Review: Fuseli and the Modern Woman, The Witches of Oz

The Courtauld Gallery is my favourite art museum in London. When I was a student, I went there regularly – because it was free and I had much more time. Unfortunately, adulthood hit and I no longer enjoy free access. Nor have much free time, for that matter. All this to say that it’s been a long time since I’d been back – until yesterday.

The Courtauld has had an overhaul – the Monets, Manets, Cezannes and Seurats I clearly remember being on the second floor have been moved one floor higher, replaced by icons and triptychs. I think the Rubens room was there previously, but the Kandinskys and Maleviches have been replaced with English abstractionists.

There’s a new room dedicated to The Bloomsbury Group. And one to Helen Saunders. And Praxitella by Wyndham Lewis, who had the audacity to paint over one of Saunders’ Vorticist works. But we were there to see the Henry Fuseli exhibition – Fuseli and the Modern Woman: Fashion, Fantasy, Fetishism.

One thing that immediately struck me about Fuseli is his immense talent for sketching the human body – his sense of proportion was very Michelangelo-esque. I also added a new word to my vocabulary. It would appear that the artist had a fetish for elaborate hairstyles, particularly those shaped into phalluses – a term coined “phallic hair”. From a personal perspective, the most exciting aspect of this visit is that it once again reignited my desire to paint and I sketched out a copy of Fuseli’s depictions of his wife, Sophia Rawlins.

My cultural pursuits didn’t stop there. For the evening, I had booked tickets to The Witches of Oz at The Vaults. After the memorable Peter Pan’s Labyrinth, I was expecting something similar from the show promising to shepherd us “over the rainbow and beyond the binary”. And it was great – music, laughter, pantomime – but it dragged (pun intended) on too long. 

The problem was that we hadn’t booked dinner, only general admission, which meant that we were stuck waiting at intermission for everyone to be seated, then again in between courses. And since we moved through the venue between scenes, we were stuck waiting in the cold. While it was entertaining, the show ended up lasting over three hours – with material only for one. So in short, if you aren’t having dinner at the venue, I’d give this one a miss.

Fuseli and the Modern Woman is at The Courtauld Gallery until 8 January.
The Witches of Oz are at The Vaults until 14 January.

Running the Battersea Santa Run 10k

Winter makes me lazy. It’s ironic I say that, given that I’m referring to how long it’s taken me to write up a review of the run I did this past weekend. So the laziness pertains more to my motivation to do things, rather than physical inactivity. Although there’s been plenty of that as well.

The thing is, it’s the season of endless colds. Winter is at odds with my personality. I want to see people and do things and can’t sit still for too long. Meaning that if I come down with a cold, I’m out the door the second I feel better. So my cold persists for weeks. And that makes me lose motivation to do things. A vicious cycle.

But I did force myself out for the Battersea Santa Run. I naively signed up for it back when I was running sub-50 minute 10ks and thought the cold weather would help me set a new PB. It was not to be. I caught a bug – one I’m still feeling several weeks later. Luckily, I was well enough to run on Saturday.

I invited a friend I hadn’t seen in a few months, and was therefore confronted with the eternal dilemma – do I run for time or do I run to socialise? There was a lot of catching up to do, so I picked the latter. And whereas I’d normally lament this decision at the end, this time it was exactly what I needed. It definitely helped that my friend runs as well and we managed in under one hour, irrespective of the chatting.

But most importantly, it was a well-organised race in great company.

Review: The Sex Party

Just because something is interesting doesn’t make it good. But sometimes, reflecting on the experience adds depth to first impressions. That’s definitely the case with Terry Johnson’s The Sex Party, which, admittedly, I booked primarily for the name. But also because it looked quite serious – a successful playwright, an experienced cast, a fantastic venue. Admittedly, it proved an enjoyable evening. However, I had more ambiguous feelings towards the play itself.

The script, especially at the beginning, felt forced. Of course, you could argue that it’s a conversation between people about to have sex in unfamiliar circumstances – how is it meant to feel? But that’s the thing, it wasn’t just the intentional awkwardness, but rather the perfectly practiced exchanges that didn’t come across as natural.

And then there was the introduction of so many different narrative threads that it was hard to keep track. Again, very human, but not particularly insightful in any way. Of course, there’s always an argument to be made for how this reflects our own lived experiences, but – at least in this case – I’m not buying it. It touched on some very sensitive topics – unhappy marriages, the importance of consent, allyship, hypocrisy – but none were explored with the depth they deserve.

