Poppies for England

 

Poppies for England / Susan Scarlett
London: Dean Street Press, 2022, c1947.
208 p.

Another Susan Scarlett! The last one for a while, anyhow. This was intriguing because it's set just post-war, at a holiday camp in England. The main characters are two theatrical families who are hired to put on a variety show each night, and twice on rainy days, to entertain guests at the camp. I was really surprised by the idea of a luxury holiday camp, which had hundreds of guests all summer long, with regular entertainments and childcare activities provided. Did these kind of resorts really exist? Well, something like them must have, because Susan Scarlett was part of the theatrical world and must have experienced something like it to write about it so comprehensively. 

The storyline is a bit sharper here - no naive vicars or trusting blind men - rather there are a bunch of actors and dancers who want to succeed, and families that are struggling to get back to some sense of normalcy after the men have been away at POW camps for much of the war. Scarlett really captures the sense that there were two parallel lives going on, the men's experiences, and the women's on the home front, and that it was hard to reconcile after 5 traumatic years apart. 

The two families, the Corners and the Binns, are both theatrical couples, and they have children to bring into the act. Dulcie Corner is the eldest, an up and coming star, beautiful and blond and a lovely singer though only passable dancer. Nella Binns is the oldest of her family, and she is a beautiful dancer but doesn't have the star quality that Dulcie does. But Dulcie is also 100% focused on Dulcie only, and what she wants. That's stardom, fame, and right now it's also their new pianist, Tom Connors. But Tom only has eyes for Nella. Dulcie is the spiteful antagonist here and she does some really awful things from jealousy, things that could impact the fortunes of her whole family. She only sees her own ends. 

The young man who organizes the entertainment for the camp is a soldiering friend of both Corner and Binns men, and so he takes Dulcie in hand. And of course falls for her, despite her actions - he says he is impressed with her despite it all, and really, is a similar person himself. It's an odd anti-hero romance but it works. Nella is vague and I wasn't as taken with her romance which is supposed to be the heart of the book. I found that the strength of this story was really the family connection, and the post war setting. It was unusual to get that discussion of what war did to intimate relations between spouses and families. And the theatrical content was also fascinating! Despite Dulcie's horrible character, and the requisite melodrama, I thought this was a good one. 

Patrick McGrath's Wardrobe Mistress

The Wardrobe Mistress / Patrick McGrath
London: Windmill Books, c2017.
314 p.

I recently finished this unsettling story by a master of the gothic/grotesque. Actually this book was much less grotesque than his early books, and I was most drawn to it by the wardrobe part of it. So I was pleased to find that it had a lot more theatre, sewing, and women's lives in it than simply gothic gore.

Joan Grice is a wardrobe mistress at a small London theatre. It's 1947, it's the coldest winter in memory, and post-war rations are still making life miserable. On top of this comes the sudden death of Charlie Grice, 'Gricey', Joan's husband and a generally beloved star actor.

Joan and her troubled daughter Vera (who is married to a much older theatre producer) suffer though Gricey's funeral together, but then Joan is rather on her own in her small flat. And there she begins to discover that Gricey was not entirely what he told her he was. She feels unmoored as she begins to uncover more and more about his inexplicable, hateful hidden life.

There's also a new man stirring things up -- a younger actor who had stepped in to Gricey's role as his understudy -- and whom Joan can't seem to separate from his role. Then Vera gets cast alongside him...

Added to all this literal drama there's an overtone of the supernatural, and this is where McGrath's love of the gothic shines. Joan and Vera's mental stability is challenged, their security in normal everyday life is challenged, and when it all shakes out it wasn't at all what I'd expected, culminating in a shocking conclusion. Dark, creepy, and yet fascinating, this story incorporates Joan's knowledge of sewing as she remakes some of her husband's fine clothes for the young and impecunious actor taking over Gricey's role(s) in multiple ways.

She regarded him critically, and in her mind's eye she saw him as he'd look when it fitted him properly; and, yes, for just a second she closed her eyes and Gricey was there.

