Alien Covenant: Knowing Your Creator.

'Alien: Covenant' is the second prequel to the 'Alien' franchise.  The sequel to 'Prometheus', Ridley Scott's flirtation with big philosophical ideas, which seemed to alienate quite a few viewers (please forgive the intentional pun).

This instalment opens with a fascinating dialogue between David, the synthetic and his creator, Peter Weyland in a minimalist space that just happens to contain several cultural artifacts, most notably, a Steinway piano and Michaelangelo's 'David', which the synthetic calls himself after the sculptural masterpiece.  David views himself as perfect and indeed, on one level he is.  Tellingly, the most significant and potent idea that thematically holds the film structure together is the fact that David knows who his creator is, his inventor doesn't (okay, Peter Weyland knows who his parents are but ultimately, where did the human race come from?).  Philosophically, this puts the human race at a disadvantage.  If we do not know where we come from originally, how can we know where we are going and if the decisions we are making are reasonable or even necessary?

David is the perfect creation, he learns can create and sees a bigger picture.  The only problem is the fact that he is the only one who understands how perfect he is.  He makes mistakes (at one point in the film, he mistakes the author of 'Ozymandias', believing it to have been written by Byron.  The poem was written by Shelley) but cannot perceive his mistakes.

Later in the film, Walter who is one of the series of synthetics who succeeded David's model describes how he cannot create.  The later models are less self-aware, more compliant.  In one particularly moving scene, David helps Walter to learn to play the recorder.  He holds down the notes and gets Walter to blow.

Truly, the most engaging aspects of the film are the characters of David and Walter and the philosophical explorations of creation, survival and reproduction.

I am sure that somewhere within the film's narrative, I lost my way because from a Darwinist perspective, I am certain that the pathogen based method of reproduction  i.e. entering the host, gestating and then materialising as an alien form is far more effective than David's later efforts as scientist or midwife when he uses the egg/Facehugger to host method which leads to the alien form (pretty much the Giger designed Xenomorph, we are used to from the original 'Alien').  Indeed, when we examine this reproductive model, it is as fundamentally flawed as human sexual intercourse, subject as it is to the risk of infection and moments of vulnerability.  Admittedly, the end alien form from this process seems stronger and more perfectly formed than the slightly insipid forms that are the result of the pathogen method of reproduction.

The human beings in the film are suitably naive, blindly following the synthetics when they would be wiser to let them alone.  But being led is a necessary side effect of the human condition when your existence is driven by ill defined goals and science has supplanted the need for God, all that the human race can do is follow binary instructions in the hope that salvation can be located somewhere else.  The fact that the ship is called 'Covenant' with its Biblical allusions could be coincidental within the context of the film.  Who is the covenant with?  The Covenant as a ship is clearly an Ark designed to help the human race begin again elsewhere, full of a number of embryos as well as adult passengers.  What has the human race done to the Earth to necessitate the need to escape and start again or else is this simply another case of blatant expansionism?  Imperialism masked as survivalism?

If 'Alien: Covenant' tells us anything, it isn't solely do not mess with nature; its lessons are more tightly immersed in notions of belief and love.  Aliens do not seem to love, but they do prolifically reproduce.  Once they exhaust their supply of host bodies, the species remains somewhat dormant. The human race can only survive if they do not exhaust their resources through reproduction.  If ever there were a film that graphically depicts the dangers of over population amidst diminishing resources, this is it.

                                                                          Barry Watt - 14th May 2017.

Afterword.

'Alien: Covenant' is currently still doing the rounds of many cinemas.  I recommend it.  Hopefully, Ridley Scott won't release a 'Director's Cut' in six months.  All characters and plot elements are mentioned to illustrate my feelings and arguments.  The characters and plot elements are copyright to the film companies and filmmakers involved with the film.

'Prometheus' is available on DVD (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) and should probably be viewed before seeing 'Alien: Covenant'.

Steinway & Sons make amazing pianos that are most regularly seen in concert halls owing to their cost.

https://www.steinway.com/pianos/steinway/grand

Michaelangelo's 'David' seriously blows your mind if you get to see it outside of a postcard.  It's enormous and visually astounding.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_(Michelangelo)

'Ozymandias' was a sonnet written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in around 1817:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymandias

Lord Byron was a poet and very interesting gentlemen with many appetites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Byron

H.R. Giger was an artist and he played an important role in the special effects team on 'Alien' and essentially designed the Xenomorph and other alien forms including the Facehuggers, we know and love from the film.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._R._Giger

The 'Alien' films are all worth seeing and they are all available on DVD.

                                                                                                                                 BW



                                                                   

On Maps - The Art of Locating Yourself and Others, on Finding What's There and What Isn't.

Some time ago, I visited the 'Maps and the 20th Century: Drawing The Line' exhibition at the British Library.  The exhibition focused on maps from the 20th century.  A century rife with creation, war and social upheaval.  I guess you could say the same about any epoch where humanity is concerned, yet the development of technology and new forms of engineering did radically alter peoples' lives and made the need to locate oneself more pressing.

