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Friday, 19 May 2017
Thursday, 29 September 2016
Filmreel News: Father of African Cinema Ousmane Sembène's Films Come to HOME MCR
HOME Manchester's forthcoming film season offers an insight into Senegalese writer, producer and director Ousmane Sembène's prolific record as a filmmaker aiming to represent the marginalised and voiceless in society, revealing why he was awarded the title of the father of African cinema.
Under the banner of Rebel with a Camera, the season comprises four feature-length screenings, ranging from his 1966 debut about a Senegalese childminder who returns with the child's family to the south of France, Black Girl (Sun 9 October), through to the posthumous documentary, Sembène (2012), compiled by his colleague and biographer Samba Gadjigo, along with Jason Silverman. Gadjigo will also be appearing at HOME for a Q&A after the film on Sat 8 October.
The other films during the season are the colonial satire Xala (1975), which will be shown on Thu 20 October, and Sembène's final film before his death in 2007, Moolaadé (2004), which tackles the horrors of FGM and concludes the Manchester season on Mon 24 October.
The programme of his selected works is also touring the UK between October 2016 and January 2017, sharing his catalogue of African stories for African audience with intercontinental viewers. You can catch all four films across from Inverness to various London venues, with other destinations including Sheffield's Showroom, Keswick's Alhambra and Edinburgh's Filmhouse.
Words: Ian Pennington
Rebel with a Camera: The Cinema of Ousmane Sembène runs at HOME from Sat 8 to Mon 24 October, 2016.
homemcr.org
Thursday, 16 June 2016
On Corporation Street @ Home, 15.06.16
Creators of the sold out
award-winning Angel Meadow ANU, have returned to HOME with a new promenade
performance, weaving the audience through backstage and basements as they reflect
on the Manchester Bombings from a 2016 viewpoint. There is no fourth wall,
there is nowhere to hide, the audience are a part of this dreamscape and only
one thing is for certain: The opinion you leave with will be your own. I was luckily enough to be
familiar with the work of ANU after seeing Angel Meadow in 2014. After wiping
away a tear of nostalgia of my first printed theatre review, I knew I had
certain expectations (all good ones in case you were wondering), of content and
style. I have to admit the feeling of guilty amusement at my confused fellow
audience members wondering what is acceptable in a promenade performance:
"The character has just asked me a question! What do I do? Argh she is
still staring at me”. My advice, roll with it. You are going to get more from
the experience if you just invest in the moment.
We are first brought into
the auditorium, where we are introduced to all the potential characters we
could later meet in person. All make their way to the stage, and create an
intense slow motion sequence, impressively creating mini snapshots in the midst
of flying glass and the quaking earth. Impressive as it was, it did create a
pacing issue for the rest of the production, unless the next interaction the
audience has with a character really lands. I can only speak for my group, but
our first interface was a ten-minute monologue with a lot of long pauses; in
this case two slows don’t make a right. I completely understand the intent
behind the delivery; a young man trying to comprehend such senseless
destruction. However, I think this would have been more effective if this
encounter was in ‘real-time’ akin to the other encounters we are about to move
on to. This piece was reflective, such are the audience currently remember that
day, whereas our other characters are still taking in and processing something
that happened a few hours ago.
Two of my favourite moments
came from Jamie Matthewman and Una Kavanagh. In a hot and sticky corridor, we
listen through headphones to a soundscape of recollections and 999 emergency
calls. As I wince at the voiceover recall 180 people all arriving at A&E, a
surgeon (Matthewman) takes a quick breather, enveloped in exhaustion and
disbelief. All without speaking a word. A short walk away in a hospital
breakroom, we meet a nurse (Kavanagh) still trying to steady herself from feeling
the “shaking in the air”. As the rest of the audience sat around the table clad
with half eaten digestives and abandoned cups of tea, I stood near our nurse
host and noticed a vicious looking bite mark on her arm. She apologies,
profusely. She apologies for still being emotional, for talking too much and
for being Irish. My heart went out to this character, a woman caught in a
dilemma of identity and one she feels ashamed of. A heart-rending performance from
McCann and a great finish.
Director Louise Lowe and Artistic Director of ANU, has created another strong and unworldly production with On Corporation Street, and one I can imagine will get a lot of comparison to Angel Meadow. Some that saw Meadow may feel anticipations weren’t met, because this production in many ways isn’t as overwhelming. Angel Meadow had a lot to take in, design wise and narrative; it was all very surreal. Whereas here, the production is very ordinary in a lot of ways, but isn’t that just it? An extraordinary event occurred to people going about their very ordinary days and that makes it so hard to comprehend. What I would say, is the action is far more interesting when we are living it with the characters. We are their shadows, discovering the same things, hearing the same things, and struggling the same way. This may not be as feasible with this reflective piece, but I would have liked to see a bit more of it in this production.
