Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John Street, London EC1V 4NJ Tuesday 5th – Saturday 30th March 2019

Image courtesy of Chris Mann

Most people get to be happy with one person. I don’t see why I should have it any different.

Circa explores the blurred identity of the gay relationship in the modern age. Following the story of one man’s romantic life, we are taken through the different relationships and encounters he experiences over a period of thirty years. Joining him through the joys and pitfalls of trying to find love and fulfilment as a gay man.

The twenty-first century. Being gay is supposedly more integrated than ever. Marriage is legal, parenthood is possible and #LoveWins is trending on twitter. The time has arrived to settle down with the man you love for a life of lasting companionship. But in a world where sex is readily available, and with a history of sexual freedom; what does it mean to be in a gay relationship in the modern age? And why are so many gay men still lonely?

After premiering at the Theatre de Meervaart, Amsterdam in 2016, work.Theatre return with Tom Ratcliffe’s debut play in a co-production with Harlow Playhouse.

Circa tackles a range of issues head on in an increasingly deep and fascinating exploration – yes, of what it means to be a gay person, but more widely, what it means to be human. I’m pleased there are no set-in-stone answers provided in this most thoughtful debut play from Tom Ratcliffe. As audiences shout at concerts and gigs after a band has done a good job, “More! More!” (LondonTheatre 1).

Writer Tom Ratcliffe comments, I can’t wait to be bringing Circa back this year for a longer run in London and then to Harlow. The play has become even more topical over the past two years and loneliness amongst the gay community is something that needs to be spoken about.  I think there’s something for everyone to take away from this play as the striving for contentment in romantic relationships is universal.  The play has developed over the past two years and it’s something I cannot wait to share with everyone.

Performance Dates  Tuesday 5th – Saturday 30th March 2019   Tuesday – Saturday, 7.30pm    Saturday and Sunday matinee, 3pm

Running time   2 hours including interval

Age Recommendation  13+

Location   Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 John Street, London EC1V 4NJ

Box Office Tickets are available priced from £12 Call 0333 012 4963 or book online at: www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk.

Twitter @__Circa, @workTheatre, @tomratcliffe15, @ORLtheatre, #CircaORL

Image courtesy of Daniel Hughes

Hey Baby! Following her hit success at Edinburgh Fringe 2018, award-winning performance artist Katy Dye now takes Baby Face on aUK Tour. Baby Face – winner of The Autopsy Award and Lustrum Award 2018 – is a daring look into the paradox of living in a society that continues to infantilise adult women.

Welcome to a world of knee socks, bunches, lollipops, bubblegum and models adopting the childlike expressions of six-year-old girls. Paedophilia is condemned yet fetishised images of women as prepubescent girls are everywhere. In this brave and outlandish performance, Katy Dye questions if innocence is truly as sexy as we’re told.

[a] pointed examination of the way that women are infantilised and how they sometimes collude… Baby Face is provocative stuff…big on impact (Lyn Gardner, The Independent).

Here, the audience enter a strange world, where a grown woman transforms from adult, to teenager, to toddler, to baby. She dresses in a school uniform and performs Britney’s iconic routine. She squeezes herself into a clingy top printed with cartoons – meant for a child or a grown woman? In a pristine white set, using minimal costumes and a baby’s high chair, she navigates the uncomfortable line between wanting to be cared for and being infantilised. With a soundtrack of bubblegum pop and drone rock, and a cloud of talcum powder and haze, strange mixed messages hang in the air. Baby Face is an exposure of our contradictory society when it comes to women’s bodies and how they are treated.

The production is supported by Arts Council England and the Hunter Foundation.

