Mark Reece's Blog, page 23

The national theatre- Macbeth

The National Theatre is currently showing Macbeth at the Wolverhampton grand.

Michael Nardone plays a strong part as Macbeth, dominating proceedings with a committed performance, although the whole troupe was good.

A lot about the play seemed right- the sets were good without being overly intricate, including poles that the witches shimmied up, and the location itself is pleasant- the Wolverhampton grand has the air of an old building, although is an airy and pleasant place.

The fight sequences in particular were well done, with sparks flying from clashing blades.

I believe some of the latter scenes and dialogue involving the witches were excised- not necessarily a bad thing, as those scenes may seem incongruous to a modern audience, set against the political drama taking place.

I didn't quite understand the modernization of the theme of the play. On the one hand, the original language was used, and the characters retained their original titles.

However, the costumes suggested to me that the characters were meant to be gang members or similar- and during the celebratory scene, loud rock music was played. I didn't understand what the setting was supposed to be, if the characters were not Scottish nobles, which is what they referred to each other as. I must confess to being often confused where the settings and costumes are modernized but the language is not. I wonder whether both should be, or neither.

Nevertheless, I very much enjoyed this performance, and would readily see other shows by this troupe.

Review- The Paradox of Acting

The Paradox of the actor (annotated): Le paradoxe sur le comédien by Denis Diderot

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The paradox of the actor is a dialogue between two participants, discussing whether fine acting is the result of expressing sensibility, or else rational self-control, described by Diderot as observation. The paradox of the title is that one of the speakers believes that emotion is expressed more artistically by an actor who does not feel passion on a personal level whilst performing.

Although many of the actors referenced are now highly obscure, this is an interesting dialogue, with philosophical implications beyond the narrow topic at hand. The argument put forward by the main speaker acts as a critique of romanticism, and sets out a compelling vision of aesthetics.

The critique of romanticism is set out more fully in Richard Sennett's great work 'The Fall of Great Man'. Diderot may be setting up an opposition of acting based on genuine emotion vs acting based on simulating emotion, rather than insisting that emotional display constitutes poor form per se. This is set out wittily when Diderot remarks "The man of sensibility is too much at the mercy of his diaphragm to be a great king..." This quote points to the wider significance of the dialogue; 'The man of sensibility', who believes that his own feelings are the highest law, is less likely to be able to actively mold those feelings in a way that enables him to creatively improve himself, and to exercise control over his environment. This is the paradox writ large- the person who is the prisoner of their own sensibility is likely to be less creative, less expressive, and more fixed in their conception of themselves than the person who conceives of their personality as something to be actively molded.

Diderot considers what is true in the theatre and answers thus: "Is it showing things as they are in nature? Certainly not. Were it so the true would be commonplace." This sets out a wide vision of an art that aims for representation of ideal types, rather than being 'true to life'. In this way, Diderot gives to art a grand vision and a grand purpose, giving the dialogue a real energy. This is all to be praised.

One can make some criticism of the pacing and lack of drama in the dialogue. The second speaker gives little opposition, and the conversation has little context, making the dialogue less compelling as a dramatic work. Also, the argument becomes repetitive in places. However, despite these faults, the paradox of the actor is an intriguing and powerful piece of philosophy that remains both vital and challenging.



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The Outcast review

The Outcast by Feridon Rashidi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Outcast is set in Iran immediately prior to the Islamic revolution. The protagonist, Kazem, has recently been released from prison, and after a period of desultory wandering, falls in love with the daughter of a wealthy man. Kazem hatches a plan to kidnap his love, Maryam, and they travel to Tehran to escape the wrath of her father, before they are caught up in the maelstrom of events.

