The Social Network

Watching TV last night on our huge screen attached to cinema surround sound I said to Alex – I’ve seen this Come Dine With Me. At least three times, I added. This led me to moan about the fact that with that Sky record thingy all we seem to watch is Come Dine With Me. What’s going on? Are we crucifying ourselves by watching people cook and eat meals which sometimes look mouth watering but which we both know we should be avoiding. After all, our nuptials are looming in the Fall. Why don’t we ever watch a movie I asked and our eyes drifted to the shelf full of unwatched DVDs and Blue Ray discs. You see neither of us is supremely confident about hitting the right buttons on the three remote devices needed for our home entertainment system. How about The Social Network I suggested. If you can get the thing to work, fine, Alex replied.

So we unwrapped the disc and I inserted in the drawer and lo and behold – cinema surround sound or what! We wondered what our 70 year old neighbour made of the thumping deep bass sound. We had the sound, but no picture. After much fiddling on the three aforementioned devices we eventually had success. And we sat back to watch the movie.

It was indeed very good if it did take some time to adjust to the fast pace of the dialogue and the plot. But it turned out to be a very well told story of an autistic genius who, ironies of ironies, created FACEBOOK as forum for social interaction.; he who was so poor at this. It also contained the story of friendship and ultimate betrayal which is a sad one. In real life, objectively, the creator has achieved enormous success but we do not know how connected he really is. It brings to mind a recent edition of the Women’s Hour where the topic of adult children who emigrate was being discussed. One wistful mother declared that Skype was all very well but you can’t hug it.

Salad Days

We went to see Salad Days in the Riverside Studios on Sunday. What a delightful warm confection of a show that was silly at times, slapstick, witty, funny and could make you laugh and cry, all in the one scene. The production was faultless - the choreography, the props, the singing and the acting. The cast were superb and really got close to the audience and the entire performance never flagged. It's running until 6th Feb. If you want to brighten up the New Year - then this is the show to go to.

The Crucible in Regents Park

Last evening was my first time at the Open Air Theatre in Regents Park and the play being performed was Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”. The play, while not without its difficulties is nonetheless recommended viewing. It’s much more than just another evening at the theatre and the themes should be a matter for discussion, reflection and action. When Miller wrote the play it was entirely allegorical about the 17th century witch hunts in Salem, Massachusetts. He drew on these events to highlight McCarthy's right wing vendetta against those in the performing arts and other notorious positions in the US of the 1950s, who might harbor any communist tendencies. Today, it could be applied to all sorts of issues – whistle blowing as vengeful tool, inciting peer acquiesence in a harmful way, over reliance and acceptance of institutions of rule such as the court and the church – neither of which are always right. Today, the publication of the Saville Inquiry Report into Bloody Sunday is an instance of a flawed institution (The Army) literally getting away with murder even if it cost £120million and 38 years for the fault to be unearthed and acknowledged. Despite the acknolwedgement and the prime minsterial apology it seems they will get away with it. Another insitution which got away with gross misdemeanours for years is the Catholic Church in Ireland.

However, I digress, so, back to the play. It is a difficult play with a large array of characters whose lyrics are dated and stilted to the modern ear and era. However, after a while, like a scar on a face, this becomes less noticeable and before long it's possible to listen to and understand the text. There's another challenge with this particular performance and that is the venue itself. While enchanting on the one hand, by 10.00pm it’s bloody cold and the concentration needed for this play is put to the test with the evening chill. Challenges aside however, there are no regrets about attending the performance. Indeed as time elapses after leaving the theatre, the play’s themes and events return to the mind for interpretation and consideration. The set itself was wonderful and the array of girls sitting around the stage reacting in communion with events being enacted was an effective visual ploy. There was one outstanding performance. Patrick O'Kane played the central character, John Proctor. The transformation from his first appearance as a confident man striding on stage to his last appearance as an utterly broken one is firmly planted in the mind. The cast is enormous and all performed the play to great effect. All in all, this play is more than worth the effort.