In the exhibition, the maps on offer illustrated many interesting facts about the concept of maps. They can be used to illustrate spatial scale, which is clearly of unique importance during times of war, but they can also break down the social make-up of a community.  One of the most striking maps on offer was a small cut-up map which had been attached to a rifle in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, marking up the roads whose inhabitants were primarily Catholic and those roads where the residents were Protestants. This brutally brought home the point that maps are not always neutral, they have agendas.  In this case, a soldier would refer to her/his rifle to get a sense of bearing and to learn whether s/he would soon be entering a 'hostile' area.

When maps were in their formative stages; the days when explorers were still finding and conquering new areas, many sections of the maps were marked with expressions such as 'uncharted territory'. The unknown has always been a subject that piques the interest and/or paradoxically, scares the life out of people.

Within the exhibition, the maps of the fictional worlds of the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien were particularly interesting, his map of Middle Earth enabled him to think in terms of geographical distance between places, which is a primary feature of maps.  Scale informs our understanding of how long it will take us to get from one place to another.  Indeed, Tolkien apparently referred to his map quite a bit as a way of getting to grips with narrative events and getting characters around his world.

The map of Disneyland, which was also on display further emphasised how the imaginary needs to be structured for people to locate themselves.  Although, Disneyland is a real place, the concept behind it clearly stems from the world of the imagination.  I can imagine Walt Disney in an almost stream of consciousness state defining the territories that children of all ages would be traversing, possibly for centuries to come.

I have always had a liking for the Situationists and also the psychogeographers, those people who play with location, memory and emotion.  The many journeys undertaken by those explorers who haphazardly stumble upon new locations by applying the wrong city map to the wrong city, using this as a starting point for bizarre adventures.

This ties neatly in to those of us who get lost regularly and for whom maps are merely a guide.  I will follow a map for awhile, get disorientated and end up slightly deviating from my original course, before retracing my steps.  Urban and city planning is quite often the cause for so many people losing themselves and others in sprawling metropolises that are never totally completed.  In particular, London gradually encroaches upon an ever increasing space.  The 'Green Belt' tightens.  The only place I have ever comfortably negotiated is Barcelona with its grid like street structures, providing long roads with the same names and intersection roads.  The majority of the roads are quite straight.

Compare this with the area around the City of London and marvel that anyone ever finds what they are looking for.  I love the Barbican but even the City of London Corporation (and anyone else responsible for managing the area) are aware of how hard it can be to find the main Barbican Centre and other locations, so many signs and indeed, markings on the walkways in the main Barbican Estate help with the act of direction.

As a concluding point, maps and topographies are not always used to define space but also ideas. This was touched on above with the work of the psychogeographers with their interest in histories, both real and imagined.  The myths that define a culture.  The 'Sweeney Todds' and 'Spring-Heeled Jacks' who occupy a bizarre intersection point between the imagined and the real.  Does the imagined become real when enough people believe in the myth?  Think also of the concept of 'mind maps', those squares and rectangles etc into which we can break up the components of an essay or project or even our lives..  Write 'What makes me happy?' in a box in the centre of a page of A4 paper and send spidery tendrils out to other boxes.  Redefine your personal perimeters.  Maps and topographies are about establishing order or the pretence of order.

By now, as I set off on a new journey, |I implore you all to look at the maps that surround us with new eyes.  One of my favourite maps appears on the cover of Radiohead's album, 'Hail To The Thief''.  A composition called 'Pacific Coast' by Stanley Donwood.  The artist used a map of Hollywood and littered the map with words and phrases he saw as he gazed upon the advertising that he saw around him in Los Angeles.  When viewed it breaks down human preoccupations and emotional states etc, into fragments and buzzwords.  The breakdown leading to the commencement of a new journey, one that starts from within, a questioning of needs and let's all be perfectly honest, all good and bad journeys begin within.

                                                                                               Barry Watt - 18th March 2017.

Afterword.

The 'Maps and the 20th Century: Drawing the Line' exhibition at the British Library has sadly finished but it lives on in my mind and I recommend future exhibitions at the British Library to you:

https://www.bl.uk/whats-on

J.R.R. Tolkien was responsible for many renowned works of fantasy fiction, most notably, 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings' published by many publishers over the years including Harper Collins.  The detail concerning Tolkien cross-referencing his map in order to keep on top of his narratives and the progression of his characters, I read at the British Library.

Disneyland is the trademark of Disney and my opinions of Disneyland and its creation are my own. Although, I will add that Walt Disney was a genius in my opinion.  After all, his legacy continues to grow.

