The BRIT Awards, a night of celebrating the best in British music and handing out awards to deserving souls whose talent has shone though over the previous year. It should be a joyous occasion and make for great television, but sadly something has gone seriously wrong with this awards ceremony. Although having flashes of great moments, this year’s BRIT Awards were almost completely unbearable to watch. Want to know why?
Day: 20 February 2014
-
THEATRE REVIEW | Amateur Girls St. James Theatre and UK Tour
★★★★★ | Amateur Girls St. James Theatre and UK Tour
Julie is a 30 something auxiliary nurse living in a high rise flat in Nottingham with her cat, Lulu.
She’s always up for a laugh with nights down at the local clubs with a sneaky bottle of vodka in her handbag, a penchant for Take That and a swig of wine at home in the evenings. She spends her days working with elderly people, making sure their physical needs are met and her spare time, making porn to meet another kind of physical need altogether.
Amanda Whittington’s powerful yet hilarious play takes the form of an Alan Bennett style monologue that is 70 minutes long. Lucy Speed (best known as Natalie Evans in Eastenders) gives a magnificent performance and somehow the play carries the audience off to another world by the power of superb acting and clever use of sound. Julie’s accidental transition from ‘good-time girl’ to amateur porn star is credible and thought provoking as the piece examines the tension between choice and coercion in relation to women and sexuality. Watching Julie’s naïve progress and hearing her history unfold is a heart breaking experience yet Whittington manages to also make the story extremely watchable with masses of humour.
Whittington researched her subject, basing the play on the experiences of genuine sex workers and is drawn chiefly from the true story of one auxiliary nurse who worked in the ‘amateur’ porn industry whilst holding down a job in a hospital. The play never feels preachy or predictable and although Julie’s experiences aren’t always good they’re also not always terrible and are at times, really good fun for her. There’s a clever line that wavers constantly over whether she’s a victim, a woman using her sexuality to empower herself financially or a hapless naïve. I certainly left the theatre thinking about the theme.
I was especially impressed with Speed’s Nottingham accent (I’m from those parts and as somewhat of an expert, can say that she did it really very well) and her performance is absolutely second to none. I laughed, winced, gasped and felt near to tears for Julie, thanks to the tremendous skills of Speed, a woman with fantastic talent.
Fifth Word are definitely a theatre company to watch out for wit their previous Edinburgh Fringe smash hit success ‘Bones’, which was again an exceptional piece of theatre. I can’t recommend this play enough.
Catch the play at the St James Theatre, London until 21st February:
http://www.stjamestheatre.co.uk/events/amateur-girlU.K. tour dates until 15th March 2014:
http://fifthword.co.uk/projects/spring-2014-tour-amateur-girl-by-amanda-whittington -
F1’s Bernie Ecclestone Backs Anti-Gay Stance In Russia
In an interview with CNN’s Ben Wyatt F1 Boss Bernie Ecclestone revealed he agrees on President Putin’s stance on homosexuality.
CNN are reporting that F1 Racing Boss Bernie Ecclestone, 83, ‘completely agrees’ with President Putin’s anti-gay stance, stating that he even admires the President.
He said in the interview with Ben Wyatt:
“He [Putin] hasn’t said he doesn’t agree [with homosexuality] just that he doesn’t want these things publicized to an audience under the age of 18. I completely agree with those sentiments and if you took a world census you’d find 90% of the world agree with it as well.”
The businessman who was born in Bungay is reported to be worth $3.8 BILLION. He is the President and CEO of Formula One Management and has been married 3 times.
He went on to say: “I’ve great admiration for him and his courage to say what he says…[It] may upset a few people but that’s how the world is. It’s how he sees [the world] and I think he’s completely right.”
-
Captain Patrick Stewart Is Not Gay
The actor, which we like to refer to as golden voice Sir Patrick Stewart has laughed off being mistakenly OUTED after congratulating Ellen Page after she came out.