The Decision, a play by Mia Darlone (Review)

Last time, I saw a play by the Manchester Poet Mia Darlone, it was full of very adult based humour that made me blush more than a few times in total.

Last time, I saw a play by Mia Darlone, ‘Below the Belt’ was without doubt for me one of the funniest but also dirtiest plays that I have ever seen but which was well worth going to watch.

Last time, the pace was so frantic if you blinked for more than a few seconds, you may have missed a stupidly funny line.

This time however, with her second play (I believe) the pace is totally different and filled with silences and live music interludes which were clearly wrote for the play (which was advertised as a dramatic comedy but if I am honest more of a drama to me although chunks of the audience did chuckle at little bits in the play) which was totally different from Below the Belt.

The story of the play itself started off quite simple focusing around the relationship of two characters Dan played by Paul Brandreth, a busker on Middlesbrough and his girlfriend Genna played by Rebecca Andrews who is as different to him as almost possible. Without giving too much of the plot away in particular the excellent second half, the crux of the play originally seemed to be the decision Dan would have to make when he got a better offer from a friend to come and perform in Manchester and leave his girlfriend behind.

The first half of the play started off strong with a nice use of multi media in the theatre with conversations on facebook and on mobile phones that I know confused more than one or two people but which I loved. Doing my degree in theatre studies some years back, I always enjoy seeing multi media used in the theatre and can most memorably at the Royal Theatre seeing flying toilets in an Ibsen version. In this play however, the two separate stories of the couple slowed down the pace of the play after they split but slowly began to click together when Genna became pregnant which may or may not have being Dan’s after a one night stand after a major row.

Without giving too much more of the plot away which thankfully did not go down the Gavin and Stacey route, the play in the excellent second half contained a twist which I didn’t see coming and found particularly brave although maybe a bit rushed bit for the theatre and, but no doubt would work brilliantly in the TV or Film field with a slightly larger budget.

Special praise must go to the backing cast, of who Parisa Nikkhah- eshghi who played the light, almost bimboesque (nicked from a review by Gus Johnson as I liked the term) character Michelle which made a nice contrast to Genna’s darkness very, very effectively and Jennifer Edwards who played Sally who Dan met in Manchester and was clearly used as a alternative to Gena subtly enough to leave me thinking whether there was more that could be said with that role.

Being honest, the play itself to me did have one or two minor faults, in particular when it felt it was 15 – 20 minutes too long for the theatre and one or two bits of the multi media bits (Some of the shorter scenes in the night-club for example) would have worked better on TV, Film or Radio better than the theatre, I did enjoy the play overall and can certainly see this getting made as a film or TV special.

And thankfully with a ending like they had, nothing to do with Gavin and Stacey whatsoever

Coll B Lue – Poetical Inspirations, a review

I first met Coll B Lue (Coll to me) at the end of 2007 after I got to know her through myspace which then led to me and some members of my then writing group doing a interview for her internet radio show ‘Literaryspot’ (Later Lit Media Reviews) on a number of occasions from 2007 to the end of 2009. I always remember her telling me at the time, she had published a few books but wasn’t aware until recently, they were both still in print.

The first one I got (the second has just being ordered) ‘Poetical Inspirations’ I think dates originally from 2007 for a first collection is perhaps a little longer than I have normally seen (with the exception of Charles Bukowski of which this is nothing like in the slightest) at almost 100 pages with something around 94 poems in it. Of course,

certainly reading that many poems is interesting as of course, so many poems in a book frame adds up to a lot off poetry to take in, but given patience I think the rewards are justified as poems like ‘Your Truly’ which has a subtle twist in it’s ending (‘So here lies my bed’) which is close, very close to William Carlos Williams.

Col lists her influences as of artists as much as writers as Van Gogh, Jacob Van Rusidael, Rembrandt’s ‘Sasha’ and Frans Hal’s ‘Laughing Cavilar’ which is interesting as her use of language throughout a lot of the poetry in the book is stripped down, often using just a few words per lines like ‘The airy light / gets lighter / when time is spent / and lent’ in Ethereal is sparse enough to be a painting with words and being painted under a Candle in the dim of night.

Certainly with poetry books like this, it would be interesting to see how the writer would project herself with poems like this on the stage, as a lot of the sounds in the book for me are possibly best read in late night softly, but it’s a book that certainly has layers and layers that require some exploring.

And that in my mind is always a good thing with books.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poetical-Inspirations-Ad-Hoc-Per/dp/1847531113/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1280606985&sr=8-1-fkmr0

Short Play

This got cowrote at a writing workshop yesterday called 'Weaving Words'

with a young lad called Paul I think.

We were set a scene where I was a teacher trying not to expel a pupil,

and Paul was a pupil who wanted to get expelled.

Enjoy!

Andy

Teacher:

You know why I have called you here.

Pupil:

Yeah, cause I do! It's because I made that pie out of a rabbit, a cat, a dog and a sausage roll.

Teacher:

And what did you do with it afterwards?

Pupil:

Threw it at your wife, ha

Teacher:

But instead, hit the school governor and our local MP, didn't you?

Pupil:

Yeah, that was a bonus.

Teacher:

You know we could expel you for that after you then broke into Mr. Jenkin's

office and had a er...... in his office.

Pupil:

It was all about the sex really. I wasn't going to do all that and not get the girl, which was your daughter by the way.

Teacher:

And when did you realise I don't have a daughter?

Pupil:

What do I have to get expelled, come to mention it the girl was a bit stiff.

I think I shagged the life aid dummy.

Teacher:

I've being trying to for 20 years.

