Tartuffe and a rabbit

Mel and I went to One Step Forward, One Step back which I think could be described as an ‘experience’ at the Anglican cathedral. Not sure what to expect as people were admitted six at a time at 5 minute intervals and walked along a route which took in numerous rooms and passageways around the cathedral. We went in the lift twice and ended up overlooking the bells then climbed a lot more steps to end up on the roof! Magnificent views and well worth the experience but not sure what it was all about! The programme that we were given at the end didn’t help too much but made reference to Dantes Inferno. The following is from the Guardian review.

The man in the library is distressed. He arranges and rearranges the cut out words on the desk, trying to create sense out of chaos. From the fireplace comes a noise that sounds as if someone is trying to get down the chimney. Already I've encountered three angry Santa Clauses frantically typing Christmas lists, I've gazed up through the legs of shoppers in a supermarket, I've shivered on a snow-covered hillside and heard birds sing. Later, I will glimpse alphabets of stars peeping through an indigo night sky.

Dreamthinkspeak is an extraordinary company, creating site-responsive theatrical experiences that send the audience on individual journeys through buildings and make you feel as if the bricks are speaking to you. Inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy, Milton's Paradise Lost, William Blake's poem Milton, and the city of Liverpool itself, this commission for the Year of Culture is architectural and meditative rather than immersing, as in the work of Punchdrunk, or narrative, as is often the case with Grid Iron. You bring yourself to it, your tarnished soul is gently massaged, and you emerge feeling shiny and brand new.

Ushered in small groups through a side door in the cathedral, you head off down dark corridors, surprised at every turn as you encounter tiny villages nestling on mountainsides, or glimpses of different kinds of paradise. From the top of the cathedral you gaze down on the city spread out below in all its ragged beauty. This is cunningly put together, always offering clues rather than answers. One scene or room almost always references another you will see or have seen; sound (ghostly church music and howling winds) and film are part of the textured fabric of the piece, and you must always look up and down as well as straight in front of you.

Perspective is used brilliantly. In the moment you look over the entire city you can also peep right inside a house. There is an extraordinary point when you emerge mole-like out of the dark into the great cavernous body of the cathedral, with its massive stained-glass windows. Below in the gloaming a Madonna-like angel walks, her dress trailing behind her like a puddle of spilled milk. The journey takes about an hour; it will sustain you for a lifetime.

Last week was Tartuffe at the Play house. Originally in French by Moliere it had been rewritten by Roger McGough in rhyming couplets, some of which were excruciatingly bad for extra comic effect. Whenever they used the line ‘as they say in English’ they used an ‘ello,ello’ mock French accent as of course it should have been in French not English! Summary below.
Tartuffe is a beacon of piety and in the home of wealthy merchant Orgon he has his feet firmly under the table. But all is not as it seems and as Orgon becomes more enraptured with his new companion the whole city is chattering. Is he a friend, a fraud, a miracle or a hypocrite? The family smell a rat and amidst the frills and frivolity of Seventeenth Century society they hatch a cunning plan to outwit the wily deceiver before he brings their house crashing down.

On Tuesday we went to see Hugh Hughes in the Story of a Rabbit at the Everyman. Hugh is a softly spoken Welshman who we saw last year in his own production of Floating which J particularly liked and was looking forward to this new play. It lasted about 1hr 15 mins during which time Hugh was on stage the whole time with a colleague who provided the multi media back up. As the title suggests it is about a rabbit that dies but is mainly about the death of Hugh’s father. Funny and touching. Summary below.
When Hugh finds his neighbour’s rabbit lying dead in his garden, the only sensible thing to do is to put it in a box. But it doesn’t fit. As he puzzles over what to do he starts to wonder how much of life disappears once we die...

Last June, Hugh Hughes delighted Liverpool audiences with Floating. His new show Story of a Rabbit lifts the lid on life’s final mystery.


Last Sunday we called at the Rigbye Arms near Parbold for a drink en route and decided that as the menu looked good that we would try it out on Wednesday. The menu looked really good - J chose steak and kidney pie (of course) with chips and mushy peas and I had sea bream with celeriac mash, buttered carrots and courgettes and pesto. The food seemed to arrive amazingly quickly and was not anything special, although the pastry was good (J) and the buttered courgettes (C). We then had a cheese platter to share which didn’t have the promised grapes or chutney and was certainly not as good as I have had elsewhere for the same price. Disappointing but another experience!