Week 25 - Punk Rock; Wanderlust; Clybourne Park

A super busy week in the cultural fields of London, but very exciting! It started with a revival of Simon Stephens's Punk Rock at the Hammersmith Lyric. It's a school drama about teenagers – allegedly one of the best plays of 2009, but left me angry and disappointed. No way these kids would hang out together in real life and use that sort of language. It's not worth describing much, just to say that I couldn't wait for the end.

A very different experience at the Royal Court, where they are showing Wanderlust and Clybourne Park. The Royal Court never lets you down and both these plays are simply fantastic. Upstairs in Wanderlust a married couple is having problems with their sex life – a woman wants tenderness and love whereas a man is hungry for sex. A simple traditional story, but it is told in the incredibly funny way by Nick Payne. I saw his previous play at the Bush, which was promising, and with Wanderlust Payne has proved himself as a brilliant young playwright.

Clybourne Park downstairs sparks fireworks. It is also very funny, but in here we laugh at the racism and political correctness. The play is divided into two parts. A couple in white neighbourhood sells their house to a black couple in the 1950s. That causes an outrage between neighbours and we witness their worries how the sale devalues their properties. In the second half the tables have turned and the same house now is being bought by a white couple and the neighbourhood is predominantly black. It's 2009, so there is a lot of politeness and talk about holidays until they open the can of worms and start accusing each other being racists. It's all rather delicious, although the fact that most is what people think is a bit worrying.

Also this week: at the Barbican saw 360, a very sweet play about imagination by Hugh Hughes, and visited Saatchi gallery to examine new emerging British art at the Newspeak exhibition.  

Week 24 - Secret Cinema

Some unprofessional pictures
from Secret Cinema

After a long wait Secret Cinema arrived! It built up the excitement by sending emails telling what to wear, where to come and what to bring. The attire to be Arabic and cushions to be brought, so we figured out the film would be Lawrence of Arabia. Meeting at 4pm on Saturday at Alexandra Palace. Around the station hundreds of cinema goers dressed as Arabs gathered and we proceeded towards the palace. Along the path market hagglers, soldiers and musicians greeted us. There were sheep, horses, even camels. The atmosphere was charged with excitement and amazement. We couldn't believe how much was invested and how authentic everything appeared. Dangerous looking men with ammunition belts round their waists ordered the crowd (probably ~2000 people) into the palace, which was transformed into the British colonial headquarters. You could purchase a thousand camels, play billiard with soldiers, send a telegram to London or play cards with business men.

Enter another hall and you are in a vibrant Arabic town with market selling cockroaches and leather shoes, tea cafés and drink parlours. There was even a beach! We were simply taken aback! In the third hall was a massive screen with places to lay out your blankets, sit on cushions and enjoy the movie. Until this point everything seemed like the best day out possible! But it was only 5.30 and the movie wasn't starting. After two and a half hours sitting on the floor one had either to get drunk or possess unlimited patience. After the amazing start the curve of pleasure was heading south rapidly. It was a canny way to make loads of money, as there were never ending queues for food and drink (what else could one do for nearly three hours!). Anyway, once the film started it should have been a bliss again, as Lawrence of Arabia is considered one of the best films of all times. However, there were serious issues at the sound engineer's desk – it was so loud it was tricky to understand what the characters were saying. LOA is the longest movie winning the Oscar (222min) so we had to leave at the intermission, as our ears started to hurt.

All in all, Secret Cinema disappointed me. It seems they overexpanded and overgrew loosing the intimacy and secrecy.

Also this week: was frozen to the bone at the Scoop watching Don Juan in Love under the stars and visited Magnificent Maps at the British Library and discussed Murder on the Orient Express at the monthly book club.

P.S. Sorry for disobeying my 300 words rule this week – too much to say!

Week 23

The Museum of London invested over £20 million to the new Galleries of Modern London, which I visited this rainy weekend. Anyone in love with London would love this museum, as it documents the life in the city from pre-history until our days. However, I find the Museum of London too Disneylandish. Hundreds of interactive displays, videos with actors dressed in period costume, etc. are great for children, but for adults the depth of information is missing and genuine objects put in pretend display cases loose their authenticity. The biggest mistake is to visit on Sunday – way too many families and lost tourists.

