Going out: From a gory Bard to the wit of Bollywood

28th June 2002, 1:00am

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Going out: From a gory Bard to the wit of Bollywood

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/going-out-gory-bard-wit-bollywood
Musical

Andrew Lloyd Webber meets Bollywood in Bombay Dreams , Meera Syal’s witty story of film-making, corruption and love’s young dream, with music by leading Indian composer A R Rahman. The song-and-dance numbers, which recall the exuberance of Indian film, are the most exciting, but the characters are sufficiently developed for the murder of one of them to cause a frisson in the audience. Apollo Victoria, London. Tickets: 0870 4000870.


Contemporary art

At 79, Lucian Freud is still painting; his latest self-portrait was included in the retrospective at Tate Britain as soon as the paint was dry, and there are rumours that his long-awaited likeness of Kate Moss may yet be included. It is instructive to see in this selection, chosen by his biographer William Feaver, the development of the work from the 1940s, but also how much remains the same. Techniques and materials may have altered, but the same clarity and honesty, the lack of sentimentality and symbolism are as visible in “Box of Apples in Wales” (1939) as in “Benefits Supervisor Resting” (1994). Related events include portrait workshops for adults and children. Information: 020 7887 8888; www.tate.org.uk.


Exhibition

Days of the Dead: celebration, commemoration, cult brings together objects from ancient and modern cultures to explore attitudes to “the last taboo”. Queen Victoria’s mourning stockings, a West African coffin in the shape of a car and a Peruvian mummy are some of the objects in the ninth annual special exhibition curated by students on the University of East Anglia’s Museology MA course. The Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts, UEA, until July 14. Tel: 01603 593199 .


Shakespeare

This is Henry VI (Parts 1, 2 and 3) as you’ve never imagined it. Three plays repackaged as Rose Rage, two two-hour bloody romps, with death represented by the chopping of offal and squelching of red cabbages. Set in an abattoir, Ed Hall’s production is exciting and speedy, juxtaposing Christian anthems more suitable for a medieval cathedral than a battlefield with the brutality of the Lancastrians and Yorkists. If Shakespeare had met Tarantino. The Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London, until July 21. Tickets: 0870 9013356. Music festivals


Music festivals

Celebrations for composer William Walton’s centenary will begin with a flourish on September 28 when the BBC Philharmonic at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic play concerts of his music, continuing until December 13, centred on the Oldham Festival and with highlights elsewhere, including concerts by the Hall Orchestra on an Elizabethan theme in Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield, student performances in Manchester and Merseyside, and the Lancashire Sinfonietta’s education project, featuring eight schools. Information about Walton Comes Home:
www.walton2002.org .

On July 14, Croydon Mela will celebrate Asian music with a party in Lloyd Park, Croydon, hosted by Bend It Like Beckham star Ameet Chana. Everything from bhangra-with-pop to classical sitar, from 1pm to 8pm. Information: 020 8253 1030.nbsp;

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