Newbury Weekly News 110517

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Newbury Weekly News

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

All good, gritty Godber

Children’s aviatrix Theatre The Explorer, at The North Wall, Oxford, on Sunday, April 30 WITH The Explorer , puppeteer Lori Hopkins has created a short, sweet show inspired by the life of aviatrix Amy Johnson. Aimed at children aged three to eight, the heroine is an unnamed 12-year-old whose plane runs out of fuel, splutters and crashes. The pilot descends by parachute into an alien environment where she has adventures underwater, in space in a silver rocket and with a boxy elephant. Every so often Hopkins disappears behind a screen showing a reddish desert landscape to bring out a new puppet or prop. These are made by Oxford-based puppet master Stephen Mottram and Northampton Theatres’ propmaker Ross White. The aviatrix is a complex marionette with 14 strings, enabling the puppet to move realistically on the stage. With aviation goggles, cap and sandy coloured clothes, the aviatrix encounters a flock of birds and a shoal of fish, waved simply above her by Hopkins. It’s an old-fashioned production. Although the show lasts no more than 20 minutes, there is a further 20 minutes of questions and answers from the audience. Hopkins gains the confidence of the children with a cheerful demeanour and hands power to them with their suggestions and comments. This session is educative because Hopkins explains how each of the strings pulls a different part of the marionette’s body. She describes how the aviatrix puppet was made out of wood, then sanded, with glue and paper for the head. Hopkins even asks the children to name the puppet but rejects the one popular suggestion of Dora the Explorer. Hannah writes: The puppet was funny because she got shocked and she didn’t know that the audience was there. She went on an airplane and it fell apart and she fell into space. There was an elephant and it was different to our elephant because it didn’t have any eyes. The puppeteer said we needed to blow so that she could move the boat but there wasn’t any wind. We shouted for the explorer at the end because she was asleep. She went on an adventure and she was tired. It was brilliant. JON LEWIS

Theatre

JOHN Godber is a prolific writer of gritty observational plays, many based on his own experiences. The Empty Nester’s Club! is his 60th stage play and will resonate with parents whose offspring have left home to embrace the wide world at university. Vicky (Jane Hogarth) welcomes us to this ‘support group’ that tries to help parents come to terms with the emotional turmoil caused by their children leaving the comfort of their ‘nest’ as they explore a new life on their journey of self-discovery. Vicky, a teacher, and Phil Barrett (Robert Angell) are a typical middle- aged, middle-class couple who have always wanted the best for their now independent and somewhat precocious daughter Mollie (Josie Morley). Phil is a graduate from Bradford University and tells us: “There’s no rule book to follow when they are born, but at least we’ve got her to university.” But perhaps they should watch out as you may “reap what you sow”. When Mollie is fast-tracked for Oxbridge the pride in the parents is palpable, but Mollie doesn’t fancy going to Oxford, causing consternation for the devoted parents and decides to go to UCL in London instead – well, it will be more fun. There are some hilarious moments when accommodation issues are debated. Does she really need en-suite facilities and if so at what cost? Then there are visits to IKEA to buy ‘stuff ’ and, of course, the painful process of letting go. For Phil and Vicky, this newfound freedom creates its own tensions as they try to fill the void. Perhaps a holiday – after all it was 18 years when they were last away on their own? However, their relationship is becoming a struggle and when Vicky returns from a lone holiday in Brazil complete with a tattoo and educational psychologist, Phil has taken up kung fu and they both find their new roles hard. It’s all good Godber fare, filled with funny witty one-liners and staged by three accomplished actors, who bring an honesty to their engaging performances. John Godber directs his company with pace and humour, in what is an entertaining, lighthearted sit-com that was thoroughly enjoyed by the appreciative audience. ROBIN STRAPP Empty Nesters’ Club!, at the Corn Exchange, on Thursday, April 27, and Friday, April 28

The way of the ar tist Drawing to Painting follows the creative process UpperBasildonartistNickSchleeathisArlingtonArtsopeninglastweek

