The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

The seemingly perfect Dorian Grey wishes that a portrait of himself ages and is tainted by sin , whilst he remains pure. To Dorian's shock, his wish comes true. Lord Henry teaches Dorian his philosophy of the world and Dorian's life starts to fall apart, the portrait becoming more and more damaged, a representation of Dorian's soul.
At the start of the novel, Dorian is obsessed with aestheticism and maintaining his natural beauty. When his wish comes true, he ends up hating it.

This book was a joy to read. The start didn't intrigue me particularly, but it grew. The tension rose, and watching Dorian's transformation was incredibly interesting.

The idea of never ageing has been used in modern culture many times, but Oscar Wilde was probably quite original at the time. And it shows. The idea feels fresh and unique, even though it is dated.
Wilde is an incredible writer. every line seems perfectly moulded. I am becoming very interested in his work.

Disturbing, fascinating, unique.

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"To be good is to be in harmony with one’s self"
"Art has no influence upon action... The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame."

A Flea in Her Ear

Farcical comedy can be absolutely fantastic. I've always thought it incredible how by the end of the first half, the characters have found himself in the most impossible and ridiculous situation, and by the end, everything is resolved. It really is clever. Unfortunately, whilst funny, this production didn't put me into hysterics in the way I thought it should. Yes, the plot was clever and the timing was great, but something was missing. I believe the actors were not quite up to the job, as I saw nothing wrong with the script, albeit slightly predictable.

The Rivals - Sheridan

Brilliant theatre director Peter Hall takes on Sheridan's classic comedy The Rivals from 1775. This play contains some very funny characters. In particular, Penelope Keith as Mrs Malaprop, a character who jumbles her words to marvellous effect and Peter Bowles as Sir Anthony, an stereotypical over-powering father with some rather non-stereotypical quirks. These characters find themselves in some unbelievable situations, but that is often the nature of comedy and farce. I found it thoroughly entertaining, if perhaps not my cup of tea.

“Suicide, parricide and salivation!”

The Mayor of Casterbridge

Thomas Hardy.

This wonderful book explores the complexities of human emotion and how one's fortune can change so dramatically. It remains true to the traditional form of storytelling, with no flashbacks or unreliable narrators. Ttue story telling in its simplest form. Each section has vivid descriptions of the setting that add a layer of richness to the text, without slowing down the plot too much. It is never tedious.

Michael Henchard sells his wife under the influence of alcohol, and regrets it for the rest of his life. He becomes the highly successful Mayor of Casterbridge, but when his family return, his life will be turned upside down. A true tragedy of human life.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be reading more novels by Hardy.

An Ideal Husband

Oscar Wilde has taken classic melodrama and farce, and put a few twists on it. The true genius of this play is how the upper class audience he wrote it for would be laughing at the characters on stage's idiocy, and thus at themselves. For today's audience, it is still equally as entertaining, just not quite so politically current.

This production had one of the most impressive sets I have seen for a long time. Or should I say, it had four of the most impressive sets I have seen for a long time. Every act took place in a different room or house, and each was created by having back walls fly up and down, fold in and out and rotate between the curtain going up and down. The result was four hugely realistic depictions of upper class houses.

The first two acts had their moments of comedy, but were nothing special. Wilde here is introducing the problems the characters face, with the arrival of the sinister Mrs Cheveley. It is not until the third and fourth acts that things suddenly become funnier, more interesting and exciting. All the actors were superb, but Elliot Cowan as Lord Goring stood out for me. Perfect comedic timing and delivery made him the joy of the play.

I found it slow to get on its feet, but brilliant when it got there. (If only the American tourist in the next row would just be quiet!)

The Glass Menagerie

I did not expect something like this play to come out of Tennessee Williams' head, having thought that all his plays were purely American Realism from the 1950s along the lines of Cat On a Hot Tin Roof (having seen a brilliant production of it). So I was pleasantly surprised by the opening of The Glass Menagerie, with the character Tom Wingfield (Leo Bill) delivering a monologue to the audience about a memory he has. We then explore that memory as a flashback. I'll have to read more Tennessee Williams.
Aswell as superb acting that perfectly delivered humour and emotion at once, the scene and set changes were remarkably slick. A curtain went up for a second then there were suddenly actors and different props on stage. Very effectively done.
The juxtaposition of hilarious comedy and tragedy worked perfectly, sometimes making the audience feel guilty for laughing. As for the purely emotional sections, lets just say that it nearly reduced a group of sixteen year old boys to tears.
This play really was excellent. Everything about it worked, even if the extreme southern states accents were slightly irritating. I got alot more out of it than I expected I would, and will be going to see or reading many more plays by Williams.