Runs until 25th June
Words: Kate Morris
Photos: Graeme Cooper
Wednesday, 1 June 2016
Competition: Win Tickets To Mr Scruff's 17th Birthday @ Old Granada Studios
Back in 1999, Mr Scruff couldn't have known the reach and longevity of his sophomore studio effort, Keep It Unreal, in particular its foot-tapping wonders like 'Get A Move On'. 17 years on, the Stockport native is a household name for anyone with a mind open to jazz, soul and funk DJing. His crate digging has introduced many a hip shaker to long-forgotten records, providing the soundtrack to countless revellers' nights out.
For his 17th birthday jive at Old Granada Studios, he's joined behind the turntables by house and disco tune-peddler Francois K, and between them the former Corrie corridors will be alive with shoulder-jutting grooves. Refreshingly, it's billed as a non-mobile disco, so put that phone away and enjoy.
The show isn't a solitary one for the Old Granada Studios venue, with DJ Yoda and the Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club with Candi Staton lined up for later in June.
We've teamed up with Old Granada Studios to offer a pair of tickets for Mr Scruff's 17th Birthday gig on Friday 3 June to a lucky winner. To be win with a chance of winning, simply email ian at nowthenmagazine dot com with your favourite Scruff song, as well as your full name. The competition closes at 3pm on Thursday 2 June and the winner will be notified later that day.
Words: Ian Pennington
9pm-3am on Friday 3 June, 2016 Old Granada Studios.
Tickets are available from oldgranadamcr.nutickets.com
For his 17th birthday jive at Old Granada Studios, he's joined behind the turntables by house and disco tune-peddler Francois K, and between them the former Corrie corridors will be alive with shoulder-jutting grooves. Refreshingly, it's billed as a non-mobile disco, so put that phone away and enjoy.
The show isn't a solitary one for the Old Granada Studios venue, with DJ Yoda and the Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club with Candi Staton lined up for later in June.
We've teamed up with Old Granada Studios to offer a pair of tickets for Mr Scruff's 17th Birthday gig on Friday 3 June to a lucky winner. To be win with a chance of winning, simply email ian at nowthenmagazine dot com with your favourite Scruff song, as well as your full name. The competition closes at 3pm on Thursday 2 June and the winner will be notified later that day.
Words: Ian Pennington
9pm-3am on Friday 3 June, 2016 Old Granada Studios.
Tickets are available from oldgranadamcr.nutickets.com
Labels:
competition,
gig,
jazz,
mr scruff,
music,
old granada studios
Tuesday, 10 May 2016
Quippodrome @ Gullivers, 09.5.16
One doesn't really know what to expect from a
night labelled Quippodrome. The website, scarce and intriguing, offers little
explanation. A video plays in the centre of the website of past Quippodrome
evenings and I'm immediately thinking of early Mighty Boosh. Homemade costumes,
silly looking characters, exaggerated acting.
From the offset, the evening was welcoming. Compares Jack Evans, and Edy Hurst invite the audience to feel relaxed, and assure us that the evening is probably going to fail. But when it fails, it also works. The performers, clearly well versed in comedy, quickly manage to pick themselves up, find a response, and even on this occasion, lecture about Kangaroos killing Dingoes; all to bemused laughter. It's a journey for both the audience and the performers and not your regular comedy night.
The evening continues with Chris Cantrill who
has established himself around the UK as a comedian with a penchant to see the
funny side in life's (sur)real stories. His set changes the pace a little,
but the laughs keep coming.
After a short interval, we're welcomed back
for the main event, The
Quippodrome. The four players, Jack, Edy, Jayne and Jon perform a variety of
characters and vignettes, worthy of early Channel Four (or when Channel Four was
good|). It even kicks off with a very
Adam & Joe-esque title card and Evans’ Detective Inspector Horse-hand, who
wouldn't look out of place on Vic Reeves
Big Night Out. D.I. Horse-hand (a Holyrood experiment if
you were wondering) spins his surreal yarn about a whole menagerie of weird
equine-hybrid Scots people, and the audience loves it.
The melee of other characters who appear on
stage in unique, original acts continue. Dr. Love (yes, we've all heard of him,
but we've never actually met him!) gives us some tips on the best sex
positions, all with brilliantly graphic drawings.
