The Cradle Will Rock

The Cradle Will Rock

Writer: Book, music and lyrics by Mark Blitzstein

Director: Mehmet Ergen

Theatre: Arcola Theatre

Dates: 24^th November- 18^th December

The cradle will rock is a radical pro-union musical that premiered in Britain at the Unity Theatre in 1951 and is now the last production celebrating the 10^th anniversary of Arcola Theatre before moving out of Arcola Street. Although Mark Blitzstein had completed his work in September 1936 and several companies considered the material, they thought it too sensitive a subject on which to risk a production. Moll, a new girl in town who gets arrested for soliciting, finds herself in jail alongside an alcoholic former drug shop owner and the members of the “Liberty Committee” formed by Mr. Mister, a rich villain. Throughout the play, we see each one’s of the Committee’s member’s collusion in Mr. Mister’s corrupted tyranny for the sake of money, unfolding before our eyes as flashbacks. Only young Larry Foreman, who becomes the leader of the union, has the guts to stand against the “Liberty Committee” and Mr. Mister himself.

The cradle will rock is a piece about all kinds of prostitution- the press, the church, the courts, the arts and the whole system in general. Each character represents the corruption of each area, starting from Reverence Salvation, who is ready to preach peace or war, according to the financial benefits, to Dr. Specialist who stated that the death of a factory worker was because he was drunk to cover the Committee’s responsibility. As Moll sings at the beginning of Act II (Nickel Under The Foot), we understand what many people could do for money, comfort and social standing. Another theme explored in Blitzstein’s play is the importance of a union and how a mass of people can have so much power over an individual. Of course everything starts from each one of us who like Larry Foreman will have the courage to stand for justice no matter the cause.

The setting was the jail with benches, and a desk, simple enough so that the audience will have no difficulty at all to let their imagination through the flashbacks travel them elsewhere. The language differed depending on each character and musical dialogue, accompanied by the piano, dominated the most of the play.  There were songs as well at certain points. The characters were three-dimensional, engaging and often satiristic.

Although I found some bits of the musical dialogue too long and unnecessary for the development of the plot, it was a very enjoyable play, supported well by its actors and straight through to its message.

Women's empowerment

Switching channels on TV on a Saturday evening, reading a fashion magazine while drinking coffee and surfing the internet for the latest news is all you need to get manipulated and attacked by a massive amount of information about how you should look like and how you could achieve it. This road to perfection, for those who chose to follow, is of course no walk round the corner but a marathon, as the goal is reaching the impossible. When the role-models, given to us by the media, are the most attractive women with a perfect body and facial features, it is at least panicking the load of work and effort we force ourselves to undertake in order to look like them.

As I was walking in central London the other day, it seemed to me that UK women were in a constant competition against each other. The weird thing was that they all seemed to fight with the same weapons, showing off their sexuality. The media has well put in women’s minds that they need to be attractive and they rush into doing whatever possible to obtain that, by wearing revealing clothes, doing Botox and having all sorts of plastic and cosmetic surgery, such as breast surgery and liposuction. The cosmetic industry has increased massively the last few years, as women put higher standards and don’t seem to be satisfied with their looks.

This battle of renewing and improving original beauty is the effort of a woman to reveal and unfold her sexuality and be as attractive as possible to men. In our nature as female beings we have the need to be loved, wanted and adored and that’s why women get a pleasure in the thought of them being irresistible. But you know that at the end of the day being passionately wanted for a night cannot satisfy your emotional needs. What most women find pleasing in this, is the feeling of authority they gain when they know that they can control man’s desire by their looks and appearance. It gives them a sense of control and power.

But is this what women’s rights and empowerment are all about? Are we really empowered or do we fall into the trap of believing that we are sexually liberated when in reality we trick ourselves into a new level of degradation and subjugation? Do we ourselves, in our search for power, accidentally mark the steps that will lead us back into being the weaker sex? When we think that we won men with the power of sexuality and beauty is it possible that we became the sex objects lots of men would like us to be?

