CHRISTY MOORE at the BARROWLANDS

It is hard to believe he is 70 years old , he has been touring for 50 years , his voice is fine and sweet but most importantly his music seems even more current and poignant now than when it was written , a sign of the regression of Human and Civil rights of our times in this age.

Here is a chilling yet inspiration version of No Time For Love:


And he finished of with an aborted version ive not heard before called Lonesome Boatman:

GHOSTS at THE TRON GLASGOW

This re-working of Ibsens play changes more things than just the words , but , importantly , it keeps faith with the original and adds more elements than mere scandal on a social scale , adding the very sinister dimensions of our very own under-investigated scandal among the powerful political elites.

As the description on the Tron website states 

"On the face of it, local councillor Helen Alving’s financial support for the creation of a Childhood Trust and the donation of her ‘big house’ to the Council to create a new looked-after children’s facility seems to be a magnanimously benevolent gesture to honour her late husband, the Captain.
With the unexpected arrival of her son Oswald 'from abroad’ however, Helen’s carefully constructed reality is torn apart, and the ghosts from their tormented past manifest grotesquely in shocking revelations of political corruption and abuse.
Megan Barker’s dark and gripping adaptation of the Ibsen classic exposes a litany of terrible secrets and the incontrovertible damage these have caused."

The very intense and powerful productions left the audience emotionally exhausted , in the video below the set designer explains the process of coming up with the modern and minimal set than allows the script to play the central role with minimum distractions and allowing the audience to engage with the fullest imagination to the many lessons to be drawn from the present that this play first illuminated over a century ago.



This review from The Scotsman gives the best overview of the play though they do overplay the change of tone of the play. 

" What Barker is trying to do, in other words, is to combine the outline of Ibsen’s plot with a 21st century meditation on historic sex abuse, and on the lengths to which some establishment figures will go to conceal and perpetuate these crimes; and it has to be said that the effort to shift the narrative in that direction often pulls the play well out of shape."

TOM DEVINE at the STIRLING LIBRARY GLASGOW

It was very fitting that this high profile overview of Scotlands role in the "nefarious trade" at this years Glasgow Black History Month was hosted in what was once a Mansion built and owned by one of Glasgows Tobacco Lords.

It was quite a privilege to be addressed in a small setting by a World class academic who gave a talk virtually along the same lines to the assembled ranks of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament in the video below to a small intimate audience of less than 30 persons.

The title of the talk was Amnesia and Denial: Scotland and Transatlantic Slavery.This addresses the great paradox of Scotland being the main beneficiary of slave exploitation and yet also being in the forefront to abolish Slavery not only in British controlled areas but also non-British run parts of the New world.When compensation claims were made to provide reparations for the loss of slave-run businesses Scotland ( with about 10% of the population) accounted for 15% of the claims.Yet , consistently, petitions to end slavery at parliament in London prior to it being abolished amounted to a third of them coming from Scotland.More tobacco went to Glasgows ports than all the rest of the UK put together.



3.2 Million slaves were transported from Africa to the Caribbean and North America , though Scotland was only directly involved in 4,500 it run plantations and syndicated that exploited over half of them and their descendants , so though the participation of accruing the raw Human material was slight the vast infrastructures that absorbed then was vast.

Only recently is Scottish academic scholarship beginning to piece together the story in the last few years that brings shame , though ultimately a proper atonement, for Scotland in the 21st century.Scotland was not a victim but a main participant in the creation of the British Empire and Colonial project and all its excesses to the World suffered and still endures today and only by recognising its role can it help heals the scars and deep wounds that must be healed.

After the 46 minute mark a panel , including Stephen Mullan who conducts walking tours of the landmarks associated with Glasgows slave trading links ,discusses and adds more detail to the topics discussed.

THE ART AND POLITICS OF DIEGO RIVERA

The Govanhill Baths Community Trust was the location of this lecture of the iconic Mexican Painter and Muralist Diego Rivera.
Firstly there was an Introduction by Fatima Uygun on the nature of Art and Class , a brilliant piece of historical and cultural analysis with the added perception that all revolutions from the grassroots have always had the dimension of Artists articulating the currents of the time , which is why Art must belong to the People and not be co-opted by the establishment or commodifying commercial interests.

Colin Poole gave an in depth  biographical  account underlying the philosophical and intellectual currents that gave rise to Riveras art in revolutionary Mexico of the early 20th century.

 This link details an exchange of letters between Rivera and Rockefeller after a Mural to be made at the Rockefeller Centre was de-commissioned , notable in this exchange of letters is the compromise suggestion by Rivera to save the Mural which was not taken up.

The video below features music by Robbie Robertson and some of the painting and murals of Rivera.


You can get a more detailed history of Riveras politics and political relationships in the 30s and 40s in this link.

THE SEIGE at the TRON

You would think all thespians would welcome and relish the prospect of oppressed victims getting the chance to tell their own story in their own words, but apparently not the vile , sectarian , contemptible charlatan Maureen Lipman.But , as Al-Raee says in this article  
says  "The most sad thing about the people who are saying that the play is advocating for terrorism is that none of them came and saw the play," says Al-Raee. "They don't actually understand what they are talking about.".

 From the website of The Freedom Theatre established by a combination of Jewish and Palestinian
 Artists the mission of this admirable social civilian project is "The Freedom Theatre is developing a vibrant and creative artistic community in the northern part of the West Bank. While emphasizing professionalism and innovation, the aim of the theatre is also to empower youth and women in the community and to explore the potential of arts as an important catalyst for social change."
 The Board of The Freedom Theatre contains , according to clowns like Lipman , such terrorist advocates as Noam Chomsky and Judith Butler.

You can see the trailer for this highly passionate and humane play in this video


This review from The Herald newspaper gives a sense of the profound impression the play makes on a fair audience

"As performed by an all male cast of six, there is an impassioned partisan rawness to what follows, as we flit between the siege itself and the men's lives afterwards far from their homeland. The latter is told simply and directly without contrition, and when the tour guide takes a selfie with the audience, it's as if the entire world is captured in its light"

STEWART LEE at the ARMADILLO SECC GLASGOW

Islam and Pish were again on the menu for this show in front a large venue crowd , both subjects are very close to my heart.It was interesting to see how the material from his last summer gigs at the Stand in Edinburgh have evolved.The second half contained his experiences of UKIP and English Nationalism.

The set was almost similar to this 2 part recording from an earlier concert in Cheltenham
Part 1 Islam and Pish



Part 2 English Nationalism

RED AMNESIA at the GFT

This review from The Hollywood Reporter gives a perceptive synopsis of the themes of this Modern Chinese mystery thriller.

"As the title suggests, Red Amnesia considers the selective memory that erases past stains as contemporary China continues its frantic sprint to become a social and economic superpower. Wang Xiaoshuai's latest is somewhat bipolar, beginning as an unhurried mystery about the harassment of an elderly widow before abruptly switching gears more than halfway through to take an unsentimental plunge into the past. Combining elements of melodrama and thriller with a strong political subtext, this is a challenging work that guards its secrets closely but builds cumulative power."

Though the article is quite wrong to describe the main characters home as a "shabby apartment" , for Chinese standards she lives in a well-off upper civil service quarter with leafy suburban streets away from the noise and air-pollution of Beijing with each apartment block having ample greenery and gardens of varies flora.The very kind of place that a successful apparatchik who negotiated the vagaries of Maoist times with all the guile and ruthlessness required would aspire hope to retire to.This becomes very pivotal to the plot and conclusion of the film.