Nick Hennegan

Be Sporty Irish in London Pubs.

GAA is Irish football… and obviously you have to live in Ireland to see it. Or have an expensive TV account. Or…

…or live near Fulham in West London! Yep, I had no idea either and as a second-generation English Irishman (we suffer worst than most) I happened to be in my local W6 boozer, The Raven, and noticed all these tables reserved for ‘the Fulham GAA.’

It was a fairly quiet Sunday evening. Although actually it wasn’t that quiet, because I was celebrating with the folks on the London Pub Crawl. Not the London Literary Pub Crawl I wrote, (touring Soho and Fitzrovia every Saturday, btw! Just thought I’d mention it!) but one created by our mate, Tex. Yep, he’s from Texas, y’all, and every year he arranges an itinerary of four days of pub-crawling around Picturesque London Local Pubs! A full report will follow, but tonight we were celebrating the end of this years offerings. But the REST of the pub was quiet.

But not for long! The pub filled with young Irish and London lads and lasses, and Dave The Rave(n) (affectionate name for the gaffer) hired a guitarist and a fiddle player.

The craic, as they say, was great! And, if nothing else, convinced me to check out the Fulham GAA. It’s one of the glories of living in a multi-cultural city. As in Birmingham, all life is in London!

The website is a little out of date (2019) but the contacts page and their social media are all listed if you want to know more.

http://www.fulhamirish.org/

And later, I’ll tell you why visiting – on average – SEVEN pubs a day for FOUR days is a rather good idea…Hic!

National Poetry Day 2022

Summary:

Nick Hennegan celebrates National Poetry Day with poems from some of the greatest names in the world… and some of his own!

Also on BohemianBritain.com — Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bohemianbritain/message

Iphigenia in Splott

Lyric Hammersmith, London, W6.

🍷🍷🍷🍷 🥃 (4 glasses out of 5, PLUS a shot !)

It’s always a novelty going to see a play with a name you find hard to pronounce! But having done a bit of research (you’re welcome!) it turns out the story is based, as so many brilliant stories are, on an Ancient Greek myth. And Splott is in Wales.

So good, so classical. But there is a burning contemporary edge to this story. Set in Wales, the modern name for our heroine is Effie… a Slapper and Dirty Skank. Although, of course, she is neither of these.

To be honest, I always get a bit nervous, when ‘working-class’ characters are presented through the prism of largely middle-class theatre practitioners. And this does miss a few beats and isn’t perfect — we occasionally lose some of the dialogue — but generally writer Garry Owen has created a classic character that I identify with as working-class myself. I instantly recognised and sympathised with the frustration of few opportunities, lack of self-worth and over compensation for an emptiness many working class people feel. And how a couple of events changes Effie’s life.

Sophie Melville gives a great performance that mixes elements of a wild Irvine Welsh character and a still Alan Ayckbourn monologue. Indeed, having just returned from the home of one-person shows, the Edinburgh Fringe, (where this show appeared some time ago) it is full of paradoxes: a monologue constrained by singularity through its form, but a production which feels peopled by an entire Welsh town. And an epic tragedy captured by a white working-class woman with no hint of ‘Vicky Pollard’ despite her scraped-back hair, snarls, three day piss-ups, hangovers and street brawls. She is eminently ordinary but exceptional in her heroism, too. And director Rachel O’Riordan must take credit for her pacing and variation of the piece — and of course, for commissioning Gary Owen’s lyrical script back in 2015.

It’s a modern classic in a beautiful theatre and feels even more relevant now than when it was first created in Austerity Britain. The play is brutally effective in depicting the human cost of the cuts and closures and ends on a note of accusatory fury. Yet its politics are surprisingly subtle.

The name may be a bit confusing, but this is a quality piece that makes perfect sense. Go see it.

The Chiswick Book Festival party Part 3 – and new writing venue TheSpaceUK in Edinburgh!

Summary

Nick Hennegan was at the 14th Chiswick Book Festival, at the local author’s party, where the writers have 2 minutes against the clock to talk about their books – or get ‘horned’ off! This is the final part. And we hear from the founders of The Space UK – enterprising venues at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Also at BoheminaBritain.com — Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bohemianbritain/message

W B Yeats – LIVE, the unveiling of the first London memorial to the Irish Poet.

Summary:

Nick Hennegan stood in the wind and the rain (with a tiny mic and no Wind Shield Pop Cover!) to record the entire launch event of a new Artwork built to celebrate the life and times of W B Yeats’ boyhood in Bedford Park, Chiswick.

Built outside the church of St Michael and All Angels, with fundraising support of not only locals, but celebrities including Sir Bob Geldolf, here is the entire, unedited event, faults and all! A slice of history with the Rt Rev & Rt Hon Dr. Rowan Williams, Martin Fraser, the new Irish Ambassador, other celebrities and musicians and presented by local poet and scheme organiser, Cahal Dallat.

See other interviews with Cahal about the scheme at http://www.BohemianBritain.com.  — Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bohemianbritain/message

Chiswick Book Festival Writers Party – Part Two!

Nick Hennegan was at the 14th Chiswick Book Festival, at the local author’s party, where the writers have 2 minutes against the clock to talk about their books – or get ‘horned’ off! Nick recorded it for his Resonance 104.4 FM weekly radio show – ‘Literary London’ This is Part Two of Three!

