PLAY REVIEW Love Dance at Chiswick Playhouse, London by Paul Vates

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“will delight audiences with its endearing characters”

To bill something as ‘a comic triumph’ on the flyer is, perhaps, setting yourself up for a fall. This comedy doesn’t fall, but it does stumble around quite a lot.

Two characters trapped together (almost – they could leave, but they don’t) unwittingly help each other in this predictable rom-com. Rose wants a baby but doesn’t want a man about the place. Adam is appalled by the idea of being tied down but needs somewhere to live… let the shenanigans commence!

Jacoba Williams and Derek Murphy play the unbelievably hapless couple who are completely mismatched but destined to fall in love. It is their amiability that keeps the play going, their chemistry that holds the interest.

The set – superbly designed by Humphrey Jaeger – is reminiscent of a farce, with three doors to have fun with. Sadly, they are not used for humour. So much of the script and the direction feels timid, as though holding back. Jokes are missed, action just slightly mis-timed. The whole production is off-kilter and lacks confidence, when there is obviously so much potential on show. Maybe a run is just what it needs, allowing the whole thing to find its feet and earn the self-labelled ‘triumph’.

Love Match highlights the difference between a laugh and a smile. I enjoyed this play. Everybody in the audience did. But I didn’t love it. And I so much wanted to.

A few glaring mistakes in it can be so easily rectified – for instance, is Adam meant to teach Rose the waltz incorrectly on purpose? [He’s not leading as he has her to believe, he’s actually in the woman’s hold…] Can he really play the guitar? Not on this evidence.

Once confidence grows, this production will delight audiences with its endearing characters and we may even forgive the bizarre driving scene…

Photography Molly Manning Walker

Performances until Saturday 27th November 2021   Tuesday to Saturday at 7.30pm

Saturday Matinee at 4pm

Location Chiswick Playhouse, 2 Bath Road, London W4 1LW    Nearest tube: Turnham Green (District and Piccadilly Lines)

Tickets Tickets are £22 (£19.50 for concessions)   Via the Box Office on 020 8995 6035

Or online at www.chiswickplayhouse.co.uk

Director Lesley Manning    Writer Andy Walker

Running Time 75 minutes (no interval)

Twitter @chiswickplay

The Crown and Anchor pub at Sowerby is the most fabulous traditional village pub you could ever hope for

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The Crown and Anchor pub can best be described as built of brick, cosy and offering real ales, and well kept wines. But… more… it is here you will find classic pub grub, a restaurant where you’ll be spoiled for choice,  and all around, the friendliest atmosphere you could imagine.

Situated in Sowerby which is closely linked to Thirsk and known as Soreb in the Domesday Book, there is parking at the back, and outside tables front and back. Sowerby is indeed lucky to have landlords Kirsty and Miles to take over from the popular Tony, Debbie, Tim and Nadia.

Best of all, it was no outsider who moved  in , one with grandiose ideas to change this heart of the village into some urban fashionplate. Believe it or not, Miles  is not only Sowerby born and bred, he actually lived next door, and longed one day to take over the Crown and Anchor, and – readers – he and Kirsty did it .

                                                   

The Crown and Anchor serves pub grub in the bar. I had a fabulous steak pie and the vegetables, which I admit to being picky about, were al dente, just right, not overcooked even by a second. There is a restaurant with an excellent menu – and both the bar and restaurant are open for lunch from Wednesday and in the evenings.

The restaurant also  hosts  private occasions. Just ask Milesand Kirsty and they will see what can be done.

There is a pool table in the semi partitioned bar, and we ate pub grub in one end,  I had  a good, and cool pino grigio and Dick an ale. As we ate we heard the dulcet commentary of a cricket match on the TV in the other bar and all around the murmur of a relaxed clientale – all very relaxing; the epitome of a village pub. As someone said as he was leaving. ‘I wish this was our local.’ Lucky lucky us because for us, it is.

Sowerby is a gorgeous village with the lines of Roman roads still visible in the fields to the east and north of the village along the Green Lane. It was called Soreb in the Domesday Book but Sowerby it became when the Normans landed in Britain. It means Farmstead by the Muddy Ground in Norse, which ,let’s face it with Cod Beck a stone’s throw, is pretty accurate as the fields do get a bit water logged.

                                         

Nearby, just down Blakey lane, and off to the right is Pudding Pie Hill, a barrow in which the remains of a Saxon warrior and two other skeletons were discovered along with cremated bones, various artefacts and coins.  And there’s also the ancient Packhorse Bridge, but… No.  Tell you what, just come, walk, look, and lunch at the Crown and Anchor, meet Miles, Kirsty and the rest of the village. You won’t regret it.