Picture:GeoffFletcher

Exhibition Nick Schlee: Drawing to Painting, at Arlington Arts, Snelsmore, until June 30 with the contrasts of the roof in the final painting created by the tension between opposite colours, here red and green. In Barn at Streatley , painted in blistering colour, two opposing colours have created drama and light; in Wittenham Clumps , this is achieved by setting orange against blue. In Covent Garden North , a composi- tion of strong verticals and diagonals, the finished oil painting bursts with saturated, non-realistic colour; the colour sketch, however, is much quieter. In Barges at Blackfriars , the charcoal sketch is a more dominant composition than the finished oil, which has a cool, limpid quietness, in gentle whites, yellows and blues. In Thames at Buscot , the artist made at least five black and white drawings before he found the composition he This enjoyable show is not only an exhibition in the accepted sense, but also a tutorial in painting itself: on ideas, composi- tion, colour theory, line, and the physical act of painting

wanted for the final painting. In Under Blackfriars Bridge , both the pastel sketch and the finished oil concentrate on a deep, dramatic, horizontal foreground of choppy, agitated water contrasted with the low, serene curves of the bridge in the background. Non-realistic colour is pushed to very pleasing extremes here. Other works rely on linearity. In Ploughed Field near Swindon , the meandering lines of plough both create and sustain the composition. Some viewers may find they sometimes prefer the sketches to the finished works. In Railway Bridge near Pangbourne , the two oil pastel sketches have more dynamism, vigour and colour contrasts than the more placid, tonal, finished oil. Sometimes the detail of a preliminary drawing or sketch is simplified in the final oil, as in Steep Hill and Trees ; in other works, only parts of the initial sketches make it to the finished painting. In Long Shadow over Stubble , the heavy charcoal sky has been abandoned in the final oil, but a small, bright, rectangular field, essential to the finished work, remains, glowing at the top left. In Red Pillars at Blackfriars , the artist has concentrated on only part of the original sketch in the final work. This enjoyable show is not only an exhibition in the accepted sense, but also a tutorial in painting itself: on ideas, composition, colour theory, line, and the physical act of painting. So if you often like a painting, but you’re not sure why, this is the show for you. It runs until June 30 (Mon-Fri, 10am- 4.30pm). Not to be missed. LIN WILKINSON

IF you’re interested in how painters create their work, you’ll enjoy Nick Schlee’s exhibition at Arlington Arts, which takes the lid off the process of painting. His semi-abstracted, expressionistic landscapes and cityscapes are vigorous in line and colour. Working in a high- key, saturated palette, often in non- realistic colour equivalents, he applies thick oil paint in energetic, directional brushstrokes, which produce mobile and thickly-textured surfaces and a feeling of movement and excitement in the images. In this unusual show, finished oil paintings are hung together with the charcoal drawings and/or oil pastel sketches which led up to them, with short explanatory notes on the ideas, approach, theory and making of each work. You are thus able to see the stages by which the finished paintings were created, which initial ideas made their way into the final work, which were altered or which jettisoned altogether. Sometimes notes also help the viewer to ‘read’ the composition, showing, for example, in Copse in Meadow , how the eye moves over the composition until it rests at a certain point. The show also includes explanatory boards giving information on sizing up a drawing, and on line, colour and tone. The muscularity of Schlee’s paintings often involves just that. Sometimes, he says, as in The Manger, Uffington , translating a small sketch stroke into the size in which it appears in the final painting “needs strong arm movement … and the movement of the whole body”. The dynamics of colour are at play in Barn Roof at Stoke , painted with panache. The roof was sketched initially in charcoal, then in an intense oil pastel,

Acrylic street scenes inspire at group Demonstration

MEMBERS and guests of Newbury Art Group were treated to a demonstration of street scenes in acrylics, by the inspiring artist Hashim Akib. Akib, who writes regular articles for Artist and Illustrators magazine and gives ongoing demonstrations of art techniques to art groups around the UK and overseas, gave a very informative and colourful demonstration. His latest book, Painting Urban and

guests of the Newbury Art Group, together with weekly painting groups, art and sale of work exhibitions, outdoor painting days, coach trips to art galleries and more. New members are welcome. Further information can be obtained from www.newburyartgroup.co.uk or Facebook: Newbury Art Group. BRENDA ROULLIER

City Landscapes, is currently on sale. This art demonstration was one of many arranged for members and Newbury Art Group: Hashim Akib, at Shaw-cum- Donnington village hall, on Sunday, April 30

p Pictured left:Hashim Akibwithhis demopainting