'Into The Woods' at Brixton Ritzy

I've been lucky enough to see two very different stage productions of Sondheim's 'Into The Woods'. Firstly at a small pub theatre in Clapham and then on a big stage at Regent's Park open air theatre which was, in effect, in the woods. That was a bit of a thrill and was the ideal place to stage the show amongst the tall trees blowing in the breeze of a summers night. The productions were very different and, I suppose, that prepared me to see something different in the film, a who-knows-what kind of scenario.

Of course, it's all doubly confusing when so many 'names' are associated with the film - Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Simon Russell-Beale, Frances de la Tour, Tracey Ullman, Annette Crosby and a host of others. With so many 'names' then they've all got to have their own bit of the film and that can be the downfall of a star-laden film but this one really worked. It did (I'm surprised to say!). It was a particular surprise to see Tracey Ullman since I haven't seen (or heard of) her for years, but there she was, right as rain as Jack's mum.

The story takes place beside and inside a deep, dark wood, one of those ancient woods that anything can happen in. And it brings to life all those fairy tales we all know - Cinderella and her cruel step-mother, Jack who sells his cow for beans, the Baker and his wife who want to have children, Rapunzel with her long braids of hair and, of course, Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. And, of course, the Witch - there's always a witch. The  Wood is almost a character itself, always there waiting to be discovered again by a new set of characters. It's still waiting.

We see these tales played out in front of us as we follow the tales to the end, or at least the end we know. But the show takes us further and deeper and lets us see what happens after the ending we know. Is Cinderella happy in her new palace and does the Prince still love her? What about the Giant's wife after Jack kills her husband? O yes, tales go on y'know, they don't just stop. Something has to happen next, and that's when the story gets darker. The characters are still wishing and hoping, but for different dreams as they've learned something along their journey. But the Wood is still the mysterious and magical place it's always been. It's still there.

There is joy and tragedy in the film, laughter and tears, mystery and suspense. Will they, won't they? Well, they might. And it's a proper film version of the stage show with no real dialogue, telling the take through the songs and it's really easy to follow.

Meryl Streep is really good as the Witch, both as hag and beauty, and delivered her songs excellently. I wouldn't want to live door to her! Emily Blunt was quite lovely as the Baker's Wife, with a nice presence and a lovely singing voice. The big surprise for me was James Corden as the Baker (who's also the narrator throughout since it's his tale) - I haven't liked anything he's done up to now, but he shone in this film. He's no singer but he did far better than just getting away with it - he made it work for him. It would be good to see him on stage in a musical role after this.

Other pleasing performances were from Anna Kendrick as a feisty Cinderella who talks to birds (I loved those scenes with her talking to the blackbirds) and has a good voice; Tracey Ullman as Jack's mother and salt of the earth; Christine Baranski as Cinderella's step-mother who takes the knife to her daughters' feet while trying on the golden slipper (I don't think I've seen a bad performance from Christine, who's looking good); and, of course, Johnny Depp as the Wolf. Annette Crosby had a small part (and a line) as the Grandmother but it was nice to see her.

Of the younger members of the cast, Lilla Crawford was perfectly feisty (as she's meant to be) as Little Red Riding Hood and Daniel Huttlestone was well cast as a very active Jack scrambling up and down beanstalks and trees and causing trouble. Lilla's speaking and singing accent did rather stand out as blatantly American compared to the other actors but that just emphasises her difference I suppose.

It took a little while to get going (and that's usually the case) but it carried me along nicely through the ups and downs of the characters' adventures. I loved it. Go and see it on the big screen while you can.

Be careful what you wish for… and take care in the woods...

My one disappointment was at the very when I looked at the credits and it said 'special effects by' - it should've said 'magic by' and listed the witches and magicians...

Kate Pierson - 'Mister Sister'

Here's the video for Kate Pierson's lead single - 'Mister Sister' - from her first solo album due out in February. Yes, you read that right, Kate Pierson (*that* Kate Pierson from the glorious The B-52's). She has one of the loveliest pop voices in the past 35 years and she's still going strong. At last she's chosen to release a solo record!



I think this is a great, catchy, poppy song that could help to normalise transitioning from one gender to another. It's not a treatise on transgender politics, it's a fun song with a message about individual empowerment and what's wrong with that?

