CirencesterScene Magazine -Establishing Local Connections AGood Read The Complete Tales and Poemsof
Winnie-the-Pooh -AAMilne The recently released film ‘Goodbye Christopher Rob- in’ painteda less-than-rosy picture ofthe dysfunc- tional upper class Milne
family.Yet the stories are still compellingly charming from the opening lines, ‘Here is Edward Bear,coming downstairsnow, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behindChristopher Robin.’
Milnemay have been atrauma- tised warveteran buthis story- telling has so much warmth and depth. At times the tales are laugh out loud funny–Rabbit in particular makes me gig- gle every time he replies to a knock at the door –and chil- dren will quickly read along with you, even if some of the sentence structureand vo- cabularyiscomplex.
Every child deservestohave this book
read aloud to them at leastonce before theyare six and I bet youanything you will be asked for it again, and
again.The word classic is sometimes used lightly: here, it is truly deserved.
COMPETITION
WINNER! RelativeDisasters by
Wilkie Martin Finally tracked down Geoff Carr forapresentation photo with Scene Editor Jan Sparrow at CR’sWhiskey & Choc Tasting. Hmm.
witcherleybooks.co.uk
Plays AboutBritain –Craig Taylor Howoften doyou hear someone complain thatthey never have time to read? Toooften? Or are you guilty of this yourself? If so,Craig Taylor’s superbbook is a godsend. The title is more or less an accurate descrip- tion of the contents –although thereare slightly fewer thanamillionofTaylor’s carefully crafted snapshots of British life:‘dramatichaikus’,perhaps, as Richard Eyre suggestsin his introduction.
The formatofeach playisthe same: abriefsentence to setthe scene, then the dialoguetakes over. The longestruns to three or four pages, the shortestto one sentence. A range ofscenes is covered–from twowomen in aqueue at aSurrey bank, to afarmer in Kent speaking on his mobile phone from atractor,to a late night onNewcastle Quayside. The charactersare diverse too –youngand old, drunk and sober,flippant and serious.
However, it is the perfectly observed sharpness of speech thatmakes this book stand out. At first, you could believethatTaylor has merely been in the right place at the right time and recorded everything that he heard. Lines like ‘Ionce took Diana Rigg’scoat –inher pocket wasapacketofPolos. That’sanel- egant mint’ !And ‘There’smoreto it
all.More than Swansea,’sound so authentic thatyou believe inthe speakersand their lives, however briefand insignificant their conver- sations seem to be.
Some of the plays rely on agrow- ing sense of unease -the nervous customer in the barber’s shop: othersare out and out funny- two Wonder Women fighting in the street. Every ending is well judged and either rounds off the playwitha‘reveal’ or a cliff-hanger – alwaysshowing,never telling. Ide- al for reading in short burstsor longer chunks–well worth alook.
Reviews by Will Collins
CIRENCESTER TWINNING ASSOCIATION
Open Invitation to visit the
Itzehoe Christmas Markets. For information please visit
www.cirencestertwinningassociation.org.uk 10 Please tell our advertisers you saw them in the Cirencester Scene Magazine
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