Somerville Arts Week Schedule

Day	Event	Time	Location
Monday 30th April	Dorothy L Sayers Society Talk	12 noon	Somerville Bar
	Poetry Workshop (Somerville alumnus Kate McLoughlin/ Poetry reading)	18.30	Somerville Bar
	Comedy in the Chapel (Oxford Revue/ Stand up acts)	20.00	Somerville Chapel
Tuesday 1st May	Principals of Murder (Murder mystery based on DLS novels)	19.30	Somerville Chapel
Wednesday 2nd May	Gillian Cross Talk	17.00	Somerville Bar
Thursday 3rd May	Angels Cocktail Demo	19.00	Somerville Bar
	Costume Show (Introductory presentation/ archive photographs/ Somerville fashion since the college’s inception/ Performance of songs from the Somerville Musical)	20.00	Somerville Chapel
Friday 4th May	Musical Variety Concert	20.00	Somerville Chapel
Saturday 5th May	Somerville Art Society & Speakers (Somerville Doodle/ Mono-Printing/ Photography)	10.00	Somerville Bar
	Principals of Murder (Murder mystery based on DLS novels)	15.00	Somerville Chapel
ALL WEEK	John Stuart Mill Room	Monday- Friday 12.00-13.00 Saturday 11.00-12.00	Somerville Library
	Photography Exhibition (Photography submissions from Somervillians)		Green Hall
	Loggia Exhibition (Description of Somerville art works)		Somerville Library Loggia

Somerville Arts Week

Somerville College Arts Week is taking place from 30th April- 5th May 2012, a celebration of arts in college and around the city. Keep your eyes peeled here for all of the event details!

View the trailer here;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwhoEqhHKdo&context=C4d5d9f8ADvjVQa1PpcFMnfrlgENPL02ph411pRs2tvLqn2zvJhKo%3D

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Titanic; The Musical

I have a terrible phobia of the underwater. To this day I have never sat through the entirety of James Cameron’s 1997 film… When the quivering and the nausea begin to sweep over me, which usually happens as soon as the ship pulls away from the dock, I have to switch off. Despite the numerous documentaries and adaptations that have been on to celebrate the centenary, and as much as the subject is fascinating, I cannot watch them. I thought that a musical of the story of Titanic would not give me those feelings; no water, no actual ship, none of the effects. Musicals use cheese and tunes to gloss the story with a warm fuzzy coating, and I therefore thought I was safe. However, as soon as the WWOS production of Titanic: The Musical began at the Churchill Theatre, the quality of the acting and the emotion behind the performance left me trembling just as much as any 3D or CGI version would have done, and I still cowered into my mother when the fathers were told they had to stay on board.

The cast encompassed those who had been real passengers on the ship; Captain Smith, the White Star line owner Mr Ismay and the ship designer, Mr Andrews as well as first class travellers the Astors, Macy’s owner Mr Strauss and his wife, some third class people, as well as the staff on board; amongst others Mr Edges, the first class steward (who gave a great performance) and Mr Barrett the stoker. Already the performance had a realistic sincerity, but it also enabled a story with relationships between the characters providing sub-plots and a channel for light ironic humour, with second class passenger Mrs Bean consistently trying to ‘spy the millionaires’ which, if a little over-acted was a good balance against the tragedy.   

The whole show ran for 2 hours and 40 minutes, which was the time the ship took to sink. This was a good idea, but ensuring that the interval began on a ‘cliff-hanger’ meant that the iceberg didn’t strike until an hour and a half in. There were good attempts at building the suspense for the first half; the usual references to her not being able to sink, and the captain’s musings that this would be his final voyage, but these were almost lost in a first half that just seemed neverending. It was almost relief when the berg complete with some blinding strobes and smoke finally struck. Due to the amount of time spent on the build up, the second half seemed a little rushed but in spite of this, the cast managed to sustain a great performance throughout.  

Musical Titanic is at first glance a sceptic’s dream. The story is an unusual backdrop choice for a musical and this showed with the attempts at conveying humanity and sentiment through some rather clichéd songs; America as the nation of dreams and a rather awkward song about blame between Ismay, Andrews and Smith that took away a lot of the raw emotion and fellow feeling that would have communicated the story without the need for song, dance or show. But, it was a musical; and as a musical it was very successful. I still managed to leave the theatre in tears…

V & A Museum

I popped in to the V & A museum the other day for some inspiration for the Somerville Arts Week Costume Show. They have some beautiful prints and designs from historical fashions, as well it being full of various other bits and pieces from British history. You really can lose yourself in there, particularly at the height of the tourist season! If only we could persuade someone brave to have a go at walking the Chapel catwalk in some replica electric blue Vivienne Westwood platforms...

Future exhibitions include: 'Hollywood Costume' between 20th October 2012 and 27th January 2013. Among the exhibits are outfits worn by Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's and Keira Knightley as Cecelia Tallis in Atonement. How exciting! 