If you look at the comments underneath the video on YouTube Kate now seems to be embroiled in a transgender political correctness argument much like the arguments last year about the word 'trannie'. I recall reading posts from people like Kate Bornstein and Justin Vivian Bond about how 'trannie' was part of their collective history and was a badge of honour rather than an insult.

I'm particularly puzzled by the comments about Kate singing 'you are a beautiful girl' - I don't hear that as supporting the 'norm' about who and what beautiful people are and should be, I hear it as saying 'now you're really yourself you're beautiful and don't listen to anyone else'. You don't have to be traditionally beautiful to be beautiful, just have the confidence that comes with knowing who you really are and that makes you beautiful.

I'm beautiful (in my own way) and so are you. Just because I'll never feature on the cover of 'Vogue' or any of those glossy magazines doesn't mean I'm not.

'Travels With My Aunt' at the British Film Institute Southbank

New Years Day afternoon saw my first cultural outing of 2015 to see the film, 'Travels With My Aunt' at the BFI Southbank (or National Film Theatre as it is) starring Maggie Smith. The film's from 1972 and won Maggie an Oscar nomination.

Needless to say, I've never seen the film before or read the book so it all came as a delightful surprise. Maggie Smith plays Augusta - the Aunt - who is trying to raise money to free her old lover, Mr Visconti, who has been kidnapped and is being held somewhere in North Africa (i.e. Morocco). To complicate matters, Augusta's sister has just died and the film opens with Augusta attending her funeral and meeting her nephew. She soon reveals that he isn't her nephew since his mother adopted him but she still takes control and they're soon on a train from London to Paris to change sterling into dollars and then another train to Istanbul. All of this is to raise money to save Mr Visconti.

Of course, it all goes horribly wrong and they're caught by the Turkish secret police and put back on a train to the west with other undesirables. Poor Augusta, what is to become of her Mr Visconti?

The tale is told partly through an ongoing present-day narrative and flashbacks to Augusta's youth as a schoolgirl, a young woman and then a more mature woman that tell us how she became the woman she is in the film. It's in these scenes that we see Maggie as she was, not the heavily made-up - and quite convincing - elderly lady. Augusta is one of those magical creatures that seem to have had it all their own way throughout their life and can't even contemplate not getting what they want.  Of course, she is totally over the top and exactly right for this role.

She is supported by Alec McCowen as her assistant bank manager nephew, and Lou Gossett as Wordsworth her lover as well as being a pimp and drug pusher. Robert Stephens plays the cad and downright nasty Mr Visconti (you need to watch until the end to see his true colours, the bounder!) and there's a small part for the lovely Cindy Williams who introduces Henry to the joys of smoking pot on the Orient Express to Istanbul. As soon as I saw Cindy I thought, 'I know that face' and indeed, she played Shirley in 'Laverne and Shirley' a few years later.

All in all it's a delightful film, very of it's time with the colours and themes going on in the background, the travelling across Europe (and, from the credits, it was filmed all over the place) and the nod to a bygone age with characters we won't see anymore. The only thing missing was a druggy dream sequence (for which I am thankful)! Well done Mr Cukor. And Miss Smith.

I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The Plastic Bag Awards 2014

The annual awards season kicks off with the Plastic Bag Awards 2014. Some years feature one form of art more than others and this year has seen a deluge of theatrical experiences and very little new music or gigs - that's just how it goes sometimes. The judging panel has had some heated discussions  and has decided on the following awards.

Ladies and gentlemen and readers of all ages, I give you the Baggies 2014!

Best Theatre - Shakespeare Production

This is a new category to celebrate Shakespeare and the new productions of his plays put on last year. There was a great series of his Roman plays staged at The Globe over the summer, none of which I'd previously seen, and all are nominated. The nominations are:

'Henry V' at the Noel Coward Theatre
'King Lear' at the National Theatre
'Titus Andronicus' at Shakespeare's Globe
'Anthony & Cleopatra' at Shakespeare's Globe
'Julius Caesar' at Shakespeare's Globe.

Jude Law was my king in 'Henry V' with his stirring speeches and Simon Russell-Beale was suitably grumpy and despondent as Lear but it was the Roman plays at the Globe that really gripped me. The violence and blood of 'Titus' and the faded grandeur of Cleopatra but the glory belongs to 'Julius Caesar' with a great production matching that magnificent play with poetry to make you gasp and weep at its power and beauty.

