'Jerusalem' at the Apollo Theatre

A few weeks ago I went up to the West End and continued travelling to Chippenham and then further into deeper, darker Wiltshire where the May Queen still rules, there's a spirit in every tree and you can meet giants at dawn. 'Jerusalem' is a strange kind of play that works on so many levels and we're lucky to have both Mark Rylance and Mackenzie Crook back in their leading roles for this revival at the Apollo Theatre. I saw it years ago so had to see it again. 

It's the tale of Johnny 'Rooster' Byron, a middle aged man living in a caravan in the rural Wiltshire woods that are his world. He's a reprobate, a drunkard, a drug taker and dealer, up for fun at a moments notice, divorced with a young son but all he's interested in is partying. His contemporaries have mostly grown up  and got on with their lives so he associates with younger people who still want his drugs and the outlandish life he lives and the tales he tells. The Byron's have lived in the area for centuries and he views the woods as his heritage. But the complaints about his behaviour and the noise grow and he's going to be evicted and his caravan seized. What next for Johnny?

The staging is splendid, with his caravan parked on the stage surrounded by trees and chickens living underneath it. Scrappy furniture out front for people to lounge on as they tell their stories and listen to Johnny's even more outlandish ones. Like the one where he was a motorcyclist jumping over buses or when he met the giant who built Stonehenge and gave him a drum-sized earring as a keepsake. At the end of the play Johnny is beaten and bloodied but still defiant as he beats the drum to summon the Byron Boys from their graves, his ancestors, and asks the giant to save him as the police approach to evict him. The trees shake and the lights go off. The end. I believe. 

How on earth Mark Rylance can maintain that level of intensity for so long - night after night - is astonishing. He must be exhausted after every performance. Every now and then I had to think for a moment about what had been said in those West Country accents and wondered how Broadway audiences managed.There were hints of Spencerian lyric poetry and the brutal reality of the modern world, the unbelief that one of their own would fly to Australia for a new life when Chippenham was so exotic and tales of the olde world of the May Queen and the jingling of morris dancing. A world in conflict, a modern mythology that Johnny is incapable of solving. Go and see it, you won't regret it. 

Flamenco Festival at Sadler's Wells

Last week the annual Flamenco Festival was in full swing at Sadler's Wells so I had to visit. I first saw flamenco three years ago on a visit to Madrid and fell in love with it and wanted to see more. I had tickets to go in 2020 but that didn't happen so I was determined to visit last week. 

I had no idea which shows to book tickets for and didn't know the names of any of the choreographers or stars so I opted for Compania Jesus Carmona and Compania Maria Pages and I'm so glad I did. I don't speak Spanish so had no idea what the songs were about but flamenco is passion and love, sorrow and despair so I could guess what was going on. Flamenco is more that guitar and wailing vocals, more that foot stomping and majestic arm movements. Flamenco is life. 

Compania Jesus Cormona's piece was 'The Jump', an exploration of masculinity in the 21st Century. I didn't see the philosophical theories behind the piece but I saw madness and passion, pain and struggles. Jesus Carmona danced the lead with his all male dancers supporting and driving him on. There was also a male guitarist, percussionist and a singer. This was probably the modern dance version of flamenco, with the disciplines and techniques there but not the styles. Modern flamenco. 

Compania Maria Pages was a different kettle of fish with more traditional elements but brought up to date with her fabulous vision and choreography skills. And her amazing dancing! 'An Ode To Time' took us through different movements and styles with dramatic staging and lighting. With a five-piece band, two singers and eight dancers along with herself as the lead dancer, she transformed that stage. She certainly knows how to put on a show.

I loved the whole show but there were two movements I particularly liked. One was when castanets appeared in her hands and Maria gradually got faster and faster, swirling her arms around her body and up into the air only to descend, snakelike, around her body again, playing them faster and faster as she swirled and danced. It was an astonishing moment and I loved it. The other was when she danced with her large shawl, swirling it into the air to make shapes and then the four female dancers appeared with their own shawls to join in, so spectacular! It wasn't just the magnificent Maria who made the show, it was the whole company, and here they are.

I'm so pleased I went to the Flamenco Festival and I'll definitely go back again next year. There's so much to learn about flamenco.