Plastic Bag Awards 2021

2021 has been an odd year, yet again, and continues to be so. Between official lockdowns and self-imposed lockdowns when the government wasn't doing its prime objective of protecting its citizens, I managed to get out and see and do some things over the year. The categories are, again, abbreviated to make sure there are enough contenders to make it worthwhile convening the judging panel, but here they are, the Baggies of 2021! 

Best Theatre (Drama and Dance)

I only saw one drama this year but several dance productions. The nominees are:

'The Normal Heart' @ The National Theatre
'Romeo & Juliet' @ The Royal Opera House
'The Midnight Bell' @ Sadler's Wells
'L'Heure Exquise' @ The Linbury at the Royal Opera House
'Curated by Carlos' @ Sadler's Wells

'The Normal Heart' was the only play I saw this year and, while it's an important work, it's not a great drama. It was wonderful to see Alessandra Ferri dance twice over the autumn, especially dance with Carlos Acosta, I also saw the ballet that made me fall in love with the art form with my original Romeo, Steven McRae on his return to the stage after his injury. But the dance work that made me sit up and pay attention was the new work from Matthew Bourne, 'The Midnight Bell', telling stories of the seedy side of Soho between the wars. I'm looking forward to seeing it again one day.

The winner is 'The Midnight Bell' by Matthew Bourne at Sadler's Wells.

Best Exhibition

I managed to see a few good exhibitions over the summer and autumn, with all major galleries open and the Courtauld finally re-opened after a three-year restoration project in November (and it's looking good). The nominees are:

'The Making of Rodin' @ Tate Modern
'Sensing the Unseen' @ The National Gallery
'Sophie Taeuber-Arp' @ Tate Modern
'Poussin and the Dance' @ The National Gallery
'Durer's Journeys' @ The National Gallery

There have been some great exhibitions this year that gallery curators will have been working on for several years but fewer people than expected will have seen them due to the plague. That's unfortunate but those of us lucky enough to see them are very grateful.

Who knew that Rodin made naked models of his works to get the musculature and stance right before adding clothes? Who guessed that Durer made sketches from his travels around Europe to incorporate into his paintings? There's a lot to learn from exhibitions. I didn't expect to like the Poussin exhibition but I did, seeing his graceful paintings of dancers and it was a joy to discover Sophie Taeuber-Arp, a colour master I'd never heard of. 

But the Baggie goes to 'Sensing the Unseen' at the National Gallery, a digital and interactive exploration of Jan Gossaert's 'Adoration of the Kings'. Not only was this a great painting to explore but it was perfect for this experimental exhibition of different ways of looking at it, one of my favourite paintings in the collection.

Best Installation

This year I've split off installations from exhibitions since they are, essentially, different things, different ways of experiencing art. The nominees are:

'Rupture No 1: blowtorching the bitten peach' by Heather Phillipson @ Tate Britain
'Infinity Mirror Rooms' by Yayoi Kusama @ Tate Modern
'Forest for Change' @ Somerset House
'In Love With The World' by Anicka Yi @ Tate Modern

This has been a fine year for installations in London and I admit to wanting a holiday cottage in Kusama's Infinity Mirror Rooms. I loved the 'Forest' in the stone courtyard of Somerset House and I want to adopt one of the alien creatures floating round the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, but the winner is Heather Phillipson at Tate Britain.

This is a fabulous installation that should be called 'The Great All-Seeing God of a Thousand Eyes' and I can't help but gawp at it as I walk through and experience it. It's a sound and vision experience and occupies the central galleries of the Tate. It's fabulous.

Best Face Mask

The pandemic went on from 2020 into 2021 and more places started selling masks since the need continued. Cressida Bell produced a 'Fireworks' mask and the V&A Museum produced different William Morris designed masks (I bought a green one), but the award goes to the Tate that produced a fabulous mask based on the 'Punjabi Rockers' work by Chila Kumari Singh Burman. I bought two.  

And that's it, the reduced Plastic Bag Awards for 2021. Here's hoping we can get closer to normal next year. 

