Egypt: Faith After the Pharaohs – British Museum

I’m lucky enough to work close enough to the British Museum that I am able to pop in on my lunch break, and on Friday I did just that, choosing to visit the current exhibition Egypt: Faith After the Pharaohs. The exhibition traces the history of Egypt from the death of Cleopatra and Mark Antony in 30 BC, when Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, until AD 1171, when the rule of the Islamic Fatimid dynasty ended. It explores how Christians, Muslims and Jews lives alongside each other in the centuries after Pharaonic Egypt, and displays impressive artefacts to illustrate this, many of which have been uniquely preserved thanks to Egypt’s arid climate.

The issue of religious tolerance is a supremely important one in our present-day world and I was fascinated to learn about how members of different faiths lived together, sometimes peacefully, sometimes with periods of violence. The exhibition runs chronologically, showing that in the beginning there was still considerable influence from the old Egyptian gods – for instance, one statue from the first or second century BC shows the Egyptian god Horus – a falcon – dressed in Roman armour. Later Jewish, Christian and Muslim artefacts reveal the influence of Egypt’s history and culture; they were also influenced by one another. What impressed me the most was that, for all their differences, members of all religious communities still had plenty in common – some wooden toys on display are particularly poignant, well-made and preserved, and there are even some items of clothing on display – these tunics were worn by followers of all religions and I was very impressed to see that they have survived for over a thousand years.

This is definitely a worthwhile exhibition, educational and enlightening with plenty of interesting things to see.

 

Labyrinth

Labyrinth is a 1986 fantasy film that has developed something of a cult status. I was only one when it came out, but watched it at some point during my childhood and forgot about it until I was seventeen, when I bought it on video. Of course I’ve since replaced my video with a DVD!

Labyrinth boasts the legendary David Bowie as the Goblin King (how many modern musicians could star in a fantasy film and still retain their credibility?) and a young Jennifer Connelly as main character Sarah. The film was directed by Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, and the film bears many of the hallmarks of his work, including a variety of weird and wonderful puppet characters. It was produced by George Lucas, known for the Star Wars films. Jim Henson wrote the screenplay along with children’s author Dennis Lee and ex-Python Terry Jones. The film was designed by Brian Froud, a fantasy illustrator, who also worked on The Dark Crystal, another Henson effort. Interestingly, Sarah’s baby brother Toby was played by Froud’s little son, who was named Toby in real life!

Surprisingly, despite all these factors, the film was regarded as a commercial failure, only grossing $12,729,917 despite a budget of $25 million (according to Wikipedia). I find this really hard to get my head round, considering how brilliant it is, but sometimes these ‘flops’ become cult classics, and this is certainly what’s happened to Labyrinth.

The film follows the adventures of a teenage girl, Sarah, who lives in her own fantasy world and loves to act out the story from her favourite book, Labyrinth. Angry at having to babysit her little brother on a Saturday night, she wishes that the goblins would come and take him away. When the Goblin King himself actually DOES spirit little Toby away to the castle in the centre of the Labyrinth, Sarah faces a race against time to make it through the maze and rescue her brother.

The plot is in many ways a typical fantasy adventure plot, in which the main character must battle against the odds to achieve some goal or perform some feat. It is gripping throughout and the film never gets boring. The opening sequence, set in our world, sets the scene concisely and it isn’t long before you get into the Labyrinth. The environment within the Labyrinth changes continually: there’s a desert with built-up stone walls, a paved maze, an underground oubliette and a hedged garden, as well as a lush forest and a goblin city. The castle itself is beautifully and cleverly set out like an Escher drawing. There is always something new to be amazed by, and the special effects stand up really well nearly 25 years after they were originally done. The models and the puppetry produce a rich organic feel to the film which is sometimes missing from modern films with their CGI effects.

There are very few human characters in the film: most of them are puppets, apart from one dog! Sarah’s father, played by Christopher Malcolm, doesn’t have much of a role while her stepmother, played by Shelley Thompson, makes a similarly brief appearance but comes across as rather nagging. Baby Toby is very sweet in his little striped romper suit but I bet the actor is embarrassed about it now!