Poem published and magazine submission

A old one of my poems (which I submitted years ago) has appeared
On We Love Poems Net called ‘The true Meaning of Family’

Little embarrassed by it as it’s certainly not the way I write now
But oh well..

http://www.we-love-poems.net/readpoem.asp?Ref=11767

I’ve just submitted a few poems over the Mental Virus Zine
(After submissions for their August Issue – Closing date – 25th July 2010)

Submissions to their editor, John Togher can be emailed to:
woodenhorse@tiscali.co.uk.

Jude Cowan - Doodlebug Alley (Review)

I first met Jude Cowan during my adventures at Poets Express, the annual music festival near Bantry in Southern Ireland. Run by Dark World International, it’s an interesting festival aimed primarily at the spoken word and the different ways it can be interrupted.

The first time in 2009 I went down the previous year, I remember meeting a whole host of poets and artists and had a cracking time and if I am honest delivered one of my best even sets I have ever performed spoken word wise with or without a band.

The second time, this year 2010 was very different as well as a lot of poets and musicians, there was also a number of acoustic musicians and certainly the best among them was a young lady from London (but who I found out has links to my hometown, Manchester) called Jude Cowan who played a set I missed with an un-usual kind of ukulele that I had never seen before.

Luckingly I caught her at another gig before we both left and was totally spell-bound by what I was heard, and then got hold of a copy of her CD ‘Doodlebug Alley’.

I don’t have tons of details to hand with the CD, but the CD is certainly one of the most wide ranging CD’s I’d heard this year certainly crossing over a number of boundaries this year from folk, to spoken word, to Joanna Newsom with a less annoying voice (from one of my friends) to most memorably from another friend ‘This doesn’t sound like George Formby in the slightest’ – this is a CD that certainly is not a CD for everybody, but it was one I totally loved.

Favorite tracks for me was the Jack Kirby influenced ‘Alien Folk Valediction’ which was the most traditional folk based track of the CD but had some lyrics that were surprising certainly and ‘Remember Sinners’ a duet with Tom Fawcett which I read somewhere compared him to Tom Waits, which I think from my love of ‘Frank’s Wild Years’ from many years is very, very close there but most off all the spoken word mostly 'She sits at the window' which I wasn't sure to laugh at or cry, but thought it was brilliant!

Expanded comment from Katy's blog

On Katy Konrad's excellent blog:

(http://quickbrownfox-katy.blogspot.com/)

I posted a long comment about developments in writing - this is the highlights off it with a little bit of expansion

' I think it is always nice to have a development in your writing if you feel you are making that much progress and it is natural to want to try out other fields within it.

I think I started myself back in 2008 making appearances here and there and by the end of the year had made 37 appearances in some form or the other. (I keep a log book on everything so I know what I have read out and where to prevent duplication.

In 2009, I took it a bit further and did 57 - yep, that's at least one a week before my health failed me a bit at the end of the year and this year I have took it a bit easier and only managed 28 by now! lol

As you progress, I think you start to discover with every night as with every audience what works somewhere does not work in other places. I read out a Christmas poem for example last year in one venue near where I live and it went down okay near where I live, and then a week later I read it out at a night I used to co-run and the audience

went nuts over it. Crazy or what?

Of course, this natural development will involve wanting to get your stuff published. This I find is somewhat harder. I published my first book (a best off my stuff from last year) through lulu.com earlier on this year as I wanted

full control off it. The second book which I reckon will be out at the end of this year, maybe the start off 2011 maybe a bit different but it's worth keeping your eyes open on publishers, just don't expect to make lots off money

on it as I don't think there is tons flying ..

A good suggestion would to buy or borrow the writers yearbook.. It's pretty helpful but my most important advice is to simply keep enjoying it'

back from sunny West Cork

Never seem to get any time for writing much here but now I am back from

Sunny West Cork in Ireland after a short tour with a stripped down verison

of my band 'Wordmusic' - it sort of made sense if you know what I mean.

Over the past few months, certainly it has being a busy few months with me

busy at work and also busy with my band and also carrying on work slowly

but surely with what is possibly going to be my second book 'Words and Paintings' which maybe out towards the end of 2010. Plans of course change but I am working through this at a nice pace, and I think at the moment there is something like 13 or 14 confirmed poems for this book which will be a joint book with my painter friend, Olga Gerke (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=754782852) who is a excellent, excellent painter.

I met Olga earlier in the year at a exhibition in Manchester and was blown away by his water colours paintings and wrote a poem based on one of her pieces quite quickly. The rest as they say is history.

I have a few other poetry books in mind which I don't mind admitting to - at what pace is a different ball game.

Firstly, is a children's poetry book... I've being writing this slowly for years and years and recently did a children's gig in Ireland featuring a number of them. It was a major challenge too as I hadn't done a gig like that before but it has given me real encourage to carry on with it.

Secondly, is a poetry novel called 'Nothing to Hide'. Not going to say tons more about this yet, but it'll feature poems wrote from several viewpoints.

I am also toying around with a proper follow up book to 'Return to Kemptown' which has maybe 8 or 9 pieces wrote for it, and for fun at the moment a sequence of poetry in the style of James Joyce's 'Chamber Music'.

Gigs wise for Wordmusic, it is all quiet now for a while when I get the next two gigs out of the way - the first is at a place called Kim by the Sea on Wednesday 14th July 2010 in Hulme where me and Jeff (Keys) with maybe one or two of the gang will be doing a few pieces.

After that, I think it's just me but I will be appearing at Jeffarama's 'Jamming with Jefframa' tour on 25th July 2010 in Butterflies in Bolton on a afternoon show which I am looking forward to also.