Prospero's "True Preservers"
Mood:  loud
Now Playing: Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better...
I'm sorry. I waited for Arthur Horowitz's book "Prospero's True Preservers" for like, ten months, and it arrived in the library last Wednesday. Two days before I handed in my dissertation. I have now gone through the entire thing, and I am not impressed.

He admits he knows no Japanese (and demonstrates little knowledge of Japanese theatre) and his chapter on Ninagawa (the reason I was reading his parvum opus in the first place) was singularly unimpressive. Totally not worth the wait.

While I'm still unsure whether I want to do a PhD, I really want to write a book about Ninagawa, especially since yet ANOTHER book has been published with inappropriate comments written by someone who really doesn't understand what they're talking about. Case in point - Horowitz describes early Ninagawa productions with titles like "Hearty but Flippant" and "Fickle, Frivolous and Sincere", and mentions 'another' productions where 'the actors entered the auditorium dressed as riot police. The audience was convinced that the police had come to arrest them, and, as the curtain came down, they attacked the actors'. What Horowitz doesn't realise is that these three points are all about the same play, usually translated as 'Hearty but Flippant' or 'Sincere Frivolity'. Which ended as he described. Duh...

And while we're on the subject, why the hell didn't David Bradby TELL me he had written a chapter on Ninagawa's 'Waiting for Godot' in his production history of the play? Would it have hurt him so much to BRAG about the fact that he'd written on it? I'm so tempted to send him a list of corrections for his article, and to fill in the numerous gaps in his information. But that would be bad karma...

Off the the British Museum tomorrow morning. Tons of fun.

:-D

Twelfth Night, beti...
Now Playing: Bole Chudiyan...
I saw "Twelfth Night" this afternoon in London. What a wonderful idea to transpose Shakespeare's England to contemporary India. An idea I had two years ago but didn't execute (since I didn't have Indian actors...) and instead I directed 'The Bacchae'.

The production is still in previews, so I can't say too much yet - leave it to the reviews, which should appear next week. Some of the acting is very good, none of it is very bad. The set is extremely simple, but very pretty.

I think I'm disappointed because I had hyped it up SOOO much in my head, but anyway... Hopefully the pace will pick up when they get better audiences, though. The ending is particularly interesting - the darkest, most thought-provoking way I think I've ever seen it done. Neha Dubey (Monsoon Wedding) really shines as an Olivia with a conscience.

Lost in Translation
Mood:  blue
Hilarious. My Japanese students had their closing ceremony this afternoon, and they gave us all bunches of flowers. Attached was a very pretty card, which read "In loving memory". I haven't laughed so much in a very long time! But I didn't have the heart to explain what I was laughing at...

It's all over...
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: Bedtime Story - Madonna
I handed in my thesis today. It was an epic 80 pages long with the most fabulous bibliography in the history of time.

Then I spent the evening clearing out my room, taking down my pictures, washing my saucepans, clearing everything out. Which was surreal, to say the least.

It's kinda weird how little I feel about leaving Royal Holloway. Hmmm...

Disco-Nation
Now Playing: Donna Summer - I Feel Love....
I'm so excited about my dissertation right now. It's all I can think about, all the time. I'm being really brassy and inserting random theories from a massive variety of unconnected theoretical areas, and daring to blend them together!! I've even found a quote which sanctions such nonsense as a facet of postmodern academic thought!! Hurrah!

I need to get a life...

Catwoman
Mood:  flirty
Now Playing: Mis-Teeq - Scandalous
Say what you want. This movie is tons of fun. I have a HUGE thing for female superheroes. I think it's probably because they're like drag queens - they always look fabulous, do everything in skyscraper heels, and have to put on a costume to assume the full fabulosity of their passionate identites. Ooh, and they kick ass in leather. But I'll spare y'all the Kill-Bill-2 style superhero rant.

Suffice to say that Ms Berry needs all the Superheroine Sass she can get - that woman's life is an experiment in terror. Fun to see her finally get her own back (although the blonde hair is a disaster). The movie's script is pants, but it looks extremely cool, and is basically an homage to how gorgeous Sharon Stone and Halle Berry can be. And the music is BRILLIANT. Roll on the sequel...

I'm so excited!!
Mood:  amorous
Now Playing: Never Gonna Get It - En Vogue


I can't *wait* to go to Edinburgh!!

IGNORANT FUCKING BUILDERS
Mood:  don't ask
Now Playing: Shut Your Fucking Face, from South Park
I was walking past a van full of construction workers on campus yesterday, who were clearly having a conversation about body fat, and as I passed one of them said "Well HE has man-breasts". I wasn't having such a good day, and exploded. I whipped around and shouted "I also have EARS. And if you can guess my weight correctly you get a t-shirt that says WATCH YOUR MOUTH YOU IGNORANT FUCKER!!!" Perhaps I overreacted...

Don't Rain On My Parade...
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: Hairspray - the Musical
Lesbians love Brighton. Who knew?!

Our planned excursion to the sunny south coast with the Japanese students (they're all lovely, course going well, yada yada) was conceived several months ago. However, the main organisers of the course did not realise, seven months ago, that Brighton's (HUGE) Pride festival would also be happening this weekend! So my 29 sheltered young charges were dropped off at the pier today, amid hundreds and hundreds of happy homos and couples. Eye-opening for them, to say the least... Some of them were checking out Chris Geary (web-homo-celeb) but I had to explain to them that the only Asian he would be interested in was his (rather hot) boyfriend.

If I weren't up to my neck in my dissertation (which I spent most of today writing - on the beach) I would have explored far more of what seems like a very nice place, but it wasn't to be. Not the end of the world!

Toronto seems like months and months ago already, and I only got back last Friday. It went extremely well, and I officially kicked ass. And then went shopping, alas missing a plenary session on Chinese-Taiwanese Cultural Re-negotiations through Interpretative Dance. How could I?!

I went to see Hairspray in Toronto. It's so much fun! And the music is by Marc Shaiman, who I've always loved (Sister Act, Addams Family, First Wives Club...) It's a great show. Also got the music for Wicked (a new musical about the early life of the Wicked Witch of the West - ok...) and Bernadette Peters in Gypsy. Sam Mendes would appear to have lost the plot. I LOVE Ms Peters, and the show, but I don't think I can ever listen to that cd again. Merman all the way...

I also 'discovered' Margaret Cho in Toronto. I now have all of her cds. She's a passionate, potty-mouthed Korean-American stand-up comedian. Remember the episode of Sex and the City where Carrie did the fashion show? She was the organiser of the show. That was the gayest episode ever - it even had Alan Cumming in it!

Check out www.margaretcho.com, www.alancumming.com and www.chrisgeary.com for more...

But even they aren't going anywhere...
Mood:  blue
Now Playing: Annie Lennox - WHY (Honestly...!!)
It's now 1.30am and I'm still here. I feel like Elaine Stritch without the good times or the plush velvet. Ah well.

All the fabulous duty-free shops are closed. All the restaurants are closed. My eyes are closed.

I sincerely hope that this conference is good. Or that Niagra Falls is impressive. And according to a crazy lady I had dinner with in the Hilton (dahling) tells me that Yorktown is worth a visit. Maybe?

More later