Close Examination at The National Gallery

‘Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries’ explores and displays revelations about some of the Old Master paintings in The National Gallery. A topic I find particularly interesting as my mother is a restorer of paintings similar to those on display.

It is a large exhibition with completely free entry. As you wander round you inevitably learn a bit of art history too... the interactive nature of the show meant I began to feel slightly like a detective, desperately trying to work out the anomaly in a particular painting and the reason why it had made it into this exhibition. An interesting final room features works by, and not by, the Renaissance master, Botticelli – it is surprisingly difficult to spot the differences! The pretty pictures sit alongside case studies explaining the background and discoveries in a clear and informed way.

I cannot say much here without giving away secrets, but if you happen to be near Trafalgar Square go in and see this show, I found it accessible and intriguing. Considering that fakes and forgeries are commonplace in the art world, an exhibition of this type is long overdue.

Exhibition continues only until 12 September, 2010.

OTTO Cornmeal Pizza

The idea for Otto pizza came to creators Tom and Rich when they were on a road trip across America. In Portland, Oregon they tasted cornmeal crust pizza in a local restaurant there, Dove Vivi. After tasting this heavenly pizza they decided to bring the idea to the UK, and so recently opened up OTTO in Westbourne Grove.

Cornmeal is a flour made from dried corn and is a staple food in many countries. Often it is known as polenta or grits. At Otto they use a cornmeal and flour mix for the crust to achieve a delicious texture and flavour. This cornmeal crust is much thicker and sturdier than most standard pizza bases allowing Otto to load the pizzas with more creative and generous toppings.

Although these pizzas aren’t completely gluten- or wheat-free, they have a much lower wheat content making them much more enjoyable for those with mild intolerances.

At Otto you can enjoy quirky, alternative flavours. Last weekend I tried three varieties: Jerk Chicken, Sweetcorn & Caramelised Onion and Pepperoni & Roasted Vegetables. All three were yummy, although I preferred the meat toppings. Unlike most pizzas, Otto’s food won’t leave you feeling bloated, despite the cornmeal crust being more filling. Unusually I found myself savouring the crunchy crusts rather than begrudgingly pushing them to one side to nibble on at the end. And after two slices I felt well-fed, healthy and completely satisfied.

Don’t believe me, try it for yourself...

50th Anniversary of Noel Coward's 'Waiting in the Wings' at the Pentameters Theatre

Pentameter Theatre is an adorable little venue tucked away in picturesque Hampstead in North London. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I wandered up the dingy little staircase but was pleasantly surprised to find a large room at the top with about thirty seats and a wonderfully decorated stage.

I went to see ‘Waiting in the Wings’, Noel Coward’s rarely performed fiftieth play. Set in a retirement home for actresses, the drama focuses on the feud between residents Lotta Bainbridge and May Davenport. Waiting in the Wings unusually has nine characters of pensionable age, providing parts for actresses whose talent is often wasted because of their years.

All the actresses are lovely to watch, and are noticeably having a great time on stage, they all giggle and bicker with gusto and charm. Words were occasionally stumbled over, but I was enjoying it so much I barely noticed. Even producer, Leonie Scott-Matthews made an appearance at the end. Maggie McCourt is hilarious and quite brilliant as the mad Sarita Mytle, who is still convinced she is a leading actress. Frances Cuka, who has had a remarkable acting career on stage and screen, graces the Pentameter stage as May Davenport. She is natural and yet played up to Coward’s witty script well. The only slight disappointment is Rick Alancroft as Alan, whose changing accent made him rather unconvincing onstage.

The place, the theatre and the play are all lovely. Catch this unique play before the run ends in two weeks, I guarantee you’ll leave feeling positive about getting older!

‘Waiting in the Wings’ performs until 18 September 2010.

Fashion's Night Out

Jacquetta Wheeler wearing Fashion's Night Out official t-shirt

Fashion’s Night Out is an annual event celebrating fashion in London. This year it takes place on Wednesday September 8, 2010. It promises to be hugely successful with London’s favourite designers, models and trendsetters on hand to help shoppers in need. The Vogue team will be there to give expert styling advice and many of the biggest designer shops will be holding special events.

