Cultural highlights: Shooglenifty and The Caucasian Chalk Circle

After a ropey few weeks, and inspired by the dark delights of Doctor Who at the weekend, it's been quite a culturally active week.

Firstly we had Shooglenifty at Nottingham's Lakeside venue. After a typically hesitant audience start, the band soon persuaded the audience to dance with abandon and it was a delight to see such a mixed age audience respond so vibrantly. That Angus R Grant though is a bit of a card though: strutting and posing on the stage with his fiddle as a hirsute lothario.




Then last night I finally got to see the Shared Experience production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle, currently on at Nottingham Playhouse. Neil and I had been scheduled to attend the opening night a few weeks ago, but ill health meant Neil went on his own. Determined I should see this excellent production, he booked for us to go again and this time I was well enough. I was so glad not to have missed it, as the show is a real treat: moving, funny, scathing and wonderfully staged. In particular, reviewers are fully justified in giving praise to the wonderful Matti Houghton in the central role of Grusha. But this ensemble piece should not be underestimated: everything about it - the staging, the music and all the performances - are really superb. If the first half is stark then the second is increasingly humorous, albeit in a typically scabrous Brechtian manner. And by including local people in the chorus for each different run of the play, there is a real sense of community involvement to the production.

(And a note too that it took me til the second act to process why I kept getting a fleeting recognition buzz from the woman playing the Governor's wife. Eventually I suddenly heard her voice in my head in a different context and I realised she'd played the role of Leah in Lawless Heart. She's also very good.)

If you get chance to see it in London next week (Unicorn Theatre 24-29 Nov), then do go as it is well worth seeing.

TV Review: Doctor Who - The Waters of Mars: without spoilers / with spoilers

Last week would have been a real treat if I hadn't been poorly: Collision across 5 nights with lovely Douglas Henshall, a cello concert, a weekend away in Stratford with friend Helen Lisette, and topped off nicely with a dose of old-fashioned Doctor Who with David Tennant.

Still, all appreciated, including that last treat on Sunday night.

Spoiler free comments
Others have already added their remarks to the newspaper reviews etc: Medium Rob gave it a thumbs up, as have Stuart Ian Burns and Frank Collins over at Behind the Sofa (the two who are most inclined to be excitedly positively in their analysis and delight of current DW episodes).

For me, I liked that we got a rather successful echo of a Troughton-esque 'Base Under Siege' storyline, but with the added bonus of a brilliantly strong central female character. There was lots of running around - padding for the episode or homage to days of yore? - and even a 'cute' robot (I'd say WALL-E should sue but really it should be the designers from Short Circuit taking up the lawsuits). Since I utterly HEART Lindsay Duncan, she was of course awesome, taking the Doctor to task appropriately and with measure. Was the water scary enough? Yeah, and watching the Confidential afterwards it was interesting how smiling made it work better on every level. *Shudder*

Did the Doctor have quite enough to do? There was some loitering, but he more than made up for it by the last 15 mins. We're getting ready to say bye-bye to the Tenth Doctor and I'm already in pieces at the thought of what's to come.

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Scary, scary water monsters took second fiddle to the big darkness of the episode. Namely, Ten realising the significance of being 'Last of the Time Lords'. Who says he must be subject to the laws of time? The Time Lords, surely. 'And that's me' he thinks. And my word, on that realisation Ten lost the plot didn't he? Fantastic acting by Tennant as he tweaked the nuances of saying the same phrases he often uses - 'come on!' and 'I'm good' - and made them chilling and unnerving and scarily arrogant. Sidelined for much of the early part of the story - trying to pull himself away from the doomed Bowie Base and crew but not quite able to do so - he ends up ripping apart everything he has previously told himself he cannot, must not do. Definitely no one to hold him back; Adelaide Brooke hasn't enough personal history with him to do that. The Doctor saves the day and we feel cold and scared because we know it's just WRONG.

