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Nov 11, 2024 | 
theoldie.co.uk | William Cook
Talbot House, the soldiers' WWI refuge set up by an inspirational army chaplain, is on the verge of closing down for good thanks to coronavirus. William Cook visits the refuge from Passchendaele
Just over a hundred years ago, here in the flat, windswept fields of Western Flanders, Britain embarked upon the bloodiest and most futile battle of the First World War.
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Nov 11, 2024 | 
theoldie.co.uk | William Cook
‘Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here – this is the War Room!’ Stanley Kubrick’s dark, delicious Cold War satire turns 60 this year. This assured, imaginative stage version brings his apocalyptic film bang up to date.
Sean Foley’s production doesn’t tamper with the 1960s setting. We’re still in 1964, in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Ten years ago, it might have seemed like a quaint period piece. Yet with Russia on the warpath again, it now feels horribly topical.
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Oct 7, 2024 | 
theoldie.co.uk | William Cook
Almeida Theatre, London, until 23rd November Kenneth Tynan said he could not love anyone who did not want to see Look Back in Anger. I would find it very hard to love someone who wanted me to watch this infuriating play again.
My loathing for Look Back in Anger dates back only to last night, when I saw it performed on stage for the first time in 40 years.
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Aug 13, 2024 | 
theoldie.co.uk | William Cook
I’m standing in a crowded souk in the bustling centre of Marrakech, watching my 81-year-old mother haggling over a pretty Moroccan plate. It’s hard to hear above the frantic hubbub, but I can tell she’s doing a lousy job.
The trick is to get the seller to name a price, offer a third as much and settle for just under half, but my mother is far too polite to haggle. She ends up paying almost the asking price. The vendor can’t believe his luck.
Never mind. It’s only a few quid.
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Jul 17, 2024 | 
theoldie.co.uk | William Cook
Stratford-upon-Avon, until 6th September ‘There’s no possibility of being witty without a little ill nature,’ wrote Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816). This flamboyant rendition of his greatest play confirms his shrewd maxim.
In our woke new world of cancel culture, where the slightest faux pas can end in ignominy, Sheridan reminds us that causing offence is a fundamental part of art and life.
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Jun 19, 2024 | 
theoldie.co.uk | William Cook
THEATREWILLIAM COOKA VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, until 3rd August Going to the theatre is often a maddening experience.
The seats are cramped, the tickets are expensive and fashionable productions are often spoiled by wokery and gimmickry. Sometimes, I’m sorely tempted simply to stay in and watch TV. And then, every so often, along comes a show that restores my faith and makes me fall in love with live drama again.
A View from the Bridge is such a show.
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Apr 22, 2024 | 
theoldie.co.uk | William Cook
THEATREWILLIAM COOKLONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHTWyndham’s Theatre, London, until 8th June Brian Cox was born to play James Tyrone, the angry patriarch in Eugene O’Neill’s greatest play. Like Logan Roy, whom Cox played so well in the hit
TV series Succession, Tyrone is a geriatric tyrant, furious that his feckless children haven’t inherited his will to win.
In Succession, Cox played a wealthy tycoon, ruling over a vast media empire.
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Mar 28, 2024 | 
theoldie.co.uk | William Cook
National Theatre, London, until IIth May Michael Sheen, the talented Welsh actor, caused a bit of a kerfuffle last year, when he told the Telegraph, ‘I find it very hard to accept actors playing Welsh characters when they aren’t Welsh.’
Some people (including me) thought this was rich, coming from a Welshman who’d made his name playing famous Englishmen such as Tony Blair, Brian Clough and David Frost. Surely pretending to be people who aren’t like you is what acting is all about?
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Mar 27, 2024 | 
theoldie.co.uk | William Cook
On the sedate outskirts of Delft, one of the prettiest cities in the Netherlands, a jolly Dutchman called Co van Nieuwenhuijzen is guiding me round the last surviving Delftware factory in the world.
All around us, skilled craftsmen and craftswomen are hard at work, painting intricate patterns onto delicate cups and plates – a process that’s hardly changed since the firm was founded in 1653.
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Mar 21, 2024 | 
theoldie.co.uk | William Cook
In the sedate outskirts of Delft, one of the prettiest cities in the Netherlands, a jolly Dutchman called Co van Nieuwenhuijzen is guiding me round the last surviving Delftware factory in the world.
All around us, skilled craftsmen and craftswomen are hard at work, painting intricate patterns onto delicate cups and plates – a process that’s hardly changed since the firm was founded in 1653.