Matthew Bourne's 'The Midnight Bell' at Sadler's Wells

After over a year and a half I ventured back to a theatre to see Matthew Bourne's new dance work, 'The Midnight Bell' at Sadler's Wells. I've not read any of the Patrick Hamilton books this work is based around so I had no idea what to expect but a New Adventures production is always worth a look.

It's a glimpse into the lives of some of the denizens of Soho who frequent the pub, The Midnight Bell. The barmaid loves the barman but he's in love with the local prostitute, their regulars include the spinster and the gigolo, the rich bitch who plays with the madman but isn't really interested in him at all and then we have the gay lovers who happen upon one another in the pub one night. They dance their stories, tales of romance and sex, their hopes and dreams, of cheap hotels and sex in the park, all set in the years between the wars when the world was different but also the same. One of the gay lovers turns out to be a policeman but is this entrapment or something more? You'll have to see it to find the answer to that one.

The characters all seem to have sad little lives, slowly drinking their lives away while their passions boil under the surface but one character does seem to have a happier life. He is the sailor barman who opens the show singing (miming to an old song) of love and we follow his story along with the others and, in the end, he moves on, heading back to sea and more adventures. The rest are still there, drinking in the pub while he escapes. A brief moment of hope amid the smoke-clogged and beer-fumed atmosphere of the pub. 

I think that's what I really liked about this production, all the stories going on at the same time, sometimes literally at the same time in different parts of the stage. Life is a bit grim and dreary in the gloom of a London night with odd street signs providing the light and, of course, we know they've been through one war and are about to head into another one, all a bit sleazy and down at heel but there are moments of hope. Like when the spinster strips the gigolo to his underwear, ties him up and leaves him in the cheap hotel room - she's seen him for what he is at last. And when the sailor heads back to sea with a smile on his face, looking forward to new adventures.

I particularly enjoyed Michela Meazza dancing Miss Roach, the spinster, who I've seen before as the Queen in 'Swan Lake', and Netta Longdon as the rich bitch who ends up... or does she? George Harvey Bone was great as the madman and I really liked Liam Mower as the West End chorus boy. I also really liked Paris Fitzpatrick as the barman who bookends the show as he goes back to sea looking for hope and love. 

I'm very pleased that it was this production that got me back into a theatre after all this pandemic time and, for that, it'll have a special place in my theatrical memories. Thank you Sir Matthew!

Four December Theatre Blogs: Compendium of Shows

I've seen four productions at the theatre in the last couple of weeks so here's one bloggie to round them all up. They were: 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' at the Bridge Theatre, 'Girl From The North Country' at the Gielgud Theatre, 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' at the National Theatre and 'The Red Shoes' at Sadler's Wells.

'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' at the Bridge Theatre

We all know the story of Narnia, of Aslan's might, the witch and eternal winter (but never Christmas) and the four boys and girls who grow up to become High Kings and High Queens of Narnia. The story is brought faithfully to the stage with lots of physical special effects, such as actors running on stage dressed in white and covering the stage in long diaphanous white sheets to create a snowy landscape. There are probably more sophisticated ways of creating the effects but I quite liked the simplicity and magic of some of them, the energy and speed of the actors and the almost childlike wonder of the thing.

I liked Keziah Joseph as Lucy, Beverley Rudd as Mrs Beaver and Wil Johnson as Aslan and the Professor. Aslan was a giant puppet with Wil walking underneath and emerging as himself for the interactive sections of the play. The production has magic aplenty and I loved it. Have your photo taken with the magic streetlamp that marks the border of Narnia - I did!

'Girl From The North Country' at the Gielgud Theatre

A Bob Dylan musical? Who'd have thought it, but that's what we have here. I didn't see it on it's first run a couple of years ago but caught this production at the Gielgud. Dylan didn't really have anything to do with the play but gave his entire catalogue to Colin McPherson, the writer and director, to use as he saw fit (a very generous thing to do). It's not the cheeriest of plays and I didn't know most of the songs but it's a powerful play and experience. The action takes place in a failing boarding house in small town Duluth, Minnesota, in 1934 and the story tells the sad, little tales of people staying in the boarding house as well as the owners of the place.

