Friday Five: Cross-stitch Cats and Dogs

The latest projects from the subscription box. I make quite a few of these into cards and gifts, so if anyone would like one, just let me know. 

 

Both a Womb and a Brain in Tudor Times: The Witch of Eye

The Witch of Eye by Mari Griffith

Accent Press Ltd

Pp. 383

This historical fiction about the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Humphrey and Eleanor, and her dealings with Margery Jourdemayne, known as the Witch of Eye, is told through the tale of Jenna, a made-up character, and her romantic involvement with Margery’s husband, William. The language is modern and the storytelling easy to follow, but it is engaging and throws out several titbits about contemporary customs and costumes.

Eleanor wants a child – her husband is next in line to the throne, and if anything should happen to his sickly nephew, Henry VI, then she would be queen, and a child would secure the succession. Eleanor is desperate and she turns to herbs and decoctions from Margery, image magic and also involves high-ranking priests in using astrolabes to cast horoscopes, and mirror magic to descry the lifetime of the current monarch.

The conjuration scene from Henry VI, Part 2, illustrated by John Opie

Margery Jourdemayne was accused of ‘false belief and witchcraft’ and burned at the stake at Smithfield Market in 1441. In this novel, she tells Jenna, “I often think a woman’s main problem is that she has both a womb and a brain. Society dictates that her womb is the more important of the two. But I’m not sure that’s true.” Jenna is a simple milkmaid, so she regards this cynical viewpoint with disbelief, as it allows the author to propound her feminist leanings.

Jenna, meanwhile, is merely a cypher, and her story, although it has a happy ending and delivers her from a life of domestic abuse and drudgery, is not particularly colourful or arresting. There is a further Huckleberry Finn moment where a character (in this case Jenna) is not told some life-changing information (that her abusive husband, from whom she is hiding, has died) because the male protagonists enjoy being able to control the reveal.

The ongoing battle between Beaufort and his nephew Gloucester wrangling over strategy and kingship forms a backdrop to the narrative. This is an interesting novel if the reader is already aware of these individuals and this particular period. Otherwise, it is somewhat lacking as a romance and there are probably much better-written works about these historical characters.

Friday Five: Theatre reviews

1. Bombshells - Echo Theatre, The Q: A great night out at the theatre is presented by six women delivering monologues that encompass the highs and lows of their lives. Director Jordan Best has them remain on stage throughout, whether they are having their moment in the spotlight or not, and the interactions between them as they segue between scenes are as sharp as the main content. There is no question that Joanna Murray-Smith writes incisive pieces for women, and these explorations of what it means to be a woman of any age in this strange, competitive world of ours are equally sharp and sparkling. Lainie Hart plays the ageing cabaret singer who can't quite move on from the end of her career; Ella Buckley is the blushing bride-to-be who isn't sure this is what she wants after all; Amy Kowalczuk portrays the exhausted young mother, desperate for reassurance that she's doing something right; Sally Taylor is hilarious as the precocious teenager with a talent routine that falls woefully short; Kate Harris bites back her anguish as she tries to hold her life together while delivering a TED talk on cacti; and Alice Ferguson brings the house down with some old lady wish fulfilment fantasy. At ninety minutes with no interval, this play delivers a lot of laughter and a range of emotions. I just wish that togetherness was one of them.  
2. Mary Stuart - Chaika Theatre, ACT Hub: There is some interesting staging with a crucifix formation, and a bold interpretation of the dance/ meeting scene as the two queens, Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I meet in an encounter that never actually happened. Steph Roberts is strong in the titular role, playing the likeable aspects of the character with humour and sensitivity. Karen Vickery also displays strength as Elizabeth I, but comes over as bold rather than regal, and the fear and vulnerability inherent in the role are also lacking. The dynamic relationship she shares with Leicester is given a manipulative and conniving presence by Jarrad West, playful and/ or pragmatic as required. Of the supporting cast, Cameron Thomas stands out as Paulet with great dramatic energy, exquisitely embodying the conflicting emotions between the personal and political. Kathleen Kershaw's set design provides obvious points of strength, hierarchy and balance, and the execution block/ stone is a provocative dichotomy. More light and shade from Disa Swifte's lighting design would have better highlighted the fear and paranoia. Contemporary costumes (Kathleen Kershaw again) are a bold stylistic choice, which works better in concept than performance (whereas the masquerade outfits are striking, some costumes hamper movement). Overall, some curious actor choices result in one-sided presentation, and, despite the very strong leads, there is a lack of intensity, and the stakes don't appear to be played high enough.