"It's ok, the perspective may be skewed,
but she has breasts, so…"
The segue between the Crane Position and the
Fraser Crane Position drew the biggest laughs. We're literally taken on a
rollercoaster in the next act with a great use of a web-cam, a stick, and a
couple of straws. This part of the show seemed like a metaphor for the whole
evening, with its twists and turns, the ups, and the downs, and, of course, the
failures (I'd suggest gaffer taping the extension lead!).
The evening is drawn to a close with a
wonderful character from the comedic brain of Jayne Edwards. After all the high
testosterone, it's a welcoming relief to see Jayne, and her ‘pube art’ will stick in my mind like...
well, like a pube sticks in your teeth. Confidently Jayne’s character informs us
of how to make it in the porn industry when she was directing. A surreal little
story that wonderfully re-introduces the rest of the characters back on stage.
Overall, I've not seen anything like this
before. These guys have worked the circuit, and got bored with the scene. They
may be doing this for the love of comedy, and I hope they are, because that
rawness and passion, and the laughs they gave the whole audience was worth way
more than the door price. So much so, I'm going back next month.
Words: Colm Feeley
Labels:
Chris Cantrill,
comedy,
Fat Virgins,
Gulliver's,
jack evans,
manchester,
Mighty Boosh,
Now Then,
Quippodrome
Friday, 6 May 2016
Murder She Writes @ Kings Arms, 5.5.16
To quote a fellow Scot, "there's been a murdurrrrrrr!" In
fact, there's been a fair few in Cabot Cove and the residents have finally
realised that the link is one Jessica Fletcher; author and amateur sleuth,
always around when foul play is afoot. However, we are going to see dear Jessica in a brand new light, with Vertigo Production's Murder She Writes.
TV series of 264 episodes starring Angela Landsbury, Murder She Wrote is the inspiration to this OTT
pastiche, along with Baywatch, Columbo and Twin Peaks. Filling the shoes of Landsbury, Dale Vicker commandingly dons a wig and cardie to bitch his way through two insane hours of whodunnit, complete with saucy songs, outrageous
characters and triple entendres.
Stuart Reeve adds more drag to the mix with his League of
Gentlemen style grotesque Gramma Frank. There's solid work from Richard
Allen as a knock-off Hoff, and Ash Preston as Columbo.
Subtle this ain't and although the rest of the cast ham it up
for all they're worth, it did feel like self indulgent fun among mates at
times. Sound issues with the backing tracks also meant the lyrics were easy to
miss causing some of the songs to fall a bit flat and seem rushed.
Gloriously trashy though it undoubtedly was, the script
raised more titters than belly laughs and it needed to be a lot tighter. It
just about stayed on the right side of offensive, rather than adult panto but
maybe tipping even more into the abyss would have harvested more humour.
It's a fun romp though and Vertigo always come up with
something different which is to their credit.
Lord knows what they would have made of Midsommer!
Photos: Courtesy of Craig Hepworth
Thursday, 5 May 2016
Avenue Q @ The Palace, 3.5.16
Being a Twentysomething isn't short of ironies; you hate coffee
but it’s your favourite beverage to drink in copious daily amounts. You’re in
unpayable debt after getting a degree for a job you hoped would leave you never
needing for anything, and there’s everyone’s favourite; already having the experience
where you’re not experienced. Ultimately,
you’re stuck somewhere between an adult and a child, working the gap between
your big dream and the current pays-the-bills job. What can be said of the Twentysomething of today, is that we are adaptable and persistently know the
only way to survive this quarter life crisis is to keep making new plans; hopefully
ones that make us as happy as we were as kids. Can you remember how happy you
were watching weekend cartoons, or Seasame
Street? What if you could feel like that again?
At the Palace theatre, sitting in front of fresh faced musical theatre students
the lights went down and two screens flicked into life, depicting a sickeningly happy cartoon sunshine as the company
flourished into the opening number of Avenue
Q.
The abundantly talented cast made it easy for the
audience to suspend their disbelief and fall in love with the 11 puppet
characters. The actors themselves become essentially invisible; it is the
puppets that carry the identity and the spotlight. You may expect to find Big
Bird, but we are not on Seaseme Street
anymore. Instead we meet Princeton (Richard Lowe), a recent college graduate
who finds himself wandering onto Avenue Q with a BA in English and eager to
find his 'purpose’. There he meets the colourful (literally) and exceptionally
funny characters that live there. All the residents are finding life to be a
bit disappointing, but come to accept that this feeling of loss is “only for
now” while they journey to their aspirations.
