Theatre review: Emilia by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm

It's been a long year for everyone, but, in among lots of job applications, part time work, and stressing about both university and life, I have been able to see and read some things that I really want to share with you!  First of all, here's my review of Emilia !

Title: Emilia
Writer: Morgan Lloyd Malcolm
Director: Nicole Charles
Featured Performers: Saffron Coombs, Adelle Leonce, Clare Perkins
Performed at: The Vaudeville Theatre, London

Seen: as a pay-what-you-want stream; available until 2nd December 

Review: The early 1600s may be one of the primary flourishing periods of English Literature - William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Johnson, John Fletcher- but do we remember any of the women? I certainly hadn't heard of Emilia Bassano, a writer living at the same time as Shakespeare. But writer Morgan Lloyd Malcolm had, and she used the story to write a play that places women at the forefront of the story, and encourages women on-stage and off-stage to take up space.

Theatre Review- Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story

Title: Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story

Writer: Stephen Dolginoff

Director: Guy Retallack

Performers: Ellis Dackombe, Harry Downes, and Kris Rawlinson

Seen at: C Too Edinburgh

Review: Nathan Leopold stands before a parole board for the fifth time, having been in prison for 33 years for murdering a fourteen year old boy. The parole board wants to know: why? Flashbacks detail the story of how Leopold and his lover Richard Loeb, progress from petty crime to murder, and where they went from there.

Theatre review - I Know You by Sam Moore

Title: I Know You

Writer: Sam Moore

Directors: Rosie Richards, Georgia Reddington

Performed by: Magpie Productions

Seen at: the Burton Taylor Studio

Cast: Sammy Breen, Benjamin Ashton, Joshua Cathcart

Review: Two men stand on a street corner. One remarks that the other looks nice. The other replies that that’s not what he’s looking for. They return home and sleep together. Afterwards, they discuss other men and how similar they actually are and how well one knows the other.

Book Review- Blue is the Warmest Colour by Julie Maroh

Title:  Blue is the Warmest Colour / Le bleu est une couleur chaud

Author:  Julie Maroh

Published:   April 2010 by Glenat

Length:  157 pages

Warnings:  graphic sex scenes

Source: library

Other info: This got adapted into a film, La Vie d’Adele, which won the Palme d’Or.

Summary :  Clementine is a junior in high school who seems average enough: she has friends, family, and the romantic attention of the boys in her school. When her openly gay best friend takes her out on the town, she wanders into a lesbian bar where she encounters Emma: a punkish, confident girl with blue hair. Their attraction is instant and electric, and Clementine find herself in a relationship that will test her friends, parents, and her own ideas about herself and her identity.

Review: Clementine, age fifteen, sees a blue-haired girl in the street one day. Further meetings with this girl, Emma,  leads to attraction, eventually love.

The Last Eight Weeks

Technically this is about the last ten weeks, since the last decent post about this was before  Fresher's week and we're also one week into the holiday, but uni term length has already got me seeing life in eight week blocks. My first time at university has been a hectic couple of months, but something I want to share.

University life

It's brilliant. The texts we're doing (read about them here)  have all gotten better with studying, and all my tutors this term have been helpful.  There's been a lot of socials and chances to meet some lovely people. My college full of people who are extremely friendly, and we have some beautiful surroundings- just look at my library!

Theatre Review- Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, performed by Poltergeist Theatre

Title: Much Ado About Nothing 

Writer: William Shakespeare

Director: Jack Bradfield 

Performed by: Poltergeist Theatre

Seen at: The Michael Pilch Studio

Review: Shakespeare’s tale of two schemes concerning lovers – one to get a couple together, one to tear another couple apart- could conceivably happen anywhere. Jack Bradfield sets the action in a house party at the turn of the millennium, when anything might happen.

Carnegie Medal Nominations 2017

First, to anyone at YA Shot in Uxbridge today, have a great day! Second, if anyone here's going to be at the UKYA Blogging Awards at Uxbridge tonight, yay! I'll see you there.  On with the post!

photo from CILIP website

It seems to to come round quicker and quicker every year, Yesterday, the nominations for the CILIP Carnegie and the Kate Greenaway medals were released. Due to my being at uni now, I sadly don't have the brilliant booklet my school librarian produced which had all the blurbs of the books recommended, so this post is based upon a)the bits I've heard from social media over the year and b)when I googled the things with interesting titles. But here- a list of the books that I am glad to see on the list, and would totally bump up a reading pile if I had time to do any reading for pleasure right now.

National Coming Out Day 2016

National Coming Out Day is the celebration of people coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, an ally to the LGBTQ community, or something else-however you want to define yourself. In coming out, you can increase the representation of LGBTQ people in your community, reduce the silence which can help perpetuate negative stereotypes and hatred because there's no-one to speak out against them, or to remind perpetrators that queer people are real, and everywhere, and not some other alien concept. It can also help you just be happier with yourself and acknowledge who you are for you.

photo credit: trec_lit MmmmmMmmm via photopin (license)