The Wars of the Roses

Over the past week I've finally managed to catch up with the brilliant BBC adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry VI and Richard III plays, ie The Wars of the Roses.

I've seen Richard III several times (with Anthony Sher, Ian McKellen and Kevin Spacey playing the king): each was brilliant in very different productions: traditional, a fascist 1930s, and mid-Atlantic. However these were standalone productions and it is only when you see how Richard develops over the three parts of Henry VI that you can fully understand all the historical background. Having also recently visited Laycock Abbey which was used as a location it was interesting to see how well it worked on screen.

It was no surprise to discover that Benedict Cumberpatch was brilliant in the lead role, but the production had casting in depth with Judi Dench and many other superb actors in supporting roles.

However having watched it at a time when news of the US presidential elections is flooding media as I watched the plays I began to see a strange and unexpected counterpoint to the drama. And then this morning I read this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/09/opinion/sunday/shakespeare-explains-the-2016-election.html?_r=0

Years ago I read a book called Shakespeare Our Contemporary while studying A Level English. Now I know that Shakespeare will always be our contemporary.

The Dark Horse

We make the decisions as to what to screen in a democratic manner: any one can suggest anything although it is generally the committee who exercise this right. The only other criterion is that you have to have seen what you recommend: we were all scarred by 35 Shots of Rum.

And so I recommended Dark Horse: I'd read the reviews when it was released but had been unable to find a screening and so bought the DVD. This was excellent and I've passed it on to family in South Wales and in-laws who follow racing, and everyone has really enjoyed it. Our area is quite horsey - just six miles from Newbury - and we managed to attract a good audience, with several people we had never seen before.

The film went down well with everyone, with some of our audience actually having been at the key Newbury race meeting that appeared in the film. We should definitely look out for other documentaries to screen.

Here are my notes:

Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance

UK 2015                      82 minutes

Director:                      Louise Osmond

Awards and Nominations

• Won Best Documentary at British Independent Film Awards
• Won Audience Award for World Cinema – Documentary at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival
• Nominated for Grand Jury Prize at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival

“With its sheer warmth and likability, this good-natured documentary won my heart – a real-life The Full Monty or Billy Elliot or Pride.”

Peter Bradshaw

This is the true story of a group of friends from a working men’s club in a depressed area of South Wales who decide to breed a racehorse. Initially they stable the horse on a local allotment, and then after choosing a trainer to prepare him for racing the results far exceed their expectations.

 Louise Osmond started her career as a journalist with ITN before becoming a documentary film maker. The subject of her work has been quite varied and her films include Deep Water (2003) about a round the world yacht race, McQueen and I (2011) about Alexander McQueen and Richard III: The King in the Car Park (2013). She had been planning a film about racing and had heard about Dream Alliance, but had been unable to progress discussions until a Hollywood production company, which had already optioned the story, withdrew its interest.

Here's the trailer:

 

Kevin Spacey in Richard III

We bought our tickets the day booking opened but last Saturday was the earliest we could get tickets to see Spacey in Richard III.

Having seen him in both Speed the Plow (excellent) and Inherit the Wind (outstanding) and then having seen the reviews we knew we were in for a treat - and we were not disappointed.

I've never studied the play, although I've seen it twice before (with Anthony Sher and Ian McKellan in case you're interested) and apart from the outstanding performances by both actors and very interesting productions my main recollection is a complex plot governed by by a mass of intertwined dynastic relationships.

The Old Vic chose the "information light" route for the programme: as a standalone production there was more focus on the psychology of tyranny rather than the history of the War of the Roses, and as I watched it I realised that this silo approach worked and kept me focussed on the play.  The only element which I found slightly disconcerting was the Anglo American cast: the colour blind casting worked well - as it always does - but to me, with the sole and honourable exception of Spacey who gave a towering performance, the American cast members seemed to struggle with the text.

Spacey won the acting honours, but I'd also award prizes to Gemma Jones (as a witch-like Queen Margaret who haunted many of the scenes) and Haydn Gwynne (as the Duchess of York) who was more than capable to standing up to Spacey's elemental force.

As we drove home from the Old Vic we heard the sound of many police sirens, and as country bumpkins we thought this was standard for a Staurday night in Londeon; it was only when we checked the headlines on Sunday morning that we realised that there had been riots.  The play includes scenes where the citizens of London are persuaded to call for the Duke of Gloucester to assume the crown as Richard III; on Saturday evening their descendants clearly had other priorities.