Rashidi is a vivid, talented, enjoyable author. His descriptions pile detail on detail and stick in the mind long after the reading ends. His description of the streets of Tehran in particular are very memorable- full of street vendors, prostitutes, eccentrics, and rubbish. It is a rich and vibrant city in the telling, despite its decay. Although Rashidi gives little detail of his character's psychology, Kazem has depth and interest. He is sometimes crude and violent but also decent and loyal- ultimately a likeable sort. The reader cares about him quickly, and that interest remains.

There are two problem with the novel, however, in my view. Firstly, when the Islamic revolution is described, the tone of the book become abstract for an extended period- events are told in a essay like style in which the characters are almost entirely forgotten, or else used as mouthpieces for the author's opinions about events. This is a disappointment, as I would have been interested to hear about the revolution from Kazem's perspective.

Secondly, after being kidnapped, Maryam is almost silent, and after the revolution occurs, she is rarely mentioned. On the few occasions she speaks, she usually simply agrees with whatever Kazem is saying. This feels odd, given that she was the focus of much of the first part of the book.

These structural flaws are striking, but despite them, I would strongly recommend this book, as the prose is so well written. I look forward to reading other books by this author.



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Beauty and the beast ballet- Birmingham Hippodrome

I strongly recommend the performances of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, particularly given that its director, David Bintley, is to step down in July 2019.

The recent performance of Beauty and the Beast at the Hippodrome starts with Belle frozen gracefully in position as the curtain raises, at the top of a set of stairs, reaching for a book. It is immediately evident that another special performance is about to take place- the grace and skill of the dancers are plain in every movement, and the costumes, sets, and music are all exquisite.

It seems barely conceivable that the experience could be improved. Two hours or more pass like a wisp of breeze across one's nose when watching such a performance. Reading the programme reveals that the dancers originate from every continent. This must be one of the best troupe of dancers anywhere in the world.

I don't know enough about the technicalities of ballet to explain why it is so good, so can only give praise in the most general terms. Hopefully, that will be persuasive enough.

Book review- 'schadenfreude'

Schadenfreude: The Joy of Another's Misfortune by Tiffany Watt Smith

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I think that this book would have worked well either as a list of funny instances of schadenfreude/ schadenfreude gone wrong, or as a serious philosophical/scientific examination of the subject. As it is, the book tries to do both but achieves neither.

The book does have some funny moments, but Smith has several annoying habits. The first of these is the pseudo intellectual quirk of quoting great thinkers saying trivial things. There is no point to this, except to add a pretended gravitas. It's as if one was constantly greeted by a colleague who said things like: "As Aristotle used to say: 'good morning'", "would you like a drink, as Einstein often asked". The worst example of this is when she accuses Nietzsche of hating Jews, black people, and gays, and being Hitler's favourite philosopher. The latter accusation is demonstrably false, whereas no quotes or evidence are supplied for the former, extraordinary claims.

Smith is also fond of starting chapters with generalizations about what 'we' think or feel about various issues. No evidence is ever provided for this 'we', and it often feels as if she's simply assuming that everyone has similar feelings to her on the subject. These statements are irritating in the same way as articles in newspaper supplements that begin with "we're all liberals/socialists/dog lovers/social media addicts/other thing nowadays". Plainly, we're not all anything, and I'd prefer not to be told that I am.

It might have been better to have defined schadenfreude more clearly at the start, as some of the examples given don't seem to fit. Is laughing at the sight of someone with toilet paper stuck to their shoe really taking pleasure at their discomfort? It seems to me more like laughing at something incongruous.

Hopefully, there are no grammatical errors in this review that would enable anyone to feel schadenfreude out of a demonstration of my foolishness. Because I don't like to look foolish, as Socrates used to say.



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Book review- 'Neuromancer'

Neuromancer by William Gibson

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


Although this book is considered a classic, I could not finish it. The prose comprises strings of techno jargon with little explanation, meaning that it's very difficulty to work out what's going on. I'm not sure that I'd be too interested to find out- the characters seem very flat- the grifter type, the enforcer type, etc.

There's not much else to say.



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Book review- 'Tales of Iran'

Tales of Iran by Feridon Rashidi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a collection of sixteen short stories, most of which are set in modern Iran. The writing is hyper realist in the spirit of Gogol, whereby sights, smells, and sounds are described in minute detail until the descriptions become overwhelming and absurd. There are some extraordinary scenes, particularly during one story where a religious festival turns into a brawl, complete with rioting villagers and donkeys having sex nearby.

The stories focus very little on the psychology of the protagonists, but this does not prevent the characterization having depth and interest. The stories tend toward absurdity, with misunderstandings between people and private obsessions being commonplace.

One of the other things I liked about these stories was the realistic way that they depicted people living in a society where religious precepts are omnipresent. Some characters take them seriously, others repeat homilies while engaging in all the usual vices. There can be a tendency when depicting people in a religious milieu to assume that people act in a certain way because such and such religious texts says such and such. The characters in Rashidi's stories have all too human motivations, and he is to be commended for this.

One criticism I would make is that there are occasions where the author editorializes too much. One of the stories, 'Operation Ajax', which is set during the 1953 Iran coup, contains sections that read like an extended commentary, and is thus much the weakest story in the collection. However, this is a small point. These stories are finely written, absurdist, and stick in the memory long after the reading is over.



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Article published

I've recently had an article published on the 'Mass Movement' website. Link below:

http://massmovement.co.uk/technology-...

Novel reading

I'll be doing a reading of my novel, 'The dreams of the eternal city', on 16 Feb at the Meadow Inn, Buildwas Road, Ironbridge, TF8 7BJ, 2.30–4pm

For more details, see:

http://offaspress.co.uk/events/

Book review

The Fall of Public Man by Richard Sennett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a great work of sociology, demonstrating enormous scholarship and erudition. It is unusual for a modern work of sociology to be so discursive- the book ranges from discussions of theatre, architecture, literature, philosophy, psychology, and child development, amongst others. This makes it a difficult book to understand, and one that benefits from repeat reading. However, the ideas under discussion make such time well spent. Sennett is an engaging writer, although in the earlier sections of the book, he perhaps could have defined the terms he uses more clearly. However, this is a quibble.

In The Fall of Public Man, Sennett sets out his critique of the 'intimate society', in which, as he describes it, what is good is defined as personal, and the bad as impersonal. In this schema, 'warmth' is praised over things that are 'cold' or 'aloof'. Ways of thinking about society are transformed into psychological terms- a good political leader is one who is 'principled' or 'authentic'. As Sennett points out, the rationality of thinking about politics in this way is unclear, as those terms rely upon assessing an individual's character, which is not only almost impossible for people who don't know them personally, but also irrelevant to whether the political leader can achieve something for the public that puts them in power.

However, Sennett also points out deeper problems implicit in this way of thinking. In particular, he describes how the intimate society tends towards de-politicization- if 'impersonal forces' are not emotionally gratifying, then they are not considered important in the way personal things are. A person may not wish to conceive of the position they occupy in a social class hierarchy because that would undermine their 'personality'. This prevents them from acting in concert with others to improve their conditions.

Furthermore, Sennett describes how interacting with others on an impersonal basis can lead to people becoming expressive and open, whereas when people come to need to interact on the basis of a personal connection, sectarianism and closed mindedness often result, as personal connections usually imply connections with the like minded. To demonstrate this, several sections of the book are devoted to comparing public life in London and Paris at different points in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Sennett favorably points to practices that existed to build an impersonal public sphere, such as forms of dress that drew attention from personal characteristics, that he claims lead to greater sociability than social practices that depend on emotional interconnectedness.

To demonstrate the irrationality of considering politics in personal terms, Sennett also gives an entertaining and very perceptive analysis of Zola's J'Accuse. I'd always considered this a rather strange document, but had not considered it in the way Sennett described.

The book is a very impressive example of how sociology can be a philosophy of everyday life and is highly recommended.



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