It was while I was in high school that a production of the play ‘Popcorn’ was on stage in Cape Town. It caused a bit of controversy due to its subject matter being the highly topical influence of violence in media. This was the time when Quentin Tarantino was rocketing to the height of his … Continue reading Look Who’s Back
Literature
HMS Erebus and Other Stories
Within a minute of entering Cadogan Hall I heard someone say ‘ya’. I was out of my usual territory, in West London, at a venue I’d not previously heard of for a very special event; the only London date for Michael Palin’s new show. Coinciding with the paperback publishing of his book: “Erebus: The Story … Continue reading HMS Erebus and Other Stories
The Crow of Grief
Leaving the Barbican Centre last Friday I was shaken, a little broken and feeling the need to meditate to regain my centre. I had just seen Enda Walsh’s adaption of Max Porter’s book: “Grief is the Thing with Feathers”. Never before have I seen the tricksy beast that is grief so accurately, uncomfortably and viscerally manifested. … Continue reading The Crow of Grief
Evidently…John Cooper Clarke
Anyone who knows me will tell you I’ve become a bit obsessed with poetry lately. Writing, performing, reading and gigging; it seems to be all I can talk about these days. Mentioning my historical love of the written word in a previous post, I have been feeling lucky to have seen spoken word star Neil Hilborn twice in … Continue reading Evidently…John Cooper Clarke
Stay Lucky
Poetry has long been a companion of mine. Reading and writing it with various degrees of enthusiasm and success has been a part of my life since I first fell in love with Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes as a child. I had entered poems into competitions years ago, and while I never won anything, they … Continue reading Stay Lucky
It’s Alive!
I can’t remember exactly how old I was; I assume around 11. I was standing in the foyer of a theatre somewhere in the small university town of Grahamstown (in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa) during the annual two week arts festival. This adventure was to become something of a family holiday pilgrimage during winter school breaks … Continue reading It’s Alive!