Here’s a bit of silliness to reflect on. The Royal Exchange Theatre in central Manchester was due to put on a production of a A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Then it was cancelled supposedly because of technical issues and a cast injury. But now the director, Stef O’Driscoll, has said that it was called off because of a row over references to Palestine and to trans rights.
She explained that during a rap featured in the play, characters express solidarity with trans people and the people of Palestine. The theatre’s executive staff were concerned about possible audience reaction and a press backlash. After some discussion they conceded that references to trans rights could be included in the production, but it was 'categorically forbidden' to say 'Free Palestine' verbally.
The director said, “After a week of artistic debate, and emotional toil, I decided that I couldn’t proceed under these conditions and made the difficult decision to step away from the show.
"I could not, in good conscience, continue with a production that undermined both artistic integrity and the well-being of myself and my team. Severe lack of management and support meant that a company of artists felt devalued, invisible, problematic and unsafe.”
Surely arts of all kind, theatre, literature, visual arts should be thought-provoking, commenting on events in the modern world. If we hide away anything that is at all controversial we give a distorted view of reality. People become afraid to express opinions just in case they offend. And so more attention is given to the opposite opinions, which become standard.
Now for something else - food, specifically sandwiches, burgers, and fast food. Grandson Number One, most of the family having turned up unexpectedly at our house more or less at dinner time, spurned any suggestions for what people might eat and went and ordered a “super burger” from Turpin’s Terrace. This is the fast-food section situated in the carpark of the pub next door, an enterprise that began as a wood-fired pizza place at the time when we all had to eat outdoors at restaurants and the pub’s carpark became full of canvas “tents”. Now the carpark is mostly car park but the “terrace p” remains. And as well as pizzas, it serves burgers of various kinds and ‘dirty fries’, messy-looking French fries with fried onions, maybe garlic, and various spices, all to eat on the terrace or to take out.
They provided him with a pager to let him know when to collect his order, which turned out to be a construction a good 6 inches high dripping melted cheese, sauces, and goodness knows what as well as its meat content all between the halves of a large bun - a burger but not one you could eat walking down the street. It really rather put me off my own risotto.
Apparently this sort of huge burger or even similar ‘sandwiches’ too big to handle, let alone get your mouth round, are the latest things. Here’s a link to an article about it.
Similarly, we have noticed that Granddaughter Number One, when she comes to dinner, increasingly makes a kind of huge sandwich of her meal, putting the various components between two slices of bread.
Maybe it’s a generational thing but it all seems a long way from the time, back when I was about 17 or 18, when Wimpy Bars were all the rage. Burgers and “wraps” and sandwiches have become something different.
Thinking of generational stuff, according to this article, only 3% of 12 year-olds do not have a smartphone. That’s quite worrying. More and more schools are banning them. How soon will we find that most 8 year-olds have smartphones? This is a generation increasingly given the phone to play with on the bus or even as they are pushed along the street in their buggy.
I grow nostalgic for old ways of doing things.
Life goes On. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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