Weekly Media – Watch this space
Hey hey my little fruityliciousnessess…
This article marks a somewhat ‘comeback posting’ for me after my brief vacation in the land of exams: freak sunny weather, very little alcohol and equally stressed, demoralised and somewhat tetchy ‘natives’. BUT, since that is all now out of the way and I’ve returned home to the freedom of drab and dreary weather, mixed with the joys and freedoms of exam-less life, I have to say is: ‘Let the good times roll, and the frolicking continue!’ In essence, my summer (‘Of Love’?!) has begun very much in earnest, today being the first day in a week where I’ve had more than 5 hours sleep and in my own bed. Drawback is of course that I now have no money for all my ventures this summer. Now, knowing the spendings of more than one of the readers/writers/site owner of SPIELOFF I’m pretty damn sure that there’s a lot more people in the same boat: penniless, homeless and bloody hungry. Now it seems that Mr. Steven ‘site-owner’ Vu can help you, regarding the hunger with his new burger deals, and as for homelessness, try ‘Shelter’, they do a lot of good work around the country and especially in London, poignant methinks for my column…
What I CAN help you with is the first dilemma I mentioned, penniless frivolity! Over the summer, I shall strive to inform and educate you on many a cheap (or indeed free!) happening in and around London, starting this week with what the Vu-man mentioned briefly in one of his postings. No, not cheap burgers, but instead the ‘Watch This Space’ event outside the National Theatre on the Southbank. Now the Southbank in any instance is always a fantastic place to be anyway, a very artisan and bohemian place with its ‘Villier’ arches, book stalls, Tate Modern, Royal Festival Hall, Hayward Gallery, Saatchi Gallery, the Millennium Eye, National Theatre, National Film Theatre, The Globe…and the list goes on and on…
However, an added incentive to visit the Southbank now comes in the shape and size of the aforementioned ‘Watch This Space’ festival. Running until the 3rd September, it promises to be as ever a delightful and interesting festival full of colours, magic, dance, music, theatre and film. There are ‘acts’ on every day, sometimes even twice a day. Having been for the past two years, it really is the most eclectic mix of performance artists. I mean thinking back, the two big acts which won me over last year were the ‘Le Parkour’ (Free running) guys, and the surprise artists ‘Hayseed Dixie’: bluegrass galore! My thoughts exactly, random! Oh and the year before that was the acrobatic troupe that you see in between BBC programmes, you know, the guys rolling down a strip of cloth from the ceiling and doing martial arts based movements on what I think is the Dome?! (Someone correct me if I’m wrong…) There’s something completely different for everyone, everyday, regardless of the weather and perhaps equally as important, its completely free. I mean, who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch? Besides, since most acts begin at 2:30 (unless otherwise stated) it really IS a free lunch…-time entertainment.
Since the whole festival lasts until September I couldn’t possible list to you everything which is going to happen, but I mean off the top of my head within the next week or so, the ones you should really look out for is the UK Breakdancing Final (Yeah, I have no idea either…) on the 8th July, and then on the next day ‘Organzola- Theatre of Adventure’ which in itself should be pretty damn bizarre and funny… an absolute must for anyone who likes absurdist comedy or farce. Right, I’m going to be a little bit cheeky now and plug my own show on the 5th and 6th August. I shan’t harp on about it unlike Mariah Carey at Live 8, but it’s basically a National Youth Theatre production of Hans Christian Anderson’s ‘The Steadfast Tin Soldier’ in celebration of his bi-centenary. Like I said, it’s all free and it would be good to see some of you there. (We have another two different shows in the National Theatre itself as well as the Lyric in Hammersmith throughout August and September but it would be unfair for me to plug it…. Oh wait have I done that already? In that case tickets are 6 or 10 quid for the National Theatre Shows, and 10 to 25 quid for the Lyric shows…)
Right back on track now… ‘Watch This Space’ really is probably the best of free summer entertainment in London, check out the National Theatre website for more details, but one other show you should look out for is the Sheena Davis Group on the 29th August who is arguable one of the country’s greatest current jazz vocalists. Think Ella Fitzgerald meets Lisa Hannigan if you will… Even if you don’t plan ahead, this is one of those things in which if you’re just out in London for the day, you can go south of the river and enjoy. It’s a 15 minute walk at most from the West End and Trafalgar Square across Waterloo Bridge and along what I think is the most beautiful part of London in its proximity to the (alright admittedly grubby) waters of the Thames.
Even if you don’t go to every single performance, or if you don’t even see one at all it’s still worthwhile to just sit on the fake grass and bask in the glory of the sun south of the river. (Oh, and pints are 3 quid so you know, extra incentive…) And who knows, you might see Jude and Sienna there as I did not too long ago and perhaps even more excitingly, you might even see ME there…
Anthony
P.s. Come support the National Youth Theatre! Mwah! x