3. The Lord of the Flies - Canberra Repertory Society, Theatre 3: There is a theatre adage that states if you put on plays featuring lots of young people, you will get large audiences, as all the parents, friends and family are strongly encouraged to see it. This may be the case, but it does generally mean the production will be full of youngsters of greatly varying acting abilities. This production is action-packed, but lacking in shade or nuance; it hits a high intensity early that it struggles to sustain. While there are some excellent creative design and production elements (the set by Michael Sparks evokes atmosphere and location differentiation, and the lighting by Chris Ellyard conjures mood with shifts in tone and a sense of dread), but there are issues with the actors - too much shouting loses clarity and the young directors (Caitlin Baker and Lachlan Houen) have no understanding of class distinctions. The schoolkids cut adrift on an island, having to organise themselves to collectively survive is a metaphor for life, and this concept seems to be beyond some of the cast. Robert Kjellgren is disturbingly calm and direct in his convincing portrayal of the psychopath, Roger and Ty MaKenzie as Jack has great energy, indulging in totalitarian bully tactics to disguise deep insecurities. The gender blind casting is essential to both modernise the play and accommodate the auditionees, but the necessary machismo is missing from some actors, who come across as whiny and irritating rather than empathetic. 
4. Some Like It Marilyn - Lexi Sekuless Productions, The Mill Theatre: The Mill Theatre presents plays with previews attached. The preview may be paused while technical elements are adjusted, and at the end the audience feedback is ploughed back into the next night's performance as it is tweaked and enhanced. There is very little to perfect in this production in which Lexi Sekuless embodies one of the most iconic figures of the twentieth century in a sort of cabaret, highlighting moments from her career ranging from singing to interviews, to photo-shoots and letters. Helen McFarlane as Jane Russell pairs with Sekuless in impressive duets, while other characters (managers; beaux; fellow actors; media; stalkers) are played by Tim Sekuless and Mark Lee. Music (Leisa Keen) is wonderfully harmonious - the night I saw it backing tracks were employed, but I think they will be ditched for the true performances - and the choreography (Annette Sharpe) is eminently suited to each performer. The set by Sam Thomas is simple but effective, including a grille to recreate the iconic skirt lift scene from The Seven Year Itch, and the costumes are a delight, as Tania Jobson has designed everything from the pink satin sheath gown in which Marilyn sings Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend, to the sexy bed sheet in which she was famously interviewed. The show portrays Marilyn as fun, charming, glamorous and smart; not just a 'dumb blonde', she was the first woman (since silent film star, Mary Pickford), to found her own production company, Marilyn Monroe Productions, in 1955. Who wouldn't like it Marilyn?
5. August Osage Country - Free-Rain Theatre Company, ACT Hub: I also saw Free-Rain's production 2014 production, but the power of this one is that it swiftly eradicated that one from my mind. It may be inevitable with this play but it feels a little 'stagey' and disjointed - the scenes where everyone is talking at once are the best, as the audience can make up their own mind where to look. Some things are staged in less prominent areas, and it would be itneresting to know where the director feels the focus of this play is. Violet, the matriarch of the dysfunctional family, is a vehicle for a strong actor and Karen Vickery fits that definition with aplomb. It's hard not to feel sorry for someone living with cancer, but she made me do it. The supporting cast all excel in their roles either as family members, in-laws or additional characters, and fortunately the Native American role is for once played by a Native American (Andrea Garcia who holds an impressive stillness at the centre of the cyclone). Director Cate Clelland demonstrates great focus on character, and the shifts between scenes work well. She plays the humour  where possible (the audience on the night I saw it were in stitches) but some of the darker moments (the creepy Steve; the powerplay between mother and daughter; the brutality of Charles) are toned down. The set and costumes are effective, but some of the props (such as the notebook of poems and the bouncing plates) are distracting. One comment on the lighting (Craig Muller) - we can see all the bits we are meant to when we are meant to see them, which is no mean feat considering the width of the stage. However, sometimes the audience is lit more than the stage - this may be due to limited equipment or placement options, but it is very distracting.