Best Theatre - Drama

Taking Shakespeare out of this category makes it look, at first glance, a bit lightweight but here we have three revivals and two brand new plays being staged for the first time, both at the National Theatre. No-one can call 'Medea' lightweight. The nominations are:

'Skylight' at Wyndham's Theatre
'Medea' at the National Theatre
'My Night With Reg' at the Donmar Warehouse
'Behind The Beautiful Forevers' at the National Theatre
'Treasure Island' at the National Theatre

'Skylight' was a trip back to the '80s with Bill Nighy being Bill Nighy and we went back to another '80s with 'My Night With Reg'. 'Medea' is a millenia-old desolate play of extremes and can't help but be powerful. 'Behind The Beautiful Forevers' took us to an India few of us will ever see and 'Treasure Island' took us on a rollicking adventure to the Caribbean to find pirate treasure. They're all excellent plays but the Baggie must go to 'My Night With Reg' for evoking those lost days of the '80s when HIV first reared its ugly head and changed lives, and this play gently and evocatively illustrates the horror and pain so many people lived and died with back then.

Best Theatre - Musical

It's been a grand year for musicals, old and new. I saw lots of musicals last year and could so easily have nominated 'Amadeus' at Chichester, '20th Century Boy' at Wimbledon or the lovely Guildhall production of 'Grand Hotel' at the Barbican. But I must stick by the rules and nominate no more than five for the judges to assess and these are:

'Sunny Afternoon' at Hampstead Theatre
'Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be' at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East
'Guys & Dolls' at Chichester Festival Theatre
'Gypsy' at Chichester Festival Theatre
'Here Lies Love' at the National Theatre

This is a very difficult category and all five nominees deserve to be in the last five - they all have different qualities that bring them alive but the judges have awarded the Baggie to 'Sunny Afternoon' for being a joyous recreation of the music of the Kinks. It's currently running in the West End and raises the roof every night. Well done people!

Best Entertainment

An 'entertainment' in my book is something that is performed on stage short of it being a play or a musical, so can include readings, cabaret, circus and just about anything else.

'Ellen Terry With Eileen Atkins' at the Sam Wanamaker Theatre
'La Soiree' at the Southbank Spielgeltent
'Shakespeare's Sonnets' at the Royal Festival Hall
'Lord of the Flies' at Sadler's Wells
'A Christmas Carol' at Queen Elizabeth Hall

I loved the acrobatic rudeness of 'La Soiree' and the mammoth reading of all of Shakespeare's sonnets one after another by a set of actors. I loved 'Lord of the Flies', the new Matthew Bourne production, and listening to an ensemble reading of 'A Christmas Carol' just a couple of weeks before Christmas is magical. But the Baggie goes to Eileen Atkins for her one-woman show of 'Ellen Terry With Eileen Atkins'. Eileen turned into different people in front of our eyes as she played some of Ellen Terry's big roles, giving us a glimpse into what true acting can be like. Most impressive.

Best Film

A strange mix of nominations this year - a music documentary, a tale of gay solidarity with the miners strike in the '80s, a silent movie masterpiece with Buster Keaton and a strange American take on a Noel Coward play. The nominees are:

'20 Feet From Stardom'
'Pride'
'The General'
'Design For Living'

The judges picked the winner with little discussion - the Baggie goes to 'Pride' for being the best film in many years. The tale of those brave souls behind Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) and the miners they supported in South Wales during the 1985 miners strike. The miners might not have won but this film has winner written all over it from the touching and funny acting, a great soundtrack and jumpers tucked into jeans for added reality. Well done!

Best Gig

I didn't go to many gigs last year, mainly because artists I want to see didn't seem to be on tour, but there were still sufficient to make a top five. The nominees are:

Suzanne Vega at the Barbican
McAlmont & Butler at Islington Assembly Hall
Kate Bush at Hammersmith Apollo
Marianne Faithfull at the Royal Festival Hall
The Human League at Hammersmith Apollo

Suzanne Vega gave us songs from her latest album ('Queen of Pentacles') and McAlmont & Butler got together for a two-night reunion for charity while Marianne and the Human League, old troupers both, gave us solid professional shows, giving us exactly what we wanted. But the Baggie must go to Kate Bush for her return to the stage after 35 years and me being in the fourth row from the stage. That was a thrill and a half and you could feel the excitement grow in the crowd as starting time approached. And then there she was...

