blackpool arts scene Archives - Page 7 of 7

03 Nov

Review: Sherlock Holmes and The Valley of Fear

David Simper0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & PerformanceBlackpool, blackpool arts scene, conan-doyle, grand theatre, play, sherlock holmes

Having recently read Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes mystery, The Sign of Four, I was keen to see this theatrical version of Sherlock Holmes and The Valley of Fear. The Grand wasn't the fullest I've seen on the first of this four-night run (until 5th Nov), but there were enough people for a good atmosphere and not such a long queue for the essential interval ice cream. This was a highly professional production with five fine actors covering a multitude of roles. It took little suspension of reality for Holmes to become a psychotic American gangster. The narrative, delivered mainly…

25 Aug

Art review: How I Learned to Stop Worrying – An exhibition by John Marc Allen

David Simper0 CommentsVisual Arts & ExhibitionsArt, art exhibition, atomic threat, blackpool arts scene, dr strangelove, hive arts, nuclear war, protect and survive, the bomb

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] John Marc Allen's exhibition brings home the reality of the continuing atomic age and its potential consequences. Those of us who lived through the existential dread of the 70s and 80s, thought that we'd got away with it when first the Berlin Wall fell followed by the Soviet Union. Now the threat of nuclear destruction seems to be back. As I write, things are hotting up in the Taiwan Strait, over something that could be described as a trivial matter, but not to the Chinese government. Not to mention the continuing Ukraine war. At the bottom of the road…

07 Aug

‘Stagefright’ – Dawn Mander’s exhibition wows at Tea Amantes venue

David Simper0 CommentsVisual Arts & ExhibitionsBlackpool, blackpool arts scene, colour photography, dawn mander, monochrome photography, photography, photography exhibition, tea amantes

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Once more on the service 3 bus to Tea Amantes to view local hero snapper, Dawn Mander’s, excellent street photography based exhibition. On my arrival the place was already buzzing, full of the great and good of Blackpool creative society and others from as far afield as Leeds and Bedford. It was rather bizarre to see photographers taking photographs of photographs (including me), but so it was. Dawn seems to have a reputation for keeping out of the limelight, but with this quality of work, the question is why? She says of her photographs:[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=".vc_custom_1659864185019{padding-top: 10px !important;padding-right: 10px !important;padding-bottom:…

22 Jun

Exhibition Review: Peter Jamieson Sinclair’s ‘Caravaggio: The art of forgery’ at HiveArts

David Simper0 CommentsVisual Arts & ExhibitionsArt, art exhibition, art of forgery, Blackpool, blackpool arts scene, caravaggio, hivearts, old masters, painting, peter jamieson sinclair

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] It was a full house for the opening of Peter Jamieson Sinclair's exhibition of Caravaggio based works at HiveArts on Blackpool's Church Street on 15 June 2022. Referring to my Caravaggio book (Gilles Lambert), I have to say that these works are close to uncannily like the originals. Mind you, if they were the originals, how would we have covered the insurance bill? The notes visible on the photos often recounted that the originals had been lost and other background information, including what is known about the paintings' original subjects. The Art of Forgery explores the techniques used to…