Before we left, before the final barbs, before the hurt, before the anger, before the indifference, I knew. I knew that the kindness was performative, that you’re an imposter. I knew that you study others, because you are dead inside. Before goodbye, the smiles, winks, studied lines, I knew it was only a matter ofContinue reading “The Body Keeps The Score”
Tag Archives: Lorna Irvine
The Great Performance Debate
Commedia Dell’arte Dr Gareth K Vile, great friend of mine and brilliant thinker, recently ruminated on the great Scottish theatre debate, because some critics hadn’t been invited to the musical version of ‘One Day’ : is it dying? I can’t speak to a broader academic discourse, as I’m a university dropout, and not a doctorContinue reading “The Great Performance Debate”
Overlooked Classic: Lisa Germano- Lullaby For Liquid Pig
Multi-instrumentalist Lisa Germano could have been dismissed as another “whisper singer”, but for the fact she can really sing, write and play. She always mines the saddest, most traumatic parts of her soul and turns them into eerie beauty. Dark night of the soul art can often be self-indulgent or mawkish, but Germano deals inContinue reading “Overlooked Classic: Lisa Germano- Lullaby For Liquid Pig”
Overlooked Classic : Sonic Youth -EVOL (1986)
The front cover shows Lung Leg, in a still from Richard Kern’s notorious film Submit To Me, doing her typically fucked-up, possessed writhing. Kern of course had collaborated with Sonic Youth on the ‘Death Valley 69’ video, but EVOL, which remains my favourite Sonic Youth album beside Daydream Nation, is a much different beast thanContinue reading “Overlooked Classic : Sonic Youth -EVOL (1986)”
Film Review: Days Of The Bagnold Summer
If this was an American film, lessons would be learned and resentment eased, in a neat “I was never the same after that summer” trope. But it’s not: it’s British, full of warm days and familial complications. Effortlessly directed by comic actor Simon Bird, it’s a little like Mike Leigh, if lighter and more incidentalContinue reading “Film Review: Days Of The Bagnold Summer”
The End Of The End Of The Pier, As We Knew It
Noel Edmonds and Mr Blobby: nightmare fuel Jokes which don’t land, surprises which are deeply humiliating to all involved, rubbish ventriloquism with cheap puppets, hellish Saturday night quiz shows, the Brian Rogers Connection and Robin Askwith… Welcome to television in the UK, circa 78- 95. This, readers, was the not- so golden era of lightContinue reading “The End Of The End Of The Pier, As We Knew It”
Album Review: Tenderness- True
Tenderness’ new album True is her debut as a solo singer. Katy Beth Young was previously in the trio Peggy Sue and a part of the collective Deep Throat Choir. There’s a lot of loss and grief baked into the songs, as Young recently lost her father, but also a tentative sense of resilience andContinue reading “Album Review: Tenderness- True”
Iona
1973-2026 Iona Kewney was a dancing paradox: feral sprite; anarchist angel, punk diva, badass elfin. She often shocked as well as delighted audiences who were used to less. She slipped through genre and discipline like few before her. She was a unique, beautiful performer in an industry that expects you to stay in your lane.Continue reading “Iona”
Quote On Life from Eugene Ionesco…
” Life is essentially meaningless, progress an illusion and the totality of our experience nothing but a piece of incomprehensible gobbledegook”. Ionesco was never ever hired for children’s parties.
Theatre Preview: Mr Blackpool
Mr Blackpool May 2026 – The Lowry in partnership with Word of Warning, Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts and Brighton Festival, Blackpool Grand TheatreImage Credit Matt Crockett“At the end of the world there’ll still be a showgirl kicking her legs behind her ears and thank god for that” Salford, Brighton and Blackpool, prepare to beContinue reading “Theatre Preview: Mr Blackpool”
Hit The North 