A huge hat tip goes
to Sarah Harlington who played the role of Kate Monster and the infamous Lucy the
Slut, for her impeccable vocal ability. Other credit goes to my forever
favourite characters, Gary Coleman (Etisyai Philip) and the deliciously devious
Bad Idea Bears (Jessica Paker).
Avenue Q is bright, bold and ballsy. Funny where it needs to be, with a heart that is accessible to everyone. It can be easy to undermine musical theatre as just a sing-a-long 'isn’t everything great’ two-hour experience, but if you dig a little deeper and listen to what the writers, directors and actors have placed in front of you, you will see that this show is made of better fluff…I mean stuff
Words: Kate Morris
Photos: Matt Martin Photography
Friday, 8 April 2016
JB Shorts 15 @ Josuha Brooks, 7.4.16
Audiences for theatre are a bit like church goers. They feel
they ought to go but rarely feel enthused enough to actually attend. Maybe it's
too expensive, too time consuming, hard to follow or just plain boring. Not so for
JB Shorts however. JB is the perfect evening for people who want to dip a toe
back into live theatre, or even engage with it for the first time. Six 15
minute, stand alone pieces – a smorgasbord of drama featuring a range of
characters and mini tales. If you don't find yourself getting into a particular
piece, fret not, there's a whole new story coming along shortly. It isn't easy
to write a 15 minute piece; you have to hit the ground running to grab the audience’s
attention, lay out a scenario and quickly establish characters but, the writers
of JB Shorts 15 by and large, made an impression with every piece.
The Intruder (Diane Whitley) tells of a break-in
that causes two elderly sisters to reminisce about a past event. It's left to
our imagination to decide what happened but the main focus of the play centres
on the effects of Dementia. Thanks to the engaging performances of Joan Kempson
and Melissa Sinden and the warm humour in the writing, this piece manages to
make the audience smile despite the subject matter.
Two women meet for a reunion with their 'wild child' school friend
in A Different Time by Lia Holdsworth. There's clearly no love lost here,
as the former class mates exchange fantastically awful remarks and opinions on
each others lives. This is where the piece is at its funniest, as Linda and Amanda
viciously chip away at each other, expertly displaying the competitive nature
of school reunions. When wild child Samantha does appear, she is a reformed
character who forces them to re-evaluate what actually went on in the past.
Office life can be a battery hen existence, punctuated by
pointless and boring meetings. This gathering is attended by characters that we
can all recognise; the timid woman who somehow became a manager, the
disenchanted go-getter getting nowhere, the skiver and the unbearably smug know-it-all
(a hilarious Will Travis). Peter Kerry’s Humble at times gets a little
too OTT, and even though we know the pay off from the outset, it's a journey of
belly laughs getting there.
If the scene from the Last Supper had happened up North; False Prophet is how it might have
played out. Jesus, a fading star with wannabes snapping at his heels and his disciples
of fans worshipping a new kid in town. It's a clever and funny idea written by
Paul Coates, that the enthusiastic cast wring every last laugh out of.
Build A Bonfire by Trevor Suthers suffered a
little by being the only straight play in a collection of comedies, but it did
raise an interesting point about art and censorship. Should the crimes of the
creative prevent their work from being displayed? However, the characters and their
middle class world were a little clichéd and difficult to sympathise with.
A Labour Party Spin Doctor ends up in a coma after Ed
Milliband fails at the Polls. Fedora wakes up weeks later, only to discover
Jeremy Corbyn is the new Labour leader. Paul Mason and James Quinn’s Party Animals is the strongest and
funniest play of the evening. Fedora is an appalling, outrageous yet fantastic
creation thanks to the combination of sharp, topical writing and a magnificent
performance from Sally Carman who quite rightly got the best reception of the
night.
A thoroughly enjoyable evening of theatre in a wonderfully
intimate venue.
Photos: Courtesy of JB Shorts
Friday, 26 February 2016
Preview: Extra Love Album Launch gig @ Band on the Wall, 26.02.16
Building on the success of their EP, Big Man, Extra Love serve up more helpings of feelgood, conscious music with their debut album, Out Of The Dark.
With their signature brand high on energy and positivity, they bring their unique flavour to create a fresh style of reggae.
Highlights of the album include the easy, atmospheric sprawl of 'Rubadub Soldier', the soaring vocals and jazzy horns of 'Freedom', and the infectious bounciness of 'Be Ready'. 'Ruff Out There' has a slightly darker edge, but still boasts a nice, laidback swagger.
