" It's All Go" as my mother would say.
Yesterday I met a friend for lunch. She is a new academic and was in need of a fresh pair of eyes to review some of her lecture plans.
We perused her notes in the pretty background of a country pub's beer garden , and I was treated to a fish finger sandwich as a reward.
Last night another friend and I went to see The Happy Prince at Theatr Clwyd.
It is a worthy somber film which explores the latter few months in the life of Oscar Wilde and it is a triumph for Rupert Everett who wrote, directed and starred in it.
Everett is not shy in giving his audience a warts n' all view of Wilde. From the get go we see Wilde as a bloated, alcoholic, shabby, predatory old queen who performs in the less salubrious bars of his exiled Paris for drinks.
In flashback we follow his fall, from his discharge from Prison where his loyal friends Robbie ( Edwin Thomas) and Reggie ( Colin Firth) spirit him away to France to start a new life. But this initial freedom and happiness is short lived, for Wilde is seen to be a selfish and fickle character who bites at his friends in order to reunite with the duplicitous Boisie ( Colin Morgan).
Everything , is downhill from then on. Wilde's wife Constance ( a nice but brief turn by Emily Watson) is humiliated by the reunion, and then cuts off her husband's allowance thus pushing him and Boisie into debt which subsequently sends the younger man running for home.
Everett plays Wilde as a tragic figure who doesn't quite accept that he is tragic.
And by doing so you do indeed get the flavour of the man behind the story.
Shambling along a Paris street he is recognised by a former friend Mrs Arbuthnot ( Anna Chancellor) who is distraught at his situation ( indeed it is her reaction that is far far more moving than his when he askes for five pound as "things are a bit tight" )
Its a tiny but pivotal part of the story... a story most of us didn't realise was so sad
8/10
I thought I'd show you a bit of Theatr Clwyd while I am here. It's only 20 minutes from home but it has provided me with a lifeline of culture since our move to Wales .
Located by the market town of Mold, the theatre comprises of 5 auditoria, which includes the 570 seat Anthony Hopkins Theatr and the 250 seat Emlyn Williams Theatr.
There is also a 100 seat art house cinema and an art gallery space, both of which I especially enjoy.
The theatre has taken on a new vibrancy since the new artistic director Tamara Harvey took over in 2015
So what is the order of today?
There is a folk concert on in the village today which I want to go to later, ( this is a national event) see http://www.therecordjournal.co.uk/
But I also have a family meal to go to in Prestatyn later....I wonder if the restaurant does tapas ?
Hey ho
Yesterday I met a friend for lunch. She is a new academic and was in need of a fresh pair of eyes to review some of her lecture plans.
We perused her notes in the pretty background of a country pub's beer garden , and I was treated to a fish finger sandwich as a reward.
Last night another friend and I went to see The Happy Prince at Theatr Clwyd.
It is a worthy somber film which explores the latter few months in the life of Oscar Wilde and it is a triumph for Rupert Everett who wrote, directed and starred in it.
Everett is not shy in giving his audience a warts n' all view of Wilde. From the get go we see Wilde as a bloated, alcoholic, shabby, predatory old queen who performs in the less salubrious bars of his exiled Paris for drinks.
In flashback we follow his fall, from his discharge from Prison where his loyal friends Robbie ( Edwin Thomas) and Reggie ( Colin Firth) spirit him away to France to start a new life. But this initial freedom and happiness is short lived, for Wilde is seen to be a selfish and fickle character who bites at his friends in order to reunite with the duplicitous Boisie ( Colin Morgan).
Everything , is downhill from then on. Wilde's wife Constance ( a nice but brief turn by Emily Watson) is humiliated by the reunion, and then cuts off her husband's allowance thus pushing him and Boisie into debt which subsequently sends the younger man running for home.
Everett plays Wilde as a tragic figure who doesn't quite accept that he is tragic.
And by doing so you do indeed get the flavour of the man behind the story.
Shambling along a Paris street he is recognised by a former friend Mrs Arbuthnot ( Anna Chancellor) who is distraught at his situation ( indeed it is her reaction that is far far more moving than his when he askes for five pound as "things are a bit tight" )
Its a tiny but pivotal part of the story... a story most of us didn't realise was so sad
8/10
I thought I'd show you a bit of Theatr Clwyd while I am here. It's only 20 minutes from home but it has provided me with a lifeline of culture since our move to Wales .
Located by the market town of Mold, the theatre comprises of 5 auditoria, which includes the 570 seat Anthony Hopkins Theatr and the 250 seat Emlyn Williams Theatr.
There is also a 100 seat art house cinema and an art gallery space, both of which I especially enjoy.
The theatre has taken on a new vibrancy since the new artistic director Tamara Harvey took over in 2015
 |
| The gallery space |
I rather liked this one
There is a folk concert on in the village today which I want to go to later, ( this is a national event) see http://www.therecordjournal.co.uk/
But I also have a family meal to go to in Prestatyn later....I wonder if the restaurant does tapas ?
Hey ho
