One of the best things to come out of British theatre is the fact that they record some of the performances which are then played in cinemas around the world. The National Theatres production of George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession was performed in London earlier this year starring Imelda Staunton and Bessie Smith, her daughter.
It’s theatre like this that makes me miss London all the more.
The story hasn’t changed in 130 years. Vivienne Warren (Bessie Smith), an educated and enlightened woman, raised by boarding schools and nannies, sent off to university for an education, a thoroughly modern woman is re-introduced to her very absent mother. Her mother (Imelda Staunton) has some preconceived ideas about her daughter, just as Vivienne discovers she has her own thoughts on her mother.
It’s through the course of the play that Vivian finds out that her mother runs a number of brothels in Europe.
What stunned me was that for a play written in 1893, so many of the themes of the play was still so relevant.
The play brings up the themes of pride, prejudice, society, class, and everything else in between. As with Shaw’s other works, the language is vibrant and full of humour, A bit satire on the upper classes, with a view that money corrupts.
The supporting cast included Kevin Doyle, known best as Mr Molesley in Downton Abbey, plays the vicar. The rest are very good too.
The production values are excellent as well. The round stage, rickety lawn furniture and simple staging suit the production, allowing for the stagecraft to shine. The group of women, dressed as turn of the century prostitutes, who haunted the stage at crucial times in the play were also effective.
As this is a well-known play, there's no reason to go into its plot, themes and the staging of this. What stood out for me is how captivating this play was when transferred to the big screen.
I loved every minute of it. Theatre lovers should search this one out.
November First. National Novel Writing Month starting date.
Which I find out that the website is no longer there after many, many years, but hey, it's November which means I will attempt to get 50,000 words of my novel written over the month.
The traditional rules are as follows, as copied from Wikipedia:
Since NaNoWriMo is used to get people writing, the rules are kept broad and straightforward:
Writing starts at 12:00:00 a.m. on November 1 and ends 11:59:59 p.m. on November 30, local time.
No one is allowed to start early and the challenge finishes exactly 30 days from that start point. (See my first point below)
Novels must reach a minimum of 50,000 words before the end of November in order to win. (See my second point) These words can either be a complete novel of 50,000 words or the first 50,000 words of a novel to be completed later. (See my third point).
Planning and extensive notes were permitted, but no material written before the November 1 start date can go into the body of the novel. (See my fourth point)
Participants' novels can be on any theme, genre of fiction, and language. Everything from fanfiction, which uses characters or settings from the published work of others, to novels in poem format, and metafiction is allowed; according to the website's FAQ, "If you believe you're writing a novel, we believe you're writing a novel too.
Point One: Bugger this. I'm around 11,000 words into the second draft of a novel so I'm doing a huge rewrite. As the competition is no longer there, this is my starting point.
Point Two: I intend to write 50,000 over the month of November. I'll be keeping a log at the bottom of my blog to show how I'm going.
Point Three: I'll be writing from the point where I left off this week. According to my file I have 11,008 words in the document. By the end of November, I'd like to have at least 61,000 written.
Point Four: Yes, I have ten years of notes, ideas and planning I'll be dibbing into of the month.
Have I bitten off more than I can chew? Possibly. Can I do this? Yes - I've done it before.
On the good side of things, I have Ritalin and a newly formed soft addiction to Coke Zero. I've also got the first ten days of the month off, which means I can park myself in the State Library for a few hours a day.
Going to my friend's book launch on Wednesday has lit a fire within me.
Support is welcome. Cheerleaders welcome. If you want to write along with me - please do. I'm still a writer looking for a writing group.
And at least I have a plan.
Wish me luck. And perseverance. And yes, I only write in Times New Roman 12 pt. So, shoot me. Nothing else works for me.
I was really smirking at my audiobook in the car today. I Think the last decent belly laugh I had was when I was in France, hanging out with some of the other people on the writer's retreat. Most of them were hilarious in a good way.
2. Who among your friends/family "gets" your sense of humor?
My sense of humour is a bit different. I blame Neurodiversity for this. But I have a couple of friends who get what I find funny. Strangely, a friend's son, who is also neurodivergent gets my sense of humour completely. Also, being Australian, I have a fairly dry, verging on sarcastic sense of humour. Most Australians will get that part.
3. What jewelry are you wearing at this moment?
At the moment, I am wearing my Apple Watch, I have silver sleepers in my ears and a single silver ring on two fingers, one on each hand. They don’t come off.
I don’t wear much jewelry.
4. If you could offer one bit of etiquette that everyone should follow while dining out, what would it be?
Other than when using the cutlery on a table work from the outside in, my advice would be to always be civil and courteous to your servers. I hate people who are rude to waiting staff. You get better service that way too.
5. What's the first thing a guest would notice when they walked through your front door?
At the moment, if you walked into my flat, you would notice that it’s a lot cleaner and tidier than it normally is. I had a flat inspection this morning, so the place has been cleaned and tidied within an inch of its life.
File this one under 'Wait for Streaming'. It's not a bad film. It's not a great film. It's the thing you see when you're supposed to be cleaning the flat ready for an inspection tomorrow. As I am not a hoarder, not sheltering 13 students in the spare room, nor running a meth lab, and I've got the place pretty clean and tidy, I'm pretty much good to go. Just have to is the hard floors and do the ironing.
