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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 20, 2024 22:20:19 GMT
A lot of local barbers and chip shops seem have a strong preference for cash. Probably the only places I regularly use cash.
But I do understand why they do prefer it.
I also take a reasonable quantity of Euros when holidaying in France. You don't see many people paying with cards in boulangeries when buying the daily bread.
There is also still a significant number of people using cheques in many supermarkets in France. I can't remember the last time I saw a cheque book in the UK. But most checkouts in Leclerc or SuperU have someone paying by cheque when I visit.
I would be very sad to see cash eliminated. Coins and notes are a big part of our culture and heritage.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 20, 2024 15:33:07 GMT
Far too young for the role. Ludicrous
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Cash
Feb 20, 2024 15:02:09 GMT
via mobile
Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 20, 2024 15:02:09 GMT
My sister runs a bakery/deli/coffee shop and still very much prefers cash. Yes, she has to make the occasional trip to get change but that is still cheaper than having to pay the transaction charges that come with every card payment.
She has a card machine and it is in regular use. But with cash she gets to keep all the income rather than giving a percentage/fixed to the service provider.
Yes, cards are very convenient. But small traders with relatively low margins do notice the extra costs that card transactions bring particularly with lower average spends per customer.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 19, 2024 12:14:37 GMT
I remember buying the cast recording of Spider woman they released following her takeover of the role and being impressed.
No idea about the score for this but that, for me, is more important than the casting. A great cast can't shine if the songs are flaccid.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 15, 2024 11:45:41 GMT
I see that Nigel Havers features as a 'character' in Redlands by Charlotte Jones. Wonder if he'll like that! It's based on his dad defending the Stones so probably he'll be chuffed. Would be inspired casting to cast him as his father, The ages don't work for that, tempting as it might be. Michael Havers was in his 40s when the action takes place. With the best will in the world, Nigel at 72 isn't going to pass for 43 even in the dusk with the light behind him.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 15, 2024 8:38:53 GMT
The Le Carre adaptation intrigues me as it is a story that I have wanted to tell on stage but lacked the writing skills to undertake (even if I could have got permission)
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 15, 2024 1:03:10 GMT
Interesting insights there.
The original audiences of Lear would have understood madness as being another word for anger so having a Lear being rage filled makes a lot of sense to me
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 13, 2024 18:32:00 GMT
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 13, 2024 18:29:05 GMT
The trigger warnings on this will be extensive
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 13, 2024 13:58:25 GMT
Oh to return to the days of preprinted physical tickets that were sold at fixed prices.
I remember going into WHSmith Travel Agents and getting two tickets for Les Mis as a present for my parents. £7 each.
Ok that was close to 40 years ago. But it is easy to see how attractive the return to simpler times can be!
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 12, 2024 19:22:55 GMT
I hope that any other venues, who have booked this particular person, are urgently reviewing whether is is appropriate to allow him to perform again
Hate speech isn't part of comedy. You can't excuse away this sort of behaviour.
Soho Theatre could have done nothing to prevent this. But other venues can decide whether they want to platform such a person
But it is worrying how easily antisemitic behaviour is just accepted.
Rochdale by election Apprentice candidate This
Three examples from the past few days alone.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 8, 2024 11:19:03 GMT
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 8, 2024 11:10:59 GMT
Spanish person here, the song is intended as empowering and it has a feminist message. It is ridiculing the fact that women get called "zorras" (b*tches) for being too independent, sexually active, assertive and/or successful. It is a reclamation of the word. Clearly, the author of the article couldn't read between the lines, but if one reads the lyrics of the song the message it's pretty straightforward. There is no controversy here, the song is becoming a feminist anthem and a hit in Spain, it's only controversial for people who don't understand the song. Spanish people don't get to vote for the song. So the lyrics need to appeal to voters round Europe. Reading them in translation is how people will encounter the words and that comes over as potentially offensive. If you have to explain your song, it has failed.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 7, 2024 23:55:50 GMT
Given issues around misogyny in Spain over recent years, you would have thought they might be a little more sensitive.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 6, 2024 11:15:29 GMT
Awful image. 3 mins on Photoshop max!
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 6, 2024 11:08:01 GMT
Are there no other employable directors out there?
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 4, 2024 23:31:21 GMT
Just finished season 2. Cried lots.
The final episode was very cleverly pitched. Very cathartic
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 4, 2024 21:15:30 GMT
I know there are local papers who won't publish negative reviews of local theatres for fear of losing advertising revenue. I have only written for them once and wasn't edited.