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/exhibition-hollywood-costume/about-the-exhibition/

Counting Crows; Underwater Sunshine

While most people may know the Counting Crows as the creators of the Shrek 2 theme song, Accidentally in Love, which won the Californian group a well-deserved Oscar, their rocky tunes and non-sensical yet somehow brilliant lyrics have rapidly accelerated the Crows in to the position of my favourite band. Their new album, Underwater Sunshine, released in April 2012, was therefore eagerly anticipated. Many of the tracks are reminiscent of earlier Crows songs (Rain King and Mr Jones), with familiar rhythms and riffs, although the album has a much greater countrified feel, particularly You Ain’t Goin Nowhere, which left me feeling like the self-satisfied owener of a mustang with larger than life wheels that’s casually blowing up dust on a hot day in the mid-west.

Many of the songs are of much of a muchness; I found myself with that disappointing feeling you get where you listen to a whole album and struggle to distinguish each new song from its predecessor. But, there are a few good tunes; Untitled (Love Song), Return of the Grievous Angel and Four White Stallions stood out for me, but the album is missing the rocky edge that the Crows do so well, and which their previous albums showcased; the soulful vocals of Adam Duritz in I Wish I Was a Girl or the slower-paced, more melodic Sullivan Street. Despite being a little underwhelmed with this new release, until they bring some tour dates to the UK, I’m still considering a plane ticket to the States, if only to hear that live rendition of Round Here...

Anna Karenina; Eifman Ballet

To me, ballet is one of those art forms where even if you don’t understand or enjoy it, you can’t help but sit mesmerised at the talent and the outcome. Not pretending to know the first technical thing about ballet, I do happen to love Russian literature, particularly Anna Karenina, Tolstoy’s slightly shorter, albeit not by much subsequent novel to War and Peace… So, when I saw Anna Karenina, the ballet, advertised in those posters in tube stations, (the ones that make the long escalator rides bearable if merely by filling me with a list as long as my arm of things I want to see or go to but can’t begin to contemplate finding the time or money to do so), I knew I had to see it. It was performed by the lesser well-known Eifman ballet, of St Petersburg origin for two nights at the London Coliseum as part of a season, which also included Onegin, a novel written in verse form by Pushkin.

The ballet began with the scene of a small boy sitting in the middle of a train track as an electric train surrounded him, symbolising his content home life of a loving father, Karenin and respected mother, Anna. Cutting out the sub-plot of the tale of Kitty, Anna’s sister and her suitor Levin’s courtship, the ballet allowed itself to focus on the love triangle between Karenin, Anna and Count Vronsky, whose chance meeting with Anna at a society ball has tragic social and domestic consequences for the family and destroys the quaint life apparent in the first scene.

Eifman’s choreography was fantastic; a modern take on classical ballet dances with a great deal of floor work and contortion to highlight the torment and frustration of the characters. Fast paced scene changes and passionate encounters between the three main characters brought suspense and drama whilst retaining some technically impressive and elegant dancing. The scene where Anna and Vronsky finally succumb to their emotions was an inventive and illustrative one, flickering between the spotlights of the two characters alone in their homes and culminating in a dramatic rendezvous, which was marred only by a rogue blackberry light a few rows in front.

Slightly shorter than usual ballets at just two hours including the interval meant the narrative was communicated with an urgency that illustrated the desperation and desire of the characters, while maintaining high quality performance. Nina Zmievets as Anna was outstanding, particularly when she was acting under the influence of opium. The corps de ballet were also phenomenal, with some excellent stage formations creating the scandalous high society Russian back drop for the meetings of the three main characters.

Eifman’s choreography managed to illustrate the breakdown in the Karenin household with precision, imagination and emotion. Relating the passion of Anna and Vronsky to the present day by contemporising the ballet, Eifman ensured that Tolstoy’s novel retained the social and psychological impact it originally envisaged. The show epitomised Eifman’s philosophy; he is concerned with the spiritual and mental elements of his characters, striving for representation of the human psyche through creativity and movement, and the interpretation of older tales and music. Anna Karenina was a perfect example of this, a unique yet undeniably imaginative show overflowing with talent and emotion.

The website of the Eifman ballet contains further information about the company, the repetoire and future performances as well as a trailer for their current shows Anna Karenina and Onegin.

http://www.eifmanballet.ru/

Oxford Literary Festival; 3

My final event at the literary festival this year was a just as full garden marquee for Claire Tomalin, Dickens' most recent biographer. It was great to hear from Claire herself why she loves Dickens and why she decided to write about him. Tomalin began her talk by suggesting that the best way to meet Dickens was to 'hear his own voice' and so she read a letter that he had written to his sister, and then analysed it. It was a bit like an English lesson; what did this word show about his personality and why did he choose to write this part? Yet it was fascinating. His 'tremendous spirits' and 'energy' are apparent in every turn of phrase and Tomalin gave amusing evidence for these traits by describing his dandy-like appearance, his love of clothes and parties and his long curly locks. Dickens walked around London at night to expel this energy, walks that gave him inspiration and insight, invaluable for his future works. Tomalin also emphasised the performer-side of Dickens' personality, which was cultivated during his days as a parliamentary reporter and continued throughout his career when he began to tour and give readings of his books. He was a man of obsessions; he ordered the world around him, most notably he would rearrange the furniture to suit him to hotel rooms. Tomalin presented Dickens as rather eccentric; he wrote with a quill pen and took his friends of visits to prisons as a 'treat' such as the event of his daughter Katie's christening. These pockets of anecdotes gave another dimension to Dickens' writing. When asked by an audience member what new perspective Tomalin herself thought that her biography brought to the arena, she responded with the emphasis that she had placed on Dickens' relationship with John Forster, a relationship that I had no idea was so influential. Tomalin dedicated the latter part of her speech to enlightening the audience of this influence, it was at Forster's suggestion for example that David Copperfield be written in the first person. 

