Saturday 27 April 2013

What a difference a bit of sunshine and a dose of culture makes!

I’m remembering exactly why I do like living around here and I’ve definitely got my happy vibe back! Not that the travelling idea has been shelved - far from it, but the desperation seems to have passed.

Rob Crouch as Oliver Reed: Wild Thing started the ball rolling on Thursday of last week with a fantastic one man show depicting the life of the famous actor. I had not seen any of Crouch’s work before so had no idea what to expect. Sometimes this is the best way to approach theatre –no expectations and allowing yourself to be blown away.

Green Room Productions upped the ante on Friday with The Wife, The Mistress, The Chair. A powerful drama in the tiny Little Theatre, the production and the venue complementing each other perfectly and I am sure there were moments where every single audience member was holding their breath from the suspense. I love Green Room Productions and hope to see them continue to grow over the next few years – although selfishly, not too much that I can’t get tickets!

A completely different prospect on Saturday afternoon was Sutton Theatre Company’s Return To The Forbidden Planet. My sister being in the cast, attendance bordered on compulsory(!), but STC do put on an good show – bright, slick, colourful and energetic – so it was worth the journey. Their sets and costuming are always great and this musical really suited them as there’s lots of big production numbers to show off their strong singing. Watching my little niece totally engrossed in the show was great fun too.

Sunday morning saw me up before the crack of lunch to be at Beanzz Coffee for my second storytelling workshop. You might remember the first workshop prompting my starting this blog? Fortunately, the second was not a similarly emotional affair! I wore the gorgeous red felt cloche hat I found in Austin for a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, heard the story of Herne and Andred at Beltane and discovered that I am much better at choosing negative storylines than positive ones for little fish (you probably had to be there!).

To the cinema in Hailsham for Sunday evening and Cloud Atlas which I think is brilliant. I’m not totally convinced and want to see it again to be sure, but it’s certainly got stunning cinematography and I loved the interwoven stories.

A slight let-down on Monday evening, caused in part by high expectations which refers me back to the beginning of this post. The Agatha Christie Theatre Company’s Go Back For Murder was good but not gripping as previous shows. I think in a week where it was the only thing I went to see, the play would have fared better, but put up against Oliver Reed and especially The Wife, The Mistress, The Chair, it suffered by comparison.

Then two evenings in, thankfully because I was knackered, before we were back to enjoying ourselves on Thursday. A trip to London (well, Wimbledon is London to me) and the fabulous Matthew Bourne ballet Sleeping Beauty at the New Wimbledon Theatre. Nearly a disastrous day as the trains were all over the place due to ‘ a person being hit by a train in the Hassocks area’ but we made it with enough time to grab lunch and OMFG! I tweeted ‘Every superlative I know’ and that’s just how we both felt. So much talent, so much creativity, such wonderful ideas! And enough of a budget to bring it all to the stage with real panache. I felt so privileged to be able to have been there.

So now I'm a buzzing again. I've even been running twice, not very far, but enough to be reassured that the colds have finally gone. My blogging drive has returned has returned, no doubt inspired by the theatrical overdose and helped on its way by three art exhibitions this morning. Check out Theatrical Eastbourne over the next couple of weeks for posts about the art and a couple of new artists I discovered ...

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