ARTS&CULTURE
Culture Flash THIS MONTH’S HIGHLIGHTS KING AND COUNTRY
The year is 1936. Storm clouds are gathering over Europe, while on home soil unemployment is rife and Oswald Mosley is gathering momentum for his fascist New Party, against the backdrop of which – behind the royal scenes – Edward VIII’s relationship with Wallis Simpson is developing. Social historian Juliet Nicolson’s Abdication tells the story through the eyes of May Thomas, an immigrant from Barbados escaping her sugar plantation upbringing. Published by Bloomsbury on 7 June, £14.99
CLASS ACT
Posh, Royal Court Young Writers Programme graduate Laura Wade’s hit production, now transfers to the West End. Duke of York’s Theatre will play host to her socially and politically piercing piece, which is set in an oakpanelled room at Oxford where the braying elite – modelled closely on the Bullingdon Club – are staging a debauched night, while cooking up a plan to restore their right to rule. duke-of-yorks.official-theatre.co.uk
LORD OF THE RING
Susan Froemke’s epic behind-the-scenes documentary reveals the five-year preparations for the Met Opera’s staging of Wagner’s 16-hour, four-part Ring Cycle. The award-winning fi lmmaker explores the jaw-slackening technical and artistic challenges involved, including the construction and navigation of the central machine which simulates the moving of tectonic plates. Deborah Voigt, Peter Gelb, James Levine, Robert Lepage and Fabio Luisi star in the production which even Wagner himself believed was impossible to stage. In Cineworld cinemas from 20 June.
BLUE PLAQUE OF THE MONTH… THE DE MORGANS, 127 OLD CHURCH STREET, SW3
Suffragette supporters, spiritualists, and two of the most gifted artists of their day…
William and Evelyn de Morgan were described by a friend as ‘entirely in harmony in their art, acting and reacting on each others’ genius. Their romance is one before which the pen falters.’ William De Morgan was discovered by Arts and Crafts leviathan William Morris and was considered the most important ceramicist of the movement, while his wife Evelyn was a prolific and pre-emienent pre-Raphaelite painter. Together they lived at 127 Old Church Street – helpfully next to the Chelsea Arts Club – and the building was especially adapted for their work. 37
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30/05/2012 14:49