Anyway, this was my get out of the house movie. I used Hoyts points to bring down the price.
And yeah, it's an okay film, but you don't need to see it on the big screen. It was, however, a nice diversion.
Based on Colleen Hoover's book of the same name, Regretting You looks at the strained relationship between young mother Morgan Grant (Allison Williams) and her teenage daughter Clara (McKenna Grace), exacerbated by Morgan's husband Chris's (Scott Eastwood) tragic death, that forces them to navigate life's challenges together.
The plot wants to be complicated, but it's as subtle as a sledgehammer. You know what's going to happen. Morgan, who got pregnant in her late teens marries Scott, instead of following her heart with her sister's now-boyfriend Jonah (Dave Franco).
In the meantime, Clara starts a relationship with the alleged bad boy of the town, Miller (Mason Thames). Of course, he's not the bad boy her parents think he is. I found myself wanting to yell at her for not answering her mother's phone calls. Must be my age.
Subtle as a sledgehammer, yet still mildly entertaining and pretty to look at.
As a gap filler when you know you have other things to do, this was fin, especially as I didn't pay full whack for the ticket.
If you're a fan of Colleen Hoover, you'll probably enjoy this. If you're a young person wanting a date film, it might fit the bill.
Otherwise, wait until it hits a streaming service and save your money.
Like all good introverts, I turn into a pumpkin after an hour in a crowded room. Also, like all good introverts, I have an exit strategy, when faced with a noisy crowded room. Standing near the door is one such strategy. Taking public transport and knowing you want to be home just after nightfall is another. And suburban trains from deepest, darkest Ivanhoe only run every twenty minutes. I'd researched the train times. I had the map to the station memorised. I'd say my farewells and make my escape.
So much energy goes into planning the escape. I thought it might be a neurodiversity thing, after all, the event I was attending was a friend's book launch - well, double book launch - she's written two small books. I am in awe. As my friend is a Gunna (a fellow tribe member of Catherine Deveny's Gunnas community) I did what Gunnas do. Turn up.
I'd got there early, not knowing what the trains were doing, already being caught out on this line in the last fortnight. I'd got out of my gym clothes, dressed nicely, even put on a light dusting of makeup. I arrived on time, something that wouldn't have happen if I'd driven, and even though deepest, darkest Ivanhoe is about seven kilometres away as the crow flies.
And it was lovely to see everybody there - lots of Gunnas had the same idea. We support our own. For me, it was even more important to go as I was asked to come by the author. Of course I'm going to go.
I'm glad I did.
I spent the time talking with friends. It was lovely. My friend's books were launched in style.
Of course I bought the book.
And I made my farewells, ultimately 20 minutes after I was hoping and made the train with five minutes to spare, to be greeted by this sunset.
Yet, there is something dreary, almost depressing, about an evening suburban train, especially one you're taking alone when you're dressed up.
The melacholy feeling alleviated with a Chinese takeaway on the other end.
Looking back, what is the point of this missive? Probably turn up, celebrate your friends' acheivements and know that there is not much that can't be solved by being true to yourself, leaving when your social battery is about to run out, and that a Chinese takeaway fixes most things.
Okay, I'm very much almost employed. My references are in. There will need to be a police check and the probity process, then the joyful internal processes that all companies have to go through to get you onto their systems, but I got the nod about an hour after the interview. I'll be starting this job on 10 November. It might have been sooner, but there's that pesky Melbourne Cup holiday next week.
Yes, had the interview at 11 a.m. This morning.
After which I ran into town to meet Raj for lunch, then I was off to the library to go for a write. I got the confirmation they wanted me at 12.45 p.m. as I was tucking into a Nasi Lemak at this unexpected Malaysian place on Exhibition Street.
I bought myself a celebratory Coke Zero to drink when I was writing.
After a few messages and emails to my referees, I submitted the info into the pimp’s (recruitment consultants) HR system at 4 p.m. when I got back home.
The references were completed by 5 p.m.
See, simples.
I admit the following, as I know finding work is not as easy for many. But:
I've got a good work history in this field.
I'm known for being a good team player.
I'm pretty flexible around most things - thankfully this is a hybrid role - 2 days in the office, 3 days at home, and no travel!
I know what I want to do. And this is a bit of a change.
I have transferable skills - I'm going back from a job in Utilities back to Banking. Different sectors, similar rules.
I interview well.
And this job is a short-term gig, I'm happy take the risk and hoping there may be more work to come after. (This takes me to the end of February, and any contractor will tell you that any job that gets you over Christmas and January is a very good thing.)
And it's proof that tenacity and a positive attitude bears results.
I realise how very lucky I am.
Anyway, I now have 12 days to enjoy the end of this two-month break, which I needed more than I could have realised. It's let me reset my meds, get back on track with a lot of things, have my writing take precedence over other stuff, clean my flat, play with the cat, and generally feel like a human being again, not somebody who's flitting between cities.
And I'm comfortable in the knowledge that the rent will get paid and the cat will have food.
It's a good feeling all round.
Oh well, back to the novel. Oh, and I better cancel the other interview I have on Thursday - no need for that now. This was my preferred role.
