Culture Corner
Throughout 2013, Gentleman & Player has never been short of an (unpublished) opinion, informed or not, about the cultural landmarks of the year (such as asking ‘is the Costa or the Orange the one for lezzas?’ before not dashing off 700 words on modern literary prizes). In an outstanding year for the arts, here were some of the highlights.
Television
Reviews and articles about the final season of ‘Breaking Bad’ continued a trend started by coverage of ‘The Wire’ which implied that the audience is somehow intellectual simply because they were watching the thing.
Strictly Come Dancing continued to amaze, Sir Bruce is a testament to either the wonders of animatronics, or the existence of necromancy.
‘Day of the Doctor’ was best enjoyed in a cinema. Not just because sitting in the dark gave fans a chance to touch a girl, but because the 3D was perfectly realised and there was, appropriately, yet another dimension to the experience by sharing it with others.
BBC ALBA was a revelation. You can see premiership football and rugby on the BBC. OK, it’s Scottish premiership football and rugby, and the football is mostly Partick Thistle, but it’s excellent for a couple of reasons. Firstly, in the world of Scottish sectarian football, Partick Thistle are like a DMZ, wearing a Jags scarf is guarantee of safe passage in Glasgow. Interesting to see if this continues if they continue to be quite good. Second major bonus is that all the commentary is a Gaelic, so nobody can understand a word. But it all sounds poetic and wonderfully passionate. Blissful.
Art
Manet at the RA was a masterclass in how to do a lot with not very much at all. Manet was rich enough not to be arsed to finish most of his paintings. Still, the new audio guides are good, including a little screen where you can see a picture of the picture obscured by the crowd in front of you. This was a blockbuster and with London so handy for the Eurostar judging by the accents, and the manners, quite a lot of French had made the trip to see the exhibition.
The RA Summer Exhibition 2013 – surprisingly un-shit this year.
Doig at the Scottish National Gallery – confronted by enormous, colourful canvasses of tropical landscapes, the indigenous population didn’t know what to make of them. Is a blue sky modernist or surrealist?
Theatre
The exceptional performances in ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ underlined the casual cruelty of the fairy folk. Sheridan Smith deserves special credit for being able to divert attention from David Walliams, who appeared to be possessed by the ghost of Frankie Howerd. Smith’s legs are even better than her acting talent, which is exceptional.
Jude Law’s stellar performance as Henry V confirmed that it’s always a great idea to put a film star on the boards. In a spellbound audience, you could hear the collective raising of hairs standing up on end during the ‘breach’ and ‘St Crispin’s Day’ speeches. The tears in my eyes were due to an excess of dry ice used as smoke for the battle scenes.
Television
Reviews and articles about the final season of ‘Breaking Bad’ continued a trend started by coverage of ‘The Wire’ which implied that the audience is somehow intellectual simply because they were watching the thing.
Strictly Come Dancing continued to amaze, Sir Bruce is a testament to either the wonders of animatronics, or the existence of necromancy.
‘Day of the Doctor’ was best enjoyed in a cinema. Not just because sitting in the dark gave fans a chance to touch a girl, but because the 3D was perfectly realised and there was, appropriately, yet another dimension to the experience by sharing it with others.
BBC ALBA was a revelation. You can see premiership football and rugby on the BBC. OK, it’s Scottish premiership football and rugby, and the football is mostly Partick Thistle, but it’s excellent for a couple of reasons. Firstly, in the world of Scottish sectarian football, Partick Thistle are like a DMZ, wearing a Jags scarf is guarantee of safe passage in Glasgow. Interesting to see if this continues if they continue to be quite good. Second major bonus is that all the commentary is a Gaelic, so nobody can understand a word. But it all sounds poetic and wonderfully passionate. Blissful.
Art
Manet at the RA was a masterclass in how to do a lot with not very much at all. Manet was rich enough not to be arsed to finish most of his paintings. Still, the new audio guides are good, including a little screen where you can see a picture of the picture obscured by the crowd in front of you. This was a blockbuster and with London so handy for the Eurostar judging by the accents, and the manners, quite a lot of French had made the trip to see the exhibition.
The RA Summer Exhibition 2013 – surprisingly un-shit this year.
Doig at the Scottish National Gallery – confronted by enormous, colourful canvasses of tropical landscapes, the indigenous population didn’t know what to make of them. Is a blue sky modernist or surrealist?
Theatre
The exceptional performances in ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ underlined the casual cruelty of the fairy folk. Sheridan Smith deserves special credit for being able to divert attention from David Walliams, who appeared to be possessed by the ghost of Frankie Howerd. Smith’s legs are even better than her acting talent, which is exceptional.
Jude Law’s stellar performance as Henry V confirmed that it’s always a great idea to put a film star on the boards. In a spellbound audience, you could hear the collective raising of hairs standing up on end during the ‘breach’ and ‘St Crispin’s Day’ speeches. The tears in my eyes were due to an excess of dry ice used as smoke for the battle scenes.
Labels: Art, BBC, Culture, Doctor Who, Galleries, teevee, Theatre