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/

For more on the Situationists, please take a look at the following Wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International

To explore the ever growing and exciting world of the psychogeographers, go out of your front door and walk the wrong way with a sense of incoherent purpose but seriously, there are as many ways of experiencing psychogeography as living your life but for a basic rundown of the key figures (at least, they key literary and I guess academic figures etc), take a look at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychogeography

The Barbican Centre is probably one of the most culturally important establishments.  Here's their website:

http://www.barbican.org.uk/

For more on the horrors of 'Sweeney Todd', please see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweeney_Todd

If you want to read more about 'Spring-Heeled Jack' (he truly got around as he was reportedly spotted all around the UK at various points):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring-heeled_Jack

Radiohead and 'Hail To The Thief', one of their albums, are both well worth exploring:

http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/

'Pacific Coast' by Stanley Donwood can be viewed here with an interesting article:

http://theconversation.com/stanley-donwood-radiohead-and-the-power-of-musical-artwork-41683

                                                                                                                            B.W.

Fifty Shades Darker - On Apple and Vanilla Sex.

I don't know why but I just felt that I should continue my short series of blogs based on the 'Fifty Shade' series.  As you know, I have read the books and I saw the first film, so with some trepidation I went to see the second film a few weeks ago.

'Fifty Shades Darker' continues where the previous film left off and basically sees the relationship between Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele resume but without the rules and contracts that have informed his previous relationships.  His predilection for control based relationships with more than a slight hint of sadism connected to them shunted to one side, so that he can develop a meaningful relationship with Ana.  Once again, the film slightly explores Christian Grey's troubled upbringing. As the film opens, we are privy to Christian Grey's nightmare concerning his biological mother as she is seemingly being abused in the distance by a man who comes into his bedroom and catches Christian Grey hiding beneath his bed.

I am not going to give you a full synopsis of the film as it is a fairly faithful adaptation of the second book in the 'Fifty Shades Trilogy'.  But I will highlight some aspects of the film that either intrigued or dissatisfied me.  Let's start with the most obvious point, for a film that supposedly focuses upon the world of S and M and sexual practices in general, there is very little sex in the film.  Now whether you see this as a good or bad thing is largely down to how you feel about cinematic depictions of sex. If the sexual acts are over done, the flow of a film's narrative can be inhibited.  In fact, I can only think of a handful of films where depictions of sexual acts do not disturb the film's narrative and are indeed, integral to the development of character and plot.  'Don't Look Now' is one such film.  As Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie's characters make love, you can see how their relationship has changed following the death of their young daughter.  There is a sense of pathos about their lovemaking.  In 'Fifty Shades Darker', the sex becomes as Ana wishes very 'vanilla'.  Indeed, in one scene, she visually illustrates where she sees their love life going by holding up a tub of Ben and Jerry's Vanilla ice cream.

Within this film, 'Vanilla sex' is pretty much the order of the day.  It's largely a consensual couple making love in the missionary position.  As the film goes on, Ana becomes more experimental and begins to use the equipment in the Red Room as she becomes more interested in the practical application of bondage.  Also the infamous 'silver balls' are inserted by Christian Grey at one point in the narrative.  These I suppose provide stimulation through movement for Ana, although any pleasure she experiences is not always apparent from the acting of Dakota Johnson (or to give her justice from the script and direction).  Something that the book and film both avoid properly exploring is the high level of dependency that can be implicit within sado masochistic relationships.  Within the book and film, one of Christian Grey's previous submissives, Leila Williams pursues Ana and Christian, which leads to an eventual confrontation, in which Christian saves the day.  This is an element of both the film and book that could have been better developed.  Although, maybe I am trying too hard to squeeze some kind of psychosexual analysis out of a series that is more concerned with only slightly pulling back the curtains on a world that the author wishes us to see but not fully understand?  E.L. James' interest is in the characters of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, the other characters do not feel as developed.

My most fundamental issue with this film is the product placement.  Apple once again dominates and also as suggested earlier, Ben and Jerry ice cream.  I long for the day when a character doesn't pull out a laptop which lights up the Apple logo.  It makes me want to understand more concerning how corporate companies are involved in the production of these films, do they invest money or simply offer their goods, if they are promised that their products will be featured prominently throughout the running time of a film?

To close, the film as a whole feels quite wholesome, which may be the harshest thing I can say about it.  If anything, the sexual acts portrayed in this film are slightly more restrained than in the previous film.  What intrigues me is the fact that this film was directed by James Foley with some involvement from E.L. James.  I wonder how different the film may have been if directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, the director of the first film?  Although, ultimately, the source material determines how the narrative progresses.  I respect that the novels were written in the first place but just wish that the author had focused more on the BDSM world, which seemed to loosely inspire them.  Sex may sell books but very few books can successfully offer an erotic world that empowers both women and men or indeed, explore sexuality in its myriad forms.

                                                                                        Barry Watt - 3rd March 2017.  

Afterword

The 'Fifty Shades Trilogy' consists of 'Fifty Shades of Grey', 'Fifty Shades Darker' and 'Fifty Shades Freed'.  They are written by E.L. James and they are published by Arrow.

'Don't Look Now' is based on the short story by Daphne du Maurier and the film was released in 1973 and is available on DVD from Optimum Home Entertainment.  It's still one of the most intelligent films about the bereavement process, I have yet to see.