Jennifer Connelly has gone on to star in films such as Requiem for a Dream and A Beautiful Mind to critical acclaim, and it’s not hard to see why as she does an excellent job in the film, even at the young age of 15. Sarah is still very childish in her outlook at the start of the film, prefers her fantasy life to her real life, and is rather stroppy and moody – in fact she is rather annoying, but you really see her grow and develop throughout the film. She is brave and loyal and devoted to her friends, and this really comes across as the film progresses.

Most of the characters in the Labyrinth are puppets, but they still manage to be three-dimensional characters, figuratively as well as literally. There’s Hoggle, the grumpy goblin Sarah encounters as soon as she enters the Labyrinth (urinating into the lake!). Hoggle is torn between his growing friendship with Sarah and his duty to the Goblin King, who threatens to throw him into the Bog of Eternal Stench if he doesn’t do as he is told. Whose side is he really on? Ludo is a large fluffy orange creature, who is very gentle despite his size, and has special powers. Sir Didymus is a quixotic fox-like creature who rides around on his trusty steed Ambrosius (who bears a remarkable resemblance to Sarah’s dog). There is a wealth of other characters who make brief appearances: the little Worm, the frightening Fireys, the Wiseman and his talking Bird Hat, the Junk Lady, the Guards and the Door Knockers… too many to list! These characters, which are all puppets of some description, really add to the richness of the film and are the source of much wonder and humour.

Last but by no means least, there is Jareth, the Goblin King himself, played by David Bowie with a mean hairdo and rather tight trousers! I bet that if you are female and of a certain age you once had a bit of a crush on the Goblin King. Jareth is an interesting character – he is manipulative, cunning and cruel, and he is clearly the ‘baddie’ as he has spirited Sarah’s little brother away and is threatening to turn him into a goblin, but you suspect he has done this out of ennui more than anything else, as the scenes with him in the castle suggest it is rather dull living with a host of silly goblins! Throughout the film his attitude to Sarah evolves and it seems that he starts to develop feelings for her!

The influence of ex-Python Terry Jones on the script is obvious as there is a lot of humour, much of it unexpected. Try and solve the puzzle of the Four Guards before Sarah does – it’s incredibly difficult! The film was scored by Trevor Jones and also contains many incredibly catchy songs written and performed by David Bowie, including ‘Underground’ (which opens and closes the film), ‘Magic Dance’ and ‘As the World Falls Down’. I do own a copy of the soundtrack album as well as the film! In a documentary included as part of the DVD extras, Bowie admits that he made the baby noises during ‘Magic Dance’ as the baby in the studio would not!

This is a film about growing up, and the difficult transition from teenager to adult. Sarah is a particularly childish teenager who is very attached to her fantasy life and material things. The film is about her adjusting her priorities and learning to put friendship and family before toys and trinkets, while at the same time maintaining the delicate balance between living in the real world and keeping that connection with your imagination and your childhood. At the same time it subtly explores sexuality and romantic feelings: it isn’t something children would pick up on – the film is comfortably rated U – but any teenagers or older people watching would notice the changing relationship between Sarah and Jareth, who also represents the fantasy world that Sarah is in danger of completely succumbing to. Fantasy is a medium that is often used to explore important themes and after watching Labyrinth a number of times I think the film does this remarkably well. According to the DVD extras, the film has over time proved especially popular with teenage girls, and I can certainly understand why, as it certainly resonated with me as a teenager (and in fact still does).

Labyrinth is a film that repays repeat viewing. The storyline and characters remain exciting and fresh and are not dulled by familiarity. When watching again you notice things you didn’t pick up on the first time. For example, in Sarah’s bedroom you see things that are reflected in the world of the Labyrinth: a musical box with a doll in a white dress that looks remarkably like Sarah in the ballroom scene; an M. C. Escher poster that resembles the castle; a doll resembling Ludo; and more which I will leave you to spot for yourself. During the part of the film set in the Labyrinth, there is more to see: watch out, for example, for the three standing stones that when viewed at a certain angle look just like Jareth! The makers of the film obviously took great care and time when designing and filming it.