The Social Network

In this blog I'm not going to comment on too many films, but I felt that this one deserved some recognition. A true masterpiece in recent cinema.

This film decided to tell the story of the invention of the hugely popular website, Facebook. It's a very powerful story, filled with betrayal of friendship and the power money can have over our lives. It's a film that doesn't show off any special effects, and doesn't try to be elaborate the story to any great extremes, it just tells the tale. The casting and acting was superb. All the actors played their roles just how they should be. These are characters that you have every reason to hate, but somehow like them. Mark Zuckerburg can be quite a nasty character, but we move past that.

The film constantly flips between the court case and the events that led up to it, as the main characters give their accounts. This was a really clever format. For someone with no knowledge of the real story (as I was), one might be slightly confused at the start, but by the end, you totally understand and all the pieces fall into place. It also gives a hint as to the tragedy that is the court case.

If I was to find a problem with the film, that would be the ending. The film just ends, with the result of the court case revealed as text on the screen. It would have been more satisfying to see it happen, rather than read it.

However, despite this, The Social Network is easily one of the best films of the year, possibly of the decade.

"If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook."

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"You're best friend is suing you for 600 million dollars"

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God's Own Country

God's Own Country by Ross Raisin.

So, I'm studying this book in English and I went in fairly open mindedly. First chapter and I was hooked. It intrigued me. The style of writing is so unique. Raisin captures the Yorkshire dialect and feel of the place so well, it was wonderful.

In terms of plot, it quickly becomes apparent that the main character, Sam Marsdyke, has some mental problems, subtle things such as the lack of speech marks just make you question everything. There are certain sections that are clearly in his imagination, and the entire book could be purely in Sam's mind. It is also a book you cannot skim through. You will not understand it, sue to the many interesting changes in Sam's reality.

This is a book that presents a series of events from the point of view of someone with mental issues, leaving the reader to interpret what is real, what actually happens and what to think of Sam himself. It mixes humour, with sinister themes and highly unnerving moments.

God's Own Country has quickly become one of my favourite books. I was hooked and will be very quick to buy Raisin's new book out in July 2011.

Henry IV Parts 1 and 2

Performances of both these plays at The Globe Theatre. As with most productions at the Globe, this was truly Shakespearean. There were fully accurate costumes, and a limited set (props, furniture and a variety of flags indicated location).

The star of the show was Falstaff played by Roger Allam. He is a comedic genius. He makes the language fully accessible, and the timing was perfect.

Jamie Parker was also an excellent Prince Hal. His changes in character were very believable, if a bit sudden.

Scene changes took place with music and it was always lively and filled with energy

Of course, a lot of the credit goes to Shakespeare himself. Part 1 is a wonderful play, even if Part 2 does not quite live up to the second.

Rainy weather did not affect my enjoyment of these two excellent performances. In fact, it is a credit to the actors that I could hear them at all over the racket of the elements.

Krapp's Last Tape

Michael Gambon in Samuel Beckett's 'Krapp's Last Tape'.

I'd heard a bit about this production, and knew Beckett's Waiting For Godot already. I knew it would be slow. I knew it would be partly philosophical. I didn't realise it would be as good as it was.

Starkly simple, brutally comically and wonderfully intriguing.

Gambon's subtle acting was excellent. All attention was on him, and even in long moments of silence, the subtlety made his thought processes totally understandable.

Yes it was short, but it had to be, otherwise it could have been too drawn out.

I am a fan of Beckett, so had high expectations. These were met. It tackles philosophical thought about age, the mind and humanity. We can really appreciate the character.

I will say that Gambon's face being so recognisable did detract from my belief of this character. You see Gambon, not Krapp. Also, the make-up designed to make him look older was not all that impressive.

However, these things are not important to the nature of the play Beckett did not write it to be total naturalism. It has an air of absurdity, exaggerating the philosophy behind it.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed 'Krapp's Last Tape'. 50 minutes of intense acting of the highest degree from a wonderful playwright.

First Post, Explanation

Ok. Here goes. Now starts my blog about stuff I read/see etc. I'll probably focus on books and plays but ill probably put in some films/TV programs if I feel they are worth talking about.