Live on screen

I have discovered the wonder that is live-screened performance. 

I have always loved live theatre, but too often nowadays, it is prohibitively expensive and/ or extremely uncomfortable for someone with my foot and joint problems, to say nothing of taking hours of travel. 

So when I noticed an ad for a live screencast of Peter Grimes from the Coliseum, I got Bex to book a couple of tickets and off we went. As it turned out, the cinema we chose (Cineworld at the O2) had an audience of about 10 people, so there was not a lot of the atmosphere that you usually get at an opera, but oh, this was more than made up for by almost everything else. 

To start with, at £17.50, this was cheap! The seats were comfortable! (I can usually only afford the balcony, where I suffer backache, sore, cramped feet and often, pins-and-needles in my legs). We were close to the action, and the sound was good. I've never seen Peter Grimes before, so didn't know what to expect, but this was an amazing production. I could see the singers' faces in close-up, and their acting was terrific. I absolutely would do opera this way again. 

Looking around the internet, I found a lot of other live broadcasts advertised. ENO and the Opera House live-screen opera and ballet; the Met do, and even the Bolshoi!  The RSC and the NT also have live links to plays, and they all screen 'curtain calls' - recordings of previous live screenings. 

WarHorse has been on my wish-list for a long time, but has been pretty much booked out, both at the National and at Drury Lane, it's current home. Last night I watched a live screening from the comfort of the local Odeon, and again, it was wonderful. 

It seems that the 'preferred' local venue ( Greenwich PictureHouse) has a big audience. So much so that all the currently listed live screenings are fully booked. And they charge £30 a pop. It's also a two-bus journey for me. Okay for getting to, but a bit chancy coming back lack at night, especially if I go alone.

I took a chance and turned up at the Odeon (one bus, 15 minute journey) without booking, and had no problem getting a ticket. The Odeon charged £12.50- a real bargain. The seats were not quite as comfortable as the 02 seats, but still way more comfortable than any theatre seat I have ever sat in. The audience was again not huge ( I guess this was overspill from the PictureHouse), but there were about 40 people. Again, the sound and picture quality was good, and the production was wonderful. I loved the puppets, and being close to the action again really brought the acting skills of the cast and puppeteers into focus. I cried when Topthorn died and when Joey got caught on barbed wire. 

I have absolutely loved both my cultural outings this week. I will be keeping my eye open for more. 

Goodbye mum

My mother died on February 8th. 

She had been ill for a long time, her Alzheimer's gradually getting worse, and with a new diagnosis of multiple myeloma. But in the end, she died of pneumonia. 

2013 Roundup

A week into the new year, and I'm just getting round to the final post of 2013. Oh well, better late than never…

The last couple of months have been dominated by gout, which just takes over everything. The big flare up lasted from the end of October through to Christmas, and stopped me from doing pretty much everything- shopping for presents being the main sufferer. Luckily, I had started buying early, so did manage to get something for everyone. I managed to get proper shoes on a couple of days before Xmas. Finally got to wear my shiny new boots. 

This morning my foot is ominously sore again…

The turkey was disappointing this year. I'd bought a frozen turkey crown because I wanted a small one, but it wasn't organic, and I really noticed the difference. So much so that I didn't eat any of the leftovers- gave the whole shebang to Edd to take away. I think for 2014 I will buy a single organic turkey breast, so as to have the flavour of turkey without the leftovers. The gammon, however, was good. I delegated the responsibility for purchasing the gammon to Bex (as I couldn't get out to shop), and she did us proud. 

We bought an artificial Xmas tree this year. I have had real trees for a long time, but get increasingly worried about being able to get out to choose one. A couple of years ago the weather was so bad we ended up with no tree at all, which was sad, and while Bex has been a marvel at buying trees and arranging transport for them, getting a tree before Xmas and disposing of it afterwards has become more and more of a hassle. The fake tree is a good one, and should last for at least 10 years. 

My mother spent all of Xmas and new year in hospital with a chest infection. She is still on oxygen to assist her breathing, and we don't know when she will be able to return to her nursing home.

My brother seems to be recovering well from his heart surgery.  

My grandson is developing in leaps and bounds. When a child is diagnosed with autism, it is hard not to think of all the developmental milestones that will be missed- but Pea continues to confound us. He started school in September, and is really enjoying it. He can now write his name! And he took part in the school Xmas performance. (As proud granny, I was there, and yes, I cried). 

The boiler did its usual thing and broke down the week before Xmas. Luckily, it hasn't been too cold yet this winter, and they did fix it pretty quickly. 

The main weather problem this winter has been storms and very high winds. We lost the best part of our beautiful ceanothus in the first big storm.

 There have been minor floods down by the river - the Thames barrier has been closed for 10 high tides in a row as I write this. Luckily, we live on a hill, so should be okay, but I worry about Tor living down on the flood plain. She hasn't been affected so far- fingers crossed…

I am looking forward to my first full year of retirement. Let's hope the chancellor's austerity measures don't affect us too much. 

Happy new year