The use of Dylan's songs is very clever in places, illustrating aspects of the characters lives and adding additional depth to the characters. I was particularly taken by 'Like A Rolling Stone and 'Forever Young' sung by the mother of the boarding house family and 'Hurricane' sung by a failed boxer. Katie Brayben gave an astonishing performance as the mentally ill mother who lets rip with her great voice to great effect (more effective and painful than whoever sings the role on the cast recording). Highly recommended.

'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' at the Dorfman, National Theatre

This is a new play based on Neil Gaiman's book of the same name, a tale about folklore and the supernatural, loss in childhood and, of course, magic. At the centre of the play are a 12 year old boy who meets three generations of Hempstock women, the crone, the mother and the daughter who start out as eccentric country-women and end as powerful cosmic beings as we learn their story. The boy lost his mother and has a strained relationship with his father and sister and he gradually learns to let go and repair the bonds with is family. It's a heart-warming tale but there are some scary moments and shocks.

The staging and lighting was very clever and I particularly liked the way that doors and props magically shot up from out of the floor every now and then - there must've been lots of practice in where the actors needed to stand for that to work as smoothly as it does. I particularly liked Josie Walker as the aged crone with amazing magical powers who gave just the right mix of world weariness and indomitability when needed. It would be good to see this on a bigger stage one day.

Matthew Bourne's 'The Red Shoes' at Sadler's Wells 

The Christmas show at Sadler's Wells is always a Matthew Bourne production and this year it is 'The Red Shoes', based on the film of the same name. It's the tale of a young girl who wants to become a ballerina, gets her chance and becomes a star only for it all to start going wrong when she loves a composer but the impresario of the ballet loves her. O dear, it won't end well.... and it doesn't. It's a funny thing to say about a dance production but I always think there's more dance in this show than in many others of Matthew's, probably because the show itself is about dancing. There's also lots of different styles of dancing and it's great to see the dancers being so versatile.

Our young ballerina was Cordelia Braithwaite (who I saw earlier this year dancing Juliet) and she was on effortless top form. It was also good to see Adam Cooper as the impresario since he danced the original Swan in Matthew's 'Swan Lake' all those years ago. The staging and lighting was excellent and I loved the light flooding the South of France seaside scenes.  Well done all, another triumph!

And there we have it, a round-up of the latest theatrical productions to get them in the Plastic Bag before the end of the year.

Matthew Bourne's 'Romeo & Juliet' at Sadler's Wells

A new Matthew Bourne production can be a worrying thing - will I like it? Is this the one that goes wrong? Will I love it? You won't know until you see it, so, avoiding reviews and production photos as much as possible we went off to Sadler's Wells to see the Capulet company dance his new version of 'Romeo & Juliet'. There are two sets of dancers named after the quarrelling families from the play, the Montague Company and the Capulet Company and we saw the Capulet's dance.

We all know the story of 'Romeo & Juliet' with it's rival families where the children fall in love, Juliet's big brother Tybalt kills Romeo's friend Mercutio and Romeo must take revenge for the honour of his friend. Romeo and Juliet secretly marry but end up committing suicide. OK? Forget that. Forget the MacMillan ballet. Forget the market place and the Happy Trollops, the sword fencing and the grand costumes. This version is set in an institution for teenagers with security guards patrolling the hallways and acres of creamy white institutional tiles on the walls to make it easy to clean. This is not the Verona we know, this is Verona Institute.

We meet Juliet early on while one of the guards is picking on the girls and she intervenes so they can escape but she's caught and led off the stage to do what? The guard is nasty Tybalt, a giant compared to little Juliet and they reappear going through more doors in different parts of the stage. What is happening? The clear inference is that he intends to abuse Juliet in some way away from prying eyes.  This institute is not a nice place.

Romeo appears, consigned to the institute by his parents and, at a party for the teenagers, he meets Juliet and the inevitable happens. By now, of course, he's met Mercutio and his boyfriend Balthasar and the boys are busy having a dance-off while he sees Juliet and asks her to dance. Their fate is set, the only question is how do we get to the inevitable tragedy at the end? I did wonder a few times whether the ending would be changed as well and it was, but I won't say how. I'll save the surprise so you need to see it for yourself.