'Ben and Jerry's' are an ice cream company that make pretty good ice cream:

http://www.benjerry.co.uk/

Apple (not to be confused with the other Apple company with connections to the band, The Beatles) are a major corporation that make electrical goods that everyone seems to want.  Their website is below:

www.apple.com

                                                                                                                                      BW

On Dance - A Brief, Subjective Overview of Pirouettes and Volatile Wiggles.

I can't dance but as I get older, I learn to appreciate its cultural and social importance.  Dance is effectively a reaction to external and internal stimuli.  Everyone has memories of dancing at parties. The dancers that we most often recall are notably the flamboyant ones.  The ones who move like eels through water.  The ones who fully occupy the space they have.  I have fond memories of dancing once with a friend at a Gothic themed disco.  Just the two of us spinning around in a pseudo waltz style to a Nick Cave song, which had clearly scared off some of the other dancers (their style seemed to be more frequently of the floor staring variety, whilst they periodically moved from one foot to the other slowly.  A symbolic representation of an insularity that seemed to express their inner engagement with the lyrics of the songs on offer).  We carried on regardless unaware of the people around us.

Through my attendance of performances, I have in my head some notion of what constitutes a memorable dance performance for me.  For me, there needs to be a theme, narrative or emotional structure holding the performance together.  Otherwise, the dancers are simply moving as meaningfully as a group of ramblers to me.  I cannot describe dance movements to you, just how they make me feel.  A balletic jump can be impressive as a way of denoting strength of character or it can be a throwaway gesture wasted on me.

Dance at its most potent to me challenges my conceptions and makes me feel.  I have seen productions based on songs such as Michael Clark Company's interpretation of some of Patti Smith's songs and I feel tremendous satisfaction interpreting how hand movements and bodily slides express a point.  On the other hand, I have seen performances that have tried to be too clever and the dancers have been seemingly performing in counterpoint to the music.  I have a particular liking for Matthew Bourne's shows.  I suspect that this may be because of his emphasis upon narrative sources, whether these be fairy tales or operas.  It is easier to concentrate on a story, however condensed than on a random sequence of dances with only a slight theme.

Having said all of that, if you reduce dance to its essential state, it can be primal, ritualistic and indeed, a courtship device.  Tribal dancing bringing forth a good harvest or reaffirming the strength of a community.  Possibly, it means something more if you are part of the proceedings but even watching from a distance, the power of movement can overcome.

If someone gives you the opportunity to dance, don't say no, just enter a trance like state and spin on the spot or leap majestically from one foot to the next.  If you feel it, do it.

                                                                                 Barry Watt - 27th December 2016.

Afterword.

Nick Cave is a major singer/songwriter/writer who remains a significant performer:

http://www.nickcave.com/

Michael Clark Company has its own website:

http://www.michaelclarkcompany.com/current.php

Patti Smith is another major singer/songwriter/writer who really needs to be heard and seen more widely:

http://www.pattismith.net/intro.html

Matthew Bourne continues to produce innovative and inspiring shows, which he tours:

http://new-adventures.net/matthew-bourne

                                                                                                                         B.W.

'Giving the Author his Due' - Why Harold Pinter Matters.

Since the 90s, I have wandered around worlds of mental illness, relationship breakdowns, false memories and sinister aggressive figures, sometimes torturers, sometimes desperate game players. Every so-called victim, a potential bully in the making.  I have seen territories disputed and language condensed to the noise of silence.  Now pause...

In the 90s, I studied Harold Pinter's 'The Caretaker' for A-Level English and I was immediately struck by the language and content of the play.  I was lucky enough to see a production of 'The Caretaker' at the Comedy Theatre starring Donald Pleasence, Colin Firth and Peter Howitt.  It was directed by Pinter himself and he was in the audience watching with a young relative or friend on the day I saw the production with my mother.  In retrospect, you never forget your first Pinter production.

Pinter's plays are expressive visions of the human condition.  They do not always follow a coherent narrative strand but then nor do our lives.  By and large, there will always be one character that you can relate to, even if you cannot understand their motives or agendas.  Also one interesting aspect of Pinter's plays concerns those characters that you would not want to meet in daily life.  The most threatening characters can also be the most vulnerable.  Just as in life, power dynamics change as situations vary and people experience different needs.  

The language in Pinter's plays also serves to break down the apparent comfortable certainties of human communication.  The empty platitudes and endless repetitions.  Constant needless enquiries about the weather.  Filling time.  More intense subjects marked by pauses, either breakdowns or moments of extreme emotion.  Time to rearm, to reconsider the assumptions made.

The so-called 'Pinter pause' is often used to criticise the playwright's work but anyone who has ever sat in a restaurant and watched other diners will notice at least one couple, who are not communicating using words.  Yet the feeling of mutual distaste is conveyed through the silence.  This is not companionable silence, the comfortable feeling of knowing each other so well that words are not necessary.  Pauses are a natural and necessary aspect of conversation.  It's not always easy to think of what to say for the best.  I think the importance of Pinter's use of pauses is most apparent when you see the play performed.  On paper, they simply fragment the text.  On stage, you can see the body language of the actors as they convey the emotional states of the characters they are portraying.