A Load of Old Jacksons: Night Blue

Night Blue by Angela O'Keefe

Transit Lounge

Pp. 141

When the painting Blue Poles, also known as Number 11, 1952 was purchased by the National Gallery of Australia in 1973 it was highly controversial. The gallery’s director was unable to approve purchases of over $1 million, and, as the asking price was USD1.3 million, it had to be approved by the Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam. It was a world record selling price for a contemporary American painting and of course, there was a debate over the value of abstract art. It is part of the Australian cultural psyche, and, with this novella, Angela O’Keeffe means to make it part of the literary landscape also.

The short work is split into three parts; the middle one narrated by an arts student who worked as a conservator when Blue Poles was in storage; the other parts narrated by the painting itself. This feels much like a creative writing exercise that might have worked as a short story but stretches the limit too far for a novel, even such a short one.

Rather than leaving subtle ripples across the surface, information about the painting is dropped into the text like a boulder in a pond. It is self-consciously Australian and determined to prove it. “I am as ill-equipped for the world of politics as a koala is for a swimming pool”. When not handing out essay notes about art, it delivers discourses on history and politics; “You may guess I am referring to the dismissal of the Whitlam government by Governor-General Sir John Kerr. You may know this as a major event in Australian history. But if you don’t, allow me to sketch the details as gleaned from the tour guides.” We are now expected to believe that a painting can give us a history lesson.

The middle third tries to introduce an element of mystery: “Don’t be too sure the narrator is the narrator.” This new participant in the story is a woman who sits daily in front of the artwork and writes reflectively in her journal. We’ve all known (and done our best to avoid) people like that who pretentiously attempt to mark out their territory and their uniqueness. She is suffering from loss and trying to make sense of it with shallow epithets such as, “Grief was a dream you couldn’t make yourself wake from” and “What we trust as memory is really a story we tell ourselves, a story that comes as much out of our future, as out of our past.”

Our conservator wants to celebrate more female artists, which is laudable, although there must be a better way. She refers to Grace Cossington-Smith, and Helen Frankenthaler and suggests Jackson Pollock have a co-creator – was Blue Poles the work of more than one person? There is a suspicion that there may be a footprint on the work that isn’t his and that it belonged to a woman, perhaps his partner, Lee Krasner. It is of paramount importance to her to discover something new about this painting, but because she might not, she makes enigmatic excuses for the lack of fact and certainty. “I will come to it, or it will come to me, or else it will not and I will leave a gap. There is nothing wrong with a gap in a story, or a gap in a painting for that matter, a sense of completion can be a limiting thing, a choking thing.”

Rather than the mysterious atmosphere the author aims for, it presents as vague, underdeveloped and irritating. She concludes, “I thought this story existed for itself, for its own precious wonder…but perhaps a story is not a thing that can live for itself, any more than I can. I live for living. This story lives for you.” Thanks, but no thanks.

Friday Five: Cat Memes

Cats make everything better. Whether I am laughing at their antics or drawing comfort from their warm sleeping bodies, they brighten my days and are sometimes the only thing worth looking at on the internet. I am, therefore, unashamedly sharing some of my favourite cat memes.

 

Olympic Stream of Consciousness: Other Water Stuff

Triathlon: Despite the Mayor of Paris swimming in the Seine to prove it is safe, there are grave concerns over the water quality, and the men's triathlon is postponed. In the women's event the French Cassandre Beaugrand wins in front of her home crowd, and they couldn't be more pleased. It's silver for the Canadian Julie Derron, and bronze for Beth Potter from GBR. When the men do compete, it is a thrilling final and a dashing win for Alex Yee (GBR) from Hayden Wilde (NZL) and Leo Bergere (FRA) - plenty to cheer about there, and hope no one picks up any water-bourne nasties.