Is he even rid of all that 'Time Lord Victorious' power-rush when he tries to outrun the cloister-bell at the end? Never mind the knocking....

And the trailer. Blonde Master / evil skeleton Master? Rusty unable to leave the Noble family narrative alone. All manner of doom. Here's to January!

TV review: Collision reviews - first without spoilers, then scroll for spoilers

Spoiler-free comments
Collision had very distinguished cast, led by lovely Douglas Henshall (John Tolin), and with fine work as well from the likes of Paul McGann (Richard Reeves) and Lucy Griffiths (Jane Tarrant). With multiple storylines centred on a crash, tracking back and forth from before the crash to the event itself and then its aftermath and the investigation, it was of course a very British take on the Oscar-scooping film, Crash. I rather liked that film, but acknowledge its weaknesses and that it was very unpopular for winning the Best Picture Oscar over Brokeback Mountain.

Perhaps my liking of 'Crash' and my love of Dougie's performances meant I was more inclined to go with the narrative structure of this 5-part ITV drama (aired in other countries in two parts). With Horowitz in the driving seat - I've recently been watching some of his earlier work on Poirot - there were plenty of twists and turns, but I'm not sure how convincing it was in the end. Still, Cloud watched it with me quite eagerly, was keen enough to do a double-back on the ITV catch-up on Thursday when we missed the start due to having been out at a cello concert, and watched the finale in my absence. So that has to be worth something.

Personally, episodes 3 and 4 were the high points, but with one of the central storylines wrapped up by the end of ep4, there was a certain degree of anti-climax to ep5.

Anyone watching the show since it first aired a few weeks ago outside the UK (and that includes US viewers who get it on PBS Masterpiece Contemporary) will doubtless note that one core element of the plot from the ending would have made MUCH more sense had the drama been screened in Spring 2009 as originally scheduled*. That alone had me groaning slightly at the ending. But the explanation for the crash...? Sigh.

*I do try to not rant on about distribution issues, but there is something wrong about a UK developed drama starring UK actors not airing in the UK first (though I'd personally be happier with worldwide airing on simultaneous dates as much as is feasible).

My overall reaction: good. Not excellent, as 'Place of Execution' had been (or even 'Whitechapel') but a solid narrative that kept me watching to follow each storyline to its conclusion, even if some were more satisfactorily concluded than others.

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Things I liked:
Dougie and his performance - nicely nuanced, though the relationships with both Ann (Kate 'WHAAAAT?!' Ashfield) and his daughter Jodie (Jo Woodcock - excellent performance from her) were a bit sketchy. Not having Jodie reappear in ep5 after the intense conversation with her father seemed odd. Felt the punch to the drunk driver when he forgave Tolin was very 'true' as a reaction as was Tolin's eventual remorse and moving on.

Lucy Griffiths getting on the train - hurrah. McGann may have been playing a fantasist shit but he gave her the inspiration to try to reach her dreams. As Jane tearfully tried to convince the hapless Dave, they wanted different things: in many respects it wasn't even really about handsome Richard whisking her off her feet with his riches and fancy opportunities. She was already not happy before the crash, bulldozed by circumstances into marriage, so it was nice to think she had a chance of breaking free.

Zoe Telford as Sandra Rampton the snooty wife taking no shit from the dodgy garage-based people-smugglers - contrasted with poor Naomi's attempts to get them to talk to her about her husband. Am convinced that Mrs Rampton knew full well the crash driver brother-in-law Danny would not be going further than the scrap yard.

The refugee Tsegga (Cornelius Macarthy) - scathingly noting his English language skills to those transporting him to England.

Ambivalent:
The Christine/Brian Edwards storyline with the obnoxious mother-in-law (respectively Jan Francis, Phil Davis, and Sylvia Sims) - I was fine with this until ep5 when there was a virtually word for word replay of dialogue from the previous episode (unless I was mistaking a flashback for a new scene). And that annoyed me so much.

