It's Peanut Butter Telly time! (I'm so sorry)

I haven't blogged in a wee while, but here's my excuse: It's been haaaaaaaaaaaard to think of something I could write about at length. But I suppose it takes practice to write regularly and well. It doesn't help that I've just decided to let this blog be about anything and everything, instead of giving myself some healthy 'artistic' boundaries, like music or beauty or books or sumfink.

But I have rediscovered telly in the past while, which I had neglected for my college years. And while that might not seem like a bad thing -TV often being a tool used to scrape thoughts out of heads -I had forgotten how good and not mind-numbing television CAN be. That's not to say I've been stocking up on Attenborough and QI only, and I do like my fair share of tosh like anyone else. What reconnected me with TV was ultimately Sherlock, the most gloriously well written, well acted and well executed programme that has been made in a veeeeeeery long time, but also Downton Abbey, which despite it's sentimentality is also beautifully performed and written. Don't like Downton? Well, then get off my train, I say. I like that show more than I do most people. Let me have my Downton and I'll let you have The Wire, ok?

Oh yeah, baby. That's the stuff.

Yeah, yeah, I know. The Wire is amazing and I'd totally love it if I watched it. Fair enough, that's probably true, but I don't have time to make that commitment, guys. I don't stream or download series, I watch them on TV or DVD like a pleb. Unless I can't find them and must resort to Youtube.

I am no saint.

But here are a few shows I've discovered/re-discovered, and think you'd like. (Downton and Sherlock aren't mentioned here because I literally could not express how much I love them. It is an achey type of love.) :

Dead Like Me
This series originally came out in 2003, when I was but a young, impressionable lass and it has coloured my life ever since. I think it was the first 'grown-up' tv show I really liked. After Sabrina the Teenage Witch came Dead Like Me, basically. I re-discovered this quite randomly on Youtube and watched both seasons of it in a week. The basic premise is that an eighteen year old girl named George is killed by a falling toilet seat from a space station (Hilariously dark, no) only to learn that after her death she is joining the ranks of the undead as a Grim Reaper of the souls of those about to die. It's quite a dark premise, but the series is actually a comedy with occasional dramatic bits. It's just so good, that I'm quite proud that thirteen year old me liked it. Go mini-me! The best part of the series of the cast, especially the lead actress Ellen Muth (despite being a bit... anorexic-y) and Callum Blue as Mason. Mason is one of those wonderful characters that just isn't pulled off well enough that often. He's a hilarious fuck up. Sweet, but a bit of a shit too. Callum Blue should have done A LOT better off of this character. What a wonderful, wonderful show whose time with us was all to brief.

Mason, Mason, Mason. 

Moone Boy
Everyone likes this show. It's just come out and everyone seems to love it. And they're right. It's a comedy that's not only funny, but it's also warm and life-affirming for reasons you can't quite understand. This show just makes you feel good. Everyone is nuts in their own special way, and life is much better because of it. It has that silliness rooted in real life that Father Ted had, which is probably why it's been hailed as the Second Coming of Ted. Chris O'Dowd is the man, pure and simple. Have I RAVED ENOUGH YET?! The second episode about the Mary Robinson election campaign is pretty much the funniest thing I've ever seen. And the character of Padraig, best friend to the lead character Martin, is the most beautiful little lad I've ever seen. What a legend. You will struggle to find anything quite as delightful as his Pat Shortt shtick as he gets his hair cut in episode two. Lad! God bless us Irish.  We are simply mad craic.

Hunderby
Julia Davis. Where have you been all this time, you mad 'wan? Anyone anywhere ever who says women can't be funny needs to be pointed swiftly in the direction of Ms Davis. She's dark and twisted and utterly hilarious. Basically this show is a fairly brutal satire of po-faced BBC period dramas (which I also love madly, by the way). A young woman named Helene with a dodgy past arrives in a puritanical village called Hunderby and promptly marries the truly awful vicar. She inconveniently then falls in love with the local doctor Graham. Julia Davis plays an amazingly evil housekeeper too. The whole this takes the piss fantastically of period dramas that always take themselves so seriously; gurning angst, gasping passion, jaw-dropping insults towards women said in a blasé way. You feel so guilty about laughing at so much of this, that you get quite the thrill of being naughty somehow.

Bad Sugar
Again, Julia Davis. Oh Julia, you wicked woman, you. This was just a pilot, again a pisstake of certain tv series, but by God, I really would love to more. This time poking fun at Dynasty-style rich family intrigue shows. I can't say too much about it, as it was only a pilot episode, but even the castlist would probably convince you to watch it: Julia Davis, Peter Serafinowicz, Sharon Horgan, Olivia Colman, Reece Shearsmith. Guys, that is a funny bunch. A really funny bunch.

