Hello, and thank you for visiting my site. I hope that you'll return often and always find something of interest about my world and what inspires me to pick up a pen. (This is a figure of speech, unfortunately. My handwriting is terrible!) Here's what I've been up to recently...
‘Platero’ at the Georgian Theatre Royal
Richmond, North Yorkshire, is only a half hour drive from Ripon and boasts a unique little theatre. Originally opened in 1788 by Samuel Butler, it hosted performances until 1848, after which it was taken over for use as a wine store and an auction house. Fortunately, the basic structure was retained and it re-opened as a theatre in 1963. A substantial grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund allowed it to be returned to its natural beauty but with the addition of modern bars and a lift.
The show I went to see this week was a very unusual one. Platero and I is a collection of tales by Nobel Prize winning poet Juan Ramon Jimenez that tell the story of a little silver donkey and his master as they wander round the village of Moguer in Andalusia. Backed by an acoustic guitar score performed by Craig Ogden and with Nino Namitcheishvili operating a truly magical little Platero and occasionally demonstrating her fine singing voice, Mike Maran told 30 of the best loved tales. The props on the spinning wooden set were simple but very effective as they showed different aspects of the village during the course of the year.
I soon forgot that Platero was a puppet and freely admit that I was in tears when he died at the end of the show.
More details can be had from www.mikemaran.com
31 May, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story