It is difficult to imagine a more remarkable contrast between activities in 24 hours than we have experienced in Newcastle. Yesterday evening was spent at the theatre, where we went to see the musical Annie. It was played like an old-fashioned English pantomime. For readers who are not familiar with this tradition in theatre, a leading female role in these pieces is always played by a man. (This part is known as the “pantomime dame”.) It is a kind of inversion of the tradition of the “trouser role” in European opera, in which a male part is played by a mezzo-soprano, but in pantomime the comic possibilities are always played for all they are worth. It was very funny, particularly because this part was taken by Craig Revel Horwood, a well-known choreographer and dance critic, and very well done.
This morning we continued our exploration of Newcastle, visiting the Baltic centre. This has become nationally known as a venue for the exhibition of contemporary art, located in a huge converted flour mill on the bank of the river Tyne. I was bowled over by the exhibition there of work by a Norwegian artist, Ida Ekblad. Her sculptures are all made from rubbish she has collected, rearranged and modified. It was profoundly dystopian, I thought, and deeply disturbing …. from which you can gather that I thought it was brilliant. It seemed to me to be as complete a vision of despair as I have ever encountered, and I couldn’t wait to get out. It is no exaggeration to say that I was shaken by it.
We then met up with a very old friend who lives just outside Newcastle, and after coffee crossed the river by the incredibly clever new Millennium Bridge, to look at the Sage building, which is a new configuration of three performance venues primarily intended for music. As a piece of architecture it has become internationally known, and it really is very dramatic. I must be great to hear music there. Next time …..
She then took us back to the Baltic, and up to the viewing area we hadn’t visited before, to see an incredible sight. The building has become colonised by seabirds called kittiwakes. The ledges surrounding the upper part of the building have become home to 700 breeding pairs of these birds. From the viewing platform it is possible to get within feet of the nests, which still have fledgelings in them. Actually, these birds have become a bit of a menace in the city generally, as their droppings are in some places a serious problem. I was (not to put too fine a point on it) surprised that more of the citizens of Newcastle and Gateshead don’t wear hats! It did re-enforce the point I made yesterday, however, that Tyneside is different.
After lunch we took a look at the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, built between the 12th. and 15th. centuries. As often happens in these great churches I found the most moving part of it to be the tiny and very ancient crypt. The Cathedral does have superb potential as an exhibition space, however, which I am minded to investigate soon.
Back home in Bradford I was greeted by an excellent piece of news. Two of the three pieces I submitted for the Bradford Open have been accepted.