twilightdawning

A writer's thoughts – mainly about music, sport and theatre. Shakespeare, Bob Dylan, live shows, New York Yankees

The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in June (2015)

Posted on July 10, 2015 by twilightdawning

The Yankees pitching has been in a steady decline all season. In April, the average ERA of the team’s pitchers was 3.23 with a WHIP of 1.16. In May, that ERA was up to 4.38 and the WHIP was 1.33. In June, the WHIP was exactly the same but the ERA was up again to 4.48.

The bullpen kept the team rolling in April but was overused. In May it had begun to creak. By June some key players were injured but thankfully the batting had improved enough to keep the team alive – but they have used more relief pitchers prior to roster expansion than in any season in the team’s history. For a team at the head, or near to the head of the division, times are proving hard.

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The New York Yankees – The Batters in June (2015)

Posted on July 7, 2015 by twilightdawning

At the end of May, the Yankees were tied for first place in the American League East. By the 9th of June they were 2.5 games clear at the head of that table. By the 23rd, they were 2 games behind. As June turned into July, they were poised to take the lead in the division again.

June was a mixed month for the New York Yankees. June was a very streaky month for the New York Yankees.

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I Understand A Fury In Your Words. But Not The Words.

Posted on June 15, 2015 by twilightdawning

What: Othello by William Shakespeare

Where: Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon

When: 11th June 2015

“We’ve tried to make it less ridiculous, so we’ve cut some lines… which leaves us open to the accusation that by doing so we have made it less sublime – we’ve cut some of the music of Othello”.

– Hugh Quashie (Othello) in conversation with the Stratford-Upon-Avon Herald.

It is indeed interesting when the principal actor in a Shakespeare production describes the plotline of one of the Bard’s plays as being ridiculous – so ridiculous that it is worth spoiling the rhythm and rhyme of the play to correct. One might even consider this a kind of arrogance.

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From Sheet to Vinyl to Stage

Posted on May 31, 2015 by twilightdawning

Who: 10CC

What: Sheet Music and Greatest Hits Live

Where: Royal Albert Hall, London

When: 28th May 2015

When I was a boy, 10CC were often referred to, in the UK music press, as the British Steely Dan. I’ve never really understood that myself but given that I’ve recently been writing promotional material for some of the Steely Dan dates on their forthcoming U.S. tour, it seemed really appropriate that I should be sat in the second row of 10CC’s Royal Albert Hall gig writing a review of their show.

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It wearies me; you say it wearies you

Posted on May 26, 2015 by twilightdawning

What: The Merchant of Venice

Where: The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon

When: 21st May 2015

A writer in the UK newspaper “The Telegraph” pointed out how far short of the production at the Globe in London, the current RSC version of “The Merchant of Venice” falls. It is indeed unusual for two parallel productions to be running like this. It is, if you will, a surfeit of Merchants.

I cover only the RSC’s productions so I do not have the benefit or disadvantage of comparison. I, therefore, can only point out how the RSC’s production fails on its own merits. The audience were enthusiastic. The cast were spirited but bad directorial and staging decisions doomed it from the start.

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The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in April (2015)

Posted on May 4, 2015 by twilightdawning

The starting rotation has, probably, been less than the Yankees wanted it to be in April. And it has lost one very notable player through injury. However, it has been bolstered by a stellar bullpen which has done very little wrong.

Let’s look over the pros and cons in the second half of our monthly survey…

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The New York Yankees – The Batters in April (2015)

Posted on May 3, 2015 by twilightdawning

The Yankees have got off to a surprisingly good start to the season with a 14-8 record in April. This becomes doubly surprising when we consider that they got off to a 3-6 run in their first nine games. Both the bullpen and large sections of the offensive line-up have done better than we had any reason to expect and whilst there are more than a few weak links, there is good reason to think they can at least stay with the pace of a division which doesn’t have a clearly outstanding team.

Let’s survey who is doing well and not so well…

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The Shakespearience Too at Ravenscourt Arts

Posted on April 7, 2015 by twilightdawning

Presenting Shakespeare for ages 10-14 (i.e. the ages before they start formally studying the writer for exams in school) is not an easy task but it is a challenge that I have set myself over these last six years and I have to say with some degree of success.

This year was our largest project to date. With 1600-1700 young people signed up to attend and with our troupe now firmly esconced in our own theatre at Ravenscourt Arts, we decided to strip back to basics and bring in a new cast to work with a new script. Time to take some risks.

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The New York Yankees Off Season Update 7

Posted on April 4, 2015 by twilightdawning

Well, in our last two part article, I made my predictions (just a few days before the start of the season) about the Yankees’ opening day roster and their performance in the 2015 season.

Wouldn’t you know that there would be an injury that would change quite a few things before we even got to that first game!

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The New York Yankees Off Season Update 6 – Part 2

Posted on April 1, 2015 by twilightdawning

We continue our survey of the Yankees who have done well and not so well in Spring Training:

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