Those of us who have had the misfortune of hosting, or attending, a “get to know the neighbours” party will be familiar with the scene: the obligatory dance and drink to get into the mood; the awkward and out of place guests; the eagerly offered nibbles. Mike Leigh’s Abigail’s Party invites us into the living room of Beverly and Laurence and sets us up for a night of drinking, music and, of course, meeting the neighbours….
“I had at the end of 1968 become literary manager of the Royal Court Theatre. This had happened largely by accident.” This kind of lucky accident often happened to playwright and director David Hare, who in a poll in 2000 by the National Theatre, had five plays selected in the top 100 and was 10th Read More
“Nothing endures but the land”, and nothing quite captures the overarching theme of Lewis Grassic Gibbons’ classic novel than this, its most famous quote. Sunset Song, the first novel of the trilogy “A Scots Quair”, is set in The Mearns (now Aberdeenshire) on the eve of the First World War. Widely regarded as one of Read More