Recent Posts

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Sarah Kane discussion / Re: Phaedra's Love- 1996 reviews
« Last post by Iain Fisher on October 06, 2024, 10:19:42 AM »
Hi,

Have you tried searches of The Times and The Guardian?  You will need the online historic archive of each but you should have access via your university library.
The article by Michael Billington from The Guardian 21 May 1996 is quoted by Graham Saunders in his book "Love Me or Kill Me".  The two books by Saunders cover critical responses.

Iain
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Sarah Kane discussion / Phaedra's Love- 1996 reviews
« Last post by E Weissman on October 04, 2024, 06:35:44 PM »
Hi All,

I'm a graduate student doing a report on Phaedra's Love, and I am looking for reviews of the original 1996 production. I've looked far and wide but haven't been able to find any leads. Does anyone have any ideas of where I might find these? Thank you so much.
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Athol Fugard discussion / The Road to Mecca in Canada
« Last post by Iain Fisher on September 06, 2024, 10:43:39 AM »
Domino Theatre present The Road to Mecca from 1 January- 1 February 2025.  The Director is Gord Love.

"This unusual drama focuses on Miss Helen, an old Boer woman who lives alone in the South African boondocks, where she creates odd concrete sculptures, which she calls her Mecca. A young woman who was once helped by Miss Helen has travelled hundreds of miles to help her in a time of crisis. Miss Helen is in danger of being sent to an old folks' home by a narrow-minded minister, who considers her sculptures a public nuisance. A penetrating study of the role of the artist in any society".

For the theatre website click here
https://www.kingstongrand.ca/
For more on the play click here
https://iainfisher.com/fugard/athol-fugard-plays-exile.html


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Savage Messiah: Ken Russell / Updates to Gordon Jacob
« Last post by Iain Fisher on August 26, 2024, 10:55:27 AM »
"Given that this was Russell's first composer portrait and that its successors included some of the most memorable television programmes of the 1960s, it's tempting to read too much into Gordon Jacob, but one can certainly see the green shoots of what was to become his first undisputed masterpiece, Elgar (BBC, tx. 11/11/1962) beginning to appear.  At the age of thirty-one, after over a decade of considerable uncertainty over his future, Ken Russell had finally found his true vocation" (Michael Brooke, British Film Institute).

For more on Gordon Jacob click here
https://iainfisher.com/russell/ken-russell-tv-monitor-shorts.html


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Savage Messiah: Ken Russell / Re: Music Videos by Jon Sorensen
« Last post by Jon Sorensen on August 15, 2024, 10:16:38 PM »
Hi, Iain.
ALIEN (1979) never dies. And why should it? 45 years on we are on the eve of a new incaranation called ALIEN: ROMULUS.We defintely created a classic monster. A film we are all very, very proud of, the alchemy and team in its' production was unforgettable. But, as I say in the interview, "You can only do something for the first time once". Ken never did sequels. So what of this new film? Since they constantly ran a 35mm print of our orginal during the shoot and post production referencing our lighting, sets and camera set-ups, it sounds like a flattering emulation. As Gaudier-Brezka said in Ken's "Savage Messiah" when he was caught copying old masters, "Better a good copy than a bad original". But in this case, the original is a classic which looks even now like it was shot last week. So, apart from Disney's commercial instincts, do we really need another version and why do the fans crave more "Alien". Six sequels with all the good books laying around waiting to be filmed? Perhaps G.K. Chesterton was close when he said, “Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again,’ and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. Grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony.” Below is a link to a download for any who might be interested. It contains an interview I gave years ago about my time on ALIEN. Plus two short recent CGI conceits of mine from my website, both "Alien" related, "Sailors" and "Brides". You see, the original underlying themes of ALIEN were that, like Lovecraftian lore, the aliens had an intelligence and a long culture. Hence the two CGI shorts. The notion was of a creature who took the basic nature of its' host, its' parent. In the case of ALIEN it was man. And we are definitely the realkillers, not the Alien. Witness Gaza. So it was born a savage on the Nostromo Kane's son was out to pick a fight. Of course, by part two, we were onto big guns and Vietnam tropes, excellent though they were, but the culture and history of the species never materialised since. "I admire their purity", to paraphrase the android Ash in ALIEN. I'm being taken to see this ALIEN: ROMULUS by two sweet diehard fans of which there are Legion. I am sure it will have merit. I hope they had fun doing it. But we'll no doubt have yet more Facehuggers and gore galore. I guess we will never see the science or the love within this species. Speaking of SPECIES, that is the Ken connection. He turned down another sci-fi after ALTERED STATES. I asked him which film that was. He could'nt remember. So we went through a list. I said "SPECIES". "Yeah, that was it", said Ken. It would have been cool to see him work with Giger, who was himself a cultured and sensitive man, just like the ALIENS. It was a wonderful time in the industry, and speaking of which, in hand is another short CGI music by me referencing a film I did photographic and visual effects for, one of my heartfelt absolute favourites, "The Watcher In The Woods". It'll appear when it's ready. That film was also made by Disney. Not the Disney we have now, but the Disney we had back then. The real one. The one who sent you a Christmas card if you had done work for them. I worked on that 45 years ago too, including hand drawn FX animation, front projection and Bette Davies, and a wonderful English director called John Hough. A film about a dimensionally displaced girl who played ring 'o roses with her friends and ended up far from home. A wonderfully English movie too. Another anniversary. That covers it. Thought I'd drop by. Keep watching the skies and keep your sense of wonder. And you're welcome. I think the two ALIEN fans taking me along to see this new one are simply fascinated to see if I'll burst into tears. I'll try to exult the monotony.