Winners of ‘The Stage’ Debut Awards 2022.

Winners announced in online event.

The winners of The Stage Debut Awards 2022 have been announced in a ceremony on Sunday 18 September, live streamed via Facebook. The ceremony featured performances from Samuel Thomas (The Last Five Years) and Shan Ako (Hamilton), Frances Mayli-McCann (Bonnie & Clyde) and Natalie Paris (Six the Musical), and was hosted by BAFTA Award-winning actor Susan Wokoma.

Jodie Comer (Killing Eve, Thirteen, Doctor Foster) more than deservedly received the Best West End Debut Performer award for her blistering performance in Prima Facie at the Harold Pinter Theatre. The entire ensemble of For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy have received the award for Best Performer in a Play, the first time the award has ever been presented collectively to a group of performers. Mark Akintimehin, Emmanuel Akwafo, Nnabiko Ejimofor, Darragh Hand, Aruna Jalloh and Kaine Lawrence were honoured for their moving performances at the New Diorama Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre, alongside Elisabeth Gunawan for Unforgettable Girl at Voila! Europe Theatre Festival. Elijah Ferreira took home the Best Performer in a Musical award for Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Leeds Playhouse. Best Director was awarded to Monique Touko for Malindadzimu at the Hampstead Theatre.

Further debut work honoured at this year’s awards included Best Writer to Tyrell Williams for Red Pitch at the Bush Theatre and TK Hay’s, Best Designer win for the set and costume for An Adventure at the Octagon Theatre Bolton, John Patrick Elliott took home the Best Composer, Lyricist or Book Writer award for Cruise The Play at the Duchess Theatre, and the Best Creative West End Debut award went to Julia Cheng for her choreography for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre.

Alistair Smith, Editor of The Stage, said: “Congratulations to all our winners. Looking at this extraordinary array of emerging artists – and a couple of more established names – we can all be confident that the future of theatre in the UK is in incredibly exciting hands. I cannot wait to see what all these supremely talented theatremakers do next.”

Congratulations to all of the winners! I saw Jodie in the NT Live production of Prima Facie and she was going to be hard to beat! I know writer Suzie Miller a bit. And as a male, I’m still somewhat rocked by the piece. There will be a review when I’ve processed it. And maybe a chat with Suzie .

But in the meantime, well done to The Stage for… er… staging… the Debut Awards event! The arts need all the help they can get at the minute!

At the Chiswick LocaL Writer’s Party – Part One

Summary;

Nick Hennegan was at the 14th Chiswick Book Festival, at the local authors party, where the writers have 2 minutes against the clock to talk about their books – or get ‘horned’ off!

Also at BoheminaBritain.com — Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bohemianbritain/message

The Terrific Tabard Theatre’s Superb Shavian Show!

Rating: 🍷🍷🍷🍷 and one pint of Porter, 🍷

4 (5) out of 5. Glasses of Champagne and one pint of Porter, 🍷 obs!

**Francesca Ottley** as *Elisza Doolittle*

Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw.

Theatre at The Tabard, Bath Road, Chiswick, London W4

It’s been a couple of years since the copyright on Shaw’s plays ended and most people will have seen ‘My Fair Lady’, but the newly reopened Tabard Theatre have pulled off a coup by bringing the touring company DOT Productions into town with their refreshing reboot of Shaw’s play. Hence the alliteration in this headline. It’s exciting!

Now, to be honest, having worked in professional theatre for years, I’ve never actually heard of this company, but based on this showing, I shall keep an eye out for them. They perform mainly in outdoor venues – and it’s a bit obvious with their vocal projection in a tiny studio theatre like the Tabard, but I’m being picky!

I’ve also been reminded about how good George Bernard Shaw is – was – as a playwright. This production is more true to the original and focuses on Higgins’ story. In his own way he’s a complete monster, yet we can’t finally help but sympathise with him. Shaw was a master at realising – a bit like George Orwell perhaps – that social comment can be far more powerful if it entertains.

The company has had to reduce an 8-hander down to 5 actors, which is not too much of a problem for me, having reduced the 32 characters of Shakespeare’s Henry V down to just one!

And they do it so very well. Director Pete Gallagher hits a nuanced tone – he focuses on the key conflicts and ensures a brisk tempo throughout. And all the actors are outstanding. Francesca Ottley as Eliza Doolittle is mesmerising and completely nails both pre and post ‘treatment’ Eliza. Christopher Walthorne as Henry Higgins is the genius who becomes a little boy and never misses an emotional beat. Andrew Lindfield as Colonel Pickering grows into his kindliness and Cassandra Hodges plays all the dominating women – Mother and housekeeper – with deft, certainty and incredible definition.

Jack Matthews’ performances as an aristocrat and then the cockney dustman Eliza’s Dad stay just the right side of pastiche, even though his stuck-on sideboards are beautifully ridiculous. But it doesn’t matter here. It adds to the fun! The production is beautifully balanced.

Shaw based his play on the classical tale of Pygmalion – a sculptor and King who hated women, but then sculpted a woman and then fell in love with her.

Get to the Tabard Theatre in Chiswick for this Pygmalion. You’ll fall joyfully in love too.

Playing with a ring at the Edinburgh Fringe!

Summary:

Nick Hennegan was at the Underbelly Festival launch with this brilliant and unusual Circus act from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2022 — Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bohemianbritain/message