 After this consideration, I came to the conclusion that although outward appearance and beauty are privileges of being a woman, they are not what the main focus should be lightened upon. In fact our external gifts should reflect our inner charismas. Strength and generally empowerment comes from within. That’s how women fought before us, so that we could be recognized as intellectually able to be educated, work and vote. Do we, in a way, abolish their fight by the way we see ourselves? Have we diminished the importance of our emotions, thoughts, intelligence and personal voice in our battle for recognition and acceptance?

A woman’s greater weapon, in my opinion, is confidence. A person needs to know themselves and believe in oneself to take a risk for a greater purpose. Loving who you are as a woman, embracing your personality, skills and ability and respecting yourself is what you need, not only to look good but to feel good as well. In that way you make people all around you value and appreciate you for who you are.

Dracula

Dracula

Writer: adapted by Liz Lochead, based on Bram Stoker’s classical novel.

Director: David Hutchinson

Theatre: Greenwich Playhouse

Dates: 9^th November-5^th December

The myth of vampires and the beliefs of bloodsucking demons in different cultures date back into prehistoric times. The most famous vampire story is of course that one of Dracula. It was written more than hundred years ago and it has influenced lots of books, plays and films over the years and still does. Although they usually escape from the primary plot of the story they borrow basic elements.  Liz Lochead’s play named Dracula is an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classical novel and is true to the original story. Just like Stoker’s novel, in Lochead’s play, young solicitor Jonnathan Harker, visits Count Dracula’s castle for a routine deal to find himself imprisoned. In his effort to escape he is attacked by three female vampires, the Brides of Dracula and is saved by Count Dracula who wants to keep him alive to for legal advice and information about England and London. Harker manages to escape and Dracula sets off to find Mina, Haker’s fiancée, and her sister Lucy. Dracula attacks Lucy and she begins to waste away, so Dr. Seward, who had proposed to her, asks help from Van Helsing who immediately understands the cause of her illness. After Lucy’s death the three men begin to find Count Dracula before he attacks his next victim, Mina.

Like Bram Stoker’s book, Dracula play had an extraordinary feeling of seduction, eroticism and sexuality. The biting on the neck and the bloodstained dress symbolizes the loss of innocence and virginity of a woman and the passionate attraction of women towards Count Dracula symbolize the sexual liberation of women that wasn’t accepted in the Victorian times that the story is taking place. Director David Hutchinson points out this side of the tale with the five female characters, Mina, Lucy and the three Brides of Dracula, acting in passionate movements and their display of unbridled attraction. On one scene when Mina is attacked by Dracula she lays on the floor with her legs embracing Dracula’s waist and her body moving in sexual way whilst when the three men, Van Helsing, Harker and Seward enter to kill Dracula and save her, Harker is barely able to hold her and stop her from going back to Dracula. Eroticism is also displayed when each time Dracula attacked Lucy or Mina, red rose petals poured out their necks.

The setting was very intelligently set, as there was a table and two chairs used when needed and hidden behind two large white curtains when not.  The language and costumes were Victorian style and this made the feeling of time and place very clear to the audience. The characters were very well explored, as well as each ones passions and desires.  It is a very enjoyable play, although based on the classic tale, delivered in a fresh tone of eroticism and suspense.

The Palace Of the End Review

Palace of the End

Writer: Judith Thompson

Director: Jessica Swale

Theatre: Arcola Theater

Dates: 26^th October-20^th November

It is quite remarkable how much you could learn about a particular story if you could hear what people have to say when no one’s there to listen, to listen to their side of the story, what they’ve been through, what’s never been told, their own monologue. The play “Palace of the End” by Judith Thompson, a triptych of truly dramatic monologues, explores the most penetrating images of the Iraq War. An American female soldier, inspired by Lynndie England and played by Jade Williams, tries to clean herself from the shameful acts of abuse and torture that had taken place in the Abu Ghraib prison. The English weapons inspector Dr David Kelly, played by Robin Soans, is living his last moments expressing his anger and facing the consequences of sequenced and out of control lies. Finally, a mother from Baghdad, played by Imogen Smith, recounts the sufferings under Saddam and describes the tortures she and her children had been through by the secret police.