I liked the new, feisty Juliet who jumps on Tybalt to pull him off Romeo, a great twist to the character. Romeo was more hesitant than the brash young man we normally see, clearly troubled but delights in his new-found love. Mercutio is still the dashing young man and in the dance scene delighted in wearing a kilt. And Tybalt? He's a nasty piece of work. I liked the set and seeing reflections of the dancers flash across the tiled walls - was that by design or was it a happy accident? I did yearn now and then for one of Lez Brotherston's more elaborate sets to ease the starkness of the institute but, then again, this was perfect for the setting.

Our Juliet was danced by Cordelia Braithwaite and Romeo was Paris Fitzpatrick, with Reece Causton as Mercutio and Dan Walker as Tybalt. There some nice little touches of normalcy like when, after the other kids have seen them kiss, the girls all gather round Juliet to get the details and the boys all clown around Romeo seeing it a bit of fun. The fight with Tybalt was also very well done, with lots of the kids involved and Juliet helping Romeo but the fatal stroke was Romeo's alone. Honour has to be restored.

After it's short residency at Sadler's Wells the production goes on tour and, in each location a half  a dozen or so of the dancers will be local kids, giving them an invaluable chance to dance alongside professionals in a big production. I wouldn't have been able to identify the 'amateurs' from the professionals from what I saw the other evening at Sadler's Wells. Well done all.

So, is this the production that doesn't work and the I don't like? Most certainly not! It took me a while to get into it and understand who was who on the stage but it ticked all the right boxes for me! It doesn't have the immediacy of 'Swan Lake' or 'Sleeping Beauty' but it's a very different show to both of those. The music by Prokofiev was re-arranged and re-ordred and played live, which was great fun. Go and see it if you can - I think the Sadler's Wells run is sold out but it'll be playing around the country. Oh, and Sir Matthew was in the audience as well.

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake at Sadler's Wells

A firm Christmas tradition for many years is a visit to Sadler's Wells to see the Matthew Bourne and New Adventures dance spectacular and this year it was the return of 'Swan Lake'. The posters for the show proudly proclaim 'The Legend Returns' and that's exactly what it is, a legend in dance. I've seen it before and it always a delight to see the dance which is a testament to Matthew Bourne's story-telling.

This is a re-telling of the classic 'Swan Lake' story as only Matthew Bourne could and there's a lot more to this than changing the swans from female to male. In the context of this story that seems so natural.  This production has been updated for the 21st Century - no major changes, it's mainly the details that are updated, like the hissing of the swans. It all worked perfectly for me.

It takes a while to meet the swans in their feathery trousers since we start off with the Prince and his mother the Queen launching ships and opening art galleries, a lovely comic ballet performance (a dance within the dance), and the Prince going to a sleazy nightclub before he finds his way to the lake. And there he meets the Swan and his flock. This is a delightful sequence of dances during which the Swan and the Prince slowly synchronise their dancing and movements, moving as one across the stage, such a beautiful sight.

The second half opens with the grand ball at the Palace with the Swan in human form as the Stranger in black leather who dominates the dance floor. A very dramatic way to take the story forward and it was great to see the female dancers dancing in ridiculously high high-heels. Positively dangerous I thought.

But then we move on to the final scene when the swans invade the Prince's bedroom to take their revenge for changing their leader.  Such a dramatic scene that pulls you into it with the spiky, jerky movements of the swans as they peck and bite and fight the Swan and the Prince. And... I'll leave it there. You need to see this production to feel the emotional weight of the thing created by Matthew Bourne.

I loved it. I always do. It was the first Matthew Bourne show that I ever saw and it remains my favourite. Max Westwell was a great Swan/Stranger and Liam Mower as the Prince, they made a great lead duo. I also really liked Freya Field as the Girlfriend, really playing up to us as the audience with her gaffs of dropping her handbag and her mobile phone going off - great characterisation. Well done to the whole troupe and a great way to welcome in the Christmas season!