Then she was all business. Out with the tailor's chalk for it was too broad in the shoulder, too deep in the chest. A pin here, a pin there, tighten up the trousers at the back, take it in a touch at the seat, and give him an inch of trouser cuff. She knew what she was doing when a man stood before her in a costume requiring alterations...

Then she was done. She left him to get dressed, and when he emerged he was a scarecrow once more. The suit lay on the bed, pinned and chalked and ready for the tailor, herself.

If you like an unsettling post-war England setting, with a dash of marital upset and dark developments, alongside political commentary that is still relevant to today's happenings, this is a book for you. It has a literary style, with a chorus commenting on the narrative; if it is confusing at first just keep going, you'll figure it out. It adds to the sense of dislocation and unreality that underpins the plot. And if you are also a sewist, well, you'll appreciate some of the details too. But don't expect sunshine and light from this one!

(this review first appeared at FollowingTheThread.ca)

Two Terrible 60s Marriages

The Garrick Year / Margaret Drabble  
London: Penguin, 1986, c1964
172 p.

Emma, snobbish upperish class Englishwoman, and David, Welsh actor with violent tendencies, are married and have two very small children. Emma is just getting a look at a new broadcasting job with the BBC when David tells her he's been invited to perform in two plays in Hereford -- they don't consider splitting up for the season, rather Emma gives up her opportunity and arranges their entire family life as they move to the rural theatre town where she knows she'll be terribly bored. And she is. 

Fortunately they have a French nanny so Emma has lots of time to wander about feeling abandoned and unhappy, and to fall into a desultory affair with the celebrity director who has brought David to these plays. And David meanwhile throws himself into his roles and entertains himself with his fellow actors and lots of drink. 

It's only in the end when their little daughter nearly drowns that Emma comes to her senses. And by that time they are almost ready to move on again. Despite Emma's continual harping on her uselessness as only a mother and her unhappiness that is her constant companion, she girds her loins as they begin to talk of moving to the far east where David has another opportunity...

As you can tell, I wasn't overly impressed with this book or its selfish, whiny characters. There were insights about small towns and being the new person there; there were discussions of motherhood and of marriage, but as a whole I found this quite depressing. 

The expectations that women seemed to have in England in the 60s are very, very low. David has affairs, he gets angry and hits Emma or the walls, he is selfish and often unkind, but Emma seems to need this, she seems to enjoy it in a martyrish way. Their marriage is unpleasant to visit within this story, but Emma does say at one point that even in marriages that look messed up from the outside the participants are getting something out of it. I just can't see that there would be a lot to get from this one! Maybe I'll have to try another Drabble to see if I like another title a little better. 

A Bouquet of Barbed Wire / Andrea Newman
London: Penguin, 1976, c1969
288 p.

And another twisted tale of love and obsession... I found this book at a used bookshop and thought I'd give it a try. Have to remember that England, the 60s, and bad relationships are not my cup of tea.

It wasn't completely terrible, but all you really need to know is that it was made in a tv mini-series in the 70s and scandalized the nation with its approach to sex and hangups within a family unit.

 Young middle-class Pru gets pregnant and marries Gavin, her sexy lower-class lover/teacher who has a fondness for hitting her. Her father, Peter Manson, is driven to distraction by his dislike of Gavin and his unacknowledged desire to keep Pru for himself, in all ways. His soft and fluffy wife, Cassie, is all very understanding, and yet prefers her twin boys to her eldest daughter, herself. 

In his annoyance, Manson starts an affair with his young secretary - cliché alert! And then as part of all these prickly relationships, Pru does something that Gavin doesn't like at a family dinner, and on their way home he beats her so badly that she is hospitalized. And yet, STILL, he's not all bad. Even her own mother, angry at first, allows him to see Pru since after all he's her husband... and then forgives him completely once he turns his sexual charms on Cassie herself. Ew. 

This book also had some interesting bits, but in the main it felt voyeuristic, silly, and risqué for the sake of shocking readers. Really not a successful read for me. 

So, time to move on from bad marriages to something a little lighter, I think!

Sunday in the Park...

This Sunday I had a very pleasant outing; a few of us from work decided a while ago that we would like to go down to another theatre town in the area, Niagara-on-the-Lake, to the Shaw Festival. We did this specifically to see Sunday in the Park with George, one of our favourite Sondheim pieces, starring one of our favourite actors (who has been in Stratford previously), Steven Sutcliffe.


It was a great day; the weather was exquisite, the drive was fine (though long) and the show was fabulous! The actors were all very accomplished, and the singing was wonderful. Have I used enough superlatives yet? In brief, it was just perfect. If you know this show, you will know that the main character, George, is on stage for nearly the entire time, in both acts. George was played by Steven Sutcliffe, and his performance was amazing. I love his voice! Of course, I could be a little biased, as he could probably stand on stage and smile and I'd think he was great. ;) Seriously, with this show, the ability to articulate the very exact pointillistic words to the elaborate, wordy songs is key. Sutcliffe and the leading lady, Julie Martell, are both excellent at this. So you know it's not just me, let me share the words of a theatre critic, Gary Smith:

At the centre of this astounding experience is a landmark performance from Steven Sutcliffe that is brilliant in every way. Sutcliffe is even more devastating, more charming, more musically connected to the artistic spirit of Seurat than Mandy Patinkin was on Broadway.

There! If you like Sondheim and are nearby, this is absolutely worth travelling to.


Another great thing about going to Niagara-on-the-Lake is that it is such a pretty, pretty town. We wandered around a little, enjoying the sun, then went for dinner at Shaw's Café & Wine Bar. I found it rather amusing that a restaurant named after George Bernard Shaw (vegetarian since age 25 who stated that "A man of my spiritual intensity does not eat corpses") should have so very many meat dishes available and only three vegetarian options. But I enjoyed my vegetarian pasta nonetheless. It was a lovely dinner with convivial company and was the perfect ending to a lovely day out. (except for the long drive home, of course...)

George Bernard Shaw

Shakespeare's Will

For anyone who has always been bothered by the niggling question of why Shakespeare would have willed his wife, Anne Hathaway, his second-best bed, there is now an answer for you. (One answer, anyhow; I have my own theories!) I was fortunate enough this weekend to see a performance of a newish play by Canadian playwright Vern Thiessen, called Shakespeare's Will.

The play is a monologue by Anne Hathaway. As it opens, she is returning from Shakespeare's burial, with his will in her hand. She has not read it yet, and puts it off by reminiscing about their lives together. She begins with how they met, how they married and produced children, how they arranged their marriage to suit them both - an explanation of why Shakespeare lived in London for so long, separated from his family. She reports on her relationship with her own father, with her children, with Shakespeare's sister Joan ("Your sister is a bitch. I'm sorry, but she is.") She also refers to her relations with other men, and Will's with other men as well. The play is approximately 90 minutes long, and when she finally opens the will and reads it during the last few minutes, it is a moment so moving that I was strongly regretting not bringing any kleenex.

The power of the play was amplified by this staging. It is a tour de force for Seana McKenna; she captivates with her ability to populate the stage through her imagination. When she is talking about the first time Anne and Will met, you can nearly see him lounging nearby as she provides a dialogue between them. When she reveals her father's reaction to her marrying Will ("Jesus Christ! With child, and a Catholic, and a Shakespeare!") you can feel the force of an angry father storming around the stage. Her evocation of having to deal with her first child alone and uncertain of how to care for her is heartwrenching, as are a few other moments that I will not spoil for anybody who will want to see it or read it. The stage was simply set, with a bench and a set of stairs and small platform that she ranged over. Much of the scene-setting was done with lighting and sound effects (the sea, rain, children laughing or crying) as she moved into her memories. She talks for 90 minutes, and does not permit the audience's attention to flag for a moment. A beautiful, beautiful performance, one that you should not miss if at all possible for you to see it. If it is not, well, try to read the play. It is thought-provoking, funny, touching, and looks at Shakespeare from a different angle. Well worth the effort for anyone interested in Shakespeare and bemused by his will.

