Wildlife

'From awards ceremonies to drive-time presenters, radio is dominated by men. But not for much longer, writes one of the team behind the launch of Sound Women, a pressure group devoted to giving women a louder voice...' More:  http://m.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/oct/30/radio-sound-women-sexism-feature?cat=tv-and-radio&type=article

Fantastic article outlining many of my issues with being a female critic in a world that is still so laughably embarrassingly far from gender-equal:  http://www.amandacraig.com/pages/blog_01/blog_item.asp?Blog_01ID=270 PS... "Hi Katy, I'll review some books written by men, if you want... I want."

The Village Social Published  Monday 24 October 2011  at  12:02  by  Susie Wild The Village Social is a surreal musical comedy touring village halls across Wales. Ben Lewis and Dafydd James, the duo behind award-winning 2009 Edinburgh Fringe show My Name is Sue, have again succeeded in creating a deliciously dark oddball hit with a vigorous, well-chosen cast. Upon entry to the bunting-bedecked hall, audience members become the villagers of Cae Bach (‘Little Field’). They are given raffle tickets as they take their seats for the local fundraiser - so far so normal - but soon the local performance night begins to unravel with perfectly-pitched awkwardness. There have been some strange goings-on in the village and, as the evening progresses, the cast begins to act increasingly bizarre. The main attraction is running late, and so the characters fill in by sharing the tales of Cae Bach’s history - feasting and parties in a Celtic other world - centring on their rec...

Guardian open up their newslist. Helpful and insightful or another step towards the takeover of less-informed citizen journalism and media cost-cutting/ job cuts? Discuss... More:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/series/open-newslist?fb=native In other media news... The Times and Sunday Times cut 150 editorial posts More:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/oct/20/times-job-cuts?fb=native

Better red than dead: the Independent keeps on fighting Should writers review each other?

My book review blog is now live for New Welsh Review. The internet has been in popular use in the UK for 20 years. Now that is has, essentially, come of age, a string of books has been released examining the effects of the internet on humanity. Virtually You   addresses the effect of the disparity between our online and offline personas on our psychological well-being and society. It is a welcome addition to the good arguments already put forth in  Alone Together  by Sherry Turkle,  The Shallows   by Nicholas Carr and  You Are Not A Gadget  by Jaron Lanier. The author, Elias Aboujaoude, is a Silicon Valley psychiatrist who helped to lead the largest US study on problematic Internet use published to date. The study looked at the internet habits of 2,500 US adults and 'revealed alarming rates of online pathological behaviour'. This led Aboujaoude to conclude that while the internet is 'a force for good in many arenas', its dark side still casts a lon...

Up ‘n’ Under Published  Wednesday 5 October 2011  at  11:02  by  Susie Wild Capturing the competitive highs and lows of amateur rugby union, this Welsh adaptation of John Godber’s award-winning Up ‘n’ Under is an enjoyable production. However, beyond the bellyache laughs one finds many cheap gags and the gut-punching disappointment of a vital missed penalty. For this intimate new stage tour, John Godber has exchanged Hull rugby league for union sevens in the South Wales Valleys. As a squad, the teamwork of the cast complements each other well under Richard Tunley’s measured direction. There are entertaining moments of energetic physical theatre and slow-motion movement as the four-player squad get into shape and later humorously play both sides in the big match. One to watch is Gareth Bale - Richard Parker 2 - hauntingly plausible as the downtrodden Arthur. A retired rugby player, Arthur ends up placing a stupid bet with his arch rival Reg that sees him coac...

This old story just got forwarded to me, didn't realise it went live ... a Manchester short for the delightfully drizzly RainyCityStories... Summer-sticky By Susie Wild Location:  Wilmslow Road The warning signs are there. Jo’s voice is rising in pitch. There is going to be a row. Or tears. Possibly both. We are all hungover, off to see our mate’s mate’s band play for the second night in a row at the same venue. Fuel; we sure need some. Manchester is losing its grimy shine, the but-we-aren’t-in-Wales gleam of adventuring appeal. Drastic action is needed. Trailing behind the whiners and need-to-be-drunk-again ditherers I catch Kate’s eye. She knows the drill, the nod is almost imperceptible. She grabs my wrist and we take a sharp right down an alley, careering, our limbs windmilling into the first bar we come across. In the dimly lit pub we lean summer-sticky arms on the syrup-sticky bar, order two house triples and down them. Apart from the barmaid we are the only women there. A...

'we live in “an age of drive-by reviewing, when every reader can tell the (electronic) world whether or not they ‘like’ a particular book.”' Interesting article on the New Yorker site about The Good of the Critic ' The Good of the Novel  will not be dogmatic or prescriptive. To theorise about a genre as fluid, capacious and protean as the novel is to risk incoherence or banality. Each novel set the terms of its own reception, makes its own demands of its readers. As Amit Chaudhuri argues here, the reading of a single novel can realign one’s entire aesthetic. Each novel writes its own constitution.' How did I miss this book? Ordered.

Lyn Gardner has written about the New Critics Day in Cardiff that I rushed back from Venice for in The Guardian Stage Blog today , and also mentions the Wales Arts International Critics Scheme that I am currently taking part in. The Wales-based critics met up again this evening to discuss the future. More thoughts and news on this soon. Posted by Lyn Gardner  Monday 3 October 2011  14.06 BST guardian.co.uk Why is National Theatre Wales running a scheme to nurture new critical voices? Because theatre cannot flourish without critics – and vice versa. Theatre criticism does not exist in a vacuum. It offers a response, and therefore needs something worth responding to. Without Osborne and Pinter,  Kenneth Tynan  would have been just another mid-20th-century critic admiring the French window sets. But does it also work the other way? I think it must: I'm not convinced that it's possible for a strong theatre culture to thrive in a place or an area of work whe...

' The internet. It sure is grand, but by God is it angry. And in few places, curiously, is this anger more evident than in theatre blogging and online reviews . The very titles seethe with anger. The West End Whingers, Burnt Arts (the text blazing red) and Distant Aggravation are just the tip of the razor-sharp iceberg. The subheadings continue in the same, aggressive manner, with the West End Whingers claiming – albeit, perhaps, ironically – to be "putting London's West End theatre to rights". Just why is the internet so riddled with rage and is it useful to theatre criticism – or merely self-destructive?' & a few related posts I missed while I was in Venice.  Yes that VENICE...Yes it was Ve(ry)nice... Noises off: Should theatres pay critics to come and review? Does it matter if theatre critics have conflicts of interest? Young people and theatre :  Theatre companies and universities around the country are involved in a major research project to try t...