Matthew Bourne's 'Early Adventures' at Richmond Theatre

Before I discovered the joys of the Royal Ballet there was Matthew Bourne, now Sir Matthew Bourne. I like the characters he creates, his narrative and his magic. He seems to come up with a new production every few years but doesn't forget his older works and that's what 'Early Adventures' is, a revival of some of his very early creations. I saw the show five years ago and I'm more than happy to see it again, particularly since this version included 'Watch With Mother' a short dance work I haven't seen before and which seems to be alternating with 'Spitfire'.

The first production was 'Watch With Mother'. You need to be a certain age to understand the title and, luckily, I am. It's set in a school gym with all the boys in grey shorts and the girls in grey pinafores, the way it was in posh schools. The incongruous thing was the boys were wearing polo shirts rather than button-up shirts (I can't help but notice details). And we see the 'children' dance in different ways and different combinations with one boy left out because  there are nine children.

This production is, I think, from 1991 so doesn't have the subtlety of Bourne's later works. There is a lot of repetition and choreographed movement and is a bit simplistic compared to other works. It's probably the least successful of the programme but is still well worth seeing as an indication of where the later works came from.

'Town and Country' is the second production, with 'Town' filling up the first half of the programme after 'Watch'. This is a joyous interpretation of life in the city - at least for rich people. We see a couple bathed and then dressed by their servants in a very funny sequence with the servants coming off best despite ending up serenading their master and mistress with ukuleles.

One of my favourite scenes was the short skit on 'Brief Encounters', the epitome of a middle class film with posh people with money. The entire film is portrayed in that tea room on the station platform with two sets of couple mimicking the film.

The second half of the production is taken up entirely with 'Country' from 'Town and Country'. The posh people go down to the country for the weekend and interact with the local yokels when they have to. We get dancing milk maids and clog dancing yokels, one of which stomps on a glove puppet hedgehog to all our dismay. The bunny checks the hedgehog and then slowly drags him from the stage. This is a lovely comic moment, particularly when, later in the show, the hedgehog gets a solemn funeral.

The final half was taken up by 'The Infernal Gallop', a tale of night-life in the sleazier areas of Paris, with posh blokes in silk dressing gowns meeting sailors and chaps meeting in a pissoire within view of the Eiffel Tower. Our pissoire lovers are just about to get it on when they're interrupted by a troupe of gypsy minstrels in red berets springing onto the stage and singing at them. And then it happens again. The lovers just aren't destined to get off tonight. O well, it can't be helped, I suppose.

That's the finale of the show, with our Parisian denizens showered by rose petals and the show is over. It's a great and entertaining mix of dance and sorry-telling, humour and sentiment. It's lovely to see these early works that set the scene for Matthew Bourne's full length ballets.

'Early Adventures' is currently on a national tour so if you get the chance to see it then you should. It's great fun as well as great story-telling and dancing.

The Plastic Bag Awards 2016

The awards season has arrived again so it's time for the Plastic Bag Awards for 2016. The judging panel has been locked away scrutinising the nominations and they're ready for the big announcement. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Baggies 2016!

Best Theatre - Shakespeare

2016 was the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare so there was lots of Shakespeare all over the place, not only productions of his works but also exhibitions and a host of events. I saw quite a few and saw big productions at The Globe but it was productions at the small Sam Wanamaker Playhouse that got the most nominations. The nominations are:

Cymbeline @ Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Richard III @ the Almeida
The Winter's Tale @ Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
The Tempest @ Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
King Lear @ The Old Vic

The judges were split between 'Lear' with the astonishing performance from Glenda Jackson and 'Richard III' with Ralph Fiennes in the title role but it came down on the side of Richard for the instant menace he seemed to be able to turn on at the drop of a hat. He was scary!

Best Theatre - Drama

There doesn't seem to be much 'drama' in the West End at the moment - or, at least, drama the appeals to me to buy tickets, so these nominations span the far east and west on London as well as the Southbank.