Similarly when I was part of the WoS team, there was never any pressure to tailor reviews to suit advertisers. That may have changed in recent years but I doubt it.
But the idea of charging for a review is utterly wrong.
I must admit I would love to be able to claim travel/parking expenses but that just has never been an option.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 4, 2024 15:54:45 GMT
Oxford Operatic are doing Funny Girl at the Oxford Playhouse 8 to 13 July.
They are also scheduled to do Cinderella (R&H version) at the New Theatre in January 2025
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 4, 2024 1:23:40 GMT
Perhaps I should offer to reprise my iconic doubling of Charles and Theo.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 3, 2024 2:45:30 GMT
I was at a show this week and I was behind a middle aged man and his mother. He had Down's syndrome and was clearly very excited at being in a theatre.
He started conducting along with the overture and his mother did seek to calm him as best she could. He continued to be physical with his enjoyment of everything.
This could have been disruptive but actually his love for the music and the story was so palpable that I was completely able to overlook it.
Sometimes what might appear to be bad behaviour is just enthusiasm and passion that just can't be controlled as easily.
It wasn't a relaxed performance (that wasn't an option) but it didn't really disrupt in any serious way and made me realise that I can be too intolerant at times.
I was thrilled he loved the show so much. He was conducting in time with the music. He was living his best life. Long may he continue to enjoy theatre like that.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 2, 2024 17:40:16 GMT
Perhaps it is a matter of spreading himself too thin. Running a three space venue should be a full time job. There shouldn't really be time to direct films or develop a Disney musical in the US.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 1, 2024 21:18:27 GMT
The idea that Richard III is a study in realism and psychological truth is just misunderstanding the play. It is not a representation of Elizabethan attitudes towards disability.
It is a piece of populist propaganda.
I don't understand what the cry for authenticity in casting leads anyone to think that this character can only be played by someone with any physical disability. True authenticity would suggest only actors with an serious but not massively impairing form of scoliosis may apply.
There are some productions that will wish to place a focus on disability and others that won't. Both are legitimate routes to take.
But we cannot start accepting casting limits being imposed by vocal lobby groups.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 1, 2024 16:28:13 GMT
Much will depend on the adaptation of Strangelove. If they retain the original tripling of roles, then there will be less pressure to ensure that Strangelove be played by an actor with a disability.
But if they split out the roles, then they should face the same questions.
Strangelove as a character has a very clearly identified condition - alien hand syndrome. It is absolutely there is the writing. It cannot easily be ignored.
However with Shakespeare, you have far greater freedom to reshape the text to suit each production.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jan 31, 2024 20:24:50 GMT
I guess it is a good sign that the new season is popular enough to generate queues.
But this has happened enough times in the past for them to have better anticipated likely IT demands!
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jan 31, 2024 19:28:30 GMT
Mack and Mabel has a great score but an almost unworkable book. The revival not so long ago showed that it is hard to bring it properly to life on stage.
Perhaps there is a producer willing to negotiate the rights to radically reshape the material but it is always going to be a risk.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jan 31, 2024 15:27:00 GMT
That is a story from 2022. It didn't get any other coverage other than that article (which I can't read due to the pay wall)
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jan 31, 2024 14:39:02 GMT
I haven't heard of an amateur company not doing R3 because they couldn't find an actor with a disability.
But I do know of a company that decided not to stage Priscilla because they were not certain of being able to cast a trans performer as Bernadette.
So the thought processes are already in place.
And whilst it is good to have authenticity in mind when it comes to repertoire selection and casting, you can end up overthinking things
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jan 31, 2024 11:59:28 GMT
This is what should have been ready immediately the casting was announced. They got a predictable and understandable response.
Personally that statement is full of self important buzz speak that sounds impressive but is fundamentally empty of any real meaning.
The important bit is the intention not to play the character with a physical disability. The rest is just noise.
It is important that they have stood up and finally made clear their intentions and are not bowing to external pressure.
It is also right that they have been subject to scrutiny.
They should have done better from the outset.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jan 31, 2024 11:31:00 GMT
Looking at the recent production history, actors with a disability have been cast as Richard on at least three occasions in the past couple of years or so.
So it is not right to say that disabled actors are being excluded from the role in professional theatre in the UK.
It is right to fight for representation and visibility.
But seeking to limit casting is not the right way to go about it.
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