My DVD is the 2007 2-disc Anniversary Edition. The DVD includes a number of extras including a very informative and entertaining documentary, including interviews with the main people involved and a look at how the characters and sets were made. There are also a number of featurettes and some beautiful concept art. Unlike some DVD extras these are really worth paying attention to.

While I was doing research for my review I found out that Labyrinth was also turned into a novel by M. C. H. Smith. Three volumes (with a fourth on the way) of an English-language Manga sequel, entitled Return to Labyrinth, have recently been released. The sequel follows the adventures of baby Toby once he turns fifteen, and have received mixed reviews on Amazon. I still think I would like to get hold of them though, more out of curiosity than anything.

Overall, Labyrinth is one of my all-time favourite films, and I recommend it for children, teenagers, and any adult who still likes a bit of fantasy. It’s a wonderful film and has everything: great story, beautiful design, interesting characters, humour, songs and a message. There is an excellent informative article about the film on Wikipedia, but I recommend reading it AFTER watching the film, as it does give away some elements of the plot. If you haven’t seen it – do!

Resolutions 2016

I’m having a relaxing weekend at my parents’ house, so I thought it was the perfect time to think about the coming year and my resolutions for the next twelve months. I don’t have the best track record with NY resolutions, but ever the optimist, I’ve made some anyway.

Chartership – my day job is Librarian and I’ve been meaning to become a Chartered Librarian for a few years now. Undertaking Chartership means selecting areas to develop in my career, doing something about it, and reflecting. I’ve made a start, but I’d love to have it completed by the end of the year.
Lose weight – I know this is such a huge cliche, but I really want to lose some weight, not least because I have so many clothes I can’t currently wear because they don’t fit. Losing weight would be like getting a whole new wardrobe without spending any money.
Get back into running – Since completing the Ealing Half Marathon in September I haven’t been out running at all. I do miss it and would like to get back into it. Perhaps I’ll ease myself in by doing some indoor exercises throughout January!
Visit remaining tube stations – I originally completed my challenge of visiting all the tube stations in London a few years ago, but since then the map has been expanded to include some new Overground stops as well as TfL Rail (which will eventually become CrossRail). I would like to tick these off this year.
Visit museums in London – Inspired by the “Ladies Who Bus“, a group of retired ladies who, after completing their initial challenge of travelling on every bus route around London, decided to visit every museum, I would like to visit more small museums in the capital.
Migrate my blogs to WordPress.org – After several years using the WordPress.com functionality for both this blog and Loitering In the Theatre, I quite fancy the idea of moving over to the higher-functionality WordPress.org and doing this properly. Watch this space for changes later this year!

Those are my resolutions – what are yours?

…and a Happy New Year!

I could start this post by remarking that 2015 has gone by way too fast, and 2016 has arrived much too quickly, etc., etc. I’m sure anyone reading this has already made these remarks several times, and heard them many more, so assume I’ve already said them, and that it’s a given.

Anyway. The New Year is always an important time for me. Even though it’s a massive cliché, and hugely predictable, and it doesn’t make any sense anyway because the new year is an artificial construct, I like to think that it’s a time to draw a line under all the mistakes of the past year and prep yourself ready for making some brand new ones during the coming year. Or something like that.

More positively, I’d like to think about all the things I have to look forward to in 2016.

  1. Ramin Karimloo concert. This takes place very soon – this month, in fact. Ramin is my favourite West End star but I haven’t seen him live for ages as he’s been playing Jean Valjean in Les Miserables on Broadway. I am unbelievably excited for this concert!
  2. Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary. 2016 marks 400 years since Shakespeare’s death. There are exciting productions to look forward to at the RSC, and the Globe are putting on special events. I wouldn’t be surprised if other theatre companies decided to mark the occasion in some way.
  3. My friend Gemma’s wedding. This will be in the summer and I am VERY excited. It is likely to involve a boat, which is always a bonus. Also, with a wedding comes a hen do, which I am sure will also be great fun.
  4. Holiday. I didn’t really have a holiday last year, mainly because I spent all my money on theatre tickets. This year, I hope to change that. I will probably end up going somewhere with my mam – we went to Scotland a couple of years ago and, perhaps surprisingly, didn’t want to kill each other, so we may go back this year, albeit to a different part of the country. I still harbour an ambition to travel on the West Highland Line, but my mam quite fancies Stirling, so we’ll see!