Things I disliked:
Tolin ditching the 'journalist' to his fate - it felt somewhat out of kilter that despite 'Taylor' using Karen (and therefore leading to her death), Tolin would willfully leave him be killed.

The wasp ending - oh pur-lease! I get this was about randomness, the small things in life that have big rippling effects, but really. And tho I'll watch it again I'm pretty sure the presence of wasps wasn't there in 'casual' scenes until ep5 which feels like a tag-on for the narrative explanation. UPDATE: apparently there were wasps. I am Ms unobservant.

The heavy-handed 'misdirection' on the Sidney Morris/Norris story - it was actually a nice twist they had (would have been even better if they'd screened in Spring as planned before Star Trek came out) but my God, could they have laden on the paedophile misdirection story any thicker?

Dropping the black characters' crash story first - not racist, just disappointing to see it dismissed first of all the storylines. Just about compensated by the intelligent refugee engineer Tsegga, though it would have been better to see his wife Naomi get some justice from the people smugglers come-uppance.


Would I have watched this without the ever-compelling Douglas Henshall in a key role? Possibly, but also possibly not. There was enough to keep us watching anyway, but I'm not sure if we would have been quite so interested in watching from the start without his performance to pull us in. And if we hadn't watched the first ep, I doubt we would have involved ourselves in the rest. Worthwhile, but perhaps adding up to less than the sum of its parts.

Reviews to come

Sorry. Been ill. Still not fabulous.

Bah humbug.

So, reviews to come on Collision and Doctor Who. Even if I'm feeling rubbish, having such a treat within one week ain't so bad.

Let's hope I recover to full throttle soon. And after all, there's the Hamlet screening in December.... At least I won't be sitting in New Zealand grumbling I've missed seeing it. And the DVD will hopefully be waiting for me on my return.

Just the Specials I'll miss on their initial screening, and at least the DVD boxset looks due to come out early January. Hurrah!.

No voice - now stop laughing all of you!

No voice at all. Had to type to communicate with students. Bonkers.

Doc says not infection - just recommended fluids and voice rest. I teach. Which bit of voice rest does she think is possible in my job?

After one day of being croaky I am now effectively unable to communicate by voice. Lots of hand gestures though!

Wish me recovery.

Twelfth Night: RSC Courtyard Theatre, Stratford Saturday matinee 31 October 2009

Courtesy of the lovely Helen Lisette, Neil and I with Helen headed to Stratford yesterday to see the current RSC production of Twelfth Night. In the wake of having been ill last weekend, hauling myself to work from midweek, and surrendering to the laughter of Mitch Benn on Friday in Nottingham, I was rather running out of steam. However, the prospect of the play and getting to meet lovely Poly G was more than enough to get my energy levels boosted to make the trip (on which note, Poly is just as chic and delightful and Italian Greek* as I had imagined, and it was a real pleasure to finally meet her).

I'd tried, as ever, to stay away from play reviews, but had nevertheless caught a sense of the response to this production of Twelfth Night which seemed to be at best mixed. A colleague from work, a long-standing attendee at RSC Stratford productions, hadn't been best impressed - though her reaction certainly wasn't helped by a dislike of Richard Wilson (even though his character Malvolio makes a very particular contribution to the play, he really can't be called the central character).

So how does this production work? Well, the setting is beautiful - opulent, evocative - and thus Illyria magically conveys its Greece/Turkish/Albania origins. The costumes too, as ever, are delightful - even the 'Joseph-and-his-Technicolour-Dream-Coat' that Miltos Yerolemou as Feste wears works in the context. The music is also entrancing, though perhaps sometimes a little too intrusive: the musical numbers within the play, however, are handled well and with a sensitivity benefiting from a less grand-standing tone of performing from Yerolemou (something which he doesn't consistently manage throughout the play).