Musical Interlude

While my sister was visiting we saw the opening performances of two plays; one a musical and one a modern Shakespeare. The first was Oklahoma! and it was a lot of fun, if a bit dated in theme: singing and dancing cowboys with lariats, jealous lovers, giggly girls, a strangely incongruous Middle Eastern peddler. But, the singing and the dancing were extraordinary and made it into a fun spectacle. The musical performers at the Stratford Festival are wonderful, and this one showcased many, many of them. It put me in mind of the large cast which would be necessary to do Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - also a bit of a dated play but one I would love to see put on. I love, love, love the movie and wonder how it would translate to the stage. Maybe someday...

The other was Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors. I enjoyed it, more so than my sister as I'm more of a Shakespeare girl. But this one was only slightly stuffy - in fact there were so many gags, a literal song-and-dance routine, a live dog on stage, directorial self-referential jokes, etc. etc. that it felt more like vaudeville than the Shakespearian stage. Not to say I didn't like it; I found parts quite funny, with Bruce Dow as one of the Dromios exceptionally notable. Perhaps if you are able to 'get' the in-jokes it would be funnier. It feels like a big wink at the whole tradition, and although some people got their knickers in a twist over it, I thought it was entertaining, which is kind of the point of this type of theatre, to me. Although I am just a blogging audience member, not a critic... As a friend of mine said, the critics will hate it but it will sell out; he has certainly been proven correct in his first prediction!

Theatre-going made for a couple of entertaining evenings. We also spent an evening or two watching movies, such as Music & Lyrics which we found hysterical since we both spent our formative years in the 80's. Hugh Grant is simply hilarious as a has-been music star and Drew Barrymore is sweetly scatterbrained. I would watch this one again just for the mock 80's music video it opens with. Very amusing and witty screenplay.

I have many comments to catch up with, and much reading to report on. I'll have to catch up a little later, after Book Expo Canada , and a visit with fellow Toronto area bloggers this weekend. Looking forward to a busy and bookish weekend!

Seeing Harlem Duet

I've just been to see Harlem Duet at the Stratford Festival. My review is simply -- you must go. It is an astonishing play; Djanet Sears' writing is crisp and unafraid, lyrical and straightforward. (I suppose that is why it won a Governor General's award in 1998). It talks about modern issues of race, of love, of relationship. As a non-black audience member, I felt I was being let in on a conversation I didn't know much about, and was just as thrilled and informed by the characters' emotional highs and lows as the intellectual issues they brought forward. The small cast of 5 was very strong; the staging made extraordinary use of the space. Karen Robinson, in the main role of Billie, was on stage for nearly the entire play, and she owned it. I don't think I've seen anything which was so moving, both emotionally and intellectually, in a long time. It made me feel excited about theatre, and art, and what they can accomplish. I urge anyone who has the chance to hurry to see it. A wonderful production!

Theatrical occasion

I am a big reader (you may have noticed this). But I have developed over the last few years into a big theatre fan as well. I enjoy the luxury of being able to attend wonderful theatre at the Stratford Festival pretty regularly. There's always something to see, and I try my best to see as much as I can. This year my favourite is "The Glass Menagerie". I have never enjoyed Tennessee Williams very much; perhaps seeing innumerable high school productions of this play put me off it a little. But, seeing it as performed by an absolutely stellar cast transforms it. It is moving, bringing you to laughter and tears. I must make a special mention of the extraordinary performance of Steven Sutcliffe as Tom. He is absolutely enthralling and creates such a sympathetic Tom that I could watch it over and over. Well, alright, I have. Five times. And ok, Seana McKenna is also exemplary. Oh, what the heck, so are Matthew MacFadzean and Sara Topham. Also - try to see "London Assurance". What fun! Brian Bedford, Seana McKenna (again), Brian Tree, and numerous other fabulous and experienced actors bring a delightfully over the top play to life. Those are my reviews for now. Hopefully I will have a chance to see some of the other highly recommended productions, ie: Harlem Duet, The Duchess of Malfi etc. and pass on my take on those too.