Arts REVIEW: Roots, Shoots and Celestial Flowers: BREMF The Soprano and two mezzos gave some sublime and subtle performances across the evening and I found myself floating off into the ethereal vaults more than once as their voices combined and entwined in perfect harmony and sored into blissfulness. By Eric Page • 2 min read
Arts OPERA REVIEW: The life to come by Fry & Mander it’s refreshing to listen to the voice of such a staunch eloquent atheist being applied to religious dogma and doggerel and the very real harm it has caused to the expression of love in all it’s infinite variety. It’s the first time in a long time when I’ve thought ‘you deserved that you sanctimo By Eric Page • 3 min read
Arts REVIEW: The Real Thing @Theatre Royal Stoppard’s words fly around, they are funny and caustic, the actors obviously enjoy speaking them, even if the sentences are often more than a mouthful, the set piece speeches are entertaining and irritating, clever, deep and shallow and it’s all very showy and apparently entertaining on one level, By Eric Page • 2 min read
Arts REVIEW: Rodelinda @ENO This is one of the best productions of Rodelinda I’ve seen and the strong Welsh contingent gives it a real Celtic flavour and strength, it’s a three and half hour thumper of a piece and might run over, but for me it could have gone on twice as long and got me all the way home to Brighton in state of By Eric Page • 3 min read
Arts REVIEW: An Audience with Armistead Maupin @Theatre Royal This was an unforgettable evening with the Tales of the City author celebrating the launch of his long-awaited memoir Logical Family. From his early life in the conservative South to liberal San Francisco, from his palm-reading Grannie to an awkward chat about girls with President Nixon, Armistead M By Eric Page • 3 min read
Arts REVIEW: PLAINSONG TO POLYPHONY: BREMF Music from the 12th to the 16th centuries culminating in the ultimate polyphonic work, Tallis’s 40-part motet Spem in alium this large gathering of voice had some gentle choreography added to explore the roots of polyphony in ancient chant melodies. By Eric Page • 2 min read
Arts DVD REVIEW: Teenage Kicks Teenage Kicks (Matchbox DVD) certainly starts off in an arresting way with incestuous desire leading directly to death within about two minutes. Yet Miklós Varga (Miles Szanto) doesn’t seem to learn from this as he sets out to prove Homer Simpson’s adage about the brain being ‘a subsidiary of the pe By Michael Hootman • 1 min read
Arts REVIEW: Orpheus Caledonius: BREMF This was a beguiling mix of the 18th century blending with contemporary Scottish folk singing and the talents of Miller and Ozmo which together brought us into a state of sublime simplicity, where the music and atmosphere transcended the event and took us to a very special pure space of perfection. By Eric Page • 2 min read
Arts BOOK REVIEW: A Marvellous Party by Ian Elmslie He shares his respect and joy of the Queer icons who have inspired him, and given him the strength to get through the the tough time, he shares the things he has learned and with insight and amusement and some honest passages that are heart-warming. By Eric Page • 2 min read
Arts Toupie Lowther: Her life by Val Brown: Book Launch Local author Val Brown launched her new book last night. This book is an insightful new biography of Toupie Lowther who appears as a walk-on character in many biographies of Radclyffe Hall and Una Troubridg but is a most fascinating woman in her own right. By Eric Page • 2 min read
Arts THEATRE REVIEW: Rules for Living @ Theatre Royal Sam Holcroft’s marvellous comedy looks at a family get-together as it gradually disintegrates. Over the course of a Christmas lunch revelations are revealed, old resentments are reignited and no one is left unscathed by the events – events for which they all share some of the blame. The play has bee By Michael Hootman • 2 min read
Arts OPERA REVIEW: The Barber of Seville @English National Opera Two centuries after its premiere and thirty years after its first outing in 1987, Jonathan Miller’s Tiepolo-inspired staging brilliantly intercuts the traditions of the Italian commedia dell’arte and the Whitehall farce to create a charming evening of musical and comedy enjoyment. Rossini’s prequel By Eric Page • 3 min read