Which brings me to the performances. Nancy Carroll as Viola/Cesario is wonderful, and is a stunning twin match for the sweet Sam Alexander as Sebastian (the latter still fondly remembered from his performances in last year's Hamlet and LLL). Alexandra Gilbreath is similarly breathtaking as her Lady Olivia moves from closed off mourning to giddy love, and it is hard not to follow her imaginative leap when Olivia is confronted by the visual delights of the twins: "most wonderful!" The biggest shame is that I really didn't feel Count Orsino (as played by Jo Stone-Fewings) was that big a deal: he seemed a bit 'meh' in terms of any real passionate pursuit of Lady Olivia, and too bland to justify true appeal to Viola. But maybe that's more to do with my limited familiarity with the play - perhaps he's meant to be rather pointless.

Elsewhere, Pamela Nomvete makes the role of Maria neatly spikey and sparky, yet also misguided in her edge of malevolence conducting the downfall of Malvolio. The comedic contributions of Richard McCabe and James Fleet as Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek respectively are as light as they should be, with appropriately suitable shades of darkness and dim-wittedness also respectively. How were Belch's farts done? I really don't want to know... and Fleet really needs to be on his game to nonchalantly place himself in exactly the right spot to not be concussed by a tree.

But I felt less certain about the aforementioned Yerolemou as the Fool: he's clearly massively talented, stature being no inhibitor to graceful movement, sharp physical or verbal comedy or to possessing an incredible voice. But the pacing of Feste's humour sometimes felt too rushed/manic: I know that without familiarity, Elizabethean wit can by-pass modern audiences but I did sometimes wonder if I had just missed something in the direction or delivery of certain lines.

Moreover, whilst Wilson is indeed a fine actor, but I can't help but feel that his Malvolio is just a little too old and Wilson's physique does not lend itself, as perhaps other actors may be fortunate in managing to convey, an inner youthfulness set free when made to be so foolish in love. The ludicrousness of Malvolio's hoodwinked passion is not just that his dour demeanor is replaced by an uncomfortable and unfamiliar use of smiling but that some longing is released by the possibility that the Lady Olivia loves him, and that this possibility is enough to drive him to acts against the grain of his previous tone of behaviour. Though Malvolio indeed cuts a tragic furious figure by the end, I wasn't quite convinced of the journey his character had undergone. And that felt like a slight disappointment. (I also couldn't help but think of the eloquent way Wilson played Eddie Clockerty and his simultaneous tolerance and loathing towards the cantankerous Janice Toner [Kate Murphy] in Tutti Frutti, though that may be apropos of little).

But, overall, this was a really great way to spend an afternoon. I'm slowly clocking up Shakespeare productions (I'm planning to see Winter's Tale when they bring the production back next year, and the new productions of Romeo & Juliet and Anthony and Cleopatra, plus Morte D'Arthur if I can), so it was rather exciting to get another under my belt. And it was good to see another comedy -- Julius Caesar may be good, but it's not known for its laughs and Neil especially was glad on an autumnal day to get some giggles in place.

Anyway, Twelfth Night currently runs at Stratford until 21 November before hitting London from pre-Xmas until late February 2010.

*Clearly my European identification abilities are currently scrambled along with my vocal system. ARGH!

Collision! Who?!

Nice! Not only do I get 5 days worth of Douglas Henshall in Collision on ITV from Monday 9 November, but I also get a Sunday Doctor Who special (hmmm... not a Saturday? Ousted by the 'might' of reality star-making shows... *sigh*)

Hat tips to the Douglas Henshall fansite and MediumRob's daily news digest respectively!

Bets on the BFI increasing its membership over the next few days?

Hamlet - yes, THAT one - is to be screened at the BFI Southbank London on Dec 14th.

Tickets by ballot to members., with any left-over (pah!) open after that. As MediumRob alerts us:

Members' ballots
This seems to be a new thing designed to cope with the fact that certain events are going to prove to be very popular. Members can enter the ballot for tickets by emailing memberballot@bfi.org.uk with the title of the event or screening as the subject. You'll need to include your membership and phone numbers and let them know how many tickets you want. Alternatively, you can fill out the form in your brochure.