Also on sale on the 8^th are the fabulous FNO t-shirts and bags designed by Vogue’s Fashion Director, Lucinda Chambers, available in shops like GAP around the capital. Yasmin Le Bon and Manolo Blahnik will open the doors to Liberty’s World of Manolo pop-up store, and I’ve heard on the grapevine that Richard Nicoll will be making an appearance to promote his amazing autumn/winter 2010 collection. There will be a transformation of Rupert Sanderson’s store into a dancehall with dance lessons from Bugsy Malone’s choreographer Donald Waugh.

I am most excited about Selfridge’s Chanel beauty counters offering free nail painting in the new, limited edition Khaki collection of nail varnishes. Apparently they will be painting each nail a different colour! Pop down to London’s hottest fashion night.

Miriam Nabarro: SE1 9PX Hidden Corners

Miriam Nabarro is an artist working in theatre design, photography, printmaking and textiles. Some of her insightful photographs of the space surrounding The National Theatre are currently on show there, titled ‘SE1 9PX: Hidden Corners’. In this exhibition Miriam explores all the unknown parts of London’s premier theatre. Often these areas are out of bounds to the public or are only the domain of the technicians, actors and artists who work in the theatre. Nabarro’s images provide a backstage tour.

Sometimes the photos appear abstract, especially when they show buildings and walls. Although you can identify certain clues. The Independent on Sunday comments that: ‘Nabarro’s remarkable pictures go behind the scenes to reveal the dramatic inner workings of the National Theatre... her photographs... fill the glossy squares with lustrous colour that seems appropriately theatrical.’

In these photographs Nabarro captures the effects of time, and the marks that different creative influences have made on the theatre. Sometimes this translates into gritty, dirty images, while others are quite beautiful and serene. I particularly like the pictures of the dramatically lit rehearsal rooms and stage. One is left to imagine what amazing things have been created within the walls that here display only emptiness and silence.

Visit her website here.

Hot on the Highstreet Week 15

Topshop's temporary tattoos

Chanel's catwalk temporary skin art

I've always wanted a tattoo but never quite had the guts to actually get one? I go through phases of being very tempted, but the scary permanence of it seems to be the deciding factor against. I think small tattoos can be very pretty, but in order to avoid regret they must have careful thought and consideration behind them.

For those of us who can’t make up our minds there are temporary tattoos. Once just tacky Christmas cracker gifts, these are now hitting the catwalks in the hottest shows. Most famously of course, are Chanel’s romantic transfers that were shown all over the models' bodies a few seasons back. As well as the iconic Chanel symbols, birds, flowers and chains are all included in the range, but at £49 a pack, these aren’t the most affordable around.

Both Topshop and ASOS have brought out their own take on the temporary tattoo trend. ASOS have already sold out, but Topshop do a fun pack for only £5. Each pack includes three sheets of tattoos, and the patterns are similar to the Chanel versions. My favourite are the birds that look particularly nice on the inside side of your wrist. This skin art is the perfect substitute for jewellery, and you can scrub it off and change the design whenever you want.

Buy here.

The National Theatre Festival - The Chipolatas

Watch This Space Festival is the National Theatre’s free summer celebration of outdoor theatre, circus, dance, acrobatics, storytelling and film for all ages which takes place in Theatre Square, in front of the National Theatre.

I went on the sunny bank holiday Monday to celebrate the end of summer with some close friends. We watched ‘The Chipolatas’ billed as ‘gentlemen of the road and masters of the street’. They were great fun, and even though the show was clearly geared towards children we all really enjoyed it! The National Theatre cleverly introduce theatre and music to young children through free performances such as this. They jump around, play music, juggle with fire and much more. The audience participation captivated everybody's attention despite the difference in ages. I particularly love the accordion and drum accompaniment, which they seem to improvise and the acoustic rhythms they incorporate into their medieval style music.

The Chipolatas were established in 1992, and their performance style is quite unique, combining high-octane circus skills, music, theatre and dance. Their repertoire includes a range of educational outreach projects, with a mission to pass on skills and performance techniques to new generations.

The National Theatre Festival continues until 26 September 2010.

Sondheim's Into the Woods at Regents Park Open Air Theatre

This year marks Stephen Sondheim’s 80^th Birthday. Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre are celebrating with their tremendous production of a Sondheim favourite, Into the Woods. I have seen this musical once before at St Paul’s Girls School and was impressed with it then, so was excited to see it again.