The link to download the file is here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zfxeeoxw39vhihadaciw0/On-Alien-2024-Jon-Sorensen.mp4?rlkey=knja62l01h0pjv6ceipbxch91&st=4janorlz&dl=0

Very Best,

Jon

www.jonsorensencreative.com
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Savage Messiah: Ken Russell / New book: Ken Russell Interviews
« Last post by Iain Fisher on August 15, 2024, 07:37:33 PM »
"In Ken Russell: Interviews, the filmmaker discusses his colorful life and career, from his youth fascinated by movies to his early work in television through his feature films and his retreat to home movies".  The editor is Barry Keith Grant.  More details soon.

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Athol Fugard discussion / Master Harold... and the Boys in Westchester County, USA
« Last post by Iain Fisher on August 13, 2024, 07:52:08 PM »
The Schoolhouse Theatre present Master Harold...and the Boys from 6- 22 September 2024.  The Director is Owen Thompson and the cast are Will DeVary, Devin E. Haqq and Alvin Keith.

"Originally produced in 1982, 'Master Harold and the Boys' is now an acknowledged classic of the stage, whose themes of injustice, racism, friendship, and reconciliation traverse borders and time".

For the theatre website click here
https://www.theschoolhousetheater.org/
For more on the play click here
https://iainfisher.com/fugard/athol-fugard-plays-port-elizabeth.html

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Savage Messiah: Ken Russell / Re: Crimes of Passion in Atlanta, USA
« Last post by Iain Fisher on August 12, 2024, 11:08:30 AM »
The Plaza Theatre in Atlanta is showing Crimes of Passion on 12 and 15 Aug 2024.

The Plaza Atlanta theatre website is here
https://www.plazaatlanta.com/now-showing

More on Crimes of Passion here
https://iainfisher.com/russell/ken-russell-film-crimes-of-passion.html


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Sarah Kane discussion / Re: "And the bus driver loses it" SOURCE?
« Last post by Iain Fisher on July 21, 2024, 07:47:20 PM »
Roger,
Good question, and I had never considered what the origin of that reference was.  I don't remember the incident and a google search doesn't help.  I looked up the online archive of The Times but again nothing- though it may not be an incident they would report on.  I also checked a couple of books on Kane and her work, but again nothing.

The meaning of the incident is clear, though unlike the Vietnamese girl there may not have been a photo, just a report.  Maybe someone else may find something.
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Sarah Kane discussion / Re: 4.48 Psychosis in Colchester, UK
« Last post by 3wishes theatre CIC on July 20, 2024, 04:35:17 PM »
Thank you for the post Iain. Drop a line here if you are thinking of making the trip to see 4.48 PSYCHOSIS at Colchester Fringe in October. We'd love to hear from you!
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