Hello April. Goodbye March. My favourite things in March have included, Sunday Morning Story, last minute visits to Canterbury, and watching Daniel Carpenter perform at Write Out Loud in Sale.
Also may I add to that list buying nearly a whole bookshelf of books and writing more poetry than normal. Hooray! If only I had more time to read them. Here's a few thoughts gathered on March.
Bad Language took place this month at The Castle Hotel as normal, all except for the fact that it was moved forwards one week to the 23rd March rather then the last Wednesday of the month. As usual me, Dan, and Joe ran the night and the entertainment was provided by a long list of quality open micers. The theme, rather unintentionally seemed to vere towards poo, as quite a few writers seemed to feature a horrible poo story one way or another in their piece. The night's very special guest was Gerry Potter, a brilliant performance poet who has had two books published, PLANET YOUNG and PLANET MIDDLE AGE both available from http://www.flapjackpress.co.uk/. It was good to see a few new faces down for the night including Matt Tuckey and Nija Dala. We'll be specially reserving a few places each month for brand newcomers from now on just to stir things up a bit! Stir Stir Stir...
Another exciting thing which has taken place this month was Frankenstein by the National Theatre Live which I was lucky enough to see on the second try. I watched it broadcast live at The Cornerhouse in Manchester and although the experience lacked the atmosphere you would get from a live theatre show I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Highlights were the stage lights which were built of hundreds of different types of lightbulbs hanging above the stage and flickering in various motions. It looked like afterthoughts of fireworks cracking as you anticipated something exciting about to happen. Also a steamtrain that drove right through the middle of the stage on a track! Lowlights were a few wobbling camera technical faults and a small amount of wooden actors (not literally) but I won't name names.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller swapped roles of the Creature and Victor each night which I imagine is an extremely challenging thing for an actor to do; working on two roles in depth and rotating when the nights you play them, though at the same time refreshing to take a break from such an intense role as the Creature. What I find more fascinating is the two different approaches the actors took to playing the Creature. One stated that he copied his 4 year old son learning new things and brought this childlike element to the role. The other stated that he watched stroke victims in recovery; a fully grown mind trying to remember what it's like to function normally. Two very different approaches but they both worked, so I hear. I only got to see one of the nights so I can't make an accurate comparison. I love the sound of the bell in this trailer. It's the same bell that opened the play as the Creature was born.
This month I forced myself to read Running Dog by Don Delillo. I say forced, not because I didn't enjoy it but because it's quite hard to keep your patience whilst trying to figure out what's happening in the plot. Despite there being too many character and plotlines, the style of writing kept me gripped so I found I didn't need to follow every detail to enjoy the book. What let the book down was the failure to establish which character storyline each chapter or paragraph opened with (as it changed that quickly) due the lack of name use and individual characteristics which could help to identify this. I love, however, the fast paced dialogue and how two characters can have completely different conversations in the same moment.
I'm now reading Haruki Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (notice the unintentional running theme!) As a new runner I hope to find something in this book to keep me inspired to run. What amazes me about the book is it proves what I have always thought about good writers; that to be a good writer, you can write any subject and still build a story from it. It's about the angle you take on the story and the language used, rather than exceptional plot.
Exciting things happening in April:
NapoWrimo - A bit like NaNo WriMo (National Novel Writing Month) but with poetry. The aim is to write a poem every day for the full month of April and potentially publish it somewhere on the internet so people can see who's taking part. Bad Language will be taking part and I will be attempting to post a poem a day on here.
Flash Mob Writing Competition - As part of this years Chorlton Arts Festival Flash Mob will be running a writing competition for stories of 500 words or under. There will also be a snazzy prize giving ceremony and live event OOoooooOOO! So get writing and booking. More details on the website.
Bad Language - Yes. As per usual Bad Language will be hosting a live literature event at The Castle Hotel in Manchester and this time it will be in it's usual spot of the last Wednesday of April. The very special headline act will be Rod Tame who is a performance artist, actor and host of Write Out Loud Sale and Rhyme and Dine at Manchester’s Earth Cafe.
