Feeds:
Posts
Comments

A course book writer responds (article)

01/01/2017 by Peter Viney

I am moving material from my old website (viney.uk.com) onto this blog, as the old site has so many out of date links. I’m starting with one of the most popular ELT articles “A course book writer responds” (LINKED) which was a long response to an article by Mario Rinvolucri, touching on aspects of ELT courses: Women, Cultural Awareness, Being a linguist, Political correctness, Sexism, Ideology, even the over-emphasis on verbs in syllabuses. Though it was written 17 years ago, I think the points still merit discussion.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

School nativities

13/12/2016 by Peter Viney

The best-appreciated production of the year. Yes! It’s the school nativity (LINKED).

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

The Best of 2016- Music list

12/12/2016 by Peter Viney

The Best of 2016- Music lists are now up.
Best ten albums
Best ten songs
Best ten concerts
Best rock book (predictable)
Most listened to album
Best archive vinyl LP find
And here’s the winning album
81ybjmgatcl-_sl1200_

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Best of 2016 – Theatre summary

11/12/2016 by Peter Viney

My personal awards for Best Theatre work of 2016 are now online. No prizes. What it does show in the pictures is the vast range of quality in British Theatre nowadays, and as an amateur reviewer outside London, while we saw nearly fifty productions this year, there are many mentioned in the press that we never saw. So best of what I saw:

Best Shakespeare or Classical Ten
Best modern ten
Best actors ten
Best actresses ten
Best supporting actors
Best supporting actresses
Best set design
Best sound
Best theatreawr_mai-dream-250516
The winner overall: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, RSC

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Nice Fish review

04/12/2016 by Peter Viney

Review of Nice Fish by Mark Rylance & Louis Jenkins, at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London, Very funny, innovative, great set … and Mark Rylance. We loved it.

og

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

The Manfreds Maximum R&B review

03/12/2016 by Peter Viney

Review of The Manfreds “Maximun R&B” at The Concert Hall, Poole Lighthouse. Special Guests P.P. Arnold & Zoot Money. Fantastic show … 3 hours including interval.

590x372-fitandcrop

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Fantastic Mr Fox – review

27/11/2016 by Peter Viney

Review of Fantastic Mr Fox, by Roald Dahl, adapted by Sam Holcroft. Children’s theatre at its best, directed by Maria Aberg. This will tour until July 2017. Review of the world premiere, at Nuffield Theatre Southampton.

6357-fitandcrop-890x500

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

The Lock In Christmas Carol

20/11/2016 by Peter Viney

Tremendous Christmas Entertainment with The Lock In Christmas Carol (LINKED) from The Demon Barbers, with dancers. I guess it’s a theatre piece. But you might call it a concert. Or dance theatre. Or maybe pantomime suits it better. It’s one of the most energetic and lively bits of performance you’ll see.

the_lock_in_xmas_image_landscape-600x467

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

The Tempest RSC 2016 review

20/11/2016 by Peter Viney

 THE TEMPEST (LINKED) has been in preparation for two years, Royal Shakespeare Company,  in collaboration with Intel so that Ariel can move on stage and also create a live-motion hologram. A visually stunning production, anchored by Simon Russell-Beale as Prospero.

aeril-holo

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Leonard Cohen RIP

11/11/2016 by Peter Viney

A few weeks ago, with the release of You Want it Darker, Leonard’s last letter to Marianne, was revealed. She was the subject of his early songs and died soon after his letter last July.

Well Marianne it’s come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine. And you know that I’ve always loved you for your beauty and your wisdom, but I don’t need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road.”

And to you too, Leonard. Leonard was 82. When I saw him in concert I was struck by his spirit, his energy, his humour, his SOUL. His live shows are among the very best I have ever seen. Along with Bob Dylan and Paul Simon he formed a triumvirate of unmatchable North American songwriters and poets.

See the Toppermost on Leonard Cohen, which I co-wrote with Jerry Tenenbaum and Lucretia van den Berg.

Four concert reviews are on this blog:

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »