Heat Lightning – Helen Hull

I really don’t know what we’d do without Persephone Books. Their reprints of forgotten literary treasures are a source of such pleasure to their squillions of readers, and by virtue of typically being set in the past (which was the present, of course, when they were written), they provide wonderful escapism from our contemporary woes.

Which is exactly what we get in Helen Hull’s 1932 novel Heat Lightning, in which protagonist Amy seems to have more woes than the combined characters in EastEnders. All shoehorned into the space of one dusty week.

Amy returns to a sleepy Midwestern town to spend some time with her family – having left her husband and children at home in New York after a heated row, although we never discover the source of the row. Regardless, it is the catalyst for sending Amy back to her family… where she arrives to find scenes of barely controlled calamity.

Her sister has just given birth to another baby, despite her good-for-nothing husband being out of work, and the couple already having more children than they can possibly afford. Her cousin Tom is suspected of having got the house maid pregnant, and of introducing poor Curly to his illicit alcohol supplies. While Amy’s matriarchal grandmother is trying her best to rule over her wayward clan from the back seat of her treasured motorcar. 

And that’s just the start of it.

Over the course of the week in Heat Lightning, Helen Hull guides us through the topsy turvy times of this sprawling family, all seen through the anxious eyes of Amy. The weather is boiling, and the atmosphere in the pages is brooding and stifling at times, intentionally so to urge us into sympathy with poor Amy.

Helen’s writing in Heat Lightning is beautifully descriptive, and she has a fantastically lyrical turn of phrase to describe households, characters and settings… all of which really place the reader inside the constricting belly of the novel. While the subjects Heat Lightning deals with may seem like minor concerns, it is the mundanity of the concerns that makes them so compelling… because, unlike the dramas in EastEnders, these are all issues that could easily affect every single one of Helen’s readers. 

Major Tom - Bristol Old Vic

Victoria Melody likes a challenge. And glancing at her website, it's more than clear that this is one woman who has turned her hand to a lot of different things - wreaking havoc in Office Pervert, screaming on hills around the country, and bending the genders of people in her audience... to name three.

In Major Tom, Victoria focuses on the beauty industry and uses her inherent desire to catalogue her day-to-day life to create a compelling and funny account of how she decided to enter her beloved basset hound (Major Tom) into competitive dog shows. What sets this show off a treat is that Major Tom (who Victoria describes, accurately, as looking like a lovable old Tory) is on set at Bristol Old Vic throughout the show, and behaves beautifully when Victoria calls on him to do one or two tricks. 

However, it turns out that Major isn't a winning dog, and when he repeatedly keeps coming last Victoria is stung by a pang of guilt at how she keeps putting him up there to be judged - so decides to be judged herself. Quickly crowned Mrs Brighton, Victoria's next mission is to become Mrs UK and ultimately Mrs International. 

This is where Major Tom takes an interesting twist. Victoria cleverly contrasts dog shows with human beauty pagents to highlight the ridiculous lengths that people go to in order to fulfil the ridiculous and inflexible demands of perfection in the eyes of judges. Ultimately, who is anyone else to judge us? 

At several points, Victoria tells us she's a feminist, and illustrates this with the example of how on her hen night, her friends are shocked to discover she has pubic hair - and Victoria seems surprised that any adult woman wouldn't have pubic hair. 

Beauty pagents, and the business of judging others on their appearance, are clearly thorny issues for feminists. When one of Gok Wan's I-can-make-you-look-better-than-you-currently-do-sister type shows was filming in Bristol a few years ago, his producers seemed surprised that the Bristol feminists declined the invitation to take part or watch the show being filmed. What with it being a decidedly un-sisterly activity. 

However, Victoria's take on beauty pagents (which she says she is now pleased to have left behind her) seems one fuelled more by curiosity and journalistic documentation, than a real desire to become a beauty queen - although she does also come across as very competitive in her desire to win (and I guess if you're going to do something, why not do it to the max?)!

Major Tom is a fun show, and Victoria has an extremely likeable stage presence. The show puts an interesting spin on how we look at ourselves and just how daft the beauty industry is. And did I mention that there's a dog on stage?!