Into the Woods, with music and lyrics by Sondheim is based on a book by James Lapine. The story intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales and follows them further to explore the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. The main characters are taken from the stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Cinderella, tied together by a more original story involving a baker and his wife and their quest to begin a family, most likely taken from the original story of Rapunzel. It also includes references to several other well-known tales. The first half introduces us to all the characters and we accompany them as they explore the woods. The second half feels like a completely different show, half the characters are killed off or transformed, and the general atmosphere is much more sinister. Various moral themes emerge, for example the importance of love over material things and the repercussions of unpleasant greed.

The cast is brilliant, and big, so I will only mention my favourites. Little Red Riding Hood comes top of my list: a delightful smiling girl played by Beverly Rudd she acts and sings charmingly. Ben Stott as Jack is also memorable. The two strutting self-absorbed princes (Simon Thomas and Michael Xavier) provide some comic entertainment with their hilarious duet, ‘Agony’. Not all the vocals are great though and I noticed some faltering particularly from the Baker, but on the whole this cast tackles the tricky Sondheim score well. A special mention also to the adorable cow, Milky White, scarily lifelike, despite only being a puppet, it reminded me of War Horse.

An outdoor theatre is, of course, the ideal setting for a musical about the woods. The large wooden structure is set up beautifully and used so creatively throughout the show. Hidden away around every corner are clever little gadgets, and swings, and even wires to lift the characters high into the sky. The creative team have thought of everything, and the multi-levelled platforms continue to surprise right until the end. The orchestra too, lurk behind the woody backdrop producing the most enchanting music to accompany the drama.

I love this production, but much prefer the first half to the second. The show starts at 8 pm and so by 9.30, when the interval comes, I was pretty exhausted. Also, be warned the seats are quite uncomfortable and it gets bloody freezing towards the end of the night, I luckily came prepared with my lovely checked Brora blanket to snuggle under. Visually absolutely stunning, musically brilliant, Into the Woods is always a great show to see, but Regents Park gives it a little bit extra that for me makes it a breathtakingly magical production to see.

La Bete at The Comedy Theatre

September brings many new shows to London’s West End stages, and unfortunately waves goodbye to some great theatre runs too.

David Hirson’s play La Bete is coming to the end of its time at the Comedy Theatre in Piccadilly. Written in iambic pentameter, the Moliere-inspired story, set in 17^th Century France explores the creative artist in the marketplace.

Matthew Warchus directs this witty play that was first seen in London in a season at the Lyric Hammersmith in the spring of 1992. This production will soon be transferring to Broadway and has an all star cast: Mark Rylance, David Hyde Pierce and Joanna Lumley.

Rylance, who is arguably the best stage actor of our time, plays the mouthy Valere and is quite astounding. His superb acting makes good use of Hirson’s relentless rhymes. With no interval it is Rylance’s presence that dominates most of the 100 minute play. His first monologue lasts approximately 45 minutes with no interruptions and is spoken at such speed that he barely has time to come up for air. The whole theatre was audibly in hysterics.

David Hyde Pierce, best known for his performance as Dr Niles Crane in popular American sitcom, Frasier makes his West End debut in La Bete, not that you can tell – he is natural and convincing as the grumpy Elomire. The Princess is played by ‘Ab Fab’ star Joanna Lumley who regally marches across the stage interacting with the two men wonderfully. Lumley looks magnificent and much younger than her 64 years, she is one actress that has definitely not lost her sparkle.

La Bete is a strange play, but although I struggled to understand it at times I found myself totally enthralled throughout, and would happily watch these three actors all night.

La Bete continues until 4 September, 2010.

Notting Hill Carnival

How many of you went to Carnival this weekend? I went along on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon to enjoy the music and the spectacular parade. Even the sun made an appearance.

The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event, which has taken place on the streets of West London since 1964. It is predominantly led by the British African-Caribbean community, particularly the ‘Trinis’ (Trinidadian and Tobagonian British population). The Carnival attracts over a million people every year making it the world’s second largest street festival, after the one held in Trinidad and Tobago.

After working in Notting Hill for five years, I love going to the Carnival every year to celebrate the end of summer and to see the transformation of the London roads. It is wonderful just to walk through the brightly coloured fragrant streets but my favourite part of Carnival is the dancing through the crowds by enthusiastic dancers in specially made extravagant costumes. We found a convenient wall to climb up and watch from, which enabled us to see and join in without being squashed by the crowds.

Definitely worth experiencing at least once.