Throughout the play the audience’s consciousness experiences a feeling of awareness and awakening about the tragedy in Iraq and the cruel reality of war. Although the play’s theme is the Iraq war, the main and core idea seems to be the refusal of people to act in the right way from fear of consequences. Judith Thompson says through the mouth of her character, Dr David Kelly “I’m beginning to think that it’s the greatest sin of our time. Knowing and pretending that we don’t know, so that we won’t be inconvenienced in any way. I knew. Oh, the things I knew. And I did nothing.”  All three characters had their chance to do something but refused, whether that was to disobey commands, reveal the truth or speak. After all, knowledge is nothing without action.

On stage there was nothing but two cubic pieces of furniture made of mirrors, which were used as tables or chairs, and a tall tree trunk in the middle that reached the ceiling. At the back wall there was a large mirror that changed into lightings of different colors. Although I found the setting quite simple the play needed nothing more to get my full attention as I were totally submerged into the monologues. Thompson knows the craft of monologue very well and manages to keep the interest at the maximum the whole time. She uses everyday- life language that differs depending to each actor. The first monologue of the female soldier was in an American accent and included a lot of swearing as well. Dr Kelly in English accent and the mother from Bagdad with an Arabic accent had different language but shared the same tone of maturity and life experience. These three dimensional characters told their own story in a way that it felt personal and thus engaging. 

The Palace of the End is a complete work of three fully explored characters and situations of the Iraq war, written in such a way that touches the subject in a different, new and fresh angle making the audience realize the reality of a general theme,  the Iraq war in a more specific way through personal testimonies. 

David Gilmour- The Legend

One of the most eminent and successful rock bands of all time can be no other than Pink Floyd. In a history span of more than 25 years Pink Floyd has produced many top selling hits among which is the famous The Wall, Comfortably Numb and Wish You Were Here. The band has amused millions of people with their music which has been, for the most part, a creation of one composer, David Gilmour. As a guitar player and a composer he found the secret of success which lies within experimenting with different styles of music such as Blues, Rock, Reggae, Jazz, and Oriental music.

David Gilmour was born on March 6, 1946 in Grantchester, a small village in the outskirts of Cambridge, England. His father Douglas Gilmour was a doctor and his mother Silvia was a college professor. Once David and his three brothers were of the age of 10, both of his parents left leaving them to live on their own. This wasn’t a huge problem to David who saw this as a chance to sneak around and cause trouble. At the age of 14, he borrowed his neighbor’s abandoned acoustic guitar and began to play on his own. He initially began to cover many American artists who were quite famous at that time in England such as Bill Hayley and Elvis Presley.

In these early years, David had a friend named Roger “Syd” Barret. Together they went to a strict boys-only-school named “The Perse Preparatory School for Boys”. After school he went to study Modern Languages but eventually quit and got to devote himself to what he liked most. After making his own band called the “Flowers” he began to tour Europe in a small van. During this time he was in severe need of cash and many times had to steal diesel to keep his van running. After this rather unsuccessful tour of Europe he was called to join Syd’s band named Pink Floyd.

During the years he was in Pink Floyd he played a huge part in creating the musical fusion of the band. Although he wasn’t the leader of the band, he made a huge effort to shape and sculpture Pink Floyd’s sound in their best selling albums. Apart form a guitarist he was also a very talented singer. He has a very distinct “angelic” voice which can be heard over various tracks. His guitar technique has a definite blues feel in some songs but on the other side he might just strum. He was never a pushy guitarist; rather he was composer who saw the general picture of a song and didn’t concentrate just on his guitar.

In Wish You Were Here, he begins with a typical strumming pattern which he fills with occasional riffs and after the first verse he has the whole band jump in giving a mod-erate blast effect. The song has a somehow mellow sounding with a repetitive motive. A repetitive motive is, was and will be a definite “must” for any modern composer who want his song to sell, be heard and not forgotten. The drum beats don’t change and they seem to serve the role of a metronome but by the same token a song such as this doesn’t require much effort or style. As the song progresses, Gilmour gives more emphasis on the piano, which plays chords and builds with occasional fills. When it comes to solo, Gilmour uses a difficult technique of playing the notes and singing them at the same time. This technique, although hard to master, is almost like a cliché derived from the blues masters such as BB King, Robert Johnson and SRV.