I have seen so many memorable productions of Pinter's plays.  They can and should be performed in a myriad of locations.  I remember seeing 'The New World Order' at the Shoreditch Town Hall, which incorporated five of his plays ('Press Conference', 'One for the Road', 'Precisely', 'Mountain Language' and 'The New World Order' into one emotionally coherent immersive experience.  The audience was led around different areas of the building.  One of the plays was actually performed on a staircase.  The plays chosen were the most politically potent of Pinter's plays, although his plays always explored issues of power and its abuse.  He was a very vocal supporter of human rights, so his exploration of the complicity and occasional atrocities of human beings towards each other, are an understandable feature of his work.

To conclude, at one point after a rehearsed reading of 'Celebration' at a London Theatre, I hung around the stage door and obtained the autographs of the actors.  It was a veritable who's who of the acting scene including Michael Gambon and Joanna Lumley etc.  One of the actors took the playtext of 'Celebration' out of my hand and muttered the immortal line, 'Giving the author his due'.  I deeply respected this idea.  By buying the text, I was not only somehow contributing royalties to the playwright but also acknowledging the importance of his work.  If this blog entry is about nothing else, it is about encouraging people to read and see Pinter's work.  He really was one of the greatest playwrights.  Having seen him perform in a version of 'No Man's Land' in the 90s, I can also attest that he was a memorable actor too.

                                                                                           Barry Watt - 11th September 2016.

Afterword.

All of the plays listed in this blog are available in a variety of editions by both Faber and Faber and Methuen.  If you are interested in the plays of Harold Pinter, they are also available as four collected editions from Faber and Faber.  The copyrights to the plays are of course the properties of the respective holders.

                                                                                                                                     BW.

    

2015 - A Year In Review - May - A Month of Helmets, Low Lighting and Rotten Apples.

May 2015.

Last May was relatively quiet.  I got to see some quite interesting things including the revival of 'Shock Treatment', which really should have transferred to the West End.

Friday 1st May 2015 - 'A Mad World, My Masters' at the Barbican.

The Royal Shakespeare production of Thomas Middleton's comedy transposed to Britain in the Fifties.  I remember finding this production hilarious.  Not least because sitting in the front row left me open to being used as a prop by the actors.  At one point, one of the actors jumped off stage and held me, relaying his dialogue and then quietly whispering that 'I didn't have to do anything'.  Somehow, it's hard to know how to feel when somewhere deep down inside there is a performer aching to come out.  

Saturday 2nd May 2015 - 'The Avengers: Age of Ultron' at the Barbican.

I saw this in 3D and although, it completely deviates from the comic stories that inspired it (Hank Pym created Ultron, not Tony Stark and Bruce Banner), it was pretty watchable.  Paul Bettany as the Vision is a surprisingly sympathetic character, precisely because his character grows like a child, learning more of the ways of human beings (he is a Synthezoid, an android of types sharing many similarities with human beings).  The 3D effects as ever underwhelmed me.  It was a less than wonderful gimmick in the 50s and continues to offer nothing to the audiences' enjoyment of a film.  I enjoyed how in many respects, Ultron within this film becomes like Frankenstein's Monster, the victim of Stark and Banner's vanity project.  It also quite rightly jumps to the conclusion that human beings and the Avengers are part of the problem, when one considers issues of how best to maintain peace and stability.

Friday 8th May 2015 - 'Knightmare Live: Level 2' at the Udderbelly Festival.

A second trip down memory lane as I had seen this once before live.  'Knightmare' used to be screened on ITV after school I believe on Fridays.  It involved a small group of children leading another child who wore a helmet and satchel around a computer generated dungeon.  The group had to avoid obstacles including monsters and traps.  They also had to solve riddles.  Overseeing all of the action was one major figure, Treguard the Dungeon Master and also various villains including Lord Fear.  The live action version basically takes the format of the original and uses adults to guide a member of the audience who ends up wearing the helmet.  As the Udderbelly Festival is a comedy festival, the guiding team are comedians.  The humour comes from the fact that the sets look terrible but somehow, the whole experience evokes the feelings I used to experience when I saw the TV series.  Essentially, it's a nostalgia trip but a good one.

Saturday 9th May 2015 - 'Sonia Delaunay' at the Tate Modern and 'Far From The Madding Crowd' at the BFI.

I have just discovered scribbled on my calendar a reference to the fact that I attended an art exhibition at the Tate Modern, prior to going to the BFI in the afternoon.  It was in fact the 'Sonia Delaunay' exhibition and all I remember about it was how colourful her creations were.  Vibrant uses of colour and shape.