Major Tom is on at Bristol Old Vic until May 4. Click here for more information and to book tickets.

Adolf & Winston

The fabulous Living Spit duo are back at Bristol Old Vic. Howard Coggins and Stu Mcloughlin are regulars in the King Street theatre (in recent years, they’ve been in productions including Peter Pan, Treasure Island, Coram Boy and their own TheSix Wives of Henry VIII), and it’s a pleasure to see them back with one of their self-penned productions.

Following in the footsteps of last year’s Six Wives of Henry VIII (in which Stu played all six wives to Howard’s Henry, to hilarious effect), this time they’ve decided that – based on the fact Howard looks a little bit like Winston Churchill – they will recreate the story of Winston and Adolf Hitler, in a whistlestop 70 minutes of gleefully inaccurate history.

The clear highlight of this is without a doubt the timed 15-minute tour through the entire Second World War – mostly via the medium of song. And the clear highlight of that is Hitler’s rousing rock pomp as he demands respect in an entertainingly weird power ballad.

But there’s plenty to enjoy here – whether it’s Howard’s Winston chilling out in the bath, smoking a cigar and wearing his Union Jack Speedos. Or Stu’s brilliant BBC radio announcement – accompanied by a crackling crisp packet.

Howard and Stu are both true Bristol theatre stars. Quite rightly, they seem to be working constantly and this can only be a good thing for lucky theatre audiences.

Adolf & Winston is performed in Bristol Old Vic’s Basement until May 11 at varying times of day. Click here for information and tickets.

'Mess' at Bristol Old Vic

One of the highlights of last year’s theatre calendar in Bristol was Caroline Horton’s one-woman show You’re Not Like The Other Girls, Chrissy. It was a genuine joy from start to finish: it was uplifting and it was touching, and Caroline herself is clearly a very gifted and imaginative performer.

So when I heard that she was bringing her second show, Mess, to the Bristol Old Vic, I knew I needed to see it. And Caroline didn’t disappoint.

Although a show about her personal experiences of anorexia doesn’t necessarily sound like fun, Mess proves that Caroline has the rare talent of taking a stigmatised and often misunderstood mental illness and turning it into an enjoyable, informative and, shock, entertaining piece.

In Mess, Josephine (Caroline’s character) is supported on stage by Boris (played by Hannah Boyde) and musician Sistahl (played by Seiriol Davies). Both supporting cast members are inspired choices, providing ways to externalise Josephine’s thought processes, and bringing much needed light relief to what would otherwise be a deadly serious topic.

Sistahl, in particular, is a creation of comic genius. With Sideshow Bob hair, and a Liberace costume, Sistahl is positioned behind a bank of keyboards and laptops, and flanked by a mock Roman pillar and a billowing spider plant. In addition to the music, he voices Josephine’s thoughts, he provides sound effects, and he pulls brilliantly funny faces. The absolute highlight is his impersonation of an idiotic and uncomprehending GP: “It’s a lovely day, why don’t you have a strawberry Cornetto. Just a tiny one.” You cannot fail to adore Sistahl.

While the Boris character flits between being cloyingly protective of Josephine, and devastatingly kind towards her, there’s also something a bit irritating about the character. I feel horrible saying it. I don’t know if it’s the bizarre Roy Chubby Brown-style flying hat, or the jolly-hockey-sticks style of speech… or maybe we’re meant to find Boris irritating, in the way that Josephine would have found him irritating in his determination to help her. I don’t know. However, through Boris, Hannah does an excellent job at countering Josephine’s serious nature.

With Mess, Caroline is putting herself on the line by sharing her valuable first-hand experience of an illness that is often so devastating, and of demonstrating how much it affects those around the patient as well. It’s an important work, and one that has been carefully delivered – it’s no surprise to hear that the eating disorders organisation Beat was involved with the production.

Please go to see Mess. Caroline Horton is a name to watch.

Mess is on at Bristol Old Vic until 27 April. Click here for information and to book tickets. For information about other Mess dates around the UK, please click here.