The Engine

  BURNT OUT at the LYRIC THEATRE, BELFAST on the 11 th, October 2023 written by Gary Mitchell, directed by Jimmy Fay Caolan Byrne, Kerri Quinn and Terence Keeley in Burnt Out at the Lyric Theatre   Michael and Cheryl are a couple living somewhere in Belfast.   They are clearly aspirational, Michael is aiming to be Vice Principal of the primary school he works at, Cheryl has built up a hair dressing salon.   They live right across the road from the local 12 th night bonfire which has become a source of conflict.   Someone has complained to the police about the bonfire, but no one wants to admit to it because of the likelihood of retaliation.   The police, in the person of P.C. McGoldrick (played by Caroline Curran), have called to see Michael and Cheryl because they have been complained about.   It appears that their large German shepherd dog has been defecating on the area near the bonfire.   The police are depicted as an intrusive power possessed of some largely undisclosed yet

  Herzog & De Meuron at the Royal Academy on the 15 th of August 2023 Tate Modern, London, 1995-2000, 2005-16, Photo c Iwan Baan   Who are Herzog and de Meuron?   Turns out they are the architects that built the Tate Modern and many other buildings besides.   Their business HQ is in Basel, Switzerland, a small yet vital city which possesses the 11 th most valuable art collection in the world.   How does Switzerland manage to punch so far above its weight since its one of the smallest European nations in terms of population and land mass? Herzog and de Meuron at the Royal Academy The countries liberal ethos and championing of progressive values is reflected in Herzog’s and de Meuron’s work.  Swiss neutrality has been adapted after WW2, making Switzerland a vital, influential nation.    Extension of the Stadtcasino Basel, 2012-2020, Photo c Ruedi Walti The exhibition begins with their models for buildings as diverse as the Serpentine Gallery, Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge footba

  THE ROSSETTIS at the TATE BRITAIN on the 13 th, June 2023 Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ecce Ancilla Domini, The Annunciation, 1849-50 The Rossettis is a big baggy exhibition which attempts to stuff everything about the famous siblings and their friends and associates into several hours of disassociation.   The exhibition begins by stressing the importance of Cristina’s poetry, especially her work Goblin Market and carol In the Bleak Midwinter , works that are memorable and popular.   Gabriel’s poetry is also mentioned, or rather the tension in him which separated his alternate aspirations united in his fascination with Dante Aligheri and adoption of the Medieval poet’s name.   However, Gabriel was never to become a well known poet, although some of his poems were buried with his muse, Lizzie Siddal  (DGR’s pet name for Elizabeth Siddal who changed her name, omitting the final l on DGR’s request) , and then retrieved seven years later in a macabre tomb raiding ordeal when it was obs

  CAPTURING THE MOMENT at the TATE MODERN on the 12 th, June 2023   Bust de Femme by Pablo Picasso 1938, Yageo Foundation, Taiwan Capturing the Moment is a deliberation on the inter-relationship between painting and photography over the last 100 years or so.   Of course, photography was invented in the 19 th century and the camera had already been utilised by the Impressionists among others.   They incorporated photographic techniques too such as cropping, framing and, later, experimentalists developed techniques like photomontage.   The exhibition mentions one of the pioneers of photography, Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) who also influenced the British artist Francis Bacon (1909-1992), one of the artists represented here.   Muybridge was born in London but lived in the US.   He was a pioneer of stop motion photography and was the first person to prove that a galloping horse lifts its legs off the ground when it gallops.   He also photographed athletes and boxers to divide and

  HILMA AF KLINT & PIET MONDRIAN at the TATE MODERN on the 12 th of June 2023   Piet Mondrian, Red Amaryllis with blue background, 1909-10, private collection This exhibition attempts to compare the work of Dutch artist Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) and Swedish artist Hilma af Klint (1862-1944).   Mondrian is an established figure in the art world and his paintings also make big money at auctions but Hilma af Klint has appeared, almost fully formed even though many people won’t know her name.   It is undoubtedly true to say that her work was neglected and was wholly unknown outside a group of artists and friends for many years even though during her lifetime she was associated with famous contemporary figures like Rudolf Steiner.   Neither artist knew of each others existence.   Both artists journeyed from realism to abstraction, both were interested in Theosophy, a turn of the century movement in philosophy most obviously associated with the Russian mystic Madame Blavatsky.   Bot

  THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE WRITTEN BY MARTIN MCDONAGH DIRECTED BY EMA JORDAN At the Lyric Theatre, Belfast on the 31 st of May 2023   Caolan Byrne and Nicky Harley in The Beauty Queen of Leenane The play begins with the open plan of a traditional Irish cottage complete with modernish furniture.  The set designer Ciaran Bagnell has created a strange twisted skeletal device protruding from the roof drooping downwards, perhaps commenting ironically on the devious nature of the characters who have not grown up straight and tall.  Music, both diegetic and non-diegetic, is deployed, indeed music often counterpoints the characters feelings of isolation, alienation, and rage.  The stage is fully lit, light pours onto the stage, and smoke, presumably Irish mist, rises outside (when it isn’t raining). Caolan Byrne in The Beauty Queen of Leenane Two women discuss serious issues such as language, in particular speaking Irish rather than English and the possibility of emigration and