'The Comedy of Errors' at the National

The new National Theatre production of The Comedy of Errors has just opened in London, featuring Lenny Henry as Antipholus of Syracuse. Since we've only just finished our own production, it's particularly interesting to read the reviews which have started coming in, and indeed we hope to see it via National Live on March 1st. Click on the publications' names below to see the full review.

• Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail calls it 'sublime' and 'wall to wall joy'.
• Michael Billington in the Guardian found it 'slightly strenuous fun' until the final Act when it achieved 'a magical simplicity that induces a sense of awe and wonder.'
• Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph wrote that it was a 'savvy fast-moving modern-dress production - set in a recession-ravaged city of crumbling buildings, lippy prostitutes, mad shrinks, sinister heavies and a wandering street band who sing British pop hits in Romanian.'
• In the Independent, Paul Taylor wrote that Lenny Henry is 'part of a fine ensemble that work hard to animate an over-cluttered concept and eventually drive the proceedings to a pleasing crescendo of comic mayhem.'
• Sam Marlowe in The Arts Desk, echoing Michael Billington, felt that 'the final scene, with its unravelling and reunions, has real emotional heft. This is comedy with bite, all the better for the touch of the maniacal that tinges its laughter'.
• Cordelia Lynn in The Harker called the evening 'a breath of fresh air' adding 'when the lights went down on the first act I didn’t want it to end, and that’s not something that happens every Shakespeare.
• Rachel Cooke on BBC Radio 4's Front Row went with low expectations, but 'Blow me down ... this is the certainly the best-directed performance of this I've ever seen, it's really funny, teeming with life.' The actors 'made the language live'.
• Susannah Clapp in the Observer felt that "The invention is tremendous but too reliant on gizmos, business and big mechanisms."

The Memory Chalet

The historian Tony Judt died last year of motor neurone disorder, aged 62. Author of the great history of post-1945 Europe, Postwar, the last years of his life saw a dramatic flowering of his writing for the general public, including two books now available in paperback - his impassioned polemic defending the role of the state in modern culture, Ill Fares the Land, and the more personal The Memory Chalet, a collection of autobiographical essays.

More personal, but certainly not completely: for Judt, nothing could be entirely personal. An essay like 'The Green Line Bus', which starts as a nostalgic piece on travelling to school as a boy in London, ends, contemplating the new changed bus system: "Like so much else in Britain today, the Green Line buses merely denote, like a crumbling boundary stone, overgrown and neglected, a past whose purposes and shared experiences are all but lost in Heritage Britain." This shares the ferocious anger of Ill Fares the Land, but it comes from an angle not available to us in any other book by Judt. As he states at the start, he did not intend these pieces for publication, instead "writing them for my own satisfaction". We can be thankful he did, because they give us rare access to a mind working under the terrible conditions of his devastating and terminal disease.

He addresses this disorder directly at several points in the book, most powerfully in the essay 'Night', in which he describes ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), and its combination of lack of pain and no loss of sensation, and drily observes: "in contrast to almost every other serious or deadly disease, one is thus left free to contemplate at leisure and in minimal discomfort the catastrophic progress of one's own deterioration."  What he is left to do at night is "to scroll through my life, my thoughts, my fantasies, my memories, mis-memories, and the like until I have chanced upon events, people, or narratives that I can employ to divert my mind from the body in which it is encased." The scrolling takes us through old Citroen cars, 'bedders' at Cambridge, a cross-Channel ferry, kibbutzes and railway systems (the essay on trains, 'Mimetic Desire', is particularly good - not the only essay about travel by someone who could no longer move at all).

The result is, ironically, a pleasure, and far from depressing. A softer book than Ill Fares the Land (especially in his fondness for Switzerland, which provides the title), it is also deeply moving, with no sense of self-pity and much mordant humour. As Judt's body closed down, his mind seemed to become ever more alert and brilliant, and it is a privilege to be allowed to spend time with it.

Attendance app

No 14 in a series of reviews of iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad apps useful for English literature and language learning and teaching.

