• Home
  • About
    • Plain English
    • Paul Levy
    • Contact
  • Other AJBlogs
  • ArtsJournal

Plain English

Paul Levy measures the Angles

You are here: Home / 2017 / Archives for October 2017

Archives for October 2017

How élite does opera get? From the private loo to the movie & the museum – opera’s for all

October 21, 2017 by Paul Levy 2 Comments

Who knew? To the right of the Royal Box at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, is the Bedford Box, its identical twin, but nearer the stage. Same private entrance, same butler-run dining-room, even the same china/thunderbox private loo. It’s the only privately-owned box in the ROH and belongs to some generous people who occasionally give the use of it to our equally generous friend – who took us … [Read more...]

What’s Growing in Albion?

October 19, 2017 by Paul Levy Leave a Comment

The title of the new Mike Bartlett/Rupert Goold collaboration at the Almeida Theatre (until 24 November) tells you everything. “Albion” is, after all, just another name for this island, Great Britain, from the ancient Greek Ἀλβιών. Like, Charles III, the last project written by Bartlett and directed by Goold, Albion is a state-of-the-nation play. This time, however, the conceit is not the court or … [Read more...]

Lies & Damnable Uncertainty

October 10, 2017 by Paul Levy Leave a Comment

Two new London theatre productions, The Lie and Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, seem to have little in common, save that they are both topics discussed by philosophers. But director Lindsay Posner’s The Lie by Florian Zeller, in a zippy translation and adaptation by Christopher Hampton (at the Menier Chocolate Factory until 18 November), and Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle (at Wyndham’s … [Read more...]

Aida at the ENO: singing the words of one song to the tune of another

October 4, 2017 by Paul Levy 1 Comment

  No production of Aida will ever improve on the one I saw in 1962 at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. (I was only 21, and with my father – so if my memory has burnished or slighted some of the details, forgive me.) The Triumphal March had not one, but two corps de ballet (some dancers and acrobats, I regret to say, in blackface – but it was a long time ago), and they were preceded by live … [Read more...]

Paul Levy

is almost a citizen of the world, carrying the passports of the USA and the UK/EU. He wrote about the arts in general for the now-defunct Wall Street Journal Europe. [Read More]

Plain English

An Anglo-American look at what's happening here and there, where English is spoken and more or less understood -- in letters, the visual and performing arts, and, occasionally, in the kitchen or dining room. … [Read More...]

 RSS E-mail

Archives

Recent Comments

  • Laura Hughes on Remembering Jaime Parladé, the Marquess who Made Marbella Chic: “We bought a furnished home remodelled and owned by Jaime in the Lot department in France in 2003. He had…” Jan 2, 13:34
  • Estel on Not Such A Little List: “Sir Jonathan Miller had nothing to do with Private Eye. This production was entirely based around the personality of Eric…” Dec 27, 02:01
  • JohnCook on Remembering Tony Staniland: “I should like to add to something I posted about Tony some time ago. After we were demobbed in 1951…” Aug 20, 21:08
  • Daniel Cooper on John Cornford, the tragedy of a faithful communist: “Hello Frances, I have just read your comment, and sympathise with it very much. Would you be interested in participating…” Apr 7, 14:38
  • Christopher Brown on The Young Rembrandt: not a prodigy: “Glad you enjoyed it, Paul.” Mar 9, 18:39
October 2017
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  
« Sep   Nov »

An ArtsJournal Blog

Recent Posts

  • Obituary Hugh Cecil
  • A Slice of Life in Lockdown
  • The Young Rembrandt: not a prodigy
  • She was just a Miller’s daughter: ENO revives a middle-period Verdi
  • From caftan to opera hat: the greatest living playwright takes on the Jewish bourgeoisie and its destruction

Copyright © 2021 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in