Baby Face :  running time 50 minutes

Box Office Tickets are available from individual theatre box offices. Twitter @katydye1, #BabyFace

Notes Ages 16+, talcum powder used in show (allergy warning)

Artist/Performer Katy Dye Producer Jack Stancliffe Sound Designer Zac Scott Lighting Design Michaella Fee Rossi Video/photography Daniel Hughes

Performance Dates

7th – 9th February Tron Theatre, Glasgow 63 Trongate, Glasgow G1 5HB 28th February Theatre Deli, Sheffield 202 Eyre Street, Sheffield S1 4QZ

6th March Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield Queen Street, Huddersfield HD1 2SP

8th – 9th March Brighton Dome Church Street, Brighton BN1 1UE

20th March The Lowry, Manchester Pier 8, The Quays, Salford M50 3AZ

23rd March Harlow Playhouse Essex Playhouse Square, Harlow CM20 1LS

The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox is an interesting book. I’ve just had a discussion on genes, and we were chatting about whether we inherit memories, or attitudes, or gifts and to some extent this explores the edge of our discussion.

Growing up, Lydia Montrose knew she was descended from the witches of Salem and was warned to keep her legacy secret. But Willow Hall has awoken something inside her…

I enjoyed the writing, and the story. The American voice came over clearly, the story was effortless to follow. A good read.

The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox. pub Harper Collins. pb £7.99 e book and audio

Every Breath You Take by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke

I read this with great pleasure. I’ve loved Mary Higgins Clark ever since a sheep station owner in Australia handed it to me for my onward journey, saying you’ll love her. I do. I’ve wanted to love Alafair Burke, because I have a passion for James Lee Burke. But somehow I’ve never quite felt the commitment to his daughter, very close, but not quite. But after reading this novel,  I’m in her corner now.

The Met Gala ball – where the rich and famous want to be seen , strutting their stuff. You’re nobody if you’re not invited. Perhaps people would kill for that crisp white card? For for not getting one?

Is that what happened three years ago when a member of the Met’s board of trustees was found dead in the snow at the foot of the building? Thrown or jumped? Well, now you mention it, thrown, but by whom? Ah, well read the book.

The alchemy of these two writers brings us something special. Bravo, fabulous. Like Oliver Twist – More please.

Every Breath you Take by Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke. pub Simon & Schuster pb £7.99

The Bad Daughter by Joy Fielding

Another novel about trust. There’re many questions about trust   these days and not just in the writing world.

This exploration is gripping: Robin Davis hasn’t spoken to her family in six years. Not since ‘it’ happened. Then they’re attacked; left fighting for their lives. And Robin is back. What is the secret that has put them all in danger, and whose is it?

As I say, gripping. But I’ve come to expect it from this author.

The Bad Daughter by Joy Fielding. pub Zaffre. pb and eBook £7.99

Starry Night: Van Gogh at the Asylum is a fresh insight into the last year of the artist’s life which was mostly spent at Saint-Paul-de Mausoleum in the South of France. The author, a leading Van Gogh specialist has woven new material from the Asylum with his extensive knowledge of the artist, his life and work. This well written and lavishly illustrated book will capture hearts and minds.

Vincent Van Gogh was a highly literate man who knew French, German and English as well as his native Dutch. He was a great reader, who loved Dickens and who read the complete works of Shakespeare in English during his stay at Saint-Paul. He produced many paintings and drawings during the year he voluntarily spent as a patient whose mental health problems had caused him great distress culminating in the severing of his own ear.

Martin Bailey has meticulously charted that year using documents from the asylum which for the first time offer descriptions of the buildings, other residents and glimpses of the life led by `Monsieur Vincent’ from May 1889 to May 1890.

It is possible to see the viewpoints for the works of this time, whether from windows, or the interior, and occasions when Vincent was well enough to travel into the surrounding countryside. Many of the paintings were sent to Paris to his brother Theo, which is how they have survived. The masterpieces included wheat fields, olive groves, cypresses and sunsets.

Vincent also wrote letters when he was well enough, which alongside this new research give a fascinating insight into the artist. Sadly there are so many lost works. The story of some of these is an intriguing work of detection and revelation by the author.

Starry Night Van Gogh at the Asylum By Martin Bailey  pub:  White Lion Publishing. £25.00 Hardback