If you're successful, they'll get in touch for payment for all tickets except for up to one free ticket to each of the screenings. You'll need to apply by November 6 to be in with a chance, and you'll hear by November 10, when any remaining tickets will be released for sale to the public.

Lordy. Oh to be a member. Oh to be in easier reach of London. Oh to be there.

Ah well. I expect there will be a heavy presence even if the Q&A guests are not yet announced...

Questions, Strikes and Benefits: a Rullsenberg Rant

Three areas to exercise my political muscles this evening. The inevitable Question Time debacle; the current postal strike; and the think-tank proposals to scrap universal benefits.

Question Time

QT is many things but it is not a rational interrogative forum for unpicking political party policies, ideologies or public attitudes. It is an arena, not unlike the Coliseum for spectator sport mouthing-off by participants and audiences for the usually non-edification of the viewing public. A sense of legitimacy is lent to all manner of opinion in this faux-serious programme (as Neil Postman discussed, TV is never so dangerous as when it thinks it is being serious). More lightweight panelists are perhaps unlikely to take certain opinions to task enough, whilst simultaneously including more heavyweight participants would lend further legitimacy. Unless I feel happy at throwing things at my TV I suspect I will not be watching this evening, pretty much the same as any other week.

For latecomers to this discussion: a bunch of racist fascist exploiters of white-working class poverty are participating in Question Time. Support 'Hope not Hate'.

Postal Strikes

The UK is a small place. We need and benefit from a national postal system for letters and packages. The Post Office is a fine institution which knows it needs to update its structures, technology and processes.

Unfortunately, it is ostensibly owned by the government (we, the taxpayers) but systematic failures to defend it properly have left it and its employees ragged and bruised. Shifts are too long, involve too much work and place workers under enormous stress. Post Offices are closing, deemed to be economically unviable with little heed to their broader social purpose. One of the failings overseen by consecutive governments was the way in which the company was allowed to plunder its pension pot by reducing employer contributions during the 'good times'. Guess what? We now have 'bad times' and the pension pot is screwed.

I support the strikes, despite the impact it has on individuals because the workforce has been left with few other options. I wouldn't trust Adam Crozier to take care of a pet for 5 minutes for fear he'd be 'modernising' how it looks by losing a few limbs (hat tip to Steve Bell who nails this mentality).

Plus, courier services are SHITE. Whenever a mail-order supplier DOESN'T use Royal Mail, I get a note through saying the parcel is in a safe place. So far these have included in my bin (on a bin-day) and thrown over my garden gate. If you too have had crap service from Home Delivery Network Ltd then do write to them at Customer Services, Home Delivery Network Ltd, Phoenix House, Moorgate Road, Knowsley L33 7RX.

Benefits

Universal benefits may not target those in greatest need, but they are easy to deliver for everyone involved. Means-testing places the responsibility to get what you are entitled to on the most vulnerable of society. It costs to decide whether people meet the criteria or do not. It depends on usually fairly arbitrary boundaries as to what marks a person out as poor enough to deserve the benefit. Sliding scales to avoid immediate loss of a benefit when they earn above a limit only succeed in making the system more complex and costly to operate. And anyway, since when has middle-class been just about income? (That's even before you get to the figures proposed as being a 'middle-class income').

I would argue for the abolition of all targeted benefits - universal or means tested. Instead let us have a guaranteed income, sufficient to cover the sorts of income benefits, housing benefits, child benefits etc etc, and set up alongside it a proper and rigorous tax system. There would be little to gain from 'fiddling' the benefits system - the figures scarcely acknowledge the millions that are not taken up from benefits by those who would probably need them most.

Additionally, any attempts to dodge paying tax on all income above the guaranteed income would be easily visible - loopholes would be highlighted more quickly (and it would be hoped could be closed more swiftly and diligently than any recent governments have attempted).

