Theatre and Literature

Another posting lull will hopefully be followed by a massive surge in posts as a lot is going on in the next couple of weeks. My son Jacob has just been for a visit and I took the offspring out for a joint birthday outing to the Corner House. It recently renamed itself 'Home' which I find to be the worst name for a theatre ever and so I am pledged to continue to refer to it as the Corner House (though the theatre building is not on the corner of Oxford Road and Whitworth Street where the cinema is but further down the road and round the corner). We went to see the performance company 1927 on the opening night (in Manchester that is, it has been touring worldwide for some time) of their intriguing piece of theatre entitled Golem (do visit their website and watch the trailer). Described as somewhat like a comic book come to life, it was thoroughly engaging and brilliantly put together, with performers interacting with a projected animation; it tells a cautionary tale of the insidious nature of consumerism. 

Starting on Monday is the annual Manchester Literature Festival. This year they are celebrating their tenth anniversary and the brochure (mine is already looking a little the worse for wear, tea stains mainly) has photos of the participants at age ten. I have a lovely selection of events that I am volunteering for this year, starting with the wonderful Michael Rosen on Monday evening, discussing the future of children's poetry. Many of the events are free so if you are in the vicinity do check out the website, find someone you have never heard of and open a new door in your life.