The Tudors
Yeah, it was trashy, but God I do love a sleazy period drama. In my defense, it's mainly the first two series that I enjoy, particularly Natalie Dormer's Anne Boleyn. She is a frighteningly good actress with a totally hypnotic-looking face. This is the most in-depth and multi-faceted version of Anne Boleyn I've ever seen. Natalie Portman's Other Boleyn Girl can bugger right off. And for all it's trash, there's tons of politic and religious upheaval to prevent it from being all about wench-bothering. There is always a sense of momentum and direction, and I'll admit I looked up way more about the Tudor dynasty than I probably would have otherwise. As much of an idiot Jonathan Rhys-Meyer's seems to be, he is just the right person to play a fairly awful man, but with some redeeming qualities. I've only really bothered with the first two seasons, as I said, but I caved and got the boxset and will investigate the Dormer-less seasons with a fair eye.

So there you have it: The TV I've been loving lately.

Honourable mentions go to: Sinbad, Castle, Friends and the Big Bang Theory.

x

Review: Abbey Theatre 'The Plough and the Stars'

Hello!

Here are my thoughts on the Abbey Theatre's latest production of Sean O'Casey's 'The Plough and the Stars', directed by Wayne Jordan, which has just finished up in the O'Reilly Theatre at Belvedere, but will continue on as a touring production for a little while longer across Ireland the UK. Info here: http://www.abbeytheatre.ie/.

Now, I will admit I didn't know much about Sean O'Casey or 'Plough' before seeing this, all I knew was that it was one of several plays by Irish playwrights that had incited riots and caused massive hoopla back in the day. I'm quite ashamed of that. I'm ashamed I don't know more of O'Casey's work, and that I haven't checked out more of my own country's dramatists, but I'm going to remedy that soon! Don't you worry about that now.

But on to the production. *Ahem*

First off, the cast is utterly wonderful. Honestly this the Mary Poppins of casts. Practically perfect in every way. The dynamic between each member is natural and effective, and it is by far the strongest element of this production, which is exactly as it should be. It works so well because the play allows for each of the 6 main characters to have their own time to develop, interact and shine. Joe Hanley's Fluther Good is a particular highlight; both funny and capable of a great depth of feeling. The character itself is intrinsically likable, being something of a lout with a heart of gold, but the charisma Hanley gives the character is very special. He gets ALL the best lines! What a lucky duck!

But what is especially nice about this play for me is the three beautifully written female leads: Bessie Burgess, Nora Clitheroe and Mrs Gogan. The actresses in these roles all excel, and Kelly Campbell's Nora is especially heart-breaking towards the end of the play, really shining in a character that in the wrong hands could have just become shrill and distracting. But truly, gold stars to the entire cast, from leads to supporting cast. Having seen absolutely top-notch plays in Ireland and the UK let down slightly by just one lose-end in the cast, I was really blown away by just how right the Abbey got this one. It is perfect. Even better than the SUPER cast I witnessed in this years Globe production of 'Richard III'.

The play itself was utterly engrossing, and despite my lack of knowledge I was sucked in from the very opening in which each character is introduced, to the very end in which two unfamiliar characters are left alone on stage. In my opinion, 'Plough's greatest asset is it's humour. The first half is dominated by a typically Irish sense of humour, and while politics, sad circumstances and poverty do rear their heads frequently throughout this first half, it is the humour that sets up each character and each situation. Through humour we come to know each of six leading characters, from the wonderfully dislikable Bessie, to the cheeky socialist Covey, and all the rest. By the end of the first half we have such a good idea of who these characters are that when things get far bleaker in the second act there are great emotional stakes.

The second half sees the characters attempting to weather the 1916 Rising, and while this half is overwhelmingly serious and emotional, it is the dark moments of humour that give some needed relief to the audience and to the characters. In fact, the brief moments of humour highlight the tragedy further as we realise that things cannot go back to as they were in the first half, and this is just a coping mechanism for the players in this situation.

Overall, this was a really satisfying and worthwhile production for me. I'd shied away from so much Irish theatre, and this production was exactly what I needed to see in order to show me what I was missing out on. Despite it's frequent emotional intensity, this is a very accesible play.  I laughed, I cried, and I pondered throughout. If anyone gets an opportunity to watch this production as it tours, I'd highly recommend it!

Disclaimer: I'm not a theatre critic by any stretch of the imagination, but I do love seeing plays and shows, and I think this production is thoroughly worth talking about. I hope it didn't come off as a bit wanky to anyone. At times I did feel like I sounded a bit Leaving Cert English :S

Thanks!