Think tanks such as Reform look at the cost savings, but I don't think they look enough at the big picture. At the social picture. At how we live alongside each other paying fair taxes on fair earnings. We need to stop ignoring the widening gap between the haves and have-nots and look at makes the situation more even-handed for all. More universality, not less.

Bullies - viewable via Portable Film Festival

There is a really wonderful short film called Bullies which is now available to view at the Douglas Henshall fan site, courtesy of Portable Film Festival.

Starring Dougie and Tena Stivicic, it's a rather moving narrative of a relationship and its place in the world and experience.

David Tennant or John Barrowman - a MediumRob competition

Shoot. I'm knee deep in work and I only find out about this from lovely Chrissie who tips me the wink that Marie has forgotten how to spell Douglas Henshall's name.

Anyway: confronted by the question of 'David Tennant or John Barrowman? And why?' in the MediumRob competition (deadline 25th October 2009) I can only fall back on some trite thoughts:

• because he made my heart skip and my stomach turn when I saw him on a billboard poster
• because his physique is the kind that makes me smile inside
• because he has great hair
• because his native accent makes my mouth go dry and moves my womb
• because... I can't even say how other parts of my body react without getting obscene
• because when he smiles, honestly, perfectly, it is enough to dazzle my eyes
• because when he meets fans he is nothing less than kind and frequently generous
• because he seems to have a genuine affection and understanding of people's affection for him
• because he can turn emotions on the edge of a sixpence, from joy to despair
• because he knows just how to choke a line of dialogue to rip your heart out
• because when he laughs you never feel it is anything less than real
• because he believes in social justice and fairness
• because he loves what he does and can't get enough of it

So far, this could, reasonably be applied to either of these lovely males. But....

.... I don't need life to be a song and a dance, a show-stopping spectacle, a confessional, heroic demonstration - as much as that excites me.

My choice? He's the Doctor, MY Doctor, and much more besides. John Barrowman is a perfect companion, sexual tease, and flirt. But my choice would be: David Tennant.

Belshazzar's Feast / Bellowhead, Nottingham Trent Uni Sunday 18 October 2009 Live Music review

Belshazzar's Feast were already underway when Neil and I arrived at Trent Uni last night: a shame as Paul Sartin of the duo is one of the brilliantly humourous string section of Bellowhead. Anyway, what we caught was great and I'll be muttering Owestry in a drunken accent for quite some time (it sounds the same as when sober), and chuckling over he and Paul Hutchinson's 'argument' about whether a song came from Denmark or Portugal for even longer (you probably had to be there)!

We first saw Bellowhead approximately 1 year ago over at the Derby Folk Festival 2008. It was a wonderful experience, so it was with a certain expectation and trepidation we headed to see them at Nottingham's Trent Uni. Would we have room to dance? But would it nevertheless be full enough to raise a ruckus? In almost perfect balance, yes to both.

I mentioned in my previous review that frontman Jon Boden is a powerfully charismatic presence: he has slightly gaunt features, an intense gaze and a performing style that is utterly theatrical. Somehow even when busy playing the fiddle he manages to engage with the audience with dramatic gestures; when free of such strings commitment, his tambourine playing keeps a rhythm that involves both his body and hands. With 11 people on the stage, it almost seems unfair to attend to him, but dressed in his stark three-piece black suit and short -- and shocking pink tie -- it can be difficult to take your eyes off him.

Still, as I say, this is an 11-piece collective and it's worth remembering that it is Bellowhead that is the side-project rather than the individual performers who make up the band. So in a strange twist of typical group dynamics it is Belshazzar's Feast (the support act on this occasion) who are actually the real thing - alongside such acts as Spiers and Boden, strings player Rachael McShane, Kerfuffle with violinist Sam Sweeney, and Faustus and Boomarang with Benji Kirkpatrick.

