Opinion
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Opinion
Putting the Pulpit on the Stage
No sooner do I decide to treat theatre criticism as a brand of theology, God starts turning up on stage. While I still find it difficult to listen to any pre... Read more »| 31 Mar 2010 -
Opinion
Death and The Critic
While I devoutly hope that this isn’t God giving me a warning, I’ve seen a great deal of death in the theatre lately. First of all, Via Negativa&... Read more »| 24 Mar 2010 -
Opinion
Day 5: Shell Shock and Awe
It's true. I was too shell-shocked to write the final blog the next day. After five days in The Arches, I buckled under the weight of imagery and intensity. ... Read more »| 23 Mar 2010 -
Opinion
National Review, Day 4
“I’ve read so much about them.” “They are on my course’s essential reading.” “I can’t wait to see Forced Ente... Read more »| 21 Mar 2010 -
Opinion
NRLA. Day Three.
Having wrested control back from Charlie Montgomery, I continue to stroke my chin over the definition of Live Art. I know that Iona Kewney is performing in a... Read more »| 19 Mar 2010 -
Opinion
National Review of Live Art: Wank & Naked People Thursday 18th March edited highlights
As a veteran cabaret performer and raconteur of some years vintage, various chums from the hip and arty burlesque scene were recently encouraging me to "d... Read more »| 19 Mar 2010
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Opinion
National Review, Day Two
It’s day two, and the ugly sight of a performance critic boring performers with his dogmatic opinions is repeatedly noted in The CCA and Arches bar. I ... Read more »| 19 Mar 2010 -
Opinion
National Review: Day One
It’s a tough job serving two muses, especially when they’ve both been denied funding from the Arts Council of Olympus for three thousand years. A... Read more »| 18 Mar 2010 -
Opinion
Four Deaths and a stone circle
Since my understanding of life is that wisdom is the gradual recognition of how utterly fucked I am, and that a series of traumas have taught me the moments ... Read more »| 12 Mar 2010 -
Opinion
On theatre blogging
I am feeling a little out of step with the world this week. It might just be the absinthe, or the continued evolution of a romantic sensibility I can’t... Read more »| 03 Mar 2010 -
Opinion
Girls Girls Glas(s)
If, as Luther Blisset suggests in Death of Hermeneutics, performance is merely the mirror in which the reviewer sees themselves, I am not sure that I like th... Read more »| 23 Feb 2010 -
Opinion
Ballet and The National Review of Live Art
Back in the early twentieth century, a conflux of anarchic aesthetes and free thinkers challenged the foundations of western high art. Dada, the surrealists,... Read more »| 18 Feb 2010 -
Opinion
Performing the VD weekend blues
I kicked off the VD blues with The Zeros Keep Going, a timely meditation on the social impact of hardcore pornography. Rather like the public debate, the two... Read more »| 18 Feb 2010 -
Opinion
A performance-themed Valentine's Day
Given that my idea of an appropriate first date is either some demonic clowning from Al Seed or a quick burst of Sarah Kane’s Crave (sample line: &ldqu... Read more »| 08 Feb 2010 -
Opinion
Scottish Opera: An Italian Girl in Algiers
When I noticed the email asking me if I would like to “follow around the bikini sailor girls for a day,” I reminded myself not to subscribe to th... Read more »| 14 Oct 2009