Author Archives: Houyhnhnm

othello & moby-dick

Posted on August 21, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

othello everyone (including me) went to see mark rylance’s iago; for the first scene or so i was confused as he spoke so fast i missed lots of the content but we settled, and really enjoyed rylance’s nervy subservience, running … Continue reading →

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romeo and juliet, & mahler’s 8th symphony

Posted on July 28, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

romeo and juliet (south woodford odeon, live-streamed from stratford (the other one) like the rory kinnear macbeth, the dead rise and walk – and not just the scripted banquo; this romeo and juliet has first the slain mercutio and tybalt, … Continue reading →

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the town hall affair & the turn of the screw

Posted on July 15, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

the town hall affair a live dramatic reconstruction of a real, filmed, public debate in early-seventies new york between writer and critic norman mailer and representatives of ‘women’s lib.’ notably germaine greer

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philosophy for life by rupert read, and bamford quaker community

Posted on June 20, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

philosophy for life: a series of essays by the green quaker norwich-based (uea) philosopher, chained together skilfully by editor m.a. lavery, this book is a serious, witty, and unashamedly intellectual attempt to take dame philosophie from her ivory tower and put … Continue reading →

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macbeth (streamed from the olivier to picturehouse central, may 10th) & the lene lovich band (at the lexington, islington, may 20th)

Posted on June 1, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

macbeth live-streaming is in many ways so much better than #beingthere: better view, cheaper, and a filmed interview with the director before curtain-up; which helped me notice the feel – ‘britain in a few years, after a civil war’ – … Continue reading →

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rodin and the ancient greeks, & the iliad

Posted on May 20, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

rodin and the ancient greeks i didn’t realise that rodin spent a lot of time in london, and that he kept visiting the british museum to see the elgin marbles and other greek sculpture; it seems (at least according to … Continue reading →

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luisa miller & ordeal of innocence

Posted on May 13, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

luisa miller (live from the met, south woodford odeon) even my dad hadn’t heard of this opera by verdi; and the english surname of its heroine certainly feels unusual in this italian-language melodrama with a count and a guy called … Continue reading →

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wittgenstein’s poker & patience (after sebald)

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

wittgenstein’s poker a meeting of the moral sciences club in king’s college cambridge in 1946, where, allegedly, wittgenstein brandished a poker threateningly at karl popper: not much material for a book, you might think – but not so, dear reader, … Continue reading →

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selma & gandhi

Posted on April 13, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

selma a film i hadn’t seen when it came out, but was prompted to by some ministry at quakers; this also led to gandhi the following night – a film i’d meant to see but hadn’t what struck me most … Continue reading →

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the age of anxiety and the lobster

Posted on April 11, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

the age of anxiety (‘Liam Scarlett sets Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony no.2, ‘The Age of Anxiety’, inspired by W.H. Auden’s epic poem’ more) on a bill between two other pieces; we watched the first and bunked the third: dance without a … Continue reading →

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