Best Live Performance

This category is for the individual performance of a song on stage, a performance that rips you out of the audience and transcends all barriers to take you to a different place. There are only three monitions this year:

'Running Up That Hill' by Kate Bush
'Everything's Coming Up Roses' by Imelda Staunton ('Gypsy')
'Mother Wolf' by Marianne Faithfull

Imelda's performance of one of the big songs from 'Gypsy' was astonishing in it's intensity as was the ferocity of Marianne's 'Mother Wolf' in which she spits out the words and despises the modern world. But It's Kate's song from the '80s, 'Running Up That Hill' that stays with me for the sheer majesty of the performance making me think we could, indeed, do a deal with God. Well done Kate!

Best Exhibition

I've been to quite a few exhibitions this year, mainly courtesy of membership of the Tate and the British Museum but I found it quite easy to narrow down the nominees, which are:

'Heaven In A Hell Of War' - Stanley Spencer at Somerset House
'Making Visible' - Paul Klee at the Tate Modern
'The Cut-Outs' - Henri Matisse at the Tate Modern
'Revolutionary of Russian Art' - Kazimir Malevitch at the Tate Modern
'Virginia Woolf - Art, Life & Vision' at the National Portrait Gallery

The Stanley Spencer exhibition was marvellous and, astonishingly, free to get in, and it reproduced his sequence of large paintings about his experience of the First World War and after. The colours, textures and patterns Paul Klee explored were delightful and uplifting by turns and the cut-outs of the Old Magician, Matisse, were joyful. Malevitch was more intellectual and hard to take in fully and the assembled objects at the Virginia Woolf exhibition were touching, particularly the little black book kept by the Nazi's with her name in for immediate arrest following a Nazi invasion. I learnt something from all these exhibitions (as one should) and left them wiser and with a greater understanding of their work. It was very difficult for the judges who eventually decided to award the Baggie to M. Matisse for his glorious and joyful cut-outs that got bigger and bigger as he got older. *Bows*.

Best Book

There isn't usually a book category in the Baggies so this is another new one simply because I read four great rock books over the summer and all deserve to be mentioned.

'Clothes Clothes Clothes, Music Music Music, Boys Boys Boys' - Viv Albertine
'Buffy Sainte-Marie: It's My Way' - Blair Stonechild
'Look Wot I Dun: My Life In SLADE' - Don Powell & Lise Lyng Falkenberg
'Bedsit Disco Queen' - Tracey Thorn

Blair's book about Buffy successfully pulls together existing material about Buffy, Don's books sheds new light on his time with SLADE and Tracey's book was doubly entertaining and illuminating since it's the tale of the growth of a contemporary into a pop star so I could recognise and relive many of the allusions she makes. Great and as entertaining as these books are, it's hats off to Viv Albertine for her astonishingly honest memoir, 'Clothes…Music…Boys'. Books are too often called "brutally honest" but none so honest as Viv's book where she holds nothing back. It's intensity and honesty are painful and that's the mark of great writing and great story-telling. She discovered her own narrative voice while writing this book and I'm sure that'll provide dividends for future songs as well as books. Well done Viv!

And there you have them, the Baggies 2014! Let's see what 2015 brings, shall we?

'To My Friends' by Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono has published a poem on her Imagine Peace website to coincide with the end of 2014 and the start of 2015. I can identify with this.

I am beautiful. I am intelligent. I am healthy in mind and body. I will follow my heart. Repeat.

TO MY FRIENDS

My dear friends.
How was your year?
Mine was very trying.
But I came out of it smelling the sweet air.
I hope you did too.

I do get concerned, though,
how you will be doing over the holidays.
So here's what I want you to do.

Follow your heart.
And repeat:
I am beautiful
I am intelligent
I am healthy in mind and body

When you get depressed
Keep repeating this until you feel better
or fall asleep.
And let's have a great 2015!

I love you! 


Yoko Ono Lennon
Monday 22 Dec 2014
New York City

Thank you Yoko. And a happy New Year to all!

Be beautiful, be intelligent and be healthy in mind and body.

'Ming' at The British Museum

As an end-of-year treat I went to see the 'Ming' exhibition at the British Museum. I've been meaning to see it for a while now but finally found the time, a mere week before it closes. That's cutting it fine. It was nice to see it quite busy but not uncomfortably so.

