that off my chest and explained why at 1:40 in the morning I am still working!

Murdering theatre

Now I never expect much when I go and see a Bruce James production, but this one, “The Game of Murder” didn’t have Damien in so I thought I might be safe – anyway, nothing much else to do and we needed to get out of the house so off we trotted to the Weston-super-Mare Playhouse and paid for our tickets.

Let me not mince my words here, I have seen some trully dire theatre in my life but this takes the biscuit. If it had been entered in an amateur drama festival it would have come last and the adjudicator would have struggled to find anything positive to say …

Script – weak to the point on nonsense. Direction – phoned in at best. Design inappropriate and acting lacking any conviction. I felt like Kenny and Stan in South Park when they watched “The Passion of Christ” and set off on a mission to get the price of their cinema tickets back because the film was rubbish. Someone owes me that’s for sure!

What really saddens me was the half full house – I felt exploited and I wonder how many others there did …. Could do better? I would say that any paying audience deserves much better, many an amateur club would (a) not chose a script like that and (b) hang it’s head in shame if that was the best it could do.

If you’re in the WsM area and want real theatre try The Blakehay; an area free of tribute bands, blue comedians and Bruce James …

London Theatre Week

London Theatre week from lastminute.com: What is it? A fantastic promotion where customers can book the best shows for a fraction of the cost! Customers just need to book from August 24 to September 4 for redemption until mid-October and experience London’s world-beating theatre for as little as £15! That’s an exclusive saving of up to £25! Over 30 top theatres and arts venues are taking part to give the best available seats from going from £15, £25 and £35.

South Harrow on Urban Scrawl

Listen to my short play, “South Harrow” written and recorded as part if the Urban Scrawl project.

http://www.theatrevoice.com/urban_scrawl/

Urban Scrawl: South Harrow, by Robert Iles. Cast: Roy Macready (Terry); Robert Iles (Policeman). Directed by Gene David Kirk. Studio manager: Elayne Hall. Recording manager: Marina Caldarone. Recorded at Rose Bruford College.

Daily Mirror

SeatChoice is mentioned in today’s Daily Mirror as a recommended site in Siobhan McNally’s “Credit Crunch Crusader” column – thank you!