Probably the one of the words that are almost synonymous with Pink Floyd is The Wall. This album was “project” that Gilmour and the leader of his band Roger Waters had planned to do making not only an album but also recorded a show and a movie. The highlight of this album is the song Comfortably Numb which has Gilmour giving a master class of guitar and lyrics. The song begins with a very sad motive which has the bass having the lead role with keyboards and piano helping in the creating a sort of “cloudy” effect. Suddenly “the sun brakes the clouds” with the chorus. The cymbals add a sort of punch to the chorus making it very broad and warm. Gilmour sings in a very distant manner giving even more space for the song to breathe. Midway through the song there comes a bright solo with the band playing the chorus. As the song progresses, we once again have a gloomy picture with a small orchestra with violins adding to the scene. The next chorus is followed by the …No. 4 electric guitar solo of all time…”(Guitar World Mag). The solo just takes your mind away to a journey of some sort. It’s long and it rises steadily reaching it’s climax with the guitar tearing the listeners’ soul in pieces. The solo never ends with the song coming to fade out.

Another vastly discussed Pink Floyd album is the “Dark Side of The Moon”. This album was primarily inspired by the leader of the band, Roger Waters. He was directing the music in the album but nevertheless Gilmour still got to experiment with his guitar adding his touch to the whole picture. In the song Time, Gilmour gives a sort of upbeat Reggae feel which goes along side the lyrics that describe the wasting of time. The drums once again serve no important role with the keyboards and the David’s solo “stealing the show”. The solo is very bright and has a considerable amount of reverb, given in order to accent the importance of the theme of “time”. It doesn’t have fast parts but contains some rather brilliant harmonies which were a sort of improvisation of Gilmour.

David Gilmour was, is and will be a truly remarkable guitarist and composer. He has left his mark in rock history. Although he didn’t seem to be a flashy guitar hero he accomplished to be one of the most respected and gifted guitar players to ever walk this earth. His playing and singing have influenced many of today’s mainstream artists as well as metal and hard rock bands. Music is as diverse as life. We need to have examples from the past in order to progress in the future. David Gilmour fused his past with our future and has left his name in the books of Music History.

Stalo Markides

Walking in the old narrow streets of Nicosia Stalo Markides' glamorous shop stands out. It is a vintage style shop with exquisite show case which Stalo was working on at that moment. When she noticed me standing outside the window door, she immediately left her efforts of creating her summer windows for later and hurried in good spirits to open the door for me. She greeted me with a friendly smile and then offered me a drink. While she went to get some water for me I wandered in the shop looking at her unique and stylish bags and accessories.

Stalo Markide’s bag’s trademark is the special way and technique she uses to bring out the beauty of the leather. The amazing thing about her incredibly stylish and qualitative bags is that she has developed the craft of making them entirely on her own. “I’ve always been excited with the idea of leather and bag and have always been interested in bags” Stalo says “I’ve always observed closely expensive and good quality bags, because I knew that if I wanted to do something, I wanted it to be of great quality.”   Leather is her favourite fabric and material for both bags and accessories and tries to use it as much differently than what we have seen before as possible. “The last time I’ve been to Paris I took with me not only bags but accessories as well, something I hadn’t done before.” She told me. “I was very pleased to notice that my accessories were much more different from all the others and from what there is in the market now and I believe it is a start for something new.” 

“I’ve always been designing bags and accessories on my own from a small age.” She added in our conversation when I had pestered her with a bunch of questions about how she had started, as something that was for granted. Stalo has studied jewelry design at the Middlesex University for four years. At her third year she had the opportunity to work with Steven Jones, an amazing talent as she said and then worked at Erickson Beamon jewelry house. “You didn’t expect to do anything there, maybe a coffee or some tiding up” she said “but one day the manager called me in her office and said she wanted to try me as a designer.” A lot of people worked there for years and never had the chance to actually design and Stalo was just a student but keen and eager to work, always impressing people with her self-created style. So her first time to design accessories was for Justine Timberlake and Katie Moss in a photo shoot for Vogue magazine.