It's billed as showing objects from 50 years in the Ming dynasty of Chinese emperors, between 1400-1450, the years when the capital moved to Beijing. The Ming dynasty lasted for around 300 years so this exhibition focuses on the artistic flowering of the dynasty at the same time as the early Renaissance was emerging in Italy. There's little to compare the two artistic 'movements' since they have very different roots but they do come together with the final exhibit.

There's a very wide range of objects on display, big and small, some directly impressive and others that you need to look at quite carefully. Some glittery and shiny and others quite plain. But mostly fascinating.

There were the expected Ming vases and other ceramics but the flowering of art in China at the time was so much more than vases. There was paintings, some with the simple brush strokes evoking cherry blossoms on long scrolls and others were portraits of emperors and senior courtiers. There was metal-work of various kinds, from swords to statues and religious objects. There were cloths and embroideries and lacquerware boxes and all sorts of stuff, something for everyone.

One of my favourite exhibits was a pair of generals guarding a tomb, with the detail in their clothes and boots and helmets, their grim facial expressions that say 'don't mess with me or else' that made me smile (for which I apologised since they're supposed to invoke terror). They're both about three feet tall and would've held a spear (see their hands linked around something no longer there). The detail of their clothes is astonishing and even the stitching of their boots can still plainly be seen. I'd love to have them guarding my front door, one on each side - they would keep the junk mail away most satisfactorily, I think.

One part of the exhibition was about religion at the time and held various religious artefacts from the time. One display case held examples t represent the main religions practiced at the time: a lovely bronze Buddha image, a Daoist tableaux showing a hierarchy of the gods and a small copy of the Koran with Chinese symbols. I had no idea that Islam was so widespread in China at the time but, given that China traded with a good portion of the world it's not really that surprising.

The final exhibit is an Italian painting - 'The Adoration of the Magi' by Mantegna - that stood out like a sore thumb in the exhibition. It was there to show the extent of Chinese influence. Look closely ad you'll see the bald Magi presenting a small white and blue porcelain bowl filled with gold for the Christ child. In a display case beside the painting was a small porcelain bowl with a similar floral design. The bowl in the painting has been identified as having been made in the imperial factory in Jingdezhen sometime between 1403-1424.  When Mantegna was working in Italy at the end of the 1400s the Ming porcelain was a treasure of such value and rarity that it was appropriate to show it as fitting gift for the son of God.

It's a fascinating exhibition but it closes on 5 January 2015 - go and see it if you can.

'Assassins' at the Menier Chocolate Factory

Our final theatre trip of 2014 was back to the Choccy Factory to see the new production of Sondheim's 'Assassins' and a less Christmassy musical would be hard to find. I saw a production of this play five or six years ago at the Union Theatre so I was familiar with the bones of the story but it's always interesting to see what the Choccy Factory does with its productions - several have transferred to the the West End and a couple to Broadway (both productions of Sondheim's work) so it has a good track record.

'Assassins' is loosely based on the stories of people who have assassinated - or attempted to assassinate - American presidents. It's an odd premise and probably makes more sense to Americans whose history this is (I hadn't heard of some of the presidents named).

It begins with John Wilkes Booth killing Abraham Lincoln and and he appears in subsequent scenes down the years persuading others to kill other presidents. The ensemble of assassins grows in the run up to the attempts on Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan and then we flash back to 1963 with Booth and the others, including those yet to come, persuading Lee Harvey Oswald to shoot the president. He is the assassin that gives them meaning, that will inspire future assassins, that will take them all into immortality. He takes aim and fires.

I'm not sure what to make of the play, really. It's an interesting concept but I'm not terribly interested in a set of killers and would-be killers. I'm also not sure about this production. I liked the minimal staging but, as a musical, it doesn't really stay with me. I know they sang lots of songs but none of them seem particularly memorable and they seem to be more talk-singing than singing-singing (if you know what I mean). I sat there waiting for it to take off and it didn't. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood?

The star turns were Mike McShane (as the drunken Santa Claus assassin) who seems to turn up every now and then (as he has over the past three decades) and Catherine Tate who throws bullets at Gerald Ford. I've not seen Catherine on stage before so it was nice to see her but I'm not sure why she's doing this play at all since it's hardly a star turn role and she's only doing it for another week or two before handing over to someone else. Maybe the hint is that she'll be doing more theatre in future? I hope so.