The mixed triathlon relay is a thrill. There is a strong current in the river for the first leg but Spain's Alberto Gonzalez Garcia gambles on a different line from the rest of the field, which pays off. Yee (GBR) and Wilde (NZL) are both on leg one, but Yee drops his swimming cap in transition and has to go back for it, while Wilde collides with Le Corre (FRA) on the bike and they both go down. Le Corre's chain is off and he loses valuable time replacing it. Yee hits the front of the run - he is fearless, focussed, and very, very fast. He hands over to Georgia Taylor-Brown in first position for leg two, while the French finish last with Emma Lombardi taking their second leg and almost swimming sideways. Lisa Tertsch (GER) goes into the water second and swims on Taylor-Brown's feet for most of the 300m swim before emerging first. Spivey (USA) has a fantastic swim and brings her team into sixth place, and Lombardi is moving her way up through the field.

Georgia-Brown swiftly closes the 7-second gap and rides alone at the front while the chasing group ride together. The German and the Suisse (Deron) continue to work together, and they catch Taylor-Brown on the run, as does Spivey having a blinder. They all hand over to their third leg - Dickinson (GBR) Luhrs (GER) remain in front for the swim and the bike, but Dickinson pulls away on the run and hands over to Beth Potter five seconds before Luhrs tags Laura Lindemann.

Potter comes out of the water in the lead, followed by Lindemann, and Taylor Knibb has pulled up to third for USA. Once again the British athlete goes solo on the ride, while Knibb blasts through the course to take the lead into the transition. Beaugrand arrives a minute later in fourth for France, but it's a lot to make up. Knibb leads the first lap of the run and it all comes down to a painfully close finish as Lindemann makes a final kick for gold and second and third are together on the line. The judges initially give a silver to GBR, but after looking at a photo-finish change that to a bronze and USA take second place. Whew, that's a tight race!

Canoe Slalom: I watch Jessica Fox pick up her gold in the C1 (as the whole of Australia expected, apparently). The Women's Kayak Cross is a crash and bash event with a drop mass start and some malarky underneath a log, where there is a 'roll zone'. The contestants are allowed to touch the posts, but have to get around them - like dodgems in the water. This is the first time the white water event has been included in the Olympic Games and it is utterly bonkers, which bodes well for future outings. It's won by Noemie Fox from Australia - Jess Fox's sister - and Jess jumps into the water with her to celebrate.

There is much affection on the podium as the three medallists (the appropriately-named Angele Hug in second for France and Kimberley Woods in third for Team GB) showcase their sport. In the Men's event, Finn Butcher from New Zealand wins wearing an Otago Highlanders mouthguard, and Joseph Clarke wins silver for Team GB after struggling to get around an upstream gate. Noah Hegge takes third for Germany. It's a new event but we've already caught the bug, assisted by Martin Cross, who is commentating again, this time with an annoying American whom Cross has to keep gently correcting.

I don't watch much of the Canoe Sprint, but I do catch the Women's K2 - or Kayak Double 500m, as it is officially termed. The New Zealand team with a fabulous synchronicity take gold with a commanding 2-second margin victory from Hungary. (There is a photo finish for third between Germany and a second Hungarian team, but they can't be separated so they share the bronze medal.) 

One of the women in the Kiwi boat, Lisa Carrington, wins her seventh Olympic gold medal and goes on to make it eight in the Women's Kayak Single 500m on the final day of racing. Germany win the Men's Kayak Double 500m, and again there is a photo finish for second and third place, between Hungary, Australia and Spain. It is decided that Hungary get silver, Australia take bronze, and Spain finish fourth by 0.09 of a second. Sport can be exhilarating and cruel.

