Ellie Wintour Archives - North West End UK

13Oct

By Holly SewellNo Comments

London

Da Vinci’s Laundry – Riverside Studios

What gives a piece of art its value? Is it purely aesthetic? Is it arbitrary, decided in reverse once a piece’s price is set? Why did Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog sell for nearly $60 million? These are the questions grappled with by auctioneers Christopher and Milly in Da Vinci’s Laundry when they are forced to go through with a $450 million sale of a recently uncovered Da Vinci that they know is a fake. Keelan Kember's’ choice of high-end art as a subject is full of potential. He paints a picture of a world run by the dirty rich, where art experts’ opinions are reduced to box-ticking exercises that can in any case be overruled by those with enough power. Christopher, the timid auction house representative, is threatened with a 100-foot plummet from a gangster's balcony if he refuses to sell...

6Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Miles – Summerhall TechCube

Recorded in March 1959 and released in August the same year, Kind of Blue consists of five tracks, totaling 45 minutes and 45 seconds of what is often considered the most important jazz ever recorded. It fuelled the progression not just of jazz, but also of soul, funk, hip-hop, and even mainstream popular music—impacting the likes of James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Prince, and beyond. And yet, Miles Davis himself dismissed the label “jazz,” remarking that “it’s just what white folks call our music.” How did he create, orchestrate, and supervise the album Kind of Blue? While no one would accuse Miles of false modesty, his explanation was disarmingly simple: they assembled the best—or most appropriate—musicians for the task. The album marked a leap from the Bebop structures of the time in...

Sisters Three – Summerhall Anatomy Lecture Theatre

18Aug

By Ben PearsonNo Comments

Scotland

Sisters Three – Summerhall Anatomy Lecture Theatre

TheatreGoose’s Sisters Three is a highly accomplished piece of theatre that takes the audience on an enchanting, funny and often moving journey. The premise is relatively simple; the titular sisters from Chekov’s masterpiece, Irina, Masha and Olaga, are aware that they are in a play (don’t worry you don’t need to have read it). But when Irina wishes for the lives of any other sisters, in any other medium, the three are taken on a whirlwind journey ranging from Greek tragedy and Shakespeare to historical figures and the Sugababes. Writer and director Emma Howlett’s script manages to discuss a range of philosophical and academic questions, including the nature of happiness and freedom, and the place of women within literature, whilst remaining endlessly entertaining. Frequent movement...

6Jul

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Sparks – Jack Studio Theatre

Sisterhood is complicated. Sparks, a ninety-minute play by Simon Longman does not make it any simpler. Directed by Julia Stubbs for the Upper Hand Theatre whose co-founders also star in this production, Sparks stages the reunion of two sisters separated by twelve years without contact and a lifetime of disparate experience. Lisa Minichiello plays Sarah, a young woman without any friends who lives in an apartment without a sofa, works in an office without any purpose, and goes through the first twenty minutes of the play without any lines. Emma Riches dominates the stage as Jess, Sarah’s chaotic older sister who materializes on her doorstep one night with a goldfish and a back bar. The contrast between them is extreme almost to the point of unreality and their distinguishing features ...