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My Clockwork Heart, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Laura Campbell, Paul Duckworth, Andy Roberts.

Recorded Cast: Aiden Lee Brooks, Rosalind Henderson, Tom Galashan, David Llewelyn, Mike McCormack, Jade Thompson, Chris Hennessey, Adam Gilbert, Paula Simms, Patrick Dunn.

Freedom at any cost and the right to use your life how you see fit, two intrinsic, rightful, and powerful overtures to life that have been eradicated time and time again since the French Revolution. Before that it seems as if History allowed the common man the space to live and breathe his own, only asking occasionally to take part in war or be at the beck and call of the state. From The French Revolution onwards, the state has interfered more and more, to the point where even questions are asked about the most intimate details, perhaps even what would different about My Clockwork Heart.

My Clockwork Heart, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(586 words, estimated 2:21 mins reading time)

Banished, Television Review. B.B.C.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Julian Rhind-Tutt, MyAnna Buring, Russell Tovey, David Wenham, Orla Brady, Ewen Bremner, Ryan Corr, David Dawson, Ned Dennehy, Brooke Harman, Joseph Millson, Nicholas Moss, Adam Nagaitis, Genevieve O’ Reilly, Joanna Vanderham, David Walmsley, Bianca Rudman, Jordan Patrick Smith, Tim McCunn.

 

Banished, Television Review. B.B.C. full post

(569 words, estimated 2:17 mins reading time)

The Teacher’s Prayer, (Bicester, Left in 87).

The teachers, the tutors,

the staff, the head, the unpaid support workers

all bend their head in silent prayer,

know that the God of school simply doesn’t care

about their plight

their lot in life,

their unsaid collective fear

that there will never be a person to emerge from any year

who will make the school stand out

give the badge and crest some polish and stout

who they can hold up as a shining example,

the one person for whom they can, with gushing pride, let new pupils sample

The Teacher’s Prayer, (Bicester, Left in 87). full post

(409 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

The Pupil’s Prayer, (Bicester, left In 87).

Oh dear God, we are back here again

on a Monday morning, the routine the same

put that fag out, get ready for gym

who’s kissing who, the chances of an A received so slim.

Dear God, the pupil’s friend

to whom unbreakable excuses you do send,

give us this day our daily bread

and let not the science teacher ruin our hard fought street cred,

let not our own personal bully, be it fellow pupil of sadistic teacher

see us today, let them not use us as a bottom feeding creature.

The Pupil’s Prayer, (Bicester, left In 87). full post

(429 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

Shed, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Paul Broughton, Michael Starke.

The humble British Shed, so loved by many, so bemusing too many more. A place where sanctuary is sought, where peace can reign and Time can be seen not to ravage but to almost stall, decay at a slower rate, to inspire growth and let thoughts take hold in a way that the outside world, almost insistent on the answers being forthcoming at the speed of knots, cannot comprehend. The shed is last refuge, be it six foot wide in all directions or built in the fashion that some might as well retire and spend their remaining days locked within and practise for the ultimate last days of potting and cutting dead leaves of a much valued plant.

Shed, Theatre Review. Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(468 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)

The Wombats, Glitterbug. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

When the vibe is good then it rocks the house down and your neighbours, normally two feet from the wall and banging with ever sinew and muscle flexing and a small amount of foam dribbling down their unhappy chin, suddenly come round and ask you to turn it up. Then the music fan delights in the mayhem they have caused, and the small victory of the right music played at the right time makes the heart beat a little faster.

The Wombats, Glitterbug. Album Review. full post

(454 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Conflict, Transform Into A Human. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It has long been said that if you poke the Russian bear, you are likely to get mauled. Unless of course you do it with a drum stick and point out the electric guitar and the impressive female vocalist waiting to get started, then the Russian bear, a polarising designate which isn’t worthy of the paper it is written upon for the Russian people are just as astonishing as the British when it comes to all things music, the Russian bear jams harder, beats faster and splinters more drum sticks in search of the perfect Metal rhythm than any other creature growling in the forests around the Steppes.

Conflict, Transform Into A Human. Album Review. full post

(420 words, 1 image, estimated 1:41 mins reading time)

The Rose Bush Or The Lost Highway.

In all the adventures a man can have, surely

the last they can have in the modern age,

one devoid of dying in battle, sword carried high, noble steed

between his legs; the final brush with an opposition

much respected, perhaps in a way adored, the sweat and humidity

of the final swansong as the owner’s sword is impaled on himself

fully sheathed,

and the opposition goes on to conquer the next in line

like a domino pushed over, perhaps to enslave and terrify;

the last resting post of the humble shed, hiding away in the crevice afforded

The Rose Bush Or The Lost Highway. full post

(433 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: Requiem For The Rocket Men. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, John Leeson, Geoffrey Beevers, Mark Frost, Olivia Poulet, Damian Lynch, Pat Ruins.

The renegade Timelord from Gallifrey is fighting for his life in a trap. Considered to be lethal, dangerous and with a personality that can be abrasive and charming, the Universe’s greatest bounty hunters are in for a slice of the reward money placed temptingly before them, for after all would rank so high in the list of most wanted criminals than The Master.

Doctor Who: Requiem For The Rocket Men. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish. full post

(447 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)