Friday Five: Books Read in August

1. Roseblood by Paul Doherty (Headline) - In 1455 as war approaches, the House of York and Lancaster battle things out with a sick Henry VI on the throne. There is a lot of assumed knowledge about who is on which side before we even get to the multiple turncoats. The plot revolves around a secret diary containing incendiary claims - “A chronicle of scandalous secrets affecting the royal family as well as that of the good duke [York]. It is the work of a former royal physician.” Many people are searching for it, to claim legitimacy or otherwise to the throne. The villain of the piece is LeCorbeil (French for crow, which is depicted on the standard), “LeCorbeil is many things: a town in Normandy, the place of a hideous massacre; the name of a Frenchman who hates the English Crown, and Beaufort in particular; as well as a group of mercenaries skilled in the crossbow.” Besides the death and slaughter, there are many historical descriptions and set pieces, but they are no substitute for strong characterisation, leaving this a difficult novel with which to engage.
2. Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi (Picador) - For this magical realism in a dark-fairytale-that-could-easily-cross-to-horror sort of way rather than the twee and sparkly kind, the comparisons with Angela Carter are well deserved. Perdita Lee, a girl who is depressed and may take her own life (and whose name literally means 'lost'), lives with her mother, Harriet, in West London. She has a strange quartet of dolls in her bedroom, who are partly plants (elms, palm trees, crimson petals and living hair), and other furnishings also seem alive. Harriet bakes gingerbread with magical and potentially healing properties, as she tries to ingratiate herself with the PTA. Perdita is in a deep coma: has she taken an overdose, eaten too much gingerbread, or visited Druhástrania? This is a fantasy land where Harriet's best friend, Gretel, lived. Perdita goes to find Gretel and experiences adventures with wells, magic beans and a world of characters that may or may not come from Harriet's past. Gingerbread is an orginal, compelling and disturbing work from a bright British talent.
3. The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin (Picador) - Bruce Chatwin was a journalist for the Sunday Times. He wrote Songlines in 1987 as part of his fascination with travel and nomadic lifestyles. Songlines connect the land and its stories for Indigenous Australians and each tribe has their own way of singing the land to understand its past, present, future and the way it connects us all. The book blends fiction and non-fiction and is part memoir; part travelogue and part anthropology, as a fictional character named Bruce travels to Alice Springs and joins a land surveyor mapping a proposed rail route to Darwin. Although beautifully written with marvellous descriptions, the tone is very much of the time and feels inappropriate now as an 'otherisation' of Indigenous Australian culture and a certain white superiority in trying to describe it: while trying to ascertain the sacred sites which should not be touched by the railway, he climbs Uluru, which he calls Ayers Rock, without apparent irony. It is a bold attempt to explain a culture, but it is an impossible task and problematic at best.
4. The Wife's Secret by Barbara Hannay (Penguin) - While travelling in Townsville, this was recommended to me by a bookseller, due to the fact that Hannay is a local author. I would not have read it otherwise. It's what's known as a 'second-chance romance' as Lisa and Rolf have divorced; he has moved north to be an author, and she has remained in the coastal town to do something-or-other wholesome. When Dave sets up a restaurant, Lisa may find love again, but when Rolf returns with a glamorous actress and young publicist, she may not. This is played out against the background of a cyclone and a community coming together. It's supposed to be feel-good and heartwarming, and according to many reviews on Goodreads, it is.  
5. The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell (Tinder Press) - With over 400 pages, this novel takes a long time to say not very much, but it does so with clear images and descriptive prose. Lucrezia di Cosimo de’ Medici d’Este was married to Alfonso II in 1558, aged 13. She died three years later of pulmonary tuberculosis, but almost immediately after her death there were rumours that she had been poisoned on the orders of her husband. Maggie O’Farrell has taken this concept and expounded upon it, with imagined emotions and a twist or two. She makes much of the fact that women had no autonomy and were the chattels of their male relatives, forcing a feminist revisionism into an anachronistic historical period. The portrait, which is a major plot point (and didn’t actually exist) is painted by several different people who specialise in different aspects – one does cloth; one does hands; another the landscape. The supposed twist is obvious, and the ending is unsatisfactory.