{"id":247845,"date":"2025-05-19T19:49:59","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T19:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/books\/march-into-may-annabookbel\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T19:49:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T19:49:59","slug":"march-into-may-annabookbel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=247845","title":{"rendered":"March into May \u2013 AnnaBookBel"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Titus Andronicus at the RSC Swan, Stratford<\/h2>\n
I went to the theatre last week to see the latest production of Shakespeare\u2019s bloodiest play \u2013 and it lived up to its name! Starring Simon Russell Beale in the title role, with Emma Fielding as Marcia, his sister, (gender-swapped from Marcellus). We had seats in the front of the first gallery, which had spectacular views, but poor leg room (the row behind was better in that respect). <\/p>\n
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Max Webster (who directed the David Tennant \/ Cush Jumbo Macbeth<\/em> recently) directed the blood-soaked tragedy in a modern dress interpretation. Wendy Kweh was a nasty piece of work as Tamora, Queen of the Goths manipulating the creepy Saturninus played by Joshua James. Meanwhile, Natey Jones as Aaron grooms her two sons to rape and mutilate Titus\u2019s daughter Lavinia, while pleading for his baby son\u2019s life later. Letty Thomas as Lavinia was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n
Much has been made about the front stalls rows being given blankets in case of splashbacks from the blood \u2013 and many took up the offer \u2013 even with the perspex guards in place around the grille edging the stage. Lavinia\u2019s torture and mutilation happens off stage, but shortly before the interval, we had the first big blood-letting \u2013 involving clever effects \u2013 leaving a huge puddle on the white marble stage. A team of four crew washed the stage throughly during the interval \u2013 only for it to be covered again of course when the major bloodletting occurred in the second half with some wonderfully choreographed bloodwork \u2013 I shall say no more on that.<\/p>\n
Fielding, whose voice is sublime, was superb throughout, sporting a rather Miranda Priestly style white bob. Simon Russell Beale, however, took a little while to get going \u2013 as with many Shakespeare plays, the initial scene-setting politics is rather dull by comparison with the rest. Once the bloodletting started he warmed up and was superb for the rest of the play, making Titus very human. A bonus was some glorious singing from the BBC\u2019s Young Chorister of the Year on our night, playing young Lucius.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s only on until June 7 \u2013 Go if you dare!<\/p>\n
On the small screen\u2026<\/h2>\n
The best of my TV viewing is concentrated on four shows at the moment, two of which star Jon Hamm.<\/p>\n
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Yes, I\u2019m rewatching Mad Men<\/em> on Netflix again (for the third time) \u2013 it\u2019s maybe my favourite series ever, such is the appeal of the 50s\/60s advertising world to me. But I am also enjoying his latest:<\/p>\n
Your Friends & Neighbors<\/strong> (appleTV+)<\/p>\n
Follows sacked hedge-fund manager Andrew \u2018Coop\u2019 Cooper as he descends into a life of crime \u2013 stealing posh watches etc from his friends and neighbors. His ex-wife got his big house where lives with her new partner, a basketball star, and their two children. Coop can\u2019t resist revisiting his old friends parties where he gets the idea. The first episode begins with him waking up beside a corpse though, before going back to build up the picture of how he got into that situation. Hamm is great in this dark comedy and six episodes in, it\u2019s really getting complex.<\/p>\n
The Studio<\/strong> (appleTV+) <\/p>\n
This is a clever satire on Hollywood that moves at breakneck speed \u2013 like the West Wing you have to stay with it. Seth Rogen is the producer Matt Remick who picks up the poison chalice of being studio head and he\u2019s very good at mucking things up. He\u2019s surrounded by an entourage who are all out for their own good, plus Catherine O\u2019Hara, as Patti \u2013 who used to do his new job. Each episode has a major guest star and it begins with one of the biggest in Martin Scorsese! Although it\u2019s very good, I\u2019ve decided I\u2019m not a Rogen fan \u2013 he\u2019s too loud, and has this cough\/laugh that\u2019s really irritating, \u2018heh, heh\u2019. <\/p>\n
Mobland<\/strong> (Paramount+)<\/p>\n
Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren are Conrad and Maeve Harrigan, who rule a London Irish crime family from their heavily guarded estate in the Cotswolds. Both lay the accent on thick, and the language is ripe with expletives. Tom Hardy is Harry de Souza, their fixer, a quietly spoken yet very persuasive man! When their grandson Eddie, manages to kill the son of Richie Stevenson, rival London gang boss, a war is started, and Harry has to be the gobetween. I won\u2019t say more, but it\u2019s great fun, although it\u2019s cheesy, full of stereotypes and those dodgy accents. Tom Hardy excels, and Brosnan and and Mirren obviously had too much fun making the Richard Osman film, so are doing it again with added swearing. <\/p>\n
What have you been watching lately?<\/strong><\/p>\n
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