Episode 429: Pictures Of John Gray

Ended up not being able to do Kidz Klub stuff in church because I had to wait for the speakers to arrive, otherwise I'd have to trudge to the depot to collect them, which is some part of Coventry that I've never been to and have no desire to explore. Did manage to get a bit more work done though, which was good. The report's not finished yet, but I've made it to 660 words, and have yet to cover the finds and implications they have for future development of the site, so I think I should be able to coast comfortably to the word limit, having produced something that is not fantastic, and not even near to my usual standards, but is at the end of the day, adequate. Went to meet Jonny on campus after that, as I wanted to buy a flat cap and he wanted to buy a waistcoat, both for Friday's fancy dress party. I found my flat cap at Topman, but he didn't like the waistcoats they had, and he sent me an SMS later to say that he hadn't bought any from the other shops either. I'd already gone back to campus to spend some time reading in the Library.

This was when I experienced an eerie moment of déjà vu as I read John Clare's 'I Am', as I'm positive Mr Purvis has shown us this poem in class before. I was literally anticipating the lines as I read them. Would totally switch to doing the close reading on this poem, if I hadn't already thought out what I wanted to say about Shelley's 'Ozymandias'. Anyway, Pictures Of John Gray was an interesting experience, although like Dan said after the performance, I felt like it just didn't quite gel as a whole. The best bit, for me anyway, was when one of the actors was addressing God, talking about missing his father and wanting him back. I'd glanced at the programme beforehand, so I knew that was a bit of autobiography going on, which didn't make it any less moving. On a final note, was it just me, or were all five actors the sort that could easily be regarded as conventionally attractive, to a greater or lesser extent? I mean, okay, so it is a devised piece informed by The Picture Of Dorian Gray, and Dorian's supposed to be beautiful, but surely that wasn't a prerequisite for being cast?