Our Town

Thornton Wilder is an atmospheric writer whose material, I feel, doesn't tend to travel across the Pond very well. Much of his work can only properly be appreciated in America or by Americans. Having said that, for those who want to dabble in the old (pre-war) American way of life, this is an excellent way of finding out, as too is some of his work on Hitchcock's film Shadow of a Doubt.

I took part in a Colchester Theatre Group production of another Wilder play, The Skin of Our Teeth back in July, so Manifest Theatre's version of Our Town had a natural curiosity value. One of the cast from The Skin of Our Teeth, Lester Pearce, has an amusing little cameo as a drunken choirmaster, and the rest of the cast are all pretty reliable and on good form too.

The story meanders along in slightly cosy fashion, on a rather Spartan set (as written), with Wilder once again enjoying crossing "the Fourth Wall" between stage and audience. The morbid third act is unexpectedly jolting, where four graves of some of the well known characters have three of them sitting behind them, soon to be joined by the fourth...

d: Kerry King
s: Guy Singleton (narrator), Phoebe Day, Adam Duarte-Dias, Nigel Rowe, Amanda Rowe, Helen Bridge, Lester Pearce, Adrian Bolton, Martin Rayner

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Why not just call it Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? The title is more of a mouthful than the plot, probably.

I confess I sighed when I saw that glossy "Lucasfilm" logo appear on the screen, as well as Harrison Ford rejecting $42 million dollars to play Han Solo (but choosing to play Indy instead.) From what I've seen of him on the first "sneak preview" trailer, he looks like he's doing it for the money - either that or the humour is missing without the presence of Sean Connery.

No sign as yet also of Karen Allen, who's so far the one shred of hope for me in seeing this film. I hope Spielberg isn't "selling out" too much, after the run of interesting, thoughtful and provocative films he's made just lately.

It's only February, and I'm already bored to my crystal skull with the hype - the bandwagon is up and running, and fans are clambering underneath it to get on board.

Are we related?

Joe Sales

Raymond Blanc

An epiphany?

Yesterday I trudged over to work, still stressed over the general state of things, and walked across the Recreation Ground on a very frosty morning, and dreaded the prospect of walking down a tricky slope at the end of it.

Back in 1999, at this time of the year, I walked down this slope, in very similar conditions ("black ice" on the ground) and slipped on the treacherous concrete surface, concussed the back of my head, and missed a day's work having been sent to the hospital.

On this occasion however, when I reached the accursed slope through the municipal gasworks at the Hythe, a shaft of sunlight was shining over the danger spot, melting away all the ice and making it easier to walk across.

Was He showing me the way? Maybe, and I daresay maybe not. One thing though, it certainly gave me the courage to get through the rest of the day at work from that moment on.

Good Things (cont.)

3. The Quayside Cafe near Essex University, by the River Colne at Hythe.