One of the most amazing concert venues in London – 1901 Arts Club – is a house in Waterloo, beautifully restored and kept to the period standard. Inspired by Europe's Salon culture, the Club is perfect for chamber music performances. Before the show you can enjoy a drink on the roof terrace spotting the trains zooming past you to Waterloo. In the season opening concert the Spanish mezzo soprano Nerea Berraondo and pianist Juan Urdániz presented a recital of Spanish and Argentinian songs. The mixture of subjects (love, humour, animals) in these folk songs allowed Berraondo to show not only her voice but also her performing skills.

This week I also read a humorous short novel by David Lodge. The British Museum is Falling is a story set in one day about a research student, who spends his day thinking about his numerous problems (3 children, a possible fourth on the way, his Catholic beliefs and unfinished thesis) and encountering many adventures. The book feels slightly dated as it was written in 1960s and many issues are not important for the present day reader. Nevertheless, it's a great test on one's literature knowledge as each chapter is an allusion to various writers' styles and motifs.  

Week 22 - The Beauty Queen of Leenane; The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Last week I experienced some black Irish humour at the Young Vic. On the last showing week I saw The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh. It's a play from the 1990s painting a grim reality of provincial Ireland. The Beauty Queen is Maureen, 40 year old virgin taking care of and hating her old mother, who sits in the rocking chair and nags at her daughter. Their relationship is based on hatred and sarcasm, although they are two lonely souls and can't live without each other. However, Maureen starts a fling with a nice bloke, who came from London to see his family. Through her mother's sly plotting, she loses that chance to escape and the play ends with Maureen murdering her mother. The evening contains many gruesome moments, just a few examples: the mother pouring her night pot down the kitchen sink over the dishes, Maureen scalding her mother's hand with hot oil. And still in all this bleakness there is plenty laughs and love and some hope. The cast acted superbly, although Susan Lynch as Maureen was a bit too beautiful for her role.

The book of last week was The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. I was attracted to this book purely because of the cover. Since I saw that boy in fancy outfit, some higher power didn't let me put down the book. The title also helped and the fact that it won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008 increased the need to read it. And what a disappointment! The story of the Dominican family spans through three generations and it is full of murder, torture, tough love and too much bad language. It reminded me of Vernon God Little a lot (similar language and pointless story about a loser). Never judge a book by it's cover – that cliché is proven to be right by this tome.  

Week 21 - The pictures

August is great to lie on the beach, but not when you are hungry for gripping theatre or awe-inspiring exhibitions. Worst of all, that there aren't any free tickets going around. On the other hand, there is always something happening in London, but Barbican is empty until September, I've seen everything of interest at the National and the big galleries don't have any exciting shows going. So it's perfect to catch up with West End circus and permanent museum displays. However, this week I spent at home catching up with good unseen films on the smallscreen.

Real Larry Flynt

And so the marathon started with The People vs. Larry Flynt. I love nothing more than a media person fighting for the freedom of speech. And might it be a porn mogul, but he's got exactly the same right to express his views (even if it's a cartoon of Santa with a didlo in his hand) as everyone else. And once you remove this right, that's where the problems start. Mr Flynt was so unlikeable, but so real, along with other characters.

Another picture based on the real story was I Love You, Philip Morris with Jim Carrey. A story of a con man, who meets the love of his life in prison. The film trailer makes it look like a cliché gay film, but actually it's about the ridiculous bureaucracy that rules America. The main character managed to escape prison numerous times, but the most shocking was when he faked his Aids result and even his death and no one in the whole system noticed that he was pulling their leg all along. In addition, there is a sweet love story and great soundtrack.

After seeing Audrey Hepburn on millions of postcard stands and Argos posters, I finally saw Breakfast at Tiffany's, which is really an old fashioned romcom. But back in those days people new how to dress and how to entertain, and you couldn't be ashamed admitting you watched it as you would after watching today's equivalent like Valentine's Day or something similar.

Week 20 - Inception

Everyone is going crazy about Inception, a movie event of the year, so I had to be part of this event. I rather liked the idea of the Matrix and people say it has some similarities. The premise is simple – a group of criminals and architects can transfer to other people's dreams and affect their conciousness. Surprisingly no one thought of this before (at least I haven't heard). Nevertheless, it's a great idea and the film worked rather well. Leonardo di Caprio with a group of 'characters', including a way too young-looking student are trying to accomplish a new mission and 'unpredictable' obstacles keep coming up. A fault of the movie particularly annoying and typical to thrillers – millions of bullets never hit main characters even from 1 meter distance. But otherwise it was an enjoyable evening spent in the cinema.

Also this week: started reading E. M. Forster's A Room with a View and not much more...