Ah, one more thing, James Herriot lived in Sowerby along Topcliffe Road. Herriot is of course the author of the hilarious but thought provoking and hugely bestselling series All Creatures Great and Small. Oh, and another thing: The Yorkshire Vets series has also introduced us to Julian Norton and Peter Wright who both live and work nearby.

How can you resist? Come, enjoy the Crown and Anchor, 138 Front Street Sowerby, Thirsk. YO7 1JN 01845 522448

 

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ELAINE SPIRES: TURNING A STAGE PLAY INTO A NOVEL

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In the first of two articles Elaine Spires shares the secrets of turning a stage play into a novel

My first novel, What’s Eating Me, started life as a stage play.  It’s the story of Eileen Holloway, a struggling single parent of two teenage boys who’s holding down a demanding job while dealing with her difficult mother. Food is the drug of choice that gets her through the day until she is tricked into appearing on Barbara’s Beautiful Bodies, a reality TV show. She becomes a celebrity over night, albeit a reluctant one. Compulsive overeating is a grossly misunderstood condition and it was a story I was keen to tell.

Photo credit: Danann Breathnach

The play was a one-woman show, which I took to the Edinburgh Fringe. Although we played in a tiny venue, it had great reviews.  Afterwards, though, I just couldn’t let Eileen go. So I decided to turn her story into my first book.

As the play was a three-act soliloquy – Eileen sharing her thoughts with the audience – it seemed to me logical that the book should be written in the first person (I) as this would tell Eileen’s story in her own voice, giving it an intimacy that would have been missing in the third person (she).

A huge advantage for a writer turning a play into a novel is that the characters have already been brought to life and their voices have been heard. A great tip for writing novels, especially dialogue, is to read your words out loud to hear the characters’ voices and when converting a play this part has already been done for you.  Your characters are already 3-dimensional and alive; you’ve seen and heard them. The audience feedback i.e. where they reacted by laughing, gasping, clapping, stunned silences or – hopefully not – bored indifference is also a great indicator of what’s working and what isn’t, not just re dialogue but also plot twists and story arc.  I would recommend watching your play performed as many times as possible. You’ll be surprised that you see something different every time. Actor input also plays a helpful, vital role.

Regardless of when events and back stories appeared in the play my first step was to put them into chronological order thus giving me a time line of scenes. Then I worked on each scene, developing character/personality traits, adding or expanding on backstory thus giving not only deeper insights to the individual characters but explaining, in this case, Eileen’s reactions to them.  This I call sprinkling the glitter – where the creative process really gets to work. It’s the part where ideas often appear from nowhere that move the plot along or take it in a different direction. This, in turn, helped demonstrate the Why behind Eileen’s self-destructive behaviour. In the end, although the main events of the story occur in diary form in the novel, backstory events are revealed as and when the plot demands it, thus producing twists.  And everyone loves a twist, don’t they? Perhaps this sounds complicated but with detailed A3 sheets on the wall covered in post-it notes, it worked for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this way of writing and so another play – Sweet Lady – became my second novel.  And this book, too, is written in first person, although quite different from What’s Eating Me.  The rest of my novels haven’t been plays but I always visualise them as such, making notes and envisaging scenes of dialogue, which I perform aloud – fortunately I live alone – before I start the proper writing of the book.

Readers often remark that my books would make great TV series. I think that’s the result of the way I plan.

 

www.elainespires.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

Joffe lifts the curtain on some more treats from their enormously successful publishing house, and one of them is meeting the new Marketing whizz Alex Spears

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BOOK OF THE WEEK:

Have a look at THE VALE VINEYARD KILLER by Frances Lloyd- an enthralling murder mystery  packed with twists  which will shock the most stoic of readers:

The Vale vineyard tour is disrupted by a nasty discovery. The lifeless body of Bob Beacham, the site manager, is found in a huge fermentation tank. He suffocated to death.  It looks like a tragic accident. That’s until the paramedics find a deep gash on the back of his head. It’s time to call in Detective Jack Dawes.

At only 99p / 99c for a limited time it’s a steal.


 

Meet Arnold Landon, mild-mannered history buff turned amateur sleuth. Roy Lewis has created a great character, and injected more than enough ups and downs to keep us turning those pages, or OK, they’re eBooks, but you get my meaning.

FIVE utterly gripping novels in one great-value box set The Arnold Landon Mysteries Books 1 – 5. For only 99p/99c.

