Kings Place: Music Melody and Text

On Thursday I went to Kings Place. It’s a new concert hall with two performance spaces. The building also houses the offices of The Guardian and Observer as well as an art gallery.

The concert was in Hall 1 and was called Music Melody and Text. It was words by Bertolt Brecht with music mainly by Hans Eisler, but also Kurt Weill and Dominic Muldowney. There were three instruments (piano, saxophone and drums) and three actor/singers. The whole thing was directed by Di Trevis, who directed something similar many years ago at the National Theatre: that was called ‘Happy Birthday Brecht’.

The evening mixed poetry and song. The subject matter was ostensibly about the rise of Hitler and the Second World War. The words of the poems and songs – although generally about very specific historical events – had a universality that relates what they said about the 1930s and 40s to the economic catastrophes and capitalist war mongering of our own times. Brecht is simultaneously a historical witness and a pertinent commentator on the iniquities of 21st century politicians and those who finance them.

The three actor/singers – Daniel Evans, Jenny Galloway and Christopher Kelham - gave convincing performances. The staging was plain yet effective. It highlighted the simplicity and directness of Brecht’s language but made clear its political and poetic essence.

The sparse audience applauded the show with some enthusiasm.

The hall itself is a good space: it is chamber music sized. The seating is comfortable, reasonably raked and nicely offset. The acoustics are excellent.

Edward Upward

Today's edition of The Guardian notes that Marxist writer Edward Upward is 105.

This Wide Night

Last Thursday, courtesy of The Morning Star, I was given press tickets for This Wide Night at the Soho Theatre. It’s a play by Chloe Moss and comes out of workshops with women in prison and was produced by Clean Break who - in the words of the programme – “use theatre for personal and political change, working with women whose lives have been affected by the criminal justice system”.

Now, I like the Soho Theatre. It concentrates on new writing and seems to provide an annual platform for my favourite family friendly live band, The Tiger Lillies. The seating has a decent rake and the bar/restaurant next door is spacious. Just before a show starts, though, you can go to the terrace bar just outside the theatre entrance. It has a narrow balcony high above Dean Street and it’s quite exhilarating to stand on it sipping wine.

My review of This Wide Night can been seen here

The West Pier (More Patrick Hamilton)

My Patrick Hamilton marathon continues. I’ve now finished reading The West Pier – the first novel of the Gorse Trilogy.

It seems to be a novel that can be read in a number of ways. It starts with a bit of malicious schoolboy behaviour – although the schoolboys concerned are the privileged sort who go to pre-first world war prep schools. One (Gorse) fakes a theft and tries to cause dissent between two others (Bell and Ryan).

Years later the three meet again in Brighton – during summer. While strolling round the West Pier they meet two working class girls and become involved with them. A putative relationship starts between Ryan and the prettiest of the girls Esther. Gorse destroys this embryonic relationship – for no other reason than he can – and robs Esther of her life savings. On the surface it’s a simple satire on human foibles and youthful naivety.

However, the thing that struck me most about the novel is that it provides a perfect metaphor for capitalism. Gorse is capitalism personified, exploiting all around him – both financially and emotionally.

His imperative is to acquire wealth and power. So he takes advantage of people who might be his friends - Ryan and Bell – by withholding information or simply lying to them. He also robs Esther of her savings by means of a series of scams that are designed first gain her reluctant trust and end with her being abandoned and penniless.

In the end it’s not Gorse’s ‘charm’ that is the driving force of the narrative twists– it’s his manipulative deceit. Hamilton makes it abundantly clear to the reader how and why Gorse does the things he does. He also demonstrates their harmful effects (Esther loses her savings, Ryan loses a potential lover).

So for me The West Pier operates on at least two levels. Firstly as a straightforward story of young people ‘courting’ and coming to adulthood – a sort of rites of passage novel - but also as a practical illustration of capitalism at work. For these reasons, Hamilton’s novel continues to have a resonance and meaning.

The Royal Court Theatre Inside Out

I’ve just finished reading The Royal Court Theatre Inside Out by Ruth Little and Emily McLaughlin, which was first published last year.

The book is divided up into chapters dealing with each or the artistic director’s tenures, starting with George Devine and finishing with Ian Rickson. It draws on other books that have been written about the theatre, but also contains interviews with many of those who have worked there over the years. These interviews are never less than informative and interesting. Among many anecdotes and assessments, a couple of stories told by Kenneth Cranham particularly stood out for me and I wondered why he hasn’t yet written a memoir of some sort.

The Royal Court Theatre Inside Out is a fascinating book to dip in to for many reasons. It was interesting to be reminded of works such as Alan Brown’s Wheelchair Willie and Barrie Keefe’s Sus. I was a bit disappointed, though, that some things I’d seen weren’t covered at all - C.P. Lee’s Sleak a ‘snuff rock musical’ performed by Alberto Y Los Trios Paranoias for instance. Although if everything that had ever played at the Royal Court had been included, this would have soon become a multi-volume work.

There is also a very useful appendix containing a chronological list all the Theatre’s productions from 1955’s The Mulberry Bush to 2007’s The Seagull. A pedant might complain that it would have been nice to have dates, cast lists and whether the play was performed Upstairs or in the main house – but that would probably be a little ungenerous. Altogether this is a book to be enjoyed by anyone interested in the theatre of the past fifty years and the central part played in this history by the Royal Court.