This one is of course useful for all subjects. A basic common need for teaching is taking a roll in class. Attendance is an impressive and reliable one, which works fully on the iPad as well as iPhone. You can import data via CSV, but it really doesn't take very long to enter your classes manually. Once they are set up, it's very easy to take a roll (defaulting everyone as present), and there's good back-up via Dropbox, as well as plenty other functions which some teachers won't need. Recommended.

Edublog Awards 2011

It's Edublog Awards time again, and here are our nominations:-

• Best Teacher Blog: The Frog Blog - www.frogblog.ie - run by the Science teachers of St Columba's College, Dublin, with all the science news imaginable.
• Best Individual Tweeter: again, The Frog Blog, for all things science.
• Best Educational Use of a Social Network: The English Companion Ning - http://englishcompanion.ning.com -  connecting over 30,000 English teachers all over the world.
• Best New Blog: Serpents and Doves - http://sccty.blogspot.com - chronicling the myriad activities of a Transition Year.
• Best Free Web Tool: Wordle - http://www.wordle.net- simple, effective and endlessly adaptable in any subject area. Here, for instance, are our own Wordles on all Shakespeare's plays.
• Most Influential Blog Post: Putting wonder back into science education by Humphrey Jones at More Stress Less Success from March 2011.
• Best Ed Tech/Resource Sharing Blog: Free Technology for Teachers, from Richard Byrne.

The Comedy of Errors starts

Last night the preview, tonight the first performance and tomorrow the second: the Shakespeare Society's production of The Comedy of Errors is ready. Set in the 1970s, it features some wonderfully horrendous fashion, classic disco hits, and a Desperate Housewives-style narrator. It's Shakespeare, but not quite as he knew his own play. Above, an Animoto collage from the dress rehearsal.

Act V of 'Hamlet'

For VI formers currently revising Act V of Hamlet for their exams, it's worth listening to an episode from the great American radio programme 'This American Life'. 'Act V' traces, for six months, the inmates of a high-security prison in Missouri as they rehearse and then perform the play.

The Comedy of Errors poster

Above, the publicity poster for next week's Shakespeare Society production of The Comedy of Errors. Artist: Henry Roe. (click for a closer view)

The Comedy of Errors

This day next week will see the dress rehearsal of The Comedy of Errors, this year's Senior Play, and the first production by the Shakespeare Society since Twelfth Night in 2006 (pictured, Alex Henk, Max Shirley and Max Sanderson as Sir Toby Belch, Feste and Sir Andrew Aguecheek).

Rehearsals continue deep into the evening in the BSR, accompanied to the strains of music from the 1970s. Twelfth Night was set on the French Riviera in the 1920s, but yes - The Comedy of Errors sees us in the musically and sartorially scary era of the Bee Gees and 'Disco Inferno' (below).

The preview is on Thursday 17th, the first performance on Friday 18th, and the final one on Saturday 19th November, all at 7pm in the BSR. Below, the cast -