Anyone interested in AUDIO?  Here you are, then. Just one of Joffe’s AUDIO offerings this week.

 

Marsh Light by Joy Ellis.

Matt and Liz may have retired from the police for a quiet life, but when an old friend’s sister disappears without a trace, they find themselves at the centre of another mystery . . .   There’s no sign of foul play until another friend goes missing late one night on the misty marshes of the Lincolnshire Fens.

Discover a totally enthralling psychological thriller by bestselling author Joy Ellis, narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies.

Such a pleasure to meet ALEX SPEARS:  MARKETING MANAGER who tells us:

‘I am the latest recruit to the Joffe Books team, joining a new and revamped marketing department at an exciting time of growth. I will be investigating how we can sell more books, understand our readers better and work with our authors to get their books into the hands of as many readers as possible, all over the world.’

As for 2022, a the Frost Team totally agree with Alex’s  priorities-  the first of which is to make  sure he can work the expresso machine…

‘I’m looking forward to getting up to speed with Joffe’s publishing philosophy and programme and immersing myself in their brilliant books. I’ve already worked out how to use the espresso machine and am looking forward to building on this promising early momentum.’  

And the question that people invariably ask. what are Alex’s favourite books?

‘I love books which experiment with form and genre, like Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 and Lanark by Alasdair Gray. But crime fiction was my first love! As I child I devoured the Point Crime series, before working my way through swathes of pulp and detective fiction, and in recent years have loved Don Winslow’s The Cartel Trilogy and Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series.’

So there you have it, from Joffe Books for another week.  You can find out more here: Joffe Books

 

Review: Not About Heroes. Bersted Arts at The Alexandra Theatre, Bognor Regis

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A drama about the lives of two of our greatest-ever war poets doesn’t exactly suggest a jolly evening out. And it isn’t. But forgoing frivolity is a small price to pay for this stunning adaption of Stephen MacDonald’s play, brilliantly performed by two actors from Bersted Arts.

Beautiful, profoundly moving, fascinating and compelling, director Jonathan Goodwin zooms in on the relationship between Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. Meeting while they were both patients at Craiglockhart, a place where soldiers whose mental health had been so crippled by the Great War were dispatched to recover, at this point Sassoon was already a published poet of some note. ‘Disappeared’ for being rather too voluble about the futility and outrageous cruelty of the war, he encouraged budding poet Owen during their short but intense time together at the hospital for the shell shocked. Here, while the relentless slaughter of young men continued on the battlefield, friendship and love grew swiftly; two souls made a pitch-perfect connection.

There are no hiding places for two actors in a 90 minute played-thru production. James Etheridge as Owen and Will Hackett as Sassoon have no need of them. Individually their performances are excellent; emotionally intelligent, fulsome and layered. Together they are electrifying. Sensitive and assured, there is as much poetry in Etheridge and Hackett’s elegant portrayals as there is to be found in the works of the men they play. Piercing hearts and tear ducts, the prolonged applause when the curtain fell was entirely deserved.

Aided by Stephen Hackshaw’s ambient and emotive score, Goodwin has done a magnificent job of pulling together a tremendous piece of theatre. He is also responsible for the effective set and lighting design

The tragedy, of course, is that while Sassoon and Owen’s poetry remains potent, as a race we persist in warfare. Still the blood-spilling lunacy continues. Which makes providing platforms for plays like Not About Heroes all the more important. Bravo to Arun Arts for programming this gem, and here’s hoping that other smart programmers will pick it up.

War as a central subject is undeniably bleak. The sheer quality of this production, however, will not fail to lift your heart.

Update: Good news! This production is set for a return to the stage in 2022. Watch this space…

Self-care, menopause & more… by Alex Bannard, our Wellness and Wellbeing Editor

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If you are a regular to Frost you may have seen my face around here before. A few years back when we were living in Bangkok I kept you up to date with our adventures there. On our return to the UK 4 year’s ago, in the midst of a divorce, my musings were less exotic or sunny in both climate & temperamen, so I took a break.

This year I have been sharing my thoughts on the practice of meditation & mindfulness & waxing lyrical about all things yoga. Recently the wonderful team at Frost invited me to embrace a new role Wellness & Wellbeing editor – what an absolute honour, I leapt at the chance. Thank you.   So you’ll be seeing a little more of me from now on.

I hope to turn a spotlight on lots of different holistic approaches to practicing self-care to promote a genuine sense of wellbeing & health. I am a huge advocate of self-care & work closely with my clients to help them craft a self-care tool kit to help them thrive in life so I hope to share not just my favourite tips & techniques but also new things I’ve never heard about before.