This year, as every other year Stalo Markides attended the Paris Fashion Week from which she gets to find her customers and shops that are interested in buying her bags. You can find Stalo Markide’s bags in selected shops, such us Harrods, Me Me Me, Luisavia Roma, Etoile and others. She also attended the Celebrity Gift Lounge where she met and gave some of her bags and accessories as gifts to celebrities like Eva Herzigova, Erin O’Connor, Yasmin Le Bon and actors from the films Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter and others.

She is having her new Summer Collection for 2011 this October but has no other plans for this year yet. “I would like to have a family” she giggled shyly when I asked her for what she sees herself doing in the future. “I want everything to get into a flow and be more relaxed, because now I get to do everything on my own and this stresses me a lot. I want my company to be more organized and known.” She added. “I want something different for the future and I want to open my own shop in London or Paris.” 

Stalo Markides is a new talented designer that has impressed everyone that has worked with her, dares to step into new things and is a pioneer into the fashion world. “I want to get ahead of myself, exceed my expectations and always be a step forward.” She stated passionately. Her uniqueness and love for what she does after all is what brought her career into flourish and success. 

Isolation

A year ago, I had decided to move to London and study. I had no relatives or friends there or anyone else that I would know. Because of my introvert character I am not the kind of person that can make friendships very fast and I didn’t even look for that. Not that I didn’t want friends but it wasn’t my priority at that moment, I had so much studying to do and it would be a waste of time thinking on how to make friends with people, something I disappoint myself in every time.  City life is a busy life and it is very easy to get lost in the crowd and feel so lonely, even with so many people around. I was stepping each day further into isolation, being trapped in my room’s four walls and loneliness. Many people have had the same or a similar story to me. It’s not difficult to find yourself in solitude when living in a big city with no friends around.

Loneliness is feeling like you are a drop of water in the ocean, a spot in the crowd. It is the lack of contact with people and in advance the lack of friendship, understanding, compassion or even identification. A lonely person feels like is not wanted or maybe that is not recognized. When being in such a situation for long it might possibly have consequences on your physical and mental health. Studies have shown that chronic loneliness may be responsible for a variety of heart diseases or cancer. It can also impact your learning or memory because it is harder for the brain to develop when you have no contact with other people.

In addition, if you are in such a situation where you are all alone having no relationships with other people and living in your inner world rather the real world, then depression is probably knocking on your door. Depression is a state of low mood accompanied by low self-esteem and loss of interest or pleasure for things that used to be enjoyable. It leads to negative way of thinking, not being able to sleep and anxiety. It might sometimes lead into the feeling that you are of no value or that there is no reason to live and lead to suicide. 

Once you realize your problem you are in a very good way. It is said that knowing your situation is the 90% of its solution. It is essential to change your way of thinking and think positively, look at the things that can make you happy rather the negative things and think of ways you can make someone happy, even if that is just opening the door for someone. Further more physical exercise can be very helpful in making you feel better and positive. Go for a walk early in the morning or late in the afternoon when its dawn or when it’s sunset and enjoy the benefits of a good walk and you never know, you might meet a positive person going for a walk as well.

Human nature is created in such a way that we have the need to contact and have relationships with other people. Friendships constituted to the happiness and well-being of an individual. We are designed to interact, bond with other people and socialize. It is essential for human beings to communicate with other human beings to survive.  People feel like they are not valuable when they don’t have anybody else to give attention to them and they feel like they don’t exist if there is nobody else to recognize them and care for them.

Connections are of great importance in life. Real connections with people that care and are always there for you can make you happy, healthy and complete. Don’t let yourself get lost in the crowd. Always look for a person to connect with. Remember you are not the only one that needs a friend, maybe you are the person someone else is looking for as well. Be positive and in good spirits. Life has it’s ups and downs. The problem is when you stay down too long.