MARK TURNER holds on tight for a mesmerising display of Neath-born ragtime virtuosity
Glitz Glitch
MARY CONWAY feels that well-meaning audiences deserve more than exploitation
ALAN MORRISON introduces a UK poet whose despised daytime occupation provides the subject for his writing
MARK TURNER wallows in the virtuosity of Swansea Jazz Festival openers, Simon Spillett and Pete Long
PAUL DONOVAN recommends three new books that explore the human relationship with nature
Doomed adolescents, when the missing person is you, classic whodunnit, and an anti-capitalist eco-thriller
WILL STONE takes a ticket to indie disco heaven, but misses the rarely performed tunes
Stuart Michael – Psychic Medium
Wonderville
WONDERVILLE is a seriously well-placed venue in the heart of London’s West End. With its programme of comedy, magic and playful cabaret, it feels more like a private club than a theatre and tonight it’s packed to the gunnels.
Stuart Michael comes with a reputation as psychic medium and – so we are told – with an awesome list of celebrity clients. If this is the case, you wonder why he needs to do a show at all. Nevertheless we all sit excitedly at our tables, sipping our drinks expectantly as if it’s bingo night.
Michael, when he enters, is an ordinary sort of bloke, and the stage a small proscenium with no trappings. In fact the only gesture toward glitz is a row of identical neon panels picturing the performer. One panel flashes on and off distractingly throughout the show – whether as evidence of an electrical glitz-glitch, or as a symbolic reference to the elusiveness of ghosts, is not clear. What is made immediately paramount is that Michael will make contact with the dead and tell us what they say.
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