Week 19 - Earthquakes in London; As You Like It; Mid August Lunch

A packed schedule was waiting for me straight after my holiday. It all started with a preview of an epic new play by Mike Bartlett Earthquakes in London at the National. The National rarely disappoints and this wasn't an exception. The story is a staple – a dysfunctional family of three sisters and their hated father try to find their way in modern day London. Every character has their issues and global warming is high on the list. But what makes this state of the nation play extraordinary is the playwright's humour and Rupert Goold's excellent direction. There is no conventional stage, but a curvy bar on which action takes place and audience sits and stands around. This works especially well in clubbing scenes. The show contains off the press current affairs topics, remade recent pop hits and fantastic performances.

Can you consider yourself a cultured person and not enjoy Shakespeare? Well, I am one of them... Out of all the stagings of Shakespeare I have seen, only one was enjoyed – As You Like It at the Globe last summer. So I was excited to get tickets to the Old Vic to see Sam Mendes' direction this week. That was the last time I forced myself to try the greatest bard's plays. Instead of a joyous adventure in the forest of Arden we got a dark and grim take on the tale.

The week ended with a light-humoured Italian film Mid August Lunch. It is a perfect illustration of the Italian lifestyle – food and wine, an empty city in August and most of the people living with their parents (Italy is number one in Europe on this). As holiday season starts in Rome, Gianni is left with four old women to take care for the weekend. We observe his struggles to make them happy and stay sane.

Also this week: Just couldn't finish the kaka film Creation about Charles Darwin and thoroughly enjoyed Educating Rita at the Trafalgar Studios.  

Week 18 - The Late Middle Classes

The last two weeks I have spent in Lithuania, my home country. Activities here included kayaking in wild nature, lots of Lithuanian beer and not so much culture. However, visiting with friends from abroad and acting as their tourguide, I managed to take in some culture.

We visited the Museum of Genocide in Vilnius, which is dedicated to the Lithuanian struggle against Soviets. It's located in the former KGB building, which, ironically, is now transformed into the courthouse. One does not hear much about Baltic states history in Western Europe, so my friends were fascinated to learn the horrors and amounts of people transported to Siberia or simply killed. After a rather well planned exposition in the museum, visitors are allowed to inspect prison cellars. That is a truly horrific experience as you walk by torture rooms and killing area.

Just before going to Lithuania, I saw The Late Middle Classes at the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden. Simon Gray's play tells a story of a middle class family exiled from London to the Isle of Wight in 1950s. Celia, a wife and mother, excellently performed by Helen McCrory, is bored by provincial life and longing for London. Her son Holly holds this ticket – he needs to win a scholarship for a prestigious school. To increase his chances, a piano tutor is hired and a friendship between the boy and his teacher starts. There is lots of room for suspicions and topical paedophile accusations. As Michael Billington from the Guardian notices, the tutor is presented as 'a man who seeks to harness his instincts and turn them to creative ends'. And so, it is left for a viewer to decide what is the truth. As it was my first time in this celebrated theatre, the play was a perfect christening present.

Week 17

On location

Week 16 - Nevermore; Carbon Club

Two promising theatre performances this week at my favourite venues. The Catalyst Theatre from Canada brought us Nevermore to the Barbican – a dark and grotesque story of Edgar Allen Poe. I got tickets for it as soon as the tour was announced. Poe's life was extremely tragic and full of all woes one can imagine – death, disease, betrayal, alcoholism and poverty. The Catalyst Theatre promised to tell the story through gothic effects and rhymed songs. What a big disappointment it was! It combined all things one hates – circus miming, children's theatre and West End musical. The show was the last this season in the Barbican for me and what a terrible way it was to end an otherwise exciting year in this lively and diverse arts centre.

Another performance turned out to be as exhilarating as it was promised. In summer The National expands outside to the Southbank and fences off Square 2 for outdoors theatre from around the world. Thursday night was spent with Markeline from the Basque Country and their excellent show Carbon Club. From episodes of miners life (strikes, fires underground, friendships and girlfriends) they devise a narrative of 2 characters. Jose constantly dies in various accidents and Antonio, being secretly in love with Jose, always brings him back to life with a kiss. Markeline creates a mayhem with pyrotechnics, loudspeakers and the truly unexpected. When a burning trolley rolled into the audience at the beginning, people faces were marked with fear. Oh, what a look everyone had! Later we participated in a miners strike, in a striptease dance, in a wedding and a funeral. Carbon Club is a prime example of street theatre.

Last week I mentioned Cloud Atlas in this blog, and all this week I kept spotting fellow travellers reading it on the Tube. What an influence! :)