Solina, ruler of Ephesus : Kezia Wright

Egeon, merchant of Syracuse : Patrick Tice

Antipholus, a merchant of Syracuse : Zach Stephenson                                 

Antipholus, a merchant of Ephesus : Robin Fitzpatrick

Dromio of Syracuse, a servant : William Maire                                       

Dromio of Ephesus, a servant : Hamish Law                                         

Balthasar, a merchant of Ephesus : Eamonn McKee

Angela, a goldsmith : Jasmine Blenkins O’Callaghan

A merchant, friend to Antipholus of Syracuse: Leonhard Dihlmann                            

Another merchant : Seyive Hotonu

Doctor Pinch, a schoolmaster-conjurer : Richard Matuschka

Emilia, an Abbess : Aoise Keogan-Nooshabadi

Adriana, wife of Antipholus of Ephesus : Opeline Kellett                                

Luciana, her sister : Bella Purcell                                 

Luce, a kitchen maid : Katie Cogan

Courtesan :  Rachel Rogers

Officer : Konstantin Behr

Servant : Lingfan Gao

Voiceovers : Catie McGonagle

Keyboard and Compositions: Lingfan Gao 
Lighting: Georg v Blomberg
Clock: Paul Girdham
Egeon's presentation : Humphrey Jones 
iPad drawings: Aoise Keogan-Nooshabadi and Alexis Hardenberg
Poster : Henry Roe 
Stage Assistants: Alexis v Hardberg, Johanna v d Marwitz, Marie v Brauchitsch
Prompters: Niamh Faulkner, Shannen Keogan
Make-up: Kate Smith, Oyinda Onabanjo, Bronwyn Mallon

Dance: Kate Smith

Costumes: Karen Hennessey, Elaine Healy, Patti Byrne

Directors: Ronan Swift and Julian Girdham

The Harker

A shout-out for a fine new venture by Old Columban Sophie Haslett, editor of a stylish new online arts magazine The Harker (and a former contributor to this blog).

In the words of the site:

The Harker is an online arts magazine that promotes and encourages young arts writers – whether they are aspiring journalists or just people who write well and love the arts. Rather than putting all your work up on an individual blog – or fighting tooth and nail to get one small piece submitted on a larger publication – we want to have as many young writers as possible regularly contributing to The Harker so that we can all publicize and support each other. We publish reviews, features and interviews on film, music, theatre, art, books and tv.We want the pieces to be written as entertainingly as possible – above all we want to encourage great writing.

It's certainly a promising start. Here is Sophie's own review of the TV hit Downton Abbey, "a series littered with specks of true heartache in between mounds of clunky dialogue and farcical stereotypes."

TY Book Recommendation 10

Today IV form started on the final phase of their Extended Essay projects, which are due in tomorrow week. Siobhan Brady has read Kathryn Stockett's The Help (now successfully translated into a film, pictured), and recommends it:-

This book has a different angle on racism in 20th century America because it is written through the eyes of negro maids. Most books written about racism at this time in America would be written through the eyes of the white people. This book really captured me because there are many twists and turns in it and it's not a very predictable story. I would highly recommend this book as it is a great read and I really enjoyed it. 

TY Book Recommendation 9

Today we go on our half-term break, returning on Monday 7th November. After this we'll have plenty of news of the Shakespeare Society production of The Comedy of Errors on November 18th, 19th and 20th. 

Transition Year pupils will also be writing their Extended Essays after half-term, some of which will feature on this site in the future.  Alex Owens recommends Jupiter Williams by S.I .Martin.

The book is set in the early eighteen hundreds while the campaign for slave trade is gathering momentum. The story begins at Clapham Acadamy for wealthy blacks living in the London area. The story revolves around the lives of two brothers attending Clapham; however when Jupiter the oldest of the two finds out that his younger brother Robert has been kidnapped by highway men, he escapes from the Acadamy in search for him .

I would recommend this book becasue of how the author really showed the treatment towards blacks in detail and the harsh reality of life for them in the eighteen hundreds. You learn a bit of history along with being involved in a series of events throughout.

 

 And Marcia Kettern recommends The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks:

This is one of the best books I've ever read. You really can lose yourself in it. It's a sad, dramatic and romantic story about family, first loves, second chances and the moments in life that lead you back home. The whole story is written in a very serious way and the end is very sad. I enjoyed reading this book, because the story is very realistic and describes wonderful and also sad moments in life.

TY Book Recommendation 8

Sofia Bergareche has read Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafon for her Transition Year Extended Essay, and comments:-

I find this book really good because I think the book involves the reader. The author describes things so perfectly that you are able to feel and live what the characters do. I think this book is entertaining, intriguing and also moving. Even if I didn't understand some details I still think that it is a very good story. I can assure you that anybody who starts reading this book won't be able to stop until the end.