Anyway, there you have it, my final theatre visit for 2014. Let's see what 2015 has in store...

Christ Stein/Negative at Somerset House

To celebrate Blondie's 40th anniversary Somerset House has put on an exhibition of Chris Stein's photographs from the 1970s-80s called 'Chris Stein/Negative: Me, Blondie and the Advent of Punk'. Chris along with Debbie Harry formed Blondie all those years ago and helped to change the face of music.

Chris has taken photographs along the way and this exhibition celebrates a series of previously unseen photographs from the mid-70s to early-80s, many, of course, featuring Debbie.  There was a glittering launch to the exhibition when it opened with people like Ray Davies and Marianne Faithfull all showing up but I've only just got round to seeing it.

In part, the exhibition is what you'd expect with snapshots of Debbie here and there, on this tour and that, and with various famous people like David Bowie, Andy Warhol and a lovely one with Joey Ramone. There are also photos of Blondie contemporaries like Richard Hell, David Byrne and Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers (yes, the Thunders who injected Viv Albertine with heroin).

There are also photos of Debbie in strange situations, like being in a posh hotel and not knowing what to do with herself, of Debbie cooking in an evening gown with a flaming pan in her hands and Debbie smoking a joint with Joan Jett.

Some of the best photographs are the least expected. There's a strange photo of the first line-up of what became Blondie with long hair - now, Chris, I can imagine with long hair but Clem Burke? Where is he underneath that mop of long wavy hair? Ah yes, *there* he is… That was a shocker. And a lovely photo of the original Ramones which is even more poignant because they've all gone now (but at least I shook Tommy's hand in the mid-00s in New York).  There was also an atmospheric photo outside Chris's apartment on First & 1st with snow on the ground and part-covering a weather-beaten car. That's the old art student showing through in the photos but it does make for interesting viewing.

There's also a lovely photo of Debbie on one of Blondie's UK tours in which she's reading a copy of The Sun with the headline 'Women are just slaves' and you can see how un- phased she is by that headline from her expression. Being a slave isn't even part of her conceptual universe. It's also good that she's wearing black leather, including black leather gloves to hold the toxic newspaper. That photo says so much about - or at least my perceptions of - Debbie Harry.

The soundtrack accompanying the exhibition is also interesting with lots of Blondie, of course, but also their New York contemporaries. While I was there we were also treated to the war cry of 'Oh Bondage Up Yours!' by X-Ray Spex which was a delightful surprise. There are no pics of Poly or the Spex but at least they're part of the soundtrack to the exhibition.

It's an interesting exhibition and well worth the time if you're near the Strand with an hour to spare. It's free so pop along if you can.

'Treasure Island' at the National Theatre

My post-Christmas treat was a visit to see 'Treasure Island' at the National Theatre. My history with 'Treasure Island' goes back 40 years or so ago when I first read Robert Louis Stevenson's book about the adventures of young Jim Hawkins and the pirates. Robert Newton immortalised Long John Silver in the definitive film version of the book. For some reason it's considered a children's book but it wasn't written as such. I rediscovered the book a few years ago and fell in love with it all over again, with it's swashbuckling on the high seas and hunting for pirate treasure. Yo ho ho me hearties!

This version was written by Bryony Lavery, using the key elements of the book but adapting it to make an intriguing stage play. So, for example, Jim becomes Jemima in a change that worried me when I heard about it but it works very well. It's not a literal translation of the book onto the stage but it's pretty close in many respects.

I always assume that everyone reads this book when young but I heard one theatre-goer behind me say that he'd never read it so I'll briefly outline the story of the play…

Young Jim Hawkins and her grandmother run an inn on the south coast and are visited by Bill Bones who pays in advance for lodgings, food and rum. He's visited by Black Dog and then by Blind Pew, both wanting old Flint's treasure map, and Blind Pew throws the black spot at Bones and he dies. Jim has the map and takes it to Squire Trelawney and the Doctor who decide to go treasure-hunting themselves. The Squire buys a ship and hires a crew that includes many of Long John Silver's former crewmates as well as Silver himself and off they sail. When they reach the island the crew mutinies but the Squire, Doctor and Jim escape with the loyal crew and the map. Jim meets Ben Gunn who was the cabin boy on Flint's ship but was left ashore when it sailed away and he's gone mad since he hasn't seen anyone in three years. O, and he likes cheese (especially toasted if you have any). Battle and wily shenanigans take place between the pirates and the Squire's people and, of course, the Squire's side wins and sails back to Britain rich as Croesus and jolly pleased with themselves.

