Here's to you, Benjamin Braddock

Frome Drama Club continued its obsession with all things transatlantic with a production of The Graduate at the Merlin last week.  While their last show (and our first experience of FDC) was a triumph (Ayckbourn's very English The Revengers' Comedies) , the company seemed less at ease with the American vernacular (though ironically they keep on producing plays written or based across the pond).

It was technically slick - good sound, lighting and video projection - and staged with a boldness (complete with sex scenes of varying athleticism) that would leave many an am dram company hiding behind their Noel Coward scripts. But somehow it never really took off. It wasn't as funny as it should have been nor as sexy. But there were a couple of stand-out performances  - Dan Gaisford as the eponymous lead (perhaps a little old for the part, but still convincing) and Tina Waller as the girl he eventually leads away from the altar and off to a happy ending in a motel room.

I wonder if the directors are enamoured of American theatre, while the actors are more comfortable on British soil. Their autumn production is Macbeth set during World War I. We shall see if the witches can weave some home-grown magic.

http://www.fromedrama.com

Moving Pictures

To the Black Swan for Portraits of the Working People of Somerset. When I first read about this, I had my doubts. What would be the point of getting people to pose and then video-ing them, rather than just shooting still images? What would video add? And the title was hardly a grabber, either. 


But I was converted. Projected onto the end wall of the gallery, they are beautifully lit and shot - subdued colours with hints of Victorian photography and Vermeer. The seated ones work best (those standing look rather uncomfortable). A potter, a basket weaver, a coffin maker, a stone carver, cheese makers and so on sit perfectly still in profile with their work and/or tools around them. Then a slight turn to camera -  and the effect is both surprising and revealing. 


The accompanying oral history interviews would benefit from some judicious editing (a frequent problem with oral histories for the casual listener/viewer), but the portraits are well worth a visit. I've not spent such a long time in a gallery, so engrossed, for many a day.


At the Black Swan until 5th May.


http://www.blackswan.org.uk/exhibitions_black_swan_arts_Detail.php?Portraits-of-the-Working-People-of-Somerset-29

An Embarrassment of Riches

Fromians and regular readers of this blog will be well aware of the town's remarkable cultural life. But sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. Last night, for example, there was Savoy Brown at the Cheese & Grain, Frome Choral Society at the Wesleyan Church, comedy with Nick Revell (amongst others) at The Cornerhouse and (I quote) "Suzy Quatro's Sax Player" at The Archangel. And there may have been more going on that I'm unaware of.

Hats off to events co-ordination!
(Frome Folk Fest 2012 at the Cheese & Grain)

Are all these events competing for the same audience? Would each have benefitted from being on a different night? There are some Saturdays when very little is on offer, so wouldn't some sort of entertainment co-ordinator be a good idea in order to avoid this kind of overload? There was talk of the C & G taking on the role of central box office for the town's venues - maybe they could keep a "clash diary" too?


PS Thank you for your comment below, "Dream Job". (Blogger is misbehaving and won't let me reply directly). I take your point, but I have incontrovertible evidence, m'lud. May I refer you to OS Explorer Map 142...?

A Sign of the Times?

During World War II, signposts were removed in what would surely have been a vain attempt to confuse any invading Germans (didn't the Third Reich have maps?). But at one time or another, we must all have suffered from missing signs or deliberately altered ones while on foreign territory - be that Swindon or Swaziland.

There's a sign on Frome Bridge which I pass regularly. It directs cyclists onto National Cycle Network route 24 and pedestrians to the railway station (it's a handy short cut if you're catching a train - 90% pedestrianised, avoiding the town centre and a steep hill). It is fixed to a post and is constantly being turned round, thus sending any visitor who doesn't know the town in the wrong direction. What a laugh, eh? All those people who visit Frome, spending money in the shops and restaurants, being sent God knows where. And you know what, depending on how much this wild goose chase spoils their day out, they might not come back. How hilarious is that?

I don't have a photo of the sign, but here's one of the bridge
(courtesy of Ross Websdale on Flickr).

I've tried to get into the mindset of those who tweak signs. Are they so disengaged from society (big or small) that to send someone up the wrong path is their perverse way of "making a difference"? While the more public spirited amongst us would get satisfaction from pointing a stranger in the right direction, these individuals get their kicks from the opposite?

Whatever their motivation, I shall continue to turn the sign back whenever it has been molested. And I urge you to do the same with any in your neck of the woods. A passing German might just thank you for it.

On The Level(s)

First of all, many thanks to Anonymous for his/her entertaining and informative comments.
Interesting your thoughts on Wiltshire being posh. Have you ever been to Swindon?

Good Friday was spent on the Somerset Levels around Langport/Muchelney, an area we've always wanted to explore. My image of the fenland prior to this visit was dominated by Don McCullin's photographs - monochrome, wintry, wet, bleak, big skies etc etc. On Friday, the fields were green, the skies big, yes, but blue and sunny, and (thanks to the recent lack of rain) the earth was dry and cracked - more Sahara than Somerset. It was still wonderful, the walking was easy, Muchelney and Langport were each fascinating in their own way (especially Mulcheney's infamous brazen angels), but it was all a bit more neat and tidy than I'd expected.

One of the "uninhibited" angels on the ceiling of Muchelney Church
 (not at all McCullinesque )

It's interesting how one's preconceptions of a place are either reinforced or undermined by the actual experience of being there. Is our response ever exactly what we expected? Are we always to some degree surprised - either in a positive or negative way? Do those preconceptions get in the way of a genuine reaction to somewhere? Research and learning are marvellous things, and technology has made them easier to acquire than ever. But sometimes I wonder if Ignorance really is Bliss.

http://www.aperture.org/exposures/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/008_mccullin.jpg/bmi_orig_img/008_mccullin.jpg