'Far From The Madding Crowd' was the 60s version of the film starring Terrence Stamp and Julie Christie.  For me, Terrence Stamp still epitomises the 60s, something about his brooding good looks. Julie Christie is also ideally cast as Bathsheba, Thomas Hardy's wonderfully named and strong character.  It's a great adaptation of a brilliant novel.

Sunday 10th May 2015 - Artists' Open House 2015 (Various locations around South East London).

I went round a number of properties with a friend exploring the art works of local artists.  A very stimulating way to pass a Sunday afternoon.  One artist created faux cinema posters and another local landscape paintings.  So many talented people.

Tuesday 12th May 2015 - 'Alice's Adventures Underground' at the Vaults.

I attended this immersive experience with a friend.  Basically, the events in the performance mirrored the two novels, 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Alice Through The Looking Glass' by Lewis Carroll.  The most powerful scene for me being the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.  Basically, the audience were seated around a long table with the remains of china ware scattered in front of us.  The Mad Hatter was running up and down the table scaring the life out of the audience.  I also remember one point where I was left alone to spy on the characters to try to ascertain who had repainted the flowers.  The whole experience was quite surreal and just a little bit too busy.  It's hard to critique an immersive performance as you get out of it what you put in.  I liked the details including the use of mirrors.

Friday 15th May 2015 - 'Betrayal: A Polyphonic Crime Drama' at the Village Underground.

This was a truly unique experience.  It used the music of Carlo Gesualdo, an Italian Renaissance composer who killed his unfaithful wife and her lover.  In fact, each of these elements informed this immersive experience.  The audience were all given small torches to light up the performers who danced and sang.  The Village Underground in Shoreditch was also used like a crime scene with notices and crime details stuck around the venue.  The darkness and patches of light made for a very uneasy yet thrilling experience.  I Fagiolini, the vocal ensemble, were amazing.  I saw this with a friend and it still resonates.

Tuesday 19th May 2015 - 'The Pride' at the South London Theatre.

Lovely version of a play by Alexi Kaye Campbell.  It explores various relationships and attitudes towards homosexuality.  I enjoyed the play a lot.  The bucket was also an interesting feature in the Prompt Corner (used to catch any water if it rained).  My enduring memory of this production was the quality of the acting and direction.  The South London Theatre's original location is currently undergoing restoration work and I am glad that they are currently based at the nearby Stanley Halls until the work can be completed.

Friday 22nd May 2015 - The Tiger Lillies at the London Wonderground.

Gosh, I have seen The Tiger Lillies a lot over the years.  Their bizarre blend of cabaret, murder ballads and other songs about the darker side of life greatly appeals to me.  Also the accordion becomes an essential musical element in their performance.  Also I am glad that I have like minded companions who enjoy their music too.  It's also fun seeing them in the Spiegeltent that is regularly used during the London Wonderground season each year.

Wednesday 27th May 2015 - 'The Harvest' at the Soho Theatre.

So many apples!  A play about apple picking.  The stage was surrounded by overhanging fruit.  A very funny play about the problems of apple picking exploring the dangers of over packing crates (you can bruise the fruit and once one apple is bruised, the rest can become bruised).  I attended this event with friends too and I recall lots of smashed apples at the end and broken wooden crates.

Friday 29th May 2015 - 'Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty' at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

My second visit to the exhibition and I still felt that it was overrated.  The curators should have let McQueen's work speak for itself rather than impose their artistic vision all over it.  This second visit was a very quick trip too.

Sunday 31st May 2015 - 'Shock Treatment' at the King's Head Theatre, Islington.

Pretty major revival of Richard O'Brien's 'Shock Treatment'.  This was the first time I had seen the musical and it was brilliantly staged.  The stage area and auditorium were designed to resemble a TV studio and the performance was anarchic.  Well acted and the songs were eminently memorable. Sadly, despite a bit of a campaign on social media sites, it hasn't transferred to the West End yet but really should!

                                                                                         Barry Watt - 12th June 2016.

Afterword.

All of the productions and exhibitions etc are copyright to their respective owners.

                                                                                                                   BW

'Punching The Sky' - Living and Growing With The Internet - An Interview With Lizi Patch.

I attended ‘Punching The Sky’ at the Soho Theatre based upon a guttural instinct that this performance would offer something different and brutally honest.  I was not disappointed.  The play offers an autobiographical insight into parenthood and indeed, growing up in a sensitive and occasionally stylised manner.

The writer, co-producer and one of the performers in her work, Lizi Patch has very kindly consented to let me interview her.  My focus for this interview will be the play as I have deliberately avoided the previous interviews and any articles that are available.  I have also yet to read Lizi Patch’s blog.  I would like this interview to demonstrate that a work of art in any form can influence others and help to generate conversation.

As a lead in, ‘Punching The Sky’ is a play that explores an event that had significant repercussions for Lizi Patch and her family.  Her son Arthur (who at that point was eleven) was sent a web link via mobile phone from one of his friends or classmates at school and upon accessing it, unwillingly viewed hard-core pornography for the first time.  Several days later, Arthur spoke about the experience to his Mum.