I leave you with a photo of the inside of a castle ruins to see if it scares you. It reminds me of how a headache feels. Happy April!
Also may I add to that list buying nearly a whole bookshelf of books and writing more poetry than normal. Hooray! If only I had more time to read them. Here's a few thoughts gathered on March.
Bad Language took place this month at The Castle Hotel as normal, all except for the fact that it was moved forwards one week to the 23rd March rather then the last Wednesday of the month. As usual me, Dan, and Joe ran the night and the entertainment was provided by a long list of quality open micers. The theme, rather unintentionally seemed to vere towards poo, as quite a few writers seemed to feature a horrible poo story one way or another in their piece. The night's very special guest was Gerry Potter, a brilliant performance poet who has had two books published, PLANET YOUNG and PLANET MIDDLE AGE both available from http://www.flapjackpress.co.uk/. It was good to see a few new faces down for the night including Matt Tuckey and Nija Dala. We'll be specially reserving a few places each month for brand newcomers from now on just to stir things up a bit! Stir Stir Stir...
Another exciting thing which has taken place this month was Frankenstein by the National Theatre Live which I was lucky enough to see on the second try. I watched it broadcast live at The Cornerhouse in Manchester and although the experience lacked the atmosphere you would get from a live theatre show I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Highlights were the stage lights which were built of hundreds of different types of lightbulbs hanging above the stage and flickering in various motions. It looked like afterthoughts of fireworks cracking as you anticipated something exciting about to happen. Also a steamtrain that drove right through the middle of the stage on a track! Lowlights were a few wobbling camera technical faults and a small amount of wooden actors (not literally) but I won't name names.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller swapped roles of the Creature and Victor each night which I imagine is an extremely challenging thing for an actor to do; working on two roles in depth and rotating when the nights you play them, though at the same time refreshing to take a break from such an intense role as the Creature. What I find more fascinating is the two different approaches the actors took to playing the Creature. One stated that he copied his 4 year old son learning new things and brought this childlike element to the role. The other stated that he watched stroke victims in recovery; a fully grown mind trying to remember what it's like to function normally. Two very different approaches but they both worked, so I hear. I only got to see one of the nights so I can't make an accurate comparison. I love the sound of the bell in this trailer. It's the same bell that opened the play as the Creature was born.
This month I forced myself to read Running Dog by Don Delillo. I say forced, not because I didn't enjoy it but because it's quite hard to keep your patience whilst trying to figure out what's happening in the plot. Despite there being too many character and plotlines, the style of writing kept me gripped so I found I didn't need to follow every detail to enjoy the book. What let the book down was the failure to establish which character storyline each chapter or paragraph opened with (as it changed that quickly) due the lack of name use and individual characteristics which could help to identify this. I love, however, the fast paced dialogue and how two characters can have completely different conversations in the same moment.
I'm now reading Haruki Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (notice the unintentional running theme!) As a new runner I hope to find something in this book to keep me inspired to run. What amazes me about the book is it proves what I have always thought about good writers; that to be a good writer, you can write any subject and still build a story from it. It's about the angle you take on the story and the language used, rather than exceptional plot.
Exciting things happening in April:
NapoWrimo - A bit like NaNo WriMo (National Novel Writing Month) but with poetry. The aim is to write a poem every day for the full month of April and potentially publish it somewhere on the internet so people can see who's taking part. Bad Language will be taking part and I will be attempting to post a poem a day on here.
Flash Mob Writing Competition - As part of this years Chorlton Arts Festival Flash Mob will be running a writing competition for stories of 500 words or under. There will also be a snazzy prize giving ceremony and live event OOoooooOOO! So get writing and booking. More details on the website.
Bad Language - Yes. As per usual Bad Language will be hosting a live literature event at The Castle Hotel in Manchester and this time it will be in it's usual spot of the last Wednesday of April. The very special headline act will be Rod Tame who is a performance artist, actor and host of Write Out Loud Sale and Rhyme and Dine at Manchester’s Earth Cafe.
I leave you with a photo of the inside of a castle ruins to see if it scares you. It reminds me of how a headache feels. Happy April!
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