TY Book Recommendation 8

Molly Buckingham has read How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff for her Extended Essay, and writes:

This was actually the second time I read this book and I found it to be even more enjoyable the second time round. It was so gripping and I found it hard to put the book down! I would recommend this book to anyone who is my age or older.

and Alex Bisgood has read The Forgotten Highlander by Alistair Urquhart:

I found this book very good. It is set in the Far East during WWII. It is an autobiography about a soldier who is captured and is made to work on the Death Railway, which claimed the lives of more than a hundred thousand prisoners.

It is shockingly vivid and shows what man, under an all-powerful ruler, can do to another man. In my opinion, what the Japanease did to their POW's is worse then what happened in the German concentration camps, and yet the German goverment has paid damages towards people and families while the Japanease goverment has denied that this has never happened and that they looked after their POWs as set down by the Geneva Convention.   

TY Book Recommendation 7

Clara Thiemann has read John Boyle's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas for her Extended Essay. It's always a popular choice. She writes:

I really loved this book. It was amazing to read since it really made you feel with the characters. At some points it was hard for me to keep on reading because I was starting to cry quite often. The book is very emotional and explains two  childhoods that couldn't be any different! 

The book is really worth reading also for people who are not so fluent in English since it is quite easy to understand. I would definitely read this book again and will never forget what I learned from it.

TY Book Recommendations 6

For her Transition Year Extended Essay, Emily Speckter has read Desert Flower, by Waris Dirie:-

I really enjoyed reading this book. The author describes in an impressive way what her life was like and how destiny, courage and wisdom led her through. I especially like the images of the details that are described as well as the emotions and the locations. That makes it real and conceivable. Maybe there could be a little bit more information of living in that country and the religion. That would have been useful for my essay.

And Jessica Scott read Kensuke's Kingdom, by Michael Morpurgo:-

This book is an account written by  of a young teenager who was living on a yacht and one night fell off and was deserted on an isolated island. Or so he thought. This book shows how chael learnt to cope in the great outdoors. It discusses his struggles but also the joy he got from being on the island and getting his own food and the adventure of it all. It's a great book because it is gripping; something keeps happening and it's realistic!

TY Book Recommendations 5

Molly Dunne has read Christy Brown's My Left Foot for her Transition Year Extended Essay, and writes-

I found the book really enjoyable and easy to read. To be honest I have no real knowledge about cerebral palsy and this book gave a really great insight into his life. There was no sugar coating - it was all real events from his life which in my opinion is very refreshing. My only complaint is that the book didn't include very many facts and I still feel that I have the same amount of information on cerebral palsy as I did when I started reading the book.

And Melchior de Preville read Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt's L'Enfant de Noé, which he calls 'brilliant': 

It's a a really great book about antisemitism during the Second World War. I really enjoyed this book because the story is fantasic and a true event. There are two main characters, a father and an orphan, giving two different views of all the terrible crimes against Jewish people by the Nazis.

TY Book Recommendation 4

Helene Peters has read The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd for her Extended Essay, and writes-

The Secret Life of Bees is about the life of a girl called Lily Owens in the 1960s. She runs away from home, from her dad who doesn't seem to love her and from the place she accidentally killed her own mom when she was 4 years old, when her nanny Rosaleen gets beaten up in the streets for being not respectful to a white man and therefore has to go to jail.

Lily is 14 years old and finds a place with Rosaleen in the big pink house of the Boatwrights - August, May and April, who produce honey. Lily thinks her mom had been there before she killed her but at first doesn't tell, because she is not sure. After that, the complications of a searching father, of love between black and white and of the guilt that seems to grow inside of Lily follow.

The book is very touching and shows how people can change if they are hurt. You can see how immortal love is and into what kind of monsters loving people can turn, even though they don't want to. On the other side you learn how important the love of a mother is the feeling of having a home. How to forgive yourself is an essential part of the book as well.

In this book there are so many different kinds of love, how they can make you stronger or destroy you, that one word for love is far too small to express the emotions in the book.

INOTE Conference 2011

Our notes from the recent Irish National Organisation for Teachers of English conference in Kilkenny are now online on the INOTE website, at www.inote.ie, as well as other notes and some photographs.