Why am I so passionate about self-care? Well over a decade ago I was diagnosed with severe agitated depression & so began a long journey of self-discovery & self-development which also inspired me to embrace self-care & teach yoga & mindfulness so integral were they to my recovery.

More recently I was floored by horrendous menopause symptoms. I honestly thought I was going mad. Or had early onset dementia. Life was very frightening , chaotic . I was absolutely broken.

It was when I discovered it was the menopause that my self-care practices came into their own. I knew I had to slow down, turn inwards & do the work so that I could heal. My own practices & spiritual quests went up to another level. I combined this with a lot of hard work & of course a healthy dose of HRT & can now look back on the past 18 months & wouldn’t change a thing.

I could not have predicted the children and I would be where we are today: settled, happy, thriving, genuinely in love with life. I’ve learnt so much along the way which has changed the way I think, live, my teaching, indeed, my whole way of being. In a very subtle but no less profound way.

So I will  be taking time to shine the spotlight on the menopause.

It’s a subject that has  come a long way in this past year: there are more companies offering menopause solutions in the work place; it was recently announced that the cost of HRT prescriptions will be cut, making this treatment, which can be life saving for some women, more readily available & most of all we are talking about the menopause in a way we never have before.

1 in 10 working women walk away from or loose their jobs because of the menopause – what a staggering waste of this expertise & talent. 90% of peri-menopausal women are misdiagnosed with mental health issues (err hello!) & 10% of menopausal women experience mental health problems & suicidal thoughts (been there done that). It is estimated that 13m women in the UK are going through peri-menopause or menopause – that’s a lot of women out there struggling. If it’s not you, I’m pretty sure there is someone close to you that it does resonate with.

So I will be shining a light on this cause, using interviews with movers & shakers in the field of menopause & sharing my own journey in the hope I can inspire you that this often life changing transition can be the catalyst for creating the kind of life you have always dreamed of. After all I went from broken to better than ever & so can you.

And most of all I hope to inspire you to take your self-care seriously, whether you are menopausal or not. You deserve to be a priority in your life & to take some time to nurture & nourish yourself. It will help you to be a happier, healthier & more fun version of yourself & all those around you will benefit. How? You’re modelling the value & importance of self-care & it sets and example. 

I’m looking forward to this journey with you.  Can’t wait to begin. 

If you would like to practice yoga with Alex her YouTube channel offers free short classes for everyone & is available here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQlKZJ7MeyYc6lqkv6seISw

Alternatively all of her classes are streamed on live on Zoom, for more information message her at alex@alexbannard.com

Free resources are also available on her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AlexBannardYogaMindfulness

And her website is www.alexbannard.com

Alex is based on the edge of the stunning Cotswolds & has been sharing her love for all things yoga & mindfulness for almost a decade, not just in the UK but also around the world. Her mission is to help everyone discover a more mindful way of living & to encourage them to embrace regular self-care practices for a happier & healthier way of being.

WELSH WRITING WEDNESDAYS: INTRODUCING CRIME WRITER GAIL WILLIAMS

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I am a writer. That thought has been with me for as long as I can remember. I am a writer.

It’s not complicated, but it’s not something I was confident to say until fairly recently. So, hello, I am GB Williams, a crime writer. I have always known that writing is what I was supposed to do, though not what I’ve always done, still it’s what I’m here to talk about, I’m here to introduce you to my writing.

The Chair is a thriller-romance set on Cader Idris, in beautiful southern Snowdonia. The heart of the story starts with a hacker taking what he shouldn’t in London, and when cyber threats turn to physical threats, he has to run as far from the internet as possible. Remembering his parents’ complaints of no signal in north Wales is what brings him to Cadre Idris. Poor driving and the resulting crash is what keeps him there and draws local vet, Branwen Jones and the local hermit, Cobb, into his world of trouble.

Having grown up in the southeast and lived more than half my life in Wales, I know both sides of this story well enough to feel I can do justice to both worlds.

There are a lot of contrasts between London and Wales. Pace of life. Freshness of the air. The wide-open spaces, or lack thereof. But there are strong similarities too. We are all humans trying to survive after all.

That drive is what takes us all though life, and we discover different things alone the way, sometimes to find what we don’t know we’re looking for, we have to change trajectory.  That’s something I did, moved from a high-pressure office job, to writing and editing, and I love it, never been happier.

Changing trajectory is what I do with the characters in The Chair.

