Author Archives: garylongden

From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads, Jan 15th16th 2018 – Derby Theatre, a Preview

Posted on January 8, 2018 by garylongden

I was fourteen when one summer’s day I heard another worldly sound coming through the open window of the house next door where a friend lived. I called around and asked who the artist was? “David Bowie, Moonage Daydream from … Continue reading →

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Behind the Arras Theatre Review of the Year 2017 by Gary Longden

Posted on January 2, 2018 by garylongden

  Reviewing theatre is a great job. I still get a shiver of excitement as the house lights dim, expectation tinged with uncertainty. When that goes I will stop. I have seen two shows a month this year at seven … Continue reading →

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Midlands Mind Body Spirit Fairs 2018

Posted on December 24, 2017 by garylongden

Some in the literary community look at these events with a mixture of suspicion and derision. They can be a mixed bag. They can  also be events, full of interest, speaker talks, discussions and workshops, and interesting people. They boast … Continue reading →

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Midlands Literary and Poetry Festivals 2018

Posted on December 23, 2017 by garylongden

As 2017 draws to a close, so 2018 looms ever larger. The literary and  poetry festival scene goes from strength to strength with established festivals becoming stronger, and new pretenders appearing all the time. What follows is a list of … Continue reading →

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Peter Pan – Derby Theatre

Posted on December 23, 2017 by garylongden

***** A few fortunate novelists and playwrights have created fiction which becomes assimilated into our language. Heller’s Catch 22 and Orwell’s 1984 have a life beyond their original creations, and so it is true of Scottish novelist and playwright J. … Continue reading →

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The Dreaming – Lichfield Garrick

Posted on December 19, 2017 by garylongden

Most people will be familiar with Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a story of woods, faeries, romance and magic.   Some believe that the wood itself was inspired by the nearby real life Forest of Arden in Warwickshire, for the … Continue reading →

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The Gingerbread Man – Derby Theatre

Posted on December 16, 2017 by garylongden

The Studio at Derby theatre is best described as bijou. You have to walk across the stage to access your seats. Therein lies its charm, the opportunity for audience and actors to be as one. It is like watching a … Continue reading →

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Sir David Tang

Posted on December 14, 2017 by garylongden

As we grow older, so the number of obituaries for people we knew increases. I was sad to learn of the death of Sir David Tang. He was four years older than me, but we were at the same school, … Continue reading →

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Grease – Wolverhampton Grand

Posted on November 28, 2017 by garylongden

**** Grease is one of those ubiquitous shows . The older generation remember Olivia Newton John in THAT black leather cat suit in the 1978 film, the younger generation have been introduced to it as a staple of secondary school … Continue reading →

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Rita Sue & Bob Too – Derby Theatre

Posted on November 21, 2017 by garylongden

  Oscar Wilde declared that there is nothing so out of date as the recently fashionable. The Out of Joint Theatre Company has gambled with their revival of this acclaimed eighties one act play, first performed in 1982 about Thatcherite … Continue reading →

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