Monthly Archives: December 2010

J M Barrie has written a great many plays but the only Peter Pan is regularly revived. Quality Street, for most people, probably means the chocolates created in 1936 by Mackintosh; their boxes and tins used pictures of the hero … Continue reading →

The reputation of Jean Cocteau rests on such film masterpieces as La Belle et La Bete (1946) and Orphee (1960). His plays are rarely revived. Les Parent Terribles, based on his stormy relationship with his mother and written under the … Continue reading →

For a story which is so well known and so often staged it is surprising how few outstanding Shakespearean productions there have been. There were just two in the 20th century: in 1935 when John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier alternated … Continue reading →

The fame of H G Wells’s 1897 novella today rests largely on James Whale’s much over-rated 1933 film version, with Claude Rains, a follow-up to Whale’s vastly superior Frankenstein with Boris Karloff. Ken Hill turned the story into a play … Continue reading →

Fela! celebrates the life of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti (1938-1997), the Nigerian musician and political activist, who created the Afrobeat, a blend of jazz, funk, and African rhythms and harmonies. When he died a million people attended his funeral. His songs were … Continue reading →