Cobb comes to Pen-Y-Cwm after tragedy changes his life. All he wants to be is alone to avoid heartache – only meeting Branwen threatens to drag him out of such splendid isolation. Branwen is looking to leave Pen-Y-Cwm because she can’t take the isolation and heartache of being there, a pain Cobb’s presence exacerbates. Jay is looking to make a quick buck in London, but to save his life he has to run, ending up in Pen-Y-Cwm. Baron works for money, inflicting pain isn’t what he enjoys, it’s just something he’s paid to do. He goes to Pen-Y-Cwm, because that is where he’s sent. He’d happily leave Branwen and Cobb alone, but they are between him and the mark.

This disparate group of people come together for a life-threatening climax, that you’ll just have to read to find out who survives, and decide for yourself if you think they should.

 

 

The Chair

Cobb retreated to Cadre Idris for a solitary life of peace and quite. It’s a bubble that bursts when he and Branwen Jones, the local vet, find an RTA victim during a blizzard and must shelter him in Cobb’s home.

When London’s underbelly reaches Wales, they discover that modern inconveniences persist, and this isn’t the uncivilization they know nor the one they expected. Their presence throws close-knit community life into stark relief.

Forced to help hide an injured hacker from people who will kill to stop the spread of stolen information, Cobb’s not sure he’s ready to rejoin the world when that means putting another woman in the firing line. Branwen’s not sure she can face the revelation of her darkest secret.

When they face the final showdown, they will all find that a Welsh mountain is no place to hide.

 

Author’s website: https://gailbwilliams.co.uk/

 

 

 

 

William Morris Edited by Anna Mason is a dream come true – 668 illustrations of a sublime nature, beautifully presented. With Christmas on the horizon, what a gift for someone, or yourself.

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I gasped when I received this handsome book, though book isn’t quite the right accolade – so what is? A commemorative study of the great man, might be better. Marking the 125th anniversary of William Morris’s death, this is the most wide-ranging, comprehensive – and beautifully– illustrated study of William Morris ever published and I say that from the bottom of my heart. Frost Magazine readers, I salivated. 

William Morris was something of a Renaissance man, with wide-ranging interests: he was a poet, writer, political and social activist, conservationist and businessman, as well as a brilliant and original designer and manufacturer, with his designs still being used as wallpaper. I know, because a friend with taste has Morris’ meticulous presence in every room. This book explores the balance between Morris’s various spheres of activity and influence, places his art in the context of its time and explores his ongoing and far-reaching legacy.

A pioneer of the Arts & Crafts Movement, William Morris (1834–1896) is one of the most influential designers of all time. Morris turned the tide of Victorian England against an increasingly industrialized manufacturing process towards a rediscovered respect for the skill of the maker. Morris’s whole approach still resonates today.

Published to mark the 125th anniversary of Morris’s death, this book includes contributions from a wide range of Morris experts, with chapters on painting, church decoration and stained glass, interior decoration, furniture, tiles and tableware, wallpaper, textiles, calligraphy and publishing. Additional materials include a contextualized chronology of Morris’s life and a list of public collections around the world where examples of Morris’s work may be seen today. This study is a comprehensive, fully illustrated exploration of a great thinker and artist, and essential reading for anyone interested in the history of design.

Anna Mason is a leading authority on the Arts & Crafts Movement. From 2009 to 2016 she was curator at the William Morris Gallery, London, and from 2019 to 2020 was curator of the Morris-designed Red House (National Trust). She was lead curator of the exhibition ‘May Morris: Art and Life’ held at the gallery in 2017, and co-author of the accompanying book May Morris: Arts & Crafts Designer (published by Thames & Hudson with the William Morris Gallery and the V&A).

Frost Magazine cannot recommend this extraordinarily special appreciation of William Morris too highly. Is it too much to say it is a work of art in itself? I think not.

Thames & Hudson / V&A £50 hardback available from the V&A shop, of course.  www.vam.ac.uk

Thames and Hudson is one of the largest independent #English-language publishers of titles in the areas of art, design, architecture, fashion and photography. Still family owned the group employs 130 staff in London, and a further 65 around the world.  www.thamesandhudson.com

The V&A is the world’s leading museum of art, design and performance with collections unrivalled in their csope and diversity. It was established to make works of art available to all and to inspire British designers and manufacturers. Today, the V&A’s collections, which span more than 5000 years, (yes, really) of human creativity in virtually every medium and from many parts of the world continue to intrigue, inspire and inform.

 www.vam.ac.uk