We wish you a Merry Christmas…

The fortnight covering Christmas and New Year is always a bit of a strange time. Frankly, I don’t know how I’m going to manage to go back to work tomorrow, seeing as I am used to going to bed late and getting up early, watching rubbish on TV and eating whatever I like. Having said that, I do feel a bit sick of chocolate and cheese, and the thought of eating a huge pile of vegetables and getting some fresh air is actually rather appealing. And as far as alcohol is concerned I really don’t fancy it at the moment, thanks to my monster New Year hangover.

I always go home to my parents for Christmas, but this year I went up a bit later, as I couldn’t get the time off work. On the plus side, this meant that I could spend the last couple of days before leaving work finishing off all the tasks I had to do, safe in the knowledge that anyone who might have sent me extra stuff had already gone on holiday. It also gave me the chance to see a Christmas show: Miracle on 34th Street in Watford.

Going home was strange, as it was to be the first Christmas in my parents’ new house. I went for a walk to explore the town, glad that I’d taken my warm coat up north with me, as it was freezing. I ended up in the local cemetery, where many of the graves date from the early 1900s and belong to miners killed in local colliery accidents, testament to the area’s mining heritage.

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I then went back home and watched some of my Ghost Stories for Christmas DVD. I love the original black-and-white version of Whistle and I’ll Come To You, and the newer version is pretty good too.

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I met up with my friend Elisa on Christmas Eve. We went for lunch in my old home town (nostalgia alert) and then went for a few drinks at a nearby bar. The cocktails there were lovely but so expensive – nearly London prices, which is incredible in the north! The Rudolph cocktail was pretty cute though.

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For the first time on Christmas Day, we didn’t go to my auntie’s house, as she’d been invited elsewhere. This was the first time in my dad’s life that he hasn’t had to leave his home on Christmas Day – as a child he went to his auntie’s, as he got older his sister, my auntie, took over, so it was a bit of a novelty for him. Sadly we had to wait ages for our Christmas dinner as my brother didn’t get in from work until after eight – we relied on lots of chocolate and Pringles to see us through.

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Christmas morning Buck’s Fizz

I got some lovely presents, including several on a somewhat similar theme:

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Penguins!

On Boxing Day it was time for the annual trip to the sales (this year’s haul consisted mostly of Lush products and Boots Christmas gifts), followed by a family meal. After Christmas I sat around, read books, and ate more than was good for me. It was also great to see my parents’ friends, who arrived to stay for a few days after Christmas, sadly the day before I left. As usual, I came back to London for New Year and we had a house party. I definitely drank more than was good for me – the straight whisky at around 3am was certainly a bad idea – but the evening was certainly more sophisticated than a couple of years ago when I spent the entire morning of New Year’s Day mopping the living room owing to the amount of alcohol that had been spilt on the floor.

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Happy New Year!

I had a lovely break and found the time to watch some TV: I never seem to have that much time for watching TV in my everyday life, but all that changes when I go home for Christmas. My mam and I watched the adorable Snow Chick: A Penguin’s Tale which followed the antics of the smallest chick in a group of Emperor Penguins. On Christmas Day my dad made us all watch Arthur Christmas, an animation which he swore was brilliant, and he was right: it’s going up there with my favourite Christmas films. On the same note, another Aardman Productions film, The Farmer’s Llamas, was very funny.

I watched the Downton Abbey Christmas special, and while I’m glad Edith got her happy ending, I’m rather glad to see the back of the show, as it got so silly in later seasons. Ghost Hunter was enjoyable, although nothing like Neil Spring’s book The Ghost Hunters on which it is based.

My festive highlight has to be And Then There Were None. It was a brilliantly done Agatha Christie adaptation, true to the spirit of the book, and utterly compelling (the presence of Aidan Turner had absolutely nothing to do with this, oh no). Sadly, despite looking forward to it for months, I found the Sherlock Victorian special rather disappointing – self-indulgent, anti-feminist and trying to be too clever by half.

So that was my festive holiday. Now to look forward!

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My “Instagram Best Nine”, as shown on 2015bestnine.com