Categories: uncategorized
Date: 14 October 2006 19:27:16
In order to avoid relatives trying to construct flat pack furniture for Third Party, and to escape from the weight of real life at the moment I ran away to Canterbury for the afternoon today (armed only with the book vouchers I was sent as a belated leaving present, a purse full of worthless plastic and a small amount of cash).
With the vouchers I was able to spend about 1/2 hour feeding my passion for both Billy Bragg and Douglas Coupland (reviews will follow - if and when life slows down enough for me to read my purchases).
That left the majority of an afternoon to kill, in a relatively cheap way. Well seeing as this years Canterbury Festival is now in full swing it wasn't too hard - as long as I was prepared to be open minded.
Using my student card (which is not a worthless bit of plastic really) I got a standby ticket at the theatre, and after some deliberation with myself about whether I really was about to do this. spent the afternoon watching a community opera about the decline of the agricultural and mining industries in East Kent.
At this point you are probably thinking Promised Land was probably pretentious lefty nonsense which would have been worth seeing, only for it's surrealist value. However, I have to say it was an excellent production which defied it's description. Firstly, although a largely community production it was highly professional & you could not tell too much difference between the amateurs and the professionals in the cast. Secondly it revolved around a couple of love stories & whilst gritty and disturbing in places was truly moving.
As for the lefty bit, well - possibly. However, the outstanding scene based around a violent picket line depicted both sides equally as both the victim and the perpetrator. Similarly the strength and enpowerment of women it showed may be seen by lefty as some, but I believe defies political pigeon holes.
So there you have it, today I witnessed the intersection of art, social and local history history, politics, hope and determination in an outstanding production. I think I may decide to run away to the theatre more often.