From viewing the play, I was immediately struck by your decision to start the play as though the audience were your children and you were reading them a fairy tale.  The fairy tale about the Princess effectively ends with the rape of the Princess.  I interpreted this as maybe, the violation of innocence (in the same way as Arthur’s innocence had been affected by the hard-core pornography he had viewed).  Was this also an indication as to the content of the hard-core pornography? 

This is an interesting take on the opening. I’d like to keep this deliberately open to interpretation.

When Arthur came to you after accessing the web link, how did you initially help him to understand what he had seen?  I recall seeing the sequence in the play involving him exploring the internet as a means of understanding why women appear in pornography and stumbling on other information.  Do you feel that in some cases, understanding contentious issues and subjects or at least exploring them can help to overcome potentially damaging psychological problems?  How does Arthur feel now concerning the material he viewed?

Understanding, contextualising and exploring contentious issues is of primary importance in making sense of our world. That starts the moment we’re born and – in my experience – continues throughout adulthood. The difficult bit is how we access information and what that information is, you know - who it’s coming from.  The internet is a wonderful tool, but as you see in the show (and as we all know) the content is put there by humans, one question leads to another and we’re all fallible. As a parent you can only do what you think makes sense at the time, and by listening in a non-judgemental way and answering my son’s questions as openly and honestly as I felt was appropriate was all I could do.

When you wrote your blog concerning Arthur’s exposure to hard-core pornography, did you anticipate the variety of responses that it would generate?

No, absolutely not. I initially wrote down what was in my head purely to make some sense of the overwhelming sense of anger and sadness I felt in learning at my son’s horrible loss of innocence and the fact I felt I had failed him by not somehow preventing it. As I say in the play “‘it was only when I looked back at what I’d written I thought ‘people need to read this…. some one’s got to start this conversation’”.

I had no idea that it would be picked up by the Independent, I had no idea I would be called to Westminster to discuss policy change with the shadow cabinet (as if there was any likelihood of them gaining power and changing policy! We still hope!), I had no idea I would be sitting across from Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight discussing the issues. I was, perhaps naively, completely unprepared for the wave of response. Thinking back it’s obvious. I put something deeply personal out there; something that people find it incredibly hard to talk about and it touched a massive nerve.

Your play beautifully explores family life and how your two sons have grown up through animated sequences and also through the use of the male and female actor who also perform in your play.   I found their roles in the play fascinating, alternately representing aspects of public opinion and sometimes, your children.  To what extent, have the two actors helped to contribute to the development of your work? Also as a writer and performer, do you find that you work most effectively on your own or collaboratively or does this depend upon the project you are working on?

I have worked with a number of actors over the course of 2 Arts Council funded Research and Development phases (supported by partner venues the Lowry, Live Theatre, the Hub in Leeds and Theatre in the Mill, Bradford) and into the tour rehearsal period. They and my co-Producer (and Director for the Tour and Soho), Mark Hollander, have contributed huge amounts to the development of the piece which would not be the piece it is without them. No one is indifferent to the subject matter of access to hard-core online porn and all had stories of their own to bring to the table. The actors for the tour and Soho run - Emily Dowson (Medea) and Rob Ward (Webster) worked intuitively and brought 2 very tricky characters to life under Mark’s skilful direction. Personifying the Internet is not easy! But Emily and Rob both have exactly the right skillset to get to the heart of the roles. Rob was the original Webster at the first scratch performance when the play was called ‘Slap’ and shown at the West Yorkshire Playhouse ‘Playground’, so had a strong foundation to build on.

Sometimes I have to work alone. I enjoy my own company and solitary walking helps me piece together so many ideas (I recommend it. I don’t suffer from writer’s block – I just walk). At other times I actively seek out excellent collaborators, brilliant artists who know stuff I don’t. Cross-pollination often brings strong, rich work and my collaborators on Punching The Sky were truly spot on. Arcus Animation Studios (Gateshead) worked with great sensitivity and were so responsive throughout the process, creating the ‘cartoon Arthur’, bringing him to life and developing truly integrated and thought-provoking content throughout the piece. Aron Kyne (Composer, Sound Design for the Tour and Soho)  and Alex Turner (additional sound design) were hugely responsive to the material that already existed and – crucially – also suggested content that I could never have thought of as I’m simply not a sound designer so we see different things at different moments. Collaboration lives or dies by how willing you all are to listen to the needs of the piece and serve that rather than your own ego.  If you choose to collaborate you have to guide but not be stiflingly precious about your work.  I am fortunate in that I have met and worked with so many excellent artists over the years and I keep them close by! I also work with them on their projects – it’s a 2-way flow.

I will say that, when necessary, I can happily step away and trust my own strengths/instincts. Having 30 years behind me (and the same in front!) as a performer, director, writer, producer and developer of multi-artform collaborations means I should know my stuff!

