Diss Community Partnership

Play Reviews

Basil Abbott — Sat, 12 May 2012 09:12:52 +0000

Betrayal
Open Space Theatre Company
St. Edmunds Hall, Hoxne

Quirky as ever, Harold Pinter wrote autobiography 20 years into his career, not at the start.
Then he wrote a play that goes backwards.
As he rose socially, so did his characters. Betrayal, directed by David Green, is peopled by the Hampstead wine-bar and divorce set.
The reviews also went largely backwards, to the pannings of his early days. One critic said that the play “disappeared up its own pauses”.
It can certainly seem banal and tricksy; but you can never underestimate Pinter. Extra-marital affairs create menace and subterfuge in arid ordinary lives, as much as in his other plays.
The actors show that what ends in pain and platitude began in passion and pleasure.
Cathy Gill has a kind of bruised confidence, both formidable and vulnerable, as the errant wife.
Darren France brings Italianate good looks and a lithe, sexual energy to the role of her lover.
As the blustering and less prepossessing husband, Stephen Picton creates a recognisable character.
The very fact that you cannot imagine him and his wife getting together in the first place, gives an ironic truth to their marriage. Relate counsellors must know the phenomenon well.

Little Shop of Horrors
Mere Players
Diss Corn Hall

As musicals about man-eating plants go, this is up there with the best.
It harks back to the time of films like Attack of the Killer Broccoli, or whatever.
But cartoon and pastiche have a curious way of hitting a nerve and creating something that improves on the original.
In Felicity Humfress’ production the show’s influences are well delineated. Kevin Ball’s set design features that American Gothic Manhattan skyline.
Steve Humfress is every rumpled Skid Row store-owner. Pete Webb’s Seymour is like Clark Kent’s nerdier brother. Carrie Ward has something of Marilyn Monroe or a Barbie Doll. Kristian Wimshurst, all in leather, is as cool as The Fonz.
Katy Hill, Jessie Shailes and Madison Turner appear regularly, like slinky Fate figures. They are called Crystal, Ronnette and Chiffon, in homage to certain girl singing groups.
The plant itself, with Sam Ward’s voice and Andy Kemp inside it, is worthy of a 1950s Ed Wood movie.
It is all pretty darn silly; but doesn’t take itself too seriously. The score is surprisingly good, they have a fine band; and the cast sing their hearts out. It is not great art; but good schlocking tonite.

Basil Abbott

Twilight’s Last Gleaming

Basil Abbott — Mon, 07 May 2012 10:01:42 +0000

Experience the words, sounds and images of the 1940s when Diss Museum presents a wartime entertainment at Thorpe Abbotts 100th Bomb Group museum at 7.30pm on Fri 8 & Sat 9 June. Admission is £2.50. Phone the museum office on (01379) 650618 to book.

Theatre Reviews

Basil Abbott — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:17:19 +0000

Dickens adaptations have to be a drastic précis of the novels; but there are still a horde of characters to portray. I have seen one actor play the whole of Hamlet; but have never before seen two playing David Copperfield. Adapter Stephan Drury and director Ann Courtney are the two in a Mad Dogs & Englishmen touring production. Together they keep the line of the story and most of the main characters. Of course we know there is more to Barkis than just being willin’, while Steerforth’s sinister butler Littimer never gets a look in. The actors both play David at times; and swap genders as well as roles throughout. Stephan Drury doesn’t quite get the Byronic charm of Steerforth; and Ann Courtney’s Murdstone and Heep just miss. More period body language would have helped, especially with Heep, so that he is a malevolent example of the ‘deserving poor’ rather than a dodgy East End car dealer. But many other characters work brilliantly, especially the twosomes – Barkis and Peggotty, Mr. and Mrs. Micawber, David and Dora. The dottiness is all. Somehow, between the actors, they re-create the essence of the novel, in all its humour, pathos and phantasmagorical array of characters.
Imaginative accounts of an occupied Britain are not uncommon. The 1960s film It Happened Here, Clive Egleton’s A Piece of Resistance and Len Deighton’s SS-GB are examples. If the Germans had invaded we would have had to put up with all that efficiency, punctual trains and a healthier economy. In Ivan Cutting’s play Private Resistance (Eastern Angles touring production), the Dunkirk evacuation never happened. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t have happened either, as my Dad would have been left there. The actors playing the English Underground stalwarts look convincingly wartime drab, the women with those awful sausage curls in their hair. As in Greek theatre, the main action happens off stage, so the tension is conveyed entirely by the reactions of the cast. Bishanyia Vincent, as an ATS girl, has a feistiness that never oversteps the constraints of the 1940s. She and Fred Lancaster, as a teenage boy, palpably grow up in the course of the play, as people did in those years. With Matt Addis, Phil Pritchard and Frances Marshall they create gripping drama from a scenario that could so easily have happened. Naomi Jones’ production is greatly helped by Fabrice Serafino’s clever, surprising set and Steve Cooney’s lighting.