What makes a Bellowhead concert so memorable is how they get audiences dancing: Nottingham took a while to warm up (though we were personally early adopters of jigging enthusiastically) but by the end there was plenty of full blown bouncing taking place (I even spotted the lovely Mike heartily bopping away). With tracks to sing along to - Jordan, London Town, Kafoozalum (with kazoos!) and lots more - plus all the instrumental boppy stuff too - Frogs Legs and Dragons Teeth especially has the 'boing!' factor - there was a lot to keep us going. And with their posing and their dancing on stage, the band themselves scarcely let a moment pass for the audience to rest up.

A thoroughly wonderful evening which left me so drenched from sweat that I washed my hair under the taps at the venue afterwards!

Belated news on worst architecture award

Oops. Seems word travels far more slowly when the 'award' is one for a negative opinion. After one of my contacts chucklingly informed me of this delightful information, I had a nosey and sure enough confirmed that the Building Design Architect's Website has decided the new Amenities and International House buildings at Nottingham University's Jubilee campus have been selected as the second worst new architecture in the UK. Beaten by Liverpool's Ferry Terminal, Nottingham's lego-block buildings (scroll through pictures: you can't miss them) gained second place in the 2009 Carbuncle Cup.

The Telegraph included a piece by jury member Ellis Woodman which stated:

Yet give us tedium any day over the witless antics of the runner-up. Make Architects’ expansion of the University of Nottingham’s Jubilee Campus incorporates a pair of buildings so wildly aggressive (they look like enormous Sherman tanks), blazingly camp (they are clad in lurid pink terracotta tiles) and punishingly inane as to leave one trembling. To top it all off they have contributed a 60-metre tower, billed as the tallest free-standing sculpture in the UK, that goes by the revealingly vacuous name of Aspire.

Did the judges know that locally Aspire is referred to as the largest and most useless waste paper basket ever?

The Proclaimers: Nottingham Royal Concert Hall 16 October 2009

A Friday night gig with a long-established pop rocking band like The Proclaimers should be utterly life-affirming and delightful. It was, really it was -- but part of me knows that was in spite rather than because of the venue. Torch-song performers like Rufus Wainwright can get away with this sort of venue, but others may find it more of a battle.

It's rather a shame really but the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham, bless its heart, is a bit of a quirky place not least for being a completed seated auditorium for 2499. Since opening in 1982 it has served a multitude of functions as a sister venue to its neighbour the Nottingham Theatre Royal: the RCH operates as a venue for classical and diverse forms of pop music, comedy, musicals and other sundry events includes conferences and graduations.

The problem with such adaptable venues, even with its adjustable acoustic canopy, is that it can prove itself just not quite right for anything. And pop music has often proved an especially awkward form to accommodate.

The Proclaimers did everything to make the place swing and sway with their range of sweet, bittersweet, acerbic and anthemic songs. It was the first time ever the Reid brothers had played Nottingham in their long career and they were assiduous in dedicating songs to their loyal fan-base from notes of requests. But the place just didn't quite take off as this sort of gig could and should have. Maybe Nottingham folk, once they feel they've moved away from the Rock City / Rescue Rooms / Bodega Social triumvirate of standing venues, lose faith with how to be enthused. Even crowd pleasers like "I'm on my way"* didn't seem to sparkle with the audience as much as I would have hoped.

It's odd, because when we last saw the band (Summer Sundae 2006) they practically took the roof off de Montford Hall which had to run a one-in/one-out policy on the door for their set. DMH has at least the benefit of its downstairs section being standing, even if its upper section is a tiered seated area, and maybe that was enough to make a difference.

With new album Notes and Rhymes out, the set inevitably drew more heavily on that than any short festival set would do. Neertheless, the brothers and their able band members know how to mingle old and new, bringing in tracks from their back catalogue with ease and this of course included several from the Leith album ("Cap in Hand", "Then I Met You", "Sean" and "My Old Friend the Blues" as part of the encore). Yet it is testament to them all that new songs feel like friends to the established tracks with their talent for sharp, well-observed lyrics and heartfelt sentiments with memorable hooklines. They also bought on a very lovely female violinist who brought that special dimension to "Sunshine on Leith" as well as another couple of tracks (and whose distractingly stunning black and red halterneck dress had my heart skipping to acquire one just like it).

