Last night, at around 9pm, I received a terrible phone call from a Mr Rodrigo Rojas. “I’m calling from Telefonica. We’ve knocked at your door many, many times, but for some reason, you are never in.” “I work,” I confessed, “Is there a problem?” “Are you Ms … of C/ … ?” “I am. ” “And… Read more »
Tag: Barcelona
TÚRRON DE YEMA: Gift or insult?
A moist, sickly-sweet lump of sugar (1kilo), smashed almonds (1kilo) and 12 semi-solidified egg yolks, the lightly browned Túrron de Yema must be the quintessentially backhanded Christmas gift; the booby prize of the seasonal raffle. One might go so far as to suspect that the same single bar has been circulating the peninsula since Wilfred… Read more »
WHAT’S ON? Silence in the name of The Artist
Silent French movie The Artist is out in Spain. It has 6 Golden Globe nominations – more than either of Clooney’s – and is tipped to win an Oscar. It’s not in 3D, so what could be the secret to its success? That it harks back to the Golden Age of Hollywood when acting was… Read more »
READ ABOUT IT: Catalan Drama
For my article based on interviews with Catalan bigwigs of theatre, Calixto Bieito and Toni Casares, published in Barcelona Metropolitan this month click here.
REVIEW: Jocular’s Private Eyes
Having suffered 3 + hours of a taxidermied Edward Albee play the night before my point about actors seemed set in stone … that is, until a Jocular Theatre Company production blew it to bits. To claim that Joshua Zamrycki‘s band of five did justice to Steven Dietz’s 1996 play would be wrong. Private Eyes may be… Read more »
DANCE REVIEW: Lemi Ponifasio / MAU
On a slick black stage, stabbed through the heart by a monolithic shard, dance troupe MAU terrified me with a tense, urgent, masterful piece with a throbbing, ritualistic score. You’ll never sleep again. In Birds with Skymirrors, Samoan choreographer Lemi Ponifasio deals with the big issues: our relationship to the environment and to each other, relating… Read more »
ACTORS: Pros or Props?
As Jocular Theatre Company stages another comedy this weekend, I question the artistic prestige of a profession that, in reality, draws a comparison with marketing. “No scripts on the night.” Don’t get me wrong. I think theatre is vitally important, or I wouldn’t have spent a month chasing Calixto Bieito telephonically around Belgium. Where newspapers… Read more »
WHAT NOT TO DO? Heckler for hire
I tried to shout some boring guy off the stage at 7Sins bar last night at an event called VENT, becoming the ‘8th Sin’ for most, but which livened my evening up considerably. It was a surprising experience that gave me some interesting thoughts about the three parties involved: him, me and everyone else. 1…. Read more »
BEEN & GONE: LEM end – Institut Fatima nibble the fingers that feed them, Cargo go safari.
Can music experiment and engage at the same time? Can it remain individual and also reach a public without compromising that? Does it matter? LEM festival uses its experimental tag very liberally, but if there’s one thing that struck me this year it’s that it all depends on the space. La Fontana is a very ‘public’… Read more »
Ballets Russes, the show.
Felia Doubrovska is The Firebird (1910) In 1909, a troupe of Russian dancers embarked on a whirlwind 20-year tour of Europe that was to sex-up ballet considerably. Hitherto a fluffy thing stuffed between opera acts, dance became a multidisciplinary multi-sensorial extravaganza that shocked the most enlightened of Parisian… Read more »