Basil Abbott

Coronation Day 1953

Basil Abbott — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:40:22 +0000

The picture shows a concert in Chitty’s Garage on Coronation Day 2 June 1953. The garage was where the Co-op supermarket is now. The Coronation is one of my earliest memories, although I can only recall various events without knowing what they were for. Children were given commemorative mugs; and I still have mine. I can be seen in the middle near the back of the photo, standing on my mother’s lap. My Dad and elder brother are to the right. I think I can remember someone playing the piano and singing How Much Is That Doggie in the Window? – although my memory may be playing me false. Later my Dad took my brother and me to see the film The Red Beret at the Picture House. As we came home up The Entry there was a gymkhana on the Rectory Meadow.

Concert Review

Basil Abbott — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:30:06 +0000

Rachmaninoff Vespers
Burgate Singers
Burgate Church

This is the Russia of Andrei Rublev icons and onion-domed monasteries.
Centuries of faith led up to the All Night Vigil, only for it to be suppressed two years later by the Revolution.
The music, as interpreted here, has a kind of blessed assurance, with few big statements but faith taken as read.
Even the Allelulias are often gently insistent rather than dramatic. The voices come as from the labyrinths of a vast cathedral, like Tennyson’s ‘murmuring of innumerable bees’.
Singing a work like this, unaccompanied in Russian, is a considerable achievement for a village choir; and you can forgive the odd ragged edge.
Elgar’s The Music Makers (1912) was based on a now-forgotten Ode by Arthur O’Shaughnessy, from which we get the expression ‘movers and shakers’.
The isolation of the artist, dreaming of great things, spoke to Elgar. His music, inspired by the poem, was regarded as tawdry by critics; but has the immediacy of a film score.
After the Vespers it was like a burst of pent-up energy, with Alain Judd conducting choir and orchestra for all he was worth; and mezzo soprano Ceri Searle singing for England.
To mark the Queen’s birthday the concert ended with Britten’s arrangement of the National Anthem.

Basil Abbott

Old Views of Diss

Basil Abbott — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 10:10:59 +0000

The old Diss Church Hall

Diss Museum recently received a collection of slides of the town in the 1970s and 80s. Photo Elite on Market Hill digitised them and revealed views of the town that have now vanished. The picture above shows the old Church Hall at the foot of Mere Street, the ‘mansions’ (noted in the Betjeman film) on the right; and the Electricity Board building in the background. This part of the town has changed completely since this photo was taken.

