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Mark Thomas - Red Shed
Review
Review by Jo
Forrest.
TO describe Mark Thomas as a comic
would be doing him a disservice. Capable of more than just stringing together an
hour of loosely connected jokes, Thomas is a storyteller and captivating one at
that as he proved to a packed house at the Everyman Theatre, in Liverpool, on
Saturday, 17 September 2016.
Funny, thought provoking, controversial and hard hitting, his latest show, The
Red Shed, sees Thomas take the audience back to the miners' strike of the 1980's
and 1 of his local haunts, a Labour Club in Yorkshire called The Red Shed. Even
over 30 years later the Miners Strike is an emotional subject and it's 1
Thomas', having lived through, tackles superbly with a series of stories, some
of which he admits are true, some of which are 'truest' as he takes a trip back
to the scene of his involvement to try and track down the children who play a
big part of the memories he has of that era. Along the way he peppers the tale
with stories of his political experiences, his friendships and his introduction
to The Red Shed. A politically charged show, Thomas' passion and emotion shines
through for the entire 75 minutes he is on stage and, while the subject matter
at times might be 'added to', it's hard not to see that the man is
speaking from the heart.
Of course, the Labour Party's supporting bias of the subject matter only works
on an audience who share similar political leanings to Thomas, so he has no
problems winning over the Liverpool crowd tonight. However, after an hour or so
of jokes, stories and memories, Thomas breaks into an outburst about Michael
Gove, he looks close to tears, you can hear a pin drop around the theatre and
the show ends with Thomas getting an entirely deserved standing ovation from a
thoroughly entertained audience.
FoxEffects - Basic Full Body Painting Workshop
ON 16 October 2016, VAMPHire.com are
offering you the chance to do a introduction workshop to full body painting,
just in time for Halloween, at the
Fox and Goose, Southport, from 3pm to 6pm.
This special event is aimed at giving you a chance to learn from a professional
Stage Make Up Artist, called:- Terri Langley, aka:- 'Vile Style FX.'
The demo model she will be using will be Ally Caulfield, pictured on her in
green...
The event will have a talk and then you will get to work in groups, painting
models. Each group will be no more than 6 people to a model. Body pain will be
supplied as well as application devices. Models will be semi-nude, so please
have respect for them at all times.
As the Fox and Goose is a pub, please note that you must be over 18 to attend.
Also drinks will be on sale at the venue. Doors open at 2:30pm and event will
start promptly at 3pm. After the event, the group can go over the road to
Leo's Bar to go over the designs and relax.
Tickets are just £20. You can buy tickets now online, via both:-MerseyReporter.Com/Shop
and also on
VAMPHire.com/Public-Shop. Tickets can also
be obtained via the Fox and Goose and Leo's Bar, from Saturday, 23 September
2016. |
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Stinging Portuguese Man of
War wash up on UK shores
THE marine charity Marine Conservation
Society (MCS) are warring beach visitors not to touch a bizarre stinging
creature that's not a single animal, but a floating colony! The MCS have
received reports of several Portuguese Men of War, washing up on beaches in
Cornwall and Scilly Isles, just weeks after authorities in Ireland warned local
beach goers about a spate of recent stranding of this potentially dangerous
floating sea creature. This dangerous visitor also often fins its way onto
Merseyside's beaches, when this happens, due to the warm waters of the Gulf
Stream hitting our coastline. The group are warning that the stings can be
exceptionally painful and in extreme cases fatal. This is not a bag or a
MCS says the Portuguese Man of War (Physalia physalis) are only occasionally
reported in UK waters with the last significant UK strandings of the species
occurring in 2009 and 2012.
“We don't receive reports of Portuguese Man of War every year, but when we do
they can turn up in big numbers, usually around about this time of year. In the
last couple of weeks we've received several confirmed reports of Portuguese Man
of War stranded on beaches around Cornwall and the Scilly Isles. With the
earlier strandings in Ireland, these recent sightings could herald the arrival
of more of the creatures as they get blown in from the Atlantic.” said
Dr Peter Richardson, Head of the MCS Biodiversity Programme.
The Portuguese Man of War isn't a jellyfish, but is closely related, and
consists of a floating colony of hydrozoans; lots of really tiny marine
organisms living together and behaving collectively as 1 animal. A Cornish pasty
shaped, transparent purple float is visible on the water's surface whilst the
blue, tentacle like 'fishing polyps' that hang below the float can be tens of
meters in length.
“It's the tentacle like polyps that can give an agonising and potentially lethal
sting. Because a stranded Portuguese Man of War looks a bit like a deflating
purple balloon with blue ribbons attached, children will find it fascinating.
So, if you're visiting a Cornish beach this weekend it's well worth making sure
you know what these animals look like and that no 1 picks them up. We'd like
people to report any sightings of Portuguese Man Of War to our website so we get
a better idea of the extent of the strandings." said Dr Richardson.
1 of the animals was found recently at Portheras Cove, near Morvah, Cornwall, by
volunteers of the Friends of Portheras Cove environmental group. Delia Webb from
the group says it was found during a beach clean, lying among the plastic debris
that had blown in on the high tide:- "We find all sorts of strange and
unusual items at our tiny Cornish cove, and we have had strandings of Portuguese
Man of War before. They look amazingly beautiful, with hints of pink and blue,
but thankfully we were aware of the potential danger lying beneath, and knew not
to poke or prod it, just report the sighting to the MCS.”
If you spot a Portuguese Man of War then report the sighting immediately,
ideally with a picture, to the charity's
website, where a Jellyfish ID Guide, which
includes the Portuguese Man O War, can also be downloaded from the site. |
