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No country for old women: Old Ladies - at Finborough Theatre

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The day after seeing The Old Ladies at the Finborough Theatre , I was describing the play to someone in great detail: about three old ladies who lived in a rickety house in southern England in 1935. Based on Hugh Walpole’s novel and adapted by Rodney Ackland, it is the sort of story with enough believability, humour and mild thriller to stick in your mind. Perhaps it is the lure of this dark, forboding tale of a life without money, to be alone and to be old, that makes you feel attracted to this poverty porn. But then again, given the state of the world, the cost of living, an ageing population, or just the fact that it’s a dog-eat-dog world, it might as well be an every little old lady-for-herself, too. It’s a well-acted and staged piece that moves at a brisk pace, so there isn’t much time to think about it too much. And in the intimate (or should that be claustrophobic?) space of the Finborough, there’s nowhere to avert your eyes. Even if you wanted to.  The scene is a grim Cathe...

Art: Shadow Catchers Camera-Less Photography


Shadow Catchers - V&A from Sound Films on Vimeo.

The Victoria and Albert Museum has been running an excellent little exhibition since October last year on Shadow Catchers: Camera-less photography and I managed to take a look at it over the weekend.

After brushing up on what a photogram is via the Art of Photography (basically its an image created by placing an object on light sensitive paper), we headed over to the V&A to look at some shadows...

This exhibition is an opportunity take in some extraordinary pieces that leave a lot up to the imagination, or at least provoke it a little. The low light of the exhibition space helps, and adds a moody atmosphere.

There is beauty with the simplicity of the works, particularly those that hinted at absent objects. They appeared less impressive when combined with other photographic techniques, although it is easy to appreciate the effort required in their production. It is at the V&A until February 20... Initial boo thoughts below...

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