Ending on a full-bloodied version of The Joyful Kilmarnock Blues, the evening was almost certainly nothing special for the band (neither especially memorable or disastrous): their thanks for our attendance did nothing so crass as to suggest this had been 'the best night of the tour' or anything like that. But it is still a shame that they didn't leave their first visit to Nottingham with any real sense of the passion and enthusiasm with which (some) local fans hold them so dear.

* the brothers acknowledged the need to rejuvenate the fan-base and inclusion on a successful film soundtrack like Shrek certainly has done them no harm in that regard! It was quite amusing to see some younger attending folk who looked the right generation to have grown up on Shrek debating whether to join in with standing up to join the largely 'dad-dancing' style boppery going on during "I'm on my way'!

NaNoWriMo in publication: Rashbre's 'The Triangle' (book review)

It's one thing to actually complete a NaNoWriMo writing project successfully. I've never managed it, not even dared try it - my commitment is not helped by the nature of my work and the busy-ness of that time of year; plus, ya know, lazy as F*** - so I am in awe of those who manage to remain on course with the task.

To complete it AND see the product through to publication, by whatever means, is quite another scale of achievement.

So it's both cheering - and if I'm honest, rather galling - to see a fellow blogger be kick-ass organised enough and committed to their writing project to see it through to appearing in print.

Rashbre: step forward dude and collect your reward.

The Triangle is a ripping yarn of everyday folk caught in extraordinary events and attempting to turn them to their advantage. I doubt that my first reaction to the murder of someone I know would be to engage in investigation and identifying those responsible, but then I'm a coward as well as a lazy-arse! But I don't want to say too much more about the storyline because I feel there is a lot of fun and enjoyment to be had in coming to the text 'raw' if you like. So I'll just say there's that death at the start and then lots of political and economic international intrigue added into the mix for good measure. Oh, yes, and a neat reminder about backups for computers as well.

Rashbre is boldly (foolishly?!) intending to work on a sequel - and maybe further??? - so hats off for getting hooked on the writing gig. As the narrative progresses there is certainly a sense of developing mastery over both the characters and the momentum of plot (it IS absolutely an engaging and driven storyline). By the end, I therefore felt more in tune with the central characters than I had at the start -- initially, they had felt a bit too drawn from life. Bizarrely, those quirks and character descriptions that we litter about everyday real-life actually work less convincingly on the page, but as I say, by later in the text, some of this does gain in subtlety.

With a few further tweaks there would be even greater potential in showing how the text could shed some of its online writing origins and become a more independent publication.

(1) get some copy-editing in place from a helpful and critical friend if professional advice isn't accessible within the budget. A NaNoWriMo text will perhaps inevitably wear its origins of fast writing, and all those niggling things like tenses, punctuation and thesaurus-itis in phrasing will sneak through the first draft. But they shouldn't still remain in the final printed version.

(2) if it doesn't feel like contradicting the NaNoWriMo principle, schedule a rewrite period at least equivalent to the original writing period. Preparation before writing is one thing; I know some online writers who plot and plan for their NaNoWriMo most of the year before finally embarking on the writing project itself. But allowing time for the text to settle a little and reviewing it, not just in terms of plot momentum but also tone and style of language, would also likely improve the finished product.

But who am I to comment? Where is my novel? Well, let's not answer that. I have enough to contend with from the nagging prompts that I should have long since got the PhD into book form, and all the 'why the hell don't you just write a book about Doctor Who / Buffy / whatever cult TV I'm obsessed with?' So three cheers for bringing me a great evening's pleasure tearing through the thrilling narrative of Jake, Clare and Bigsy and here's to the next installment!

Waterstones has it listed, and you can always contact Rashbre via the blog for further advice on getting hold of a copy.