The deep tones of singer Angelos, coupled with the rhythmic chants of Kuntriranks is the perfect vehicle to express the band's message.
Out Of The Dark brings a touch of sunshine to the rainy Manchester streets, makes your body get up and puts a great big smile on your face.
Words: Anna Tuck
With their signature brand high on energy and positivity, they bring their unique flavour to create a fresh style of reggae.
Highlights of the album include the easy, atmospheric sprawl of 'Rubadub Soldier', the soaring vocals and jazzy horns of 'Freedom', and the infectious bounciness of 'Be Ready'. 'Ruff Out There' has a slightly darker edge, but still boasts a nice, laidback swagger.
The deep tones of singer Angelos, coupled with the rhythmic chants of Kuntriranks is the perfect vehicle to express the band's message.
Out Of The Dark brings a touch of sunshine to the rainy Manchester streets, makes your body get up and puts a great big smile on your face.
Words: Anna Tuck
Labels:
extra love,
live,
manchester,
music,
reggae
Monday, 8 February 2016
Cats @ The Opera House, 2.2.16
Much like the first album I bought, I will
always remember the first musical I saw on stage. Musicals, or music in general
for me, had been restricted to VHS, music channels or CD before then.
Everything suddenly become so much bigger, and that is what resonates most in
my memory. How could it not, with a cacophony of voices and choreography that
was explosively elegant and soft; all under a low hanging full moon?
Cats
was other worldly, and certainly set the motion for
my own stage aspirations. Now, over a decade later, “let the memory live again”.
Yet, this wasn’t the show I remembered. The same déjà vu moon had me convinced I had been here before, so why
was everything so strange?
Based on T.S Eliot’s Old Possum’s ‘Book of
Practical Cats’, the show is set on a junkyard playground where the annual
Jellicle ball takes place. We are introduced to each feline friend and their
personalities through song; lyrics from the 1930’s poems of Eliot and melodies
of composer Andrew Llyod Web’ber. The show has had an impressive life span of
over 30 years. Considered as ‘ground-breaking’ when it opened in 1981, Cats
went on to be crowned the longest-running musical in the history of the West End
in 1996. It then scooped up the same accolade in Broadway the following year.
Translated into ten languages, performed in over 20 countries, while continuing
to sell out tours; the longevity
of a cat’s life holds true.
There are still glimmers of this shining success story
during the performance at The Opera House. Sadly, an irresistible curiosity to
update the show well and truly killed the cat. One moment in particular being
the infamous Rum Tum Tugger scene where we are introduced to the cocky and charismatic
Tom Cat of the show. Oozing confidence and sexiness, Tugger satirises the ‘bad
boy’ of a given generation, so earlier performances used Elvis Presley as a
model. The instinct to update this is the right one, but the result was oh so wrong
and laden with stereotypes that came off almost cartoonish! Dressed with a
backwards cap, gold chains and baggy pants, Tugger is updated into our 21st
Century bad boy from the streets. Though, give him a slingshot and go back 15
years you’ve got Bart Simpson. Maybe Mr Webber is trying to relate to the Topshop
generation, who are also stuck in the 90s.
Despite the tone given off so far, the cast are all
evidently talented; both the choreography and the score are notoriously
difficult. A phenomenal range is required from it’s singers and a fierce
precision from the dancers, but above all, a collective ability to work as an
ensemble. This, for the most part, the company did do well. On occasion,
performers were in it for themselves rather than as a group, sending key
moments out of sync. To be picky, in the opening song ‘Jellicle Songs for
Jellicle Cats’, you really can’t have a lyric boasting the ability that all cats can begin a scale in high C, to
then only have one cat demonstrate. Each cat has their opportunity to have
their own moment, so I was disappointed that the ensemble scenes were not joint.
The most famous song of the show, ‘Memory’, is
easily the best thing about this production, and thankfully went untouched.
Grizabella (Anita Louise Combe), the Glamour Cat, sings this beautiful
nostalgic song of remembrance of her glorious past, and declares her wish for a
new life. To dominate a song of such magnitude is an astonishing
accomplishment, and one that Combe’s performance was nothing short of.
Cats has one more of it’s nine lives left to live,
and one I feel would be the thriving if it stayed true to what it does best.
The rebirth of this classic was understandable but evidently unnecessary. This
musical is one that has been passed through generations, and has done so with fond
memories from the audience’s first experience. Like Grease or The Sound of
Music, you can’t change the originals. Some memories last forever, it’s our job
not to forget them.
Words by Kate Morris
Images courtesy of Ambassador Theatre Group
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