The Philanderer @ The Orange Tree Theatre
Kenny Morgan @ The Arcola Theatre
Ivanov @ The National Theatre
The Plough and The Stars @ The National Theatre
Amadeus @ The National Theatre

The Orange Tree Theatre at Richmond is doing a good job of introducing me to old plays that are rarely performed and the Arcola came up with a gem of a play in 'Kenny Morgan'. The National Theatre's short Chekov season was worth a visit over the summer and it's another National Theatre production that wins the Baggy - 'The Plough and The Stars' at the Lyttelton. The Sean O'Casey play was hard work and emotionally exhausting and I regret only seeing it once.

Best Theatre - Musical

There were lots of musicals on in 2016 and it looks like there'll be more in 2017. I could easily have added 'Kinky Boots' to the list but I think that was nominated last year. This years' nominees are:

Billy Elliot @ Victoria Palace
Showboat @ The Crucible
The Threepenny Opera @ The National Theatre
Titanic @ Charing Cross
She Loves Me @ Menier Chocolate Factory

'Billy Elliot' has been on for a decade or more but I finally saw it in 2016 shortly before it closed in Victoria. The other four nominees are much older and that makes me wonder what's happened to the modern musical (but not too much). I loved 'Showboat' and 'She Loves Me', both classic musicals, and 'Titanic' is a show that should be on in the West End at some point, it really is that good. But the Baggy goes to 'The Threepenny Opera' for it's songs and plot, it's menace and threat and all the rolls of brown paper used in the sets - well done people, I loved it!

Best Entertainment

An 'entertainment' is something that doesn't really fit into any of the other categories and this year we have one-woman shows, poetry readings and walks up and down the Southbank and Bankside to see short videos of all Shakespeare's plays. And mad juggling and acrobatics, obvs.

Ellen Terry With Eileen Atkins @ Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Poems That Make Grown Women Cry @ The National Theatre
The Complete Walk @ Southbank & Bankside
Barbu by Cirque Alphonse @ Wonderground
Longing Last Longer by Penny Arcade @ Soho Theatre

The award goes to Penny Arcade for her latest show, 'Longing Last Longer' at the Soho Theatre. Challenging, scary and familiar as Penny paints a picture of modern living I recognise and, in parts, abhor as she leads us through her urban jungle with words and performance. Well worth seeing.

Best Gig

I only went to four gigs this year and all were 'oldies':

Pet Shop Boys @ Royal Opera House
Petula Clark @ Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Suzanne Vega @ Cadogan Hall
The Human League - Royal Festival Hall

Pet Shop Boys and Suzanne Vega were promoting their new records and it's nice that they're still recording. However, the Baggy must go to the Pet Shop Boys for a truly spectacular show at the Royal Opera House with lasers shooting all over that grand old building and me wondering if the balconies would survive the bone rattling volume.

Best Live Performance

This award is for an individual performance that leaves you feeling 'wow!' Spoken word, song, dance... anything that moved me.

Eileen Atkins as Juliet in 'Ellen Terry With Eileen Atkins' @ Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Petula Clark singing 'I Can't Live Without Your Love' @ Drury Lane
Rebecca Trehearn singing 'Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man' in 'Showboat'
Itziar Mendizabal as Paulina in 'The Winter's Tale'
Victoria Serra singing 'Lady's Maid' in 'Titanic'
The Human League singing 'Love Action (I Believe In Love)'

Eileen Atkins playing a 13 year old girl and making me believe she really is Juliet and the sheer elegance of Itziar Mendizabal as Paulina were both astonishing. The sad truth of Rebecca singing about love and the simplicity of Victoria as she throws her arms wide in joy at the prospect of becoming a maid were heartbreaking moments. Petula and the Human league singing their classics were a joy to behold. There has to be one winner however and, after  tie-break, the panel awarded the Baggy to Rebecca Trehearn for her marvellous and tragic performance in 'Showboat' and, in particular, *that* song.

Best Dance

This is only the second year for this award since I discovered the beauty of classical ballet and the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House. I was also lucky to see four productions by the Bolshoi Ballet that took over the Opera House for a three week season over the summer. The nominees are:

Giselle by the Royal Ballet @ the Royal Opera House
The Winter's Tale by the Royal Ballet @ the Royal Opera House
Jekyll & Hyde by the McOnie Company @ The Old Vic
Swan Lake by the Bolshoi Ballet @ the Royal Opera House
The Red Shoes by Matthew Bourne/New Adventures @ Sadler's Wells

I loved the drama of 'The Winter's Tale' and the freshness of 'Jekyll & Hyde' but the Baggy must go to 'The Red Shoes, the new Matthew Bourne production that I saw just before Christmas (and have booked to see it again at Wimbledon on tour). The sheer originality of the thing, the characterisation, the marvellous dancing and the great sets all make this an instant favourite.

Best Exhibition

I saw lots of exhibitions in 2016 due to having the time to visit them. From a fascinating exhibition about the history of Sicily at the British Museum to a small Punk exhibition at the British Library to a lovely little exhibition of the paintings of Caillebotte at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. Exhibitions about all sorts of things so it's a little bit strange that all the nominees are exhibitions  about paintings.

Painting the Modern Garden - From Monet to Matisse @ the Royal Academy
Delacroix and the Rise of Modern Art @ the National Gallery
Georgia O'Keeffe @ Tate Modern
Paul Nash @ Tate Britain
Impressionists and Moderns @ CaixaForum Madrid
A Thyssen Never Seen @CaixaForum Barcelona

The O'Keeffe and Nash exhibitions helped me to explore artists I wasn't particularly aware of and both were really good, giving me a glimpse into the artists in a way I haven't had before. The two CaixaForum exhibitions were excellent - brilliant paintings well laid out in light and spacious surroundings and I'll certainly keep my eyes on CaixaForum in future for interesting exhibitions. The Baggy, however, must go to 'Painting the Modern Garden', the best exhibition I've seen at the Royal Academy for years, gorgeous painting after gorgeous painting, a marvellous flower tent and Kandinsky in shorts tilling his garden. What more could you ask. I'll treasure memories of that exhibition for a long time to come.

So there we are, The Plastic Bag Awards 2016. Some of the winners are a bit of a surprise but all deserve it. Let's see what 2017 brings!

'Mr Wonderful' at Sadler's Wells

Jonathan Ollivier died last summer on his way to his last performance in Matthew Bourne's 'The Car Man' at Sadler's Wells. Monday evening saw the gala performance of his friends and colleagues to celebrate his life and raise funds for a trust fund for his children. 'Mr Wonderful - A Celebration of Jonathan Ollivier's Life In Dance' was held at Sadler's Wells and hosted by Sir Matthew Bourne. I hope his wife and children were there since it was a great night and a great tribute to him.

It was hosted by New Adventures and Northern Ballet with Sadler's Wells so we were treated to scenes from various productions, some of which Jonathan had danced in. The title of the show - 'Mr Wonderful ' - came from a short piece that Matthew Bourne choreographed 25 years ago ( and danced in) to the song of the same name sung by Peggy Lee. Out of the six dancers, four were former Princes from 'Swan Lake' and one was the Swan - that's a great ensemble in anyone's book! It was great fun to see it, funny and precise, and it should be seen often.

There were scenes from some of Matthew Bourne's shows including 'Sleeping Beauty', 'Play Without Words' and 'The Car Man' with a film of Jonathan in 'Spitfire', Rambert did two brilliant pieces 'Hidden' and 'Gypsy Souls', Marcelo Gomes danced to the thrilling violin playing of Charles Yang in 'Paganini' and Northern Ballet gave us the terribly romantic 'Wuthering Heights' and a scene from 'Saphire'. A great piece from the Michael Clark Company was the edgy 'come, been and gone' to 'The Jean Genie' by David Bowie with Mick Ronson's guitar shrieking at the walls as the dancers strode around the stage. There was a lot more and we even had the Temptations from the new show 'Motown' singing 'My Girl'.

The evening ended, of course, with 'Swan Lake', with the Swan and the Prince, the daft swans dancing to the Sugar-Plum Fairy sequence and getting great laughs and applause and it was lovely to see those excerpts from a great work. It ended with the swans all sitting on the stage with their backs to the audience and we saw Jonathan dance on the screen at the back of the stage, ending with his triumph. How touching. And when the swans started clapping and giving their tribute, so we all stood for a standing ovation as the other dancers joined them on stage and it went on and on.

