Don’t be impartial about the victims of militarism January 24, 2009
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Miscellany , 1 comment so farI love the BBC. Its one of the best things about living in the UK. So I’m sad to see that they have refused to air a film from the Disasters Emergency Committee appealing for donations for aid for the victims of the recent slaughter in Gaza. They should change their decision now.
If you’ve seen those terrible pictures of childrens bodies, or read the heartbreaking stories of people cowering in their homes, there is no way to avoid being moved by this disaster, whatever your beliefs about the rights and wrongs of the causes of Palestine and Israel.
The DEC is a federation of charities including the British Red Cross, Islamic Relief, Oxfam, Save the Children. Its an eclectic mix, all large, respected charities dedicated towards helping the most vulnerable people in the world. Working together on particular crises they achieve extra visibility and raise more funds. They’re not political, unless you think that helping a child born on the wrong side of a war is political. When they decide to approach the television networks to launch an appeal, their request should be respected. The BBC has often broadcast their appeals in the past, for instance for Darfur.
The reasons given by the BBC are odd. They say they want to ‘ avoid compromising public confidence in its impartiality’. Helping the victims of a military attack isn’t a partial act in the Paletine / Israel controversy. It says nothing about what you believe about the warring parties. It does not imply solidarity with the Palistinian cause, much less with Hamas. Failing to help victims when you can does say something pretty unpleasant though. And I’m sure that’s not the real BBC.
The BBC has made a big mistake, and should change the decision now. The only consolation is that the fact that it’s all over their website and Radio 4 today means this appeal is getting as much publicity as it would if they’d broadcast the film. It’s just a pity that, once again, the BBC comes out looking poorer for it.
There are a few things you can do if you agree with me:
2. Write to the BBC and tell them they should broadcast the appeal
3. Spread the message to friends and encourage them to donate.
The Convention on Modern Liberty January 19, 2009
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Politics , 1 comment so farSometimes, I wonder if I’m just paranoid, but then I realise I’m not the only one.
Some things really scare me:
- The way draconian legislation justified by the need to combat terrorism invariably gets used to investigate far less dangerous pursuits.
- The thought of the fact that I once googled ‘gay goat’ without thinking too hard getting onto a government database, or of some low-paid outsourced worker having access to a log of my emails.
- The notion of a national id database run by a government who’s only contribution to freedom of information seems to be their ability to release it onto trains and into rubbish bins
- Draconian policing of peaceful demonstrations, creating a climate of fear.
The last few years have seen a steady erosion of the valuable right of a British person to go about their lawful business in privacy and without interference by the authorities, while at the same time, government activity seems to be more and more hidden. And somehow, the voices of protest are few and far between. Noone really seems to be too concerned.
And so, I’ll be attending The Convention on Modern Liberty, being held in Bloomsbury on 28 Feb. Hopefully, it will be more than a talkshop gathering of the usual suspects, and some action will come out of it.
In a Dark Dark House January 4, 2009
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , 1 comment so farI left the theatre shell-shocked last Monday after seeing Michael Attenborough’s produciton of Neil La Bute’s deep, dark story of lies and violence in a family and the effect on two brothers many years later. How David Morrissey (Terry) and Steven Mackintosh (Drew) do this night after night is beyond me.
Morrisey and Mackintosh
I wanted to see David Morrissey on the stage, and because I’ve recently started some charity work dealing with sex offenders this play appealed. It’s not easy to watch, or entertainment in any normal sense of the word, but if the theatre holds a mirror up to nature, this illuminates some of the difficult, grey areas around crimes which society sees as the worst of all.
The play is in three acts, each a duologue exploring a side of the story.
In the first, the two brothers meet. Drew is in a psychiatric hospital, and tells Terry that he was abused as a child. Terry tried, and failed, to protect him.
The second act’s flirtation between Terry and American actress Kara Sternbach’s fifteen year old Jennifer is very uncomfortable – she oscillates from seductress to innocence, only partly aware of what she’s doing, one moment keen to carry it through, the next scared and unsure, and shows so clearly why it is the adult who must be responsible in this situation.
The final act’s denouement is as awful as it is unexpected. The manipulative pederasts’s excuse that ‘the child enjoyed it’ is firmly shown up for the lie it is, as Terry admits to having been a willing participant in his own abuse – “it made me feel important for once” - but also to unbearable conflict about his own sexuality and feelings because of it. He may well have in some sense been willing at the time, but he’s still thoroughly mixed up and badly broken now.
This play challenges ideas about families, manipulation and sex offending. It’s raw, honest and painful.
“In a Dark Dark House” runs at the Almeida until 17 January. Seat C5 in the stalls offered an excellent view, very close to the stage.
One Last Time
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , 1 comment so farDespite the Royal Shakespeare Company saying that David Tennant’s back injury would keep him off the stage until 5 Jan, the rumours had been flying around this wee corner of the internet for the last few days. Some of the more obsessed fans were driving rsc.org.uk’s hit rate into the stratosphere, looking for updates. So it was probably a good idea that before the curtain came up on last night’s performance of Hamlet at the Novello the producer came on stage to ‘clarify that tonight the part of Hamlet will be played by … David Tennant’. The theatre erupted, and didn’t calm down until the first soldier was well onto the stage.
Being only slightly obsessed, this was the fourth time I’ve seen this production. I’ve never done that with a play before, but this repays repeated viewing, as I become more aware of the nuances and depth of dialogue. I’ve probably seen Hamlet 8 or 9 times now, and serious theatres goers may well see it twenty, thirty or more times in a lifetime. So, if you, dear reader (and I use the singular advisedly) aren’t too tired of this, here’s one final Hamlet review, at least for this run.
This performance was every bit as absorbing as my first, and the ensemble seemed somehow more relaxed, the performances more intense than when I saw it on 5 Dec. Given that was just before Tennant went sick, and he was certainly in pain, its not surprising he seemed a little off that night. This time, he made a few concessions to his surgery, walking off the stage rather than running, and avoiding a couple of leaps, but was still extremely energetic and physical. I hate to think of him being in pain for something I enjoyed so much, but if he was, it certainly didn’t show.
Sitting in row D of the stalls (with specs this time), the faces were so much more visible. I became quite absorbed with watching Penny Downie (Gertrude). As Patrick Stewart (Claudius) is telling Hamlet, to stop mourning his father she is a picture of uncertainty and during the Players scene Gertrude becomes more and more angry, and disturbed, by what she is seeing, while Claudius is a mask of repressed fury. I know its what they’re there for, but in every scene every single actor is doing something, showing something.
The oedipal nature of the bedroom scene gets stronger every time I see this production. Hamlet’s anger at his mother is almost that of a jealous lover rather than a horrified son. He scorns his mother’s sexuality, but at the same time seems fixated on it. It’s here that the contrast between Tennant’s performance and that of the understudy, Ed Bennett, hits me hardest. Bennett’s performance was very competent, certainly very clear, but somehow, in this scene particularly, far more simplistic.
Tennant’s Hamlet is deeply uncertain, sad more than angry, but also an arrogant young prince, witty and intelligent, most of all a vulnerable, tragic young man who doesn’t really have the strength he needs to deal with the situation in which he finds himself.
Hamlet plays at the Novello until 10 Jan. No chance of tickets now!
