Arts: Arts and Culture

12 ARTS & CULTURE

Review: The Normal Heart, Larry Kramer

EMILY RODRIGUES | CONTENT WRITER

Kramer’s heart-wrenching and poignant play was recently put on by the National Theatre in the Olivier Theatre in October. Reviving it for theatrical production for the frst time since 1986, Dominic Cooke pinpoints the struggle and persistence of the activists during the 1980s AIDS crisis. The play documents the characters’ personal losses and responses to the prejudice which is targeted at the gay community. The agonisingly distressing play records the uncertainty of the 1980s AIDS crisis, specifcally focusing on activist Ned Weeks, portrayed by Ben Daniels, as he searches for recognition for the severity of the issue. With a struggle for funding and as their friends, partners and family die around them, the advocacy group appeals to those in positions of power in New York but to no avail.

The confict between the characters primarily in the advocacy group over their approach for the best course of action alongside the devastating rate at which the crisis develops facilitates moments of heart-wrenching anguish. Distinctively, the monologue from Mickey Marcus (Daniel Monks) after he feels that the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) sustaining an unjust opinion that gay men should stop having sex is particularly pivotal. There are pinnacles of high tension created through heated discussions about the disregarded political and prejudicial impact on homosexual love and sex. And the determination is not halted by Doctor Emma Brookner. Liz Carr’s portrayal of Emma is one of tenacity. Her willpower is undeniable, and her position is unmovable. This leads to her infuriated exasperation to the male doctors on the health board, inevitably leaving the audience holding their breath in awe of her monologue. The play’s success continues as an autobiographical piece pays homage to the activists that inspire the characters onstage. Identifably, Ned Weeks, the play’s protagonist, is based upon Larry Kramer himself and many of the events such as the founding of the Gay Men's Health Crisis involved Kramer. Brookner is also based on the historical activist and HIV/AIDS researcher Linda Laubenstein. After watching the performance, many audience members drew similarities to the public response to the ensuing coronavirus pandemic where a lack of immediate knowledge led to an underwhelming plan of action. The governmental response in both cases has been seen to neglect the severity of the issue, resulting in a disproportionate response at a time where leadership is of signifcant importance. Ned Weeks does not only become the protagonist of the piece but a symbol of care, drive and dependence. While not inadvertently intending to, Kramer’s autobiographical story encourages the audience to truly appreciate the activists of today and most especially, those whose selfess actions aid a greater cause. What an incredibly apt time to reinvigorate a plot that combines a political, public and private epidemic. The message of The Normal Heart is one of persistence and resilience that persists in audiences of today.

Source: Flickr

Amy: Beyond the Stage

ISABEL WEST | ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR

The Design Museum’s tribute to Amy Winehouse is an intimate exhibition charting her career; from handwritten lyrics from her teenage years to outfts she wore in what would be her last tour. 10 years after her death, the exhibition opened on 26th November, and until 10th April 2022 you can descend the steps into the museum’s lower foor, stepping into a heart-warming dedication to Amy. The frst room exhibits photos taken early in her career shot in locations of her choice, a laundrette and a vintage clothes shop. In the centre of the room lies the street sign from Camden Square where fans grafftied tributes after her death. This room perfectly encapsulates the fearless legacy she left behind, along with the air of sadness that follows it. In the main room, Amy’s unique vocals accompany you around, as her live performances are projected into a wall. Pages from her notebooks containing lyrics and doodles of hearts, from her Frank era are displayed in cabinets throughout the exhibition, enabling you glimpses of Amy as she was never seen before. At points in exhibition the curators invite you to put on headphones and listen to interviews and performances. You even get the chance to listen to her audition for her label, where she sung with only her acoustic guitars but still gaining a round of applause.

The most emotional, heartwrenching part of the exhibition was the cabinet, ‘In the limelight’, full of newspaper cuttings, showing the tabloid headlines which sensationalised and trivialised the troubles Amy faced. As the exhibition says, she was ‘romanticised as being a ‘tortured soul’. Her press coverage peppered with casual references to what were serious issues, implying that Amy was dysfunctional rather than in need of empathy or support’. The ruthless coverage of Amy in the media was sadly not unique, as other women such as Britney Spears shows. However, her death did bring greater awareness of the treatment of women in the public eye. Seeing the callous newspaper headlines surrounded by such a vivid representation of Amy with her guitars and musical inspirations all around, makes them all the more heart-breaking to read.

MAJA KRISTIANSEN | CONTENT WRITER

TATE modern is the home of one of the vastest and diverse art collections there is to fnd in London. Blindly stepping into the 22-year-old building situated on the bankside, you are met with distinct materials alongside paintings and objects in wide white rooms, ranging from burgundy cotton ropes hanging from the ceiling alongside metals and cemented sculptures. The museum offers plenty of opportunities to not only get curious and be inspired, but also tells intricate stories of people’s emotional experiences and the multifaceted sides to them. After looking through all the iconic outfts she wore and how she made up her iconic image, you can queue up and see the fnale. The fnale of the exhibition is an artistic, abstract projection of Amy’s performance of Tears Dry On Their Own from the Shepard’s bush empire performance in 2007. Amy’s silhouette, along with other images, is ‘distorted into an impressionistic, painterly dreamscape, simultaneously beautiful, euphoric and disturbingly ghostly’, according to The Guardian. The video is a ftting end to the exhibition, one that would surely bring a tear to any Amy winehouse fan. The exhibition was designed in collaboration with The Estate of Amy Winehouse, with words and contributions from those who worked with her in a personal and professional capacity. It also devotes a portion of the exhibition to give credit to her musical inspirations such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington and her ‘muse’, as she describes him, Frank Sinatra. The Saturday crowds in February, months after it’s opening, are a testament to her everlasting impact on the music industry and her many fans.

Source: Design Museum

A Fight for the Self

A painting that stood out to me on my last visit to the TATE, was a small painting found in the corner of the frst foor when entering the exhibitions, called ‘Fighting one’s self’ by Virginia Chihota. There exist two kinds of this painting; one of which is in Tate modern and one that can be found in TATE St. Ives. The one I saw in Tate modern may at frst glance look like shapes formed in earthy colours of green, blue, red and brown, but upon further inspection shows a woman within the middle of the circle at the centre of the painting, covering their face with their fngers, looking distressed. The painting depicts a feeling that may have been far too common since the spring of 2020. It depicts the feeling of isolation, both mental and physical. The circle, described by Tate modern as close to a ‘womb-like’ encapsulation, highlights the narrowing and nearly suffocating feeling brought on by isolation in whichever form it takes, whether it is mandatory or not. The painting also refects on ideas surrounding change and eroding circumstances. Virginia Chihota said of this aspect of her work as refected in ‘Fighting one’s self’: ‘My work is a refection on the search for one’s self (and the perenniality of the self) in changing circumstances. Displacement creates uncertainty but the imperative to survive and the continuity one manages to maintain despite changing conditions inspires me.’ (Quoted in Kinsmann 2015, accessed September 2016.) The painting shows the dichotomy of both the discomfort and the potential for the unknown. Chihota’s own experience of change such as the Libyan crisis and the individual experiences of becoming a mother for the frst time and the seclusion that may spring out from this experience are thus present in the piece. The idea of the womb and the comfortability, as well as the entrapment of it, become highlighted within the painting. This may suggest that the monotony and the comfortability that people may sometimes seek by isolating themselves is an emotion that has been present since before birth. Perhaps isolation is not as limiting as its defnition has it seem.