'the Blind'

On Monday I was asked to review a play for the Radio 4 programme ‘In Touch’. It was called ‘The Blind’ and featured 6 blind and VI actors. (there is a theme methinks…)
Turns out the opening night was in the depths of Stoke Newington near no station I have ever heard of. The studio theatre was outside, round a corner and down some raggedy ass steps and in a basement. The irony being this whole trip would have been bloody difficult if not impossible for a VI person like myself to attempt without help. Luckily my Mum came along and we extended the evening to include a delicious sis kebab at a Turkish restaurant.

And the play? Erm…it was annoying but it was gripping. The author is Maeterlink who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1911. He is a symbolist which means the language and movement is non-naturalistic and sparse and he is using the ‘blind’ as a metaphor to talk about isolation, disenfranchisement, an absent God etc. Not ‘Mary Poppins ‘ then. However, having blind actors added a dimension that I don’t think the rather suave, youngster director realised. They were a strong, good looking bunch but the staging was weak and illogical. The overall effect was creepy and I felt rattled and unsure about how I felt so was glad it was all over in an hour and we could begin our marathon trek back to Cambridge.
‘Sleep on it’ said my Mum.
So I did. The review went well and I didn’t swear once.

Whilst hanging around the Beeb, I picked up my recording equipment for Zambia. I have two ridiculously huge mikes to poke in people’s faces. I am sure that will greatly encourage easy, relaxed chat. I am now trying to figure out how to get a Melton Mowbey Pork Pie through customs for a friend who was expressing lust for one on the internet. Apparently one can get the piccalilli but not the pie in Lusaka. It’s a humanitarian emergency.