The play ends with the letter that you wrote to your son, which ultimately suggests that life is about experience; it’s about making mistakes, learning from them and moving on.  The play as a whole left me with a sense of hope.  Your decision to use the YouTube video that your son had created of his amazing feats as an encore of types also felt like a brave creative decision.  Indeed, after viewing your play, I began to interpret the title of your play, ‘Punching The Sky’ as both a reference to your son’s jubilant arm gesture upon completing such feats as walking a wall and also as maybe, a commentary on anything that is ill defined or difficult to provide any structure to.  I am not a parent but I guess in many respects, parenthood is like this, helping to nurture and steer your children, in ways that will help them to develop yet also avoid things that may be harmful to them.  There are no real guidebooks.  You have to make decisions based on instinct, emotions and I guess risk assessment.   Have your two sons seen this performance in any of the venues you have performed it in and if so, what was their reaction to it?

This is a lovely explanation of what I intended. Thank you.

No, my sons haven’t seen the show, my youngest is too young and it would be just too close to the bone for Arthur to be there. They are both hugely supportive of the piece and Arthur and I have discussed it as it’s developed. 

Finally, since Arthur’s exposure to the web link, have your opinions towards censorship, pornography and the relative ease of access on the internet to potentially unpleasant content changed at all?  What measures do you feel could be put in place to prevent children such as Arthur from accessing such material?

My feelings remain the same. That the internet in all its glory and horror is here to stay and by building a good relationship with your kids – as parents, teachers, close family, mentors etc. we can help each other to navigate the world we live in -  both macro and micro. Censorship is a moving and useless target and freedom is messy.

I believe, without question, that good Sex and Relationship Education that actually tackles issues that our young people are facing today is completely essential and that schools need funding and support to deliver this. Not all families can discuss these issues openly: we need to understand the differences in cultural and religious beliefs, lack of confidence in starting conversations – and, you know, not all kids have a family at all, so school is their best chance of having these conversations, and it goes back to what you asked me at the beginning – it depends where kids get their information from. It’s not easy, but we can’t keep ignoring the world we live in and delivering the sex education from the dark ages of condoms on bananas. Kids want to talk – I know this from experience – so let’s get our thoughts in order and be ready to listen and discuss. Healthy relationships are everything. These young people are consuming and making content that will define the way our world develops, they need to be able to talk to each other about the really important stuff – and what’s more  fundamental than friendships, relationships, sex, love and communication?

(After sending Lizi Patch, my first batch of questions, one more sprang to mind and I include it here as the final question).

Do you think that your show could be usefully adapted and performed in schools?

Yes, absolutely. With some tweaks it could and should go into Year 7 and above. The amount of emails I've had from parents, teachers and teens saying this play should be seen by everyone suggests so too.

I may do a film, I may turn it into a one woman show, not sure. All this depends on funding and time. 

I want to thank Lizi Patch for agreeing to answer my questions and I look forward to seeing her future works.  My abiding reaction to her work was one of positivity and growth.  Something beautiful and original came out of a horrific situation and in these times of public apathy, the world needs more plays that both nurture and challenge.

If I’ve left you with a feeling of positivity and growth then job done. I’m happy.

Thanks for the emotional honesty of both yourself and your family, Lizi Patch.

You’re welcome. We could all do with a bit more emotional honesty, if we’re honest. ;)

Barry Watt - 22nd May 2016

Photos (Thanks to Lizi Patch for providing and allowing me use of the images).

Lizi Patch in performance.

'Punching The Sky' Promotional Image.

Afterword.

Firstly, here's the list of the very talented creative team associated with 'Punching The Sky':

PUNCHING THE SKY: CREATIVE TEAM

Writer/Co-producer/Performer: Lizi Patch

Co Producer/Director: Mark Hollander

Designer: Scott Thompson

Animation:James Taylor and Nick Lewis at Arcus Studios

Music and Sound Design for the Tour: Aron Kyne, Alex Turner.

Music and Sound Design for R&D: Rich Huxley & James Hamilton.

Company Manager (Rehearsals): Emaleigh Pightling

Company Manager (Tour and Soho Theatre): Tom Blackband

Actors for Spring Tour: Lizi Patch, Milton Lopes, Emily Dowson.

Actors for Soho: Lizi Patch, Rob Ward, Emily Dowson.

R&D actors: Ben Burmann, Daniel McCann, Wesley Thomas, Rob Ward, Rebecca Jenkins and Paul Fox.

Okay, if you are interested in learning more about Lizi Patch and her creative endeavours and ideas, please visit:

http://www.lizipatch.co.uk/

On the back of the programme for 'Punching The Sky', a list of useful websites is included.  These websites cover a number of the issues raised by the play including children and the Internet:

www.internetmatters.org

www.iwf.org.uk

www.childnet.com

www.parentport.org.uk

'Newsnight', 'The Independent' and other intellectual properties mentioned in this interview are copyright to their respective owners.

Thanks again to Lizi Patch for offering to answer my questions and for her support.

                                                                                                                        BW