DCP pleased to support new book about local history

sally — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:36:01 +0000

New Book of the 1637 Diss Map
A new book about the History of Diss is launched this month with a fortnight of celebrations starting with an exhibition of local history items at The Stables Gallery at Diss Corn Hall from 2nd April.
In 1637, John Duke, Lord of the Manor of Diss, commissioned a map of Diss detailing over 200 plots of land, their area and the names of each tenant. The map was probably compiled for the purpose of determining the rents payable to the Manor.
This map, almost as big as a double bed and constructed by glueing together parchment made from six sheepskins, is a work of art in its own right as well as telling historians much about the town in the time of King Charles 1
The map was ‘lost’ for many years. When it re-surfaced, Diss residents contributed to buying it for Norfolk and it is kept in the Norfolk Record Office, where some conservation and repair work has been done to it and it can now be seen by the public.
The Map has inspired the production of a book reproducing much of the map, listing all the names inscribed on the map and briefly describing what life was like in the year 1637. While it is true to say that life has changed beyond all recognition for the people of the town, it is surprising how little the town itself has changed in almost 400 years.
Activities at The Stables will include free activities for children on Thursday 5th and Thursday 12th April at 11am and a lunchtime talk for adults by Norfolk Archivist Dr Alban on Tuesday 3rd at 1pm in the Waveney Rooms at the Corn Hall. Tickets for the talk cost £4.50, including a light lunch, and are available from The Stables.
Copies of the book will be on sale at The Stables gallery during the exhibition and at the library in Church St, Diss Museum and the Tourist Information Centre in Mere St.

Diamond Jubilee Celebrations – what are you planning?

sally — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 10:16:13 +0000

DISS DIAMOND JUBILEE:
Plans Are In Full Swing to Make Diss the Place To Be To Celebrate The Queens Diamond Jubilee This Year

Plans are now finally in full swing for the Jubilee celebrations in Diss to mark sixty years since the coronation of HRH Queen Elizabeth II on the 2nd of June 1953. It is traditional for many people to get together and mark the occasion with different events nationwide and this year Diss will do the same! On Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd June 2012 the park will be filled with hundreds of people all celebrating the Diamond Jubilee.

On Saturday 2nd June we will be holding a party in the park which will have something for everyone, there will be craft stalls with some jubilee memorabilia but also local stands selling anything from cakes to bags. There will also be entertainment for everyone with bands such as Backstreet, Walkway, Twisted Piglet and The Cataclysmics and a stage where a number of local dancing groups will performing throughout the day. There will also be traditional games stalls such as a coconut shy and also a bouncy castle with park radio attending to provide music for the day.

On Sunday 3rd June Diss will be host to one of the largest big lunches on record we are going to have local restaurants on the park marketing their establishment and serving some of their food to the public. The day however is not just about eating lunch with your neighbours but also having fun with others in the community and to do this we will offer loads of free events where the community can get involved, events such as a park marathon, three legged races and a mobility scooter obstacle course so there is something for everyone. On the day there will also be food based competitions such as cake baking contests however look out for more information in the near future. There will also be a puppet show from Poz and a bouncy castle!

To culminate two full days of celebrations there will be a fireworks display on the mere which will be free to everyone and it will be a great way to end what will have been two excellent days of celebrations

If anybody wishes to be involved or help in any way possible and for more information or to schedule an interview then please do contact Oliver Pilsbury-Gaunt and we will be happy to assist any enquiries:

Contact Oliver Pilsbury-Gaunt

Tel 07805096345

Email oliverpilsburygaunt@gmail.com

Twitter oliver01379

Next River Clean-up meet

sally — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:33:59 +0000

Diss RiverCare Group

Just a reminder that Diss RiverCare working party is meeting again at Morrisons Car Park on Saturday 10th at 10 – 11.45 am. We were unable to meet in February due to bad weather conditions and are now keen to catch up and make progress with projects such as the latrine installations.

To help with recognition of riverbank flora and fauna, there will also be a chance to look at some beautifully produced photos.

Geoff has also passed on the following important news regarding the launching of a River Waveney Association:

The next main event for formation of the Trust is Thurs. 29 March with a meeting at the Swan in Harleston at 7.30pm to launch a River Waveney Association. We’ll then be forming, as soon as possible, the charitable trust which will take over from the association.

You can get a good idea of what we are planning from the website at http:/groupspaces.com/riverwaveneytrust – note this is still being developed and not launched for public consumption for another week or two. But please let your group know about it so they can see what’s happening
We’d especially like to ask members of the Diss group to join as founder members. It is free if joining before end of May. People can join online (button at bottom of home page) or via leaflets.

Diss Museum re-opens 14 March 2012

Basil Abbott — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:52:56 +0000

Diss Museum poster (2012)