Sir Matthew Bourne had mentioned earlier in the evening that tickets sales had already raised £65,000 to set up a trust fund for Jonathan's sons and invited us to text donations and you can donate at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fund/inmemoryofjonathanollivier.

Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty at Sadler's Wells

My final pre-Christmas entertainment was the traditional visit to Sadler's Wells to see the Matthew Bourne and this year it's 'Sleeping Beauty'. I saw this on it's initial run a few years ago at Sadler's Wells and it\s great to see it again. I like having Christmas traditions and this is a nice one to have. I bought tickets as soon as they went on sale over the summer and got them right in the middle of the best row to have a perfect view of the show.

It\s the tale of Princess Aurora who is adopted by the king and queen in 1890, courtesy of the fairy Carabosse. Unfortunately, the king wasn't sufficiently grateful and she visits to curse the baby but is fought off by Count Lilac and the good fairies. It's then 1911 and Aurora's birthday at a grand Edwardian garden party, when Carabosse's son, Caradoc, tricks her into pricking her finger on a black rose and she falls into a deep sleep for 100 years. Her young lover is transformed by the fairies so he can live to re-awaken her 100 years later  and that's what he does, except Caradoc tricks young Leo and seizes Aurora to sacrifice her at a dark party but is again saved by the rave Count Lilac and they all live happily ever after.

 Of course, there's a lot more going on than just these bare bones of the plot. I love the first act with the troupe of good fairies who visit the baby princess and each leave a white feather in her cot and then proceed to dance their gifts. I liked the second fairy and named her gift 'flibberty-jibbet' and lo and behold, that's how Aurora acts before her birthday party, like a right old flibberty-jibbet disobeying her nurse and mother! It was all very gothic and atmospheric so we're well prepared for when Carabosse appears doing her evil stuff with her hounds.

It's a great show and I'd urge you to see it if you can, either at Sadler's Wells or when it goes on tour in the New Year. It's great story, great dancing and some really good young dancers. It's great to see Ashley Shaw and Adam North as Aurora and her love, Leo, the gamesman and they work really well together in a great partnership.  I also liked Tom Clark as both Carabosse and Caradoc, evil fairies both who get their just desserts for being nasty, and Christopher Marney as the brave Count Lilac who challenges mother and sun and saves Aurora. All the dancers are excellent and it's enhanced by the great staging, costumes and atmospheric lighting. Go and see it if you can and be prepared to be transported into a world of wonder.

Jonathan Ollivier - The Swan

I was sad to hear the news on Sunday that Jonathan Ollivier had been killed in a car accident as he was biking to his final performance in 'The Car Man' at Sadler's Wells. I saw 'The Car Man' a few weeks back but with a different principal dancer but I've seen Jonathan twice as the Swan/Stranger in Matthew Bourne's 'Swan Lake' in 2009 and 2013 at Sadler's Wells and loved those productions.

In part I think the outpouring of sympathy on Twitter and in the mainstream news has been because it happened on his way to the last performance at Sadler's Wells and the last performance of 'The Car Man' tour. The performance was, understandably, cancelled in the circumstances. It's nice, in a way, to see him honoured with all the press coverage. Some articles are simply factually wrong but the obituary in 'The Guardian' seems to get it right so take a read. Matthew Bourne has posted a touching message on the New Adventures site.

I only saw Jonathan dance twice, both times as the Swan and that's how I'll remember him. I remember well his imperious alpha-male approach to dancing the Swan and his alter-ego the Stranger at the Queen's ball when he seduces anyone he wants. Moving from the unthinking aggresion of the Swan towards the Prince which softens as they dance to the protective love we see in the final scenes, he interpretted the role for us and played it out on the stage with movement and dance. There's a certain magic when it all works and it certainly worked with Jonathan.

He's a sad loss. I hope his family take some comfort from the sympathy expressed everywhere and that his children got to see him dance or will see him dance on DVD. Be proud of your dad, kids.