So there you are, the bare bones of the greatest pirate story ever but you really need to see it to experience the full story. The stage is a major character in itself, transforming from an old inn to a galleon with three levels and then into the mist-shrounded desert island. It's great what they can do with a simple stage these days and I was mighty impressed with its flexibility and ability to transform from one thing into another. And the lighting was pretty good too, atmospheric and haunting and, every now and then, the lighting extended out into the ceiling of the auditorium above the audience to show the constellations of stars the pirates use to sail by. It was all terribly well done.

The cast were top notch as well, with Patsy Ferran as our heroine Jim and Arthur Darvill as Long John Silver. Arthur played Long John as charming and cunning by turns, a clever pirate who can turn every eventuality to his own good. The only problem I had was that he didn't look like Long John or, indeed, a pirate. He should've been heavier and older and he didn't really have a peg-leg at all, just some 'wood' strapped to one leg that he referred to as his new leg. But I can forgive that because he did, at least, have a parrot on his shoulder some of the time.

I also quite liked Nick Fletcher as the bombastic squire with the loud mouth and Daniel Coonan as Black Dog who allows the prisoners to escape on the island by getting drunk on grog. They were all good really, and all great fun in their own, often dastardly, way.

I was looking forward to seeing this on stage and spent the morning with my pirate scarf tied round my head. Would I be disappointed like with 'White Christmas' the week before? Don't get your hopes up, I told myself, but I couldn't help it. Luckily I loved the production! It brought magic and wonder in its wake as it sailed the seas of the Olivier stage, and that's exactly what we need at this darkest time of the year in London.

The audience was a curious mix of older people who clearly love the book and parents (and some grandparents) bringing their children to see the play as a Christmas outing. I hope it worked its magic on those young eyes and shone a light on them to make them begin to love theatre. They might be the audiences of the future.

My major complaint was that there were no bottles of rum or grog to swig from at half time and no grog flavoured ice-cream. What an opportunity missed!

Oo ar Jim lad, let's have a rousing chorus of '15 men on a dead man's chest, yo ho ho and a bootle of rum!' Strike the sails and let's set off for an adventure on an island where X really does mark the spot...

'City of Angels' at The Donmar Warehouse

We went to see the new production of 'City of Angels' at the Donmar Warehouse on Monday. I've seen a student production of this musical before at the Guildhall a few years ago (one of the graduation shows by the final year students) but other than it being about a private detective in Los Angeles in the 1950s I couldn't recall anything about it so I was seeing the show with fresh eyes.

There's a story within a story going on here, the tale of an American novelist transported to Hollywood to write his first  screenplay to one of his novels about a small-time private detective and the case he's asked to take on. The writer is having marital problems and his wife thinks scriptwriting is beneath him,  and his script keeps getting re-written by the film producer he's working for. The private detective faces problems with lack of work and being in debt until he's offered the case of a missing girl and a fee he can't turn down. And then the complications begin.

The action jumps back and forth between the two stories and the two leading men. Different characters are reflected in the two stories, such as the writer starting an affair with the secretary of the producer who also plays the secretary to the private detective in the sub-plot. Similarly, the producers wife plays the murderer in the sub-plot. As the story progresses the barriers between the 'real' world and the film story start coming down and the stories merge so that, in the final scene, the private detective takes over the typewriter from the novelist.

It's a fun production with lots of action, singing and dancing, twists and turns aplenty and great use of the set and stage. Peter Polycarpou (who I last saw in 'Guys & Dolls' at Chichester) played the producer, Tam Mutu as the detective and Hadley Fraser is the energetic writer, but much kudos goes to Rebecca Trehearn who plays the secretary in both scenarios. She has a nice, easy acting style and a lively rich, warm voice. Along with the vocal stylings of the Angel City Four, there were some nice sounds coming from the stage.

It's a fun musical, a solid production and hits all the right buttons. You could do a lot worse than grabbing a ticket to see it!