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A fifth in the series. MATHS IN BRITAIN PAST. (follow this link) More grumbling reminiscences of 1960s schooldays at Bournemouth School. This time, a subject I know little of.

Review of Eleanor McEvoy at The Forest Arts Centre in New Milton, Hampshire. What can I say, except it’s the best musical evening of any kind in the last year. It’s solo: acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, violin and percussion. She’s a great singer, songwriter and what was new, seeing her for the first time, a marvellous narrator too. See the tour. Seventeen dates to go. Really try and get to one.

My reminiscences on my schooldays and by extension Britain in the late 50s and early 60s has been popular. I’ve done Language Learning, English Lit, Divinity and Music. So here’s a fourth … Geography & History in Britain past. Hopefully it’s amusing, but it also has more on the values of both geography and history, and the way they were treated.

A short film review of Noël Coward’s RELATIVE VALUES, as filmed in 2000 with Julie Andrews, Colin Firth, Stephen Fry and William Baldwin. Light entertainment, but it came up on our Netflix feed and I’ve reviewd so many Noël Coward that I thought I’d add it. One for a cold day.

At Around & Around: Deram NOVA / Decca NOVA
This was listed briefly in the Deram article. It is now greatly expanded as a seoarate article. Only about 20 albums were released in 1970, but most are valuable.

Up already. An instant review of Bob Dylan at Bournemouth International Centre on the Rough & Rowdy Ways Tour 2024 leg. FOLLOW THIS LINK.

Review added of THE NEW REAL by David Edgar at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s third theatre (follow link to review), The Other Place. The review mentions the organizational chaos in simply getting in and seated, but the play itself survived it. It spans 24 years and centres on two US political strategists who work on presidential campaigns in an Eastern European country. The parallels are clear, and we are just a week before the big election. You might notice resemblances to several real people on the world stage.

Review of OTHELLO at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford. (LINKED). There is a strong stylized concept on a minimal set with elaborate costumes and lighting. The concept focuses on words rather than action. It’s highly professional, but we both felt the minimalism sanitized the violence. The picture of Iago (Will Keen) and Othello (John Douglas Thompson) is an all too rare piece of physicality.

This is a new title for two paired one act Terence Rattigan plays: Table Number Seven (from Separate Tables) and The Browning Version. The review of SUMMER 1954 is here. (Follow link). It’s at Bath Theatre Royal at the start of a tour, so again, as with recent reviews, there is a chance of getting to see it. Great lead performances from Nathaniel Parker in both plays, and by Siân Phillips (at 91!) in Table Number Seven. No photos yet. They will be added when they appear.

Review of PLAY ON! by the Talawa all-black theatre company at Salisbury. (Follow link). This is a musical set in the Cotton Club in Harlem in the 1940s. All the music is Duke Ellington related, and it’s loosely based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, though all new text and it is NOT a parallel. All singing and dancing. Brilliantly performed and played. Yet no London critics have ventured to see it in Coventry, Liverpool or Salisbury. Still it goes on to Birmingham,. Bristol and Hammersmith. I guess they may deign to do Hammersmith.