ArtwordBlog

Thoughts and musings about theatre, art, music, politics and life. 

London

Tate Modern Photo-ops

Picasso retrospective I love the Tate Modern. There's the shows, of course -- the free ones from the permanent collection and the blockbusters. There's the mysterious Tanks and the clever Artist Rooms. There's the building, with all its curves and…

Gallery 46: Photos of homeless in 1970s London

A room in Gallery 46 Gallery 46 is in Whitechapel at 46 Ashfield Road, one of two adjacent Georgian houses. To be admitted to 46, you knock on the door of its neighbour. The gallery occupies three floors of the…

Consent

National Theatre: Consent

Consent at the Harold Pinter Consent is what used to be called a "problem play", an examination from various perspectives of a current hot topic. The topic in this case: consensual sex versus rape. The characters are almost all lawyers…

Arcola Theatre

Arcola Theatre: Donizetti and Ravel Operas

Opera Alegria poster for Grimeborn Grimeborn is an annual summer series of opera performances by alternative companies, held at the Arcola Theatre in Dalston. This is a chance to hear chamber versions of operas, sung up close and personal by…

August 4: Miss Littlewood

Amanda Ayeh as Joan 2, Amanda Hadingue as Nick, Photo by Topher McGrillis Joan Littlewood was a theatre innovator who had a huge influence on how theatre is made. A tough cockney who quit RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art)and…

August 3: Duchess of Malfi at Stratford-upon-Avon

Joan Iyiola, Alexander Cobb, he Duchess of Malfi We made it to the closing night of The Duchess of Malfi at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Judith got a seat, and I had standing room not far away. In many…