Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Dear Octopus – review

05/10/2025 by Peter Viney

The second NT Live At Home. This is the 2024 National Theatre production of DEAR OCTOPUS by Dodie Smith (follow link to the review). We chose it because it was directed by Emily Burns. It was a major success in 1938 and is a timely revival. For us it was the perfect play for the day. We had our Covid and flu jabs late morning, rested for an hour, then had a gentle walk on the beach, and home to spend the afternoon engrossed in this relaxing and pleasant play. It’s highly recommended. Reviews mention lack of plot, but it has three very different sisters, a sister-in-law, a bachelor brother, a 29 year old woman yearning for romance, a domineering mother, a benign but ineffectual father. Does that remind you of Jane Austen?

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

The Other Place – review

04/10/2025 by Peter Viney

This is the first review of our NT At Home subscription. I fear I may have to limit reviews of these otherwise I’ll be at it too much of my time. This is the highly-rated THE OTHER PLACE which is billed as “After Antigone” and written and directed by Alexander Zeldin. It features Prince Philip / Captain Jack Randall, i.e. Tobias Menzies. FOLLOW LINK TO REVIEW.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Inter Alia review

29/09/2025 by Peter Viney

It’s a change to review something everyone can see (or will be able to soon). This is the NT Live Streaming of INTER ALIA by Suzie Miller. (Follow link to the review). Suzie Miller’s legal plays sellout immediately, and Poole had to keep adding showings of this one. Rosamund Pike is the judge who deals with rape cases. Everything in the play is channeled through her, though we also have her son and her barrister husband. This is a highly-acclaimed production, and rightly so.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Measure for Measure – review, RSC 2025

26/09/2025 by Peter Viney

This has been a particularly good year for the Royal Shakespeare Company, but we rate this as the best so far. MEASURE FOR MEASURE (follow link to the review). This is a radical version, focussing on the main theme of men in power exploiting women, and it takes place in a modern political setting. Directed by Emily Burns. L to R: Isabella, Angelo, Claudio.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Good Time Jazz, Contemporary

23/09/2025 by Peter Viney

Vogue: Good Time Jazz, Contemporary These are two linked American labels, distributed by Decca (via the Vogue connection). Good Time Jazz had Jesse Fuller and some traditional material. Contemporary have a number of classic jazz albums recently reissued on premium quality vinyl. Worth investigating.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Tempo

23/09/2025 by Peter Viney

The latest AROUND AND AROUND article: Tempo (follow link to the page) was Decca’s jazz label between 1954 and 1960, releasing seminal British jazz. It had started as an independent. Though the basic trad material at the start is of declining interest, the collectability of artists like Tubby Hayes, Victor Feldman and Ronnie Scott is staggering (as are the prices), one of these is worth £1500.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Impulse!

22/09/2025 by Peter Viney

At AROUND & AROUND. Impulse! (follow link to article) was the jazz part of the ABC group, but I’ve started that section with Impulse! because it’s simply the most interesting. The label can boast two of the three critics poll ‘Greatest Jazz Albums of all time,” A Love Supreme by John Coltrane and The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady by Charles Mingus. For most of its classic period, it was EMI distributed. It thrives on high quality reissues nowadays.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Hamlet, Chichester 2025- review

14/09/2025 by Peter Viney

Follow the link to my review if HAMLET at Chichester Festival Theatre (LINK), directed by Justin Audibert and starring Giles Terera as Hamlet. This is Chichester’s first ever Hamlet, and the fourth version this year for us. This is highly unusual in eschewing the heavy cutting in recent versions. This one restores many speeches, and ones that are so often cut nowadays that they arrived fresh-minted.
L to R: Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Endgame – Bath, review

12/09/2025 by Peter Viney

Review of Samuel Beckett’s ENDGAME at Bath Ustinov Studio (follow link to review). Directed by Lindsay Posner, with Douglas Hodge, Matthew Horne, Selina Cadell and Clive Francis. It’s down to how much you like Beckett really. The production and performances can’t be bettered. But what about the actual “masterpiece” the play is claimed to be?

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Triple cooked what? A rant

05/09/2025 by Peter Viney

A new culinary rant by me, following my rants on chorizo and halloumi, we now have Triple Cooked chips everywhere. Do we need them? No! READ THE ARTICLE (follow link)

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »