Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 471

Celebrity: First Night

Audience happy!

As an exercise in nervous tension, I heartily recommend everyone to write a play and put it on. When I do readings, I'm in control and if it goes wrong it's my fault. When there are lots of other people involved, the fate of the piece passes to fresh hands, but I was [...]

Where Do You Get Your Characters?

A frequent question with an easy answer; from real life. A reader once accused me of making up the character of Maggie Armitage in the Bryant & May books – he didn't believe anyone could be that barmy. But she is, (if anything, more so) and hardly any part of her character is made up [...]

A Little Weird Reading

The bizarre books shop in Great Russell Street has its usual window display of books you might find interesting this Christmas, especially if you suffer from 'Synthetic Mania', suddenly need to abandon ship or fancy a spot of wrestling. (Click to enlarge)

If You're Going To The Market…

…Can you pick me up some brussels sprouts and a vintage A-line dress? One of the more outre pop-up markets to appear in London this year (Marylebone High St).

Sorry, You're Not A Woman

In the latest issue of UK Writer, comic author Bennett Aarron tells a story with a familiar ring. He's a respected playwright, author and writer of more than 30 TV sitcom scripts, so he thought he'd write a rom-com. The result? Publishers wouldn't touch the book because he was a man.

This is interesting, because the [...]

Celebrity 16: Opening Night

The rehearsals are over, the last remaining props have been found (an ashtray from a French hotel, electronic cigarettes, perfume bottles) and we're ready to go. But we're still tampering with the set, and do we need eight changes for an eighty minute play? It's hilarious when you consider that this is a tiny fringe [...]

How To Do Christmas In London

I fancied going down into the creepy old Old Vic Tunnels this Christmas. Cart Macabre is the newest work by hotly tipped performance collective Living Structures. Two years in the making, the much-anticipated show, part theatre, part installation, finally sees the light of day in the dark of the tunnels.

Cart Macabre is, according to the [...]

It's A Book!

I Am Not A 'Brit'

The English identity is periodically questioned, but as the patrician nationality of the British Isles it has always been readily accepted as something vaguely stratified into lower, middle and upper class, something to do with tea and cricket, solid breakfasts and gloomy Sundays.

But it is also one of the most multicultural societies in the world, [...]

Celebrity Special Offer

Incredibly, we've nearly sold out our entire run for 'Celebrity'!

But there's still a chance for you to see the play on a few available dates, including Saturday 27th (matinee) or the final day Saturday 4th December (matinee). And to make it worth your while, the next 15 bookings for those dates will be able to [...]