Sunday 10 November 2013

The Magic of Stories

W B Gooderham has recently published a book called ‘Dedicated To’. This book is a collection of the annotations and inscriptions found lurking beneath the covers of second hand books. Sadly, since I am currently living in Mexico and Amazon.com has yet to reach us out here, I have no way of getting hold of a copy any time soon, but I cannot wait to look inside.

I have been a fan of stories ever since I can remember. We still have bookshelves lined with the stories that I was told and that I read myself when I was too young to have many of my own. As I grew up, I fell in love with telling stories. I joined a drama club and I took part in the physical retelling and communication of stories live in front of audiences. I had fierce nightmares because my brain wouldn’t dare stop telling stories even when I was asleep.

I grew up more, and began to study literature. To understand the art of the story, the science of the story. I also study language and the art of communicating those stories. When I moved to Mexico, my family came to visit and my Dad said to me that he wasn’t surprised that my Spanish had improved dramatically in a short space of time because he knew that I wouldn’t be able to survive if I couldn’t communicate my stories to others.

And for all of these reasons I love the second hand bookshop. For me it is the perfect image of the story. Not the book. The story. Because second hand books tell more than just the story written in their pages. They hold in their chapters the imprint of somebody’s life. The person who owned that book read that story, and in some way, however large or small, it will have affected them. There must be a story behind how they got the book, whether they read and why they let it go. As with any story the possibilities are endless, and we will never know for sure exactly how these stories unfolded. But for me it doesn’t matter. The story lives on in the book, which may pass from reader to reader, generation to generation in a strange immortalising of not just a chapter in a novel, but in a chapter of someone’s life.


For me WB Gooderham’s recent publication offers an insight into this secretive, mysterious world of the dual-story potential of second hand books. And I cannot wait to begin my story by buying it. 

Saturday 19 January 2013

Boris Godunov, 9th January, Swan Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Boris Godunov forms the second part of this season’s A World Elsewhere trilogy at the RSC and marks Michael Boyd’s last production as Artistic Director. The first ever production of Pushkin’s little-known play in English, is by no means a weak exit for Boyd.

Lloyd Hutchinson as Boris Godunov – photograph by Ellie Kurttz



He was of course the man who brought us the memorable histories which began the Complete Works Festival, and echoes of this epic cycle are visible throughout the performance. The play itself works in much the same way as the histories, in that it tells the story of an earlier period of Russian history. The script has blood, treachery, death, deceit and treachery, pretty much everything you would expect in a history play. In a question and answer session with a selection of actors and the Assistant Director of the show, Lloyd Hutchinson described the play as ‘a love letter to Shakespeare’ and there are notable references to many of his works, including Julius Caesar, Henry V, Richard III and Coriolanus.

But Boris Godunov offers something unique from these plays: it has comedy. Whilst some of Shakespeare’s denser works offer a few moments of humour in the course of the production, Adrian Mitchell’s adaptation features comedy from beginning to end. Somehow it cleverly combines physical and verbal comedy on stage with tragedy, so that one minute you are laughing, which Boris sat in the stalls with his arm round the shoulder of an audience member and the next minute you are mourning the death of his men in combat. Boyd capitalises on the comedy in the script and creates physical comedy on stage too. My particular favourite moment was the creation of the fountains where Grigory arranges to meet Maryna. The fountains consisted of four women standing with bowls on their heads, and the moving water was made by men pouring it out of jugs into the bowls. This ingenious staging created the sound and effect of fountains on stage but maintaining a comedic undercurrent to the business transactions playing out in the scene.

The actors were, as always, fantastic. But particular mention must go to Lloyd Hutchinson in the title role as Boris, who shone out as an incredible performer, who kept the audience onside at every moment. Another special mention goes to Lucy Briggs-Owen as Maryna, whose interpretation of a neurotic and scheming princess rivalled any portrayal of the spoilt daughter of a king.

Boyd managed to stage a production which was incredibly entertaining, informative and clever in so many ways. But it also serves as a comment on modern day Russia. Towards the end of the play, the actors change from old fashioned military uniforms into smart modern suits, with guns instead of knives, and smart phones and earpieces to complete the look. Boyd has made an entertaining production with an extremely relevant political overtone. Shakespeare would be proud.

Boris Godunov is followed by A Life of Galileo which I imagine will be just as impressive as this production. Be sure not to miss out.