Biographies are an interesting genre. We don't need to know about the author to appreciate their work, or understand or enjoy it. Tomalin herself admitted this in response to another question from the audience. However, she also said that while we do not need to know, the human being is inquisitive. Lives are interesting. There is no doubt that all lives are, and one does not need to be a famous author or social reformer to provoke this interest. I will concede in this case that even I am intrigued by the life of the author. Who has read Great Expectations and hasn't been enchanted by the brain that created it and the experiences he had? Maybe a biography is as great a tribute a fan of an author can give? I however believe that there is no greater tribute to Dickens than reading his books; they truly are the work of a genius and one does not need to know that he worked in a blacking factory to see that.

Oxford Literary Festival; 2

I wanted to hear PD James because her most recent venture as soon as I heard of it seemed to be the tampering with something that need not be tampered with. In the words of John Crace the day before, 'it is a truth universally acknowledged that a really good book does not need a sequel.' He was of course referring to Death Comes to Pemberley, the new novel by PD James, a murder mystery set in the post Pride and Prejudice world of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy. They have two sons and seem perfectly content until, shock horror, a murder. For someone who claims to be Jane Austen's number one fan, James didn't half put possibly the most anti-Austen novel into the literary circuit. I know her genre is detective fiction, and it wouldn't be much of a murder mystery without a murder, but Jane Austen barely mentioned the Napoleonic wars. The worst that happened to her characters was famously a cold. To tarnish Austen's commentaries of the twee plights of Regency females is exactly what PD James seems to do just by setting a murder at Pemberley. It is difficult to write anything negative against James, who really was a charming and incredibly witty speaker to hear. Her retelling of a story where she went to visit a prison and a murderer suggested to her that 'we should get together; you have the talent and I have the experience' got what was a very full garden marquee tittering. But, while PD James' queries; 'why did Darcy not question Mrs Young's references ? Why does Darcy change so quickly?' may be appropriate for a mind like James' who asked 'Did Humpty Dumpty fall or was he pushed?' on first reception of the nursery rhyme, it seems these are inquiries best left out of the Austen world. After all, if Darcy had checked Mrs Young's references, Miss Austen would have been left with rather a large plot hole, and while Pride and Prejudice retains a very gripping and fast paced plot, it is the relationships that Austen wrote about; people, society, behaviour, families. The plot came after and really, it didn't need any further elaboration than the happy ending it had, which gave young women everywhere (and I think probably still does) hope that they will find their very own Mr Darcy.

Despite not being fanatical about PD James' new venture, her talk was still a great insight into the world of writing in general. Maybe the most honest explanation of why she finally got around to writing notwithstanding having a family and a high pressured job was that one day she would say to her grandchildren, 'Of course, I always wanted to be a writer.' To me, this contained in one sentence one of my, and many other's greatest fears, that we are running out of time. Whether that's time to write, or just read everything that one wants to read (a sentiment also expressed the day before by John Sutherland), it was a moving statement, forcing people to be proactive. Without wanting to sound cliched, but managing to anyway, to 'seize the day' as it were...

James' general musings on literature and those who read literature were also enlightening. 'The genre chooses us' was another phrase I noted down. Speaking of the genre itself, James' talk was also interesting to someone who is a general lover of detective fiction. From an early age, Enid Blyton's Famous Five and Mystery series introduced me to the wonderful plot lines and suspense that can manage to create an 'unputdownable' book, which happens to be my favourite genre. PD James' statement that 'a book grows like a living thing' is acutely apt to any detective story, as at every page there is another suspect, another clue, another red herring. The mark of a good detective writer is one that can manage to tie even themselves so up in knots that they keep themselves guessing to the very last page. 

One final thing that was apparent from PD James' talk was her self-confidence. Far from arrogance, it was a determination that she could be a successful writer, merely because she wanted to be and loved reading. Her inspirational anecdote towards the end of her speech that although she would have loved to have gone to university for the experience, she did not think it would have made her a better writer, demonstrated how accessible and universal writing can be. Quality of writing does not come from education. It comes from the experience of the author; their background, their childhood, their work, the people they meet. Even James drew much of her material from her experiences working in the forensics and criminal law department of the Home Office. While I remain cynical and actually slightly confused as to why she decided to resurrect Pride and Prejudice as a sexed-up CSI:Pemberley, James' attitude to writing, to reading and to readers was a wonderful insight into the literary mind. A truly inspirational hour.