Now, the entire cast of characters, with one or two exceptions, were essentially horrible people with very minimal redeeming qualities. And that’s fine. But the introduction of the transgender character Lucy changed everything, which I thought was part of the point, until we – in this category I include both the audience and Lucy herself – were forced to endure a conversation about identity politics.

And here perhaps I’ve missed the overarching theme, but – why introduce a character who will essentially just tolerate their prejudice? Talking it over with a friend after the show, we came to the conclusion that Lucy really wanted to pass, and that’s why she took such a shine to the party’s host, Alex, for whom she did pass. Despite his inadvertent repulsion once he found out her biological sex, she was willing to give him a second chance.

Perhaps I’m wrong, but it still feels like a cis male perspective. And while I have no claim to any other perspective than that of a cis woman, it feels a bit gratuitous. Almost as if Lucy would be lucky for a man like Alex to accept her. But in my view, she’s in London – she doesn’t have to limit herself to man who might not even accept her, much less celebrate her for her individuality.

So, in short, I felt that the play was a little confused as to what it wanted to say and about what. It had opportunities to make a stronger statement on any of the themes it raised, but it failed to do so. That said, while I can’t give it the coveted description of “the next best thing” due to its inability to impact me in a significant way, it’s certainly still worth a watch.

The Sex Party is at Menier Chocolate Factory until 7 January.

Travels through Montenegro: Podgorica, Budva, Kotor, Tivat, Cetinje

Sometimes the stars align and flights to the destination you’ve always wanted to visit end up on sale. In fact, such a dramatic sale that two return flights and a hotel cost us less than £50. Throw in a car for another £20 and we were all set to explore this tiny Balkan nation. 

Two things struck me when we landed in Podgorica. First, it’s fairly devoid of people – at least in November. Second, it uses the Euro despite not being in the European Union. Oh, and they offer soya milk everywhere – the coffee’s not great, but at least there’s that. 

We grabbed our rental car and headed immediately towards Mrtvica canyon. Our drive took us through stunning scenery of cliffs and valleys on smooth motorways, but once we turned onto the roads winding up the mountain, our little Skoda wasn’t doing so well. We stopped the car and walked into the next village to look into the canyon, then down to the river to appreciate the mountains from below.

By this time, we were starving, so we made our way to the capital, where we checked in and searched for a restaurant nearby. The only one open seemed to be quite fancy, and we felt considerably underdressed as we took in the interior, complete with fountain, winter garden, and caged parakeets singing their hearts out. Still, it was a delicious dinner, and the price was very reasonable.

The next morning we headed to explore the coast, starting with a delicious breakfast at My Brilliance Cafe. Our next stop was the Skadar viewpoint, before climbing the mountain and following the serpentine roads into Budva. A friend who’d been to Montenegro told me all about the cats of Kotor, but I saw more cats in Budva – and I don’t blame them in the slightest! Warm, beautiful, full of delicious smells – what more could you want in life?

At over two and a half thousand years old, Budva is actually one of the oldest cities on the Adriatic. We explored the old town and the citadel, dating back to the 9th century. Used to the overflowing tourist hordes of every other European city, visiting Budva in off-season was a delight – plenty of space to take in the stunning vistas.

Our next stop was, of course, Kotor. We instinctively started climbing, finding our way onto the old town road, up to the panoramic viewpoint, and onwards to the Kotor Fortress. The view from the top was breathtaking – a mediaeval town by a lake, nestled into the surrounding mountains. We even met a cat! 

On our way back to Podgorica, we also stopped by Tivat to watch the sunset. It was a fairly standard riviera town, full of yachts and restaurants and expensive brands. Though pleasing to the eye, it didn’t have much character, so we didn’t stay long. Once in Podgorica, we headed to Pod Volat for dinner, and it was precisely the kind of authentic Montenegran experience we were seeking – football, beer, and delicious food.

Monday was our last day in the country, so we made the most of it. We managed to catch one of the last tours to Lipa cave before it closed for the winter – in fact, we were the only two on the tour. Our guide Jovana told us about how the cave was found – by a sheepdog or a drunk man, depending on which version you believe – and plans for its future. 

We then stopped by Cetinje, the old royal capital, for a quick wander and a bite to eat before heading to the airport for our flight back to London. The entire trip was so wonderful that we’re keen to return, perhaps on a longer tour through the Balkans – and definitely in warmer weather for some hiking!