The Vista Theatre Hollywood present Altered States on 30, 21 May 2025.

"It's the late 1960's. Just for a lark, graduate student Eddie Jessup, known for being unconventional, brilliant and slightly mad, conducts experiments with an isolation chamber, using himself as the subject. His experiences in the chamber cause him to hallucinate, much of the imagery being religious-based despite he not being a religious man. Seven years later, he is a respected full professor in the Harvard Medical School. Believing he has lost his edge and has fallen into an unwanted state of respectability, Eddie decides to resume his work with sensory deprivation, this time using hallucinogens, specifically untested ones used in mystical Mexican rituals, to enhance the experience of being in the isolation tank. After initial tests, he claims he entered an alternate physical and mental state".

Foe the theatre website click here
https://www.vistatheaterhollywood.com/
For more on Altered States click here.
https://iainfisher.com/russell/ken-russell-film-altered-states.html

The Fountain Theatre presents a staged reading of Athol Fugard's A Lesson from Aloes on 29 April 2025.
The director is Elizabeth Swain and dramaturgy is by Tara Moore.  The reading features artists from Antaeus Theatre Company- Tony Amendola, Gregg Daniel and Lily Knight.

The reading will be followed by a discussion of Athol’s legacy.

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

The Royal Court Theatre present a Celebration of the Life and Work of Athol Fugard on 11 May 2025.

"The Royal Court’s relationship with Fugard began over half a century ago, in the early 1970s, when the theatre proudly presented the international premieres of his groundbreaking anti-apartheid plays — Boesman and Lena (1971), Sizwe Banzi is Dead (1973), The Island (1973), and Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act (1974). Sizwe Banzi and The Island later transferred to Broadway, where co-creators and performers John Kani OBE and Winston Ntshona were awarded Best Actor Tony Awards".

The event is hosted by David Byrne, Artistic Director of the Royal Court, and curated by Greg Karvellas, former Artistic Director of The Fugard Theatre in Cape Town (2010–2021).  The celebration will feature John Kani, Janet Suzman, and others on stage, with reflections, live performance extracts, and recorded excerpts from Athol Fugard himself.

Tickets include a post-show toast with a glass of South African wine and- for meat-eaters- biltong, two of Athol’s favourites.

For the theatre website click here
https://royalcourttheatre.com/
For more on Athol Fugard click here
https://iainfisher.com/fugard/athol-fugard.html

"The man in my life brings me Black Magic chocolates".  An advert, 65 seconds and black and white, for Rowntree's Black Magic chocolates made in 1966.  A chic woman walking through a stately building and the man she walks to has chocolates for her.
For more see
https://www.iainfisher.com/russell/ken-russell-tv-video.html