Wildlife

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Aladdin Published  Wednesday 21 December 2011  at  15:43  by  Susie Wild Jimmy Osmond, the youngest member of 70s pop act the Osmonds arrives in Swansea as Wishee Washee ahead of the band’s biggest ever UK tour in March. The addition of this retro, chart-topping pop star makes this story of Aladdin and his lamp one that is bound to please the city’s grandmothers yet leaves song choices rather bewildering for younger viewers. Still, while they sing along to Little Darling and join in on a ditty about how they think Jimmy is dishy, there are other more universal treats in store for the rest of the audience. 3D glasses offer moments of in-your-face special effects, which feel all the more magical for occurring in a theatre environment. From the genie to the magic carpet ride, all these effects work well, although some might want to use one of their three wishes to delete the spider from the story. Moving from the virtual to the actual, the ever popu...

From TheRaconteur.info : A selection of photos from our Cardiff launch at Chapter Arts Centre. It ended up so busy that we ran out of chairs!  To see all the photos from the night  visit our Facebook album . If you’d like to see inside the covers, you can  buy The Raconteur: America for £10. The America Issue The Editors (L-R): Susie Wild, Dylan Moore, our publisher Richard Davies and Gary Raymond America contributor Dan Tyte with his copy of The Raconteur The audience Recent online interviewee Tyler Keevel with Jane Llewellyn

Robinson Crusoe and The Caribbean Pirates Published  Thursday 15 December 2011  at  17:57  by  Susie Wild Ahoy me hearties. This big budget pirate pantomime has some of the bigger names and most expensive costumes in the region if not the biggest laughs. TV personality turned reality TV star Christopher Biggins (Mrs Crusoe) changes outfits well in between plugging his autobiography and wearing the product placements of a high street giant. Aside from the adverts, a posturing Robinson (Paul Zerdin) and his ventriloquist puppet Sam are the real stars of the show. Especially when Sam is left alone onstage and magically ‘comes to life’ - apparently talking and moving unaided. The action moves from the city of Cardiff to the deadliest place on earth as an ancient map leads all and sundry on a treasure hunt to Skull Island. In these dangerous tropical climes enchanting mermaids, lost tribes and Crusoe-should’ve-picked-her Girl Friday (a stunning Stephanie...

Peter Pan Published  Tuesday 13 December 2011  at  10:43  by  Susie Wild Yo ho ho! The boy who will never grow up leads a large cast on an overly-ambitious swashbuckling festive adventure. Beginning with a good ole cockney knees-up, this patchy pirate tale transports the prim and proper Wendy and her brothers away from their traditional, Conservative London home to the freer, fairy-populated Neverland. Calum Small is suitably stubborn and sprightly as the airborne Peter Pan. Llinos Thomas makes a prettily-voiced lovestruck Wendy and BBC Radio Wales personality Owen Money is his affable self as Smee. The plot doesn’t throw up any big surprises. There is an unfurling love story between Peter Pan and Wendy which results in a horribly histrionic Tinkerbell (Becci Lewis), and a battle to rescue the Lost Boys from the dastardly Captain Hook. An elaborate set causes stilted scene changes and a disjointed pace. Still, as the show is packed full of audience part...

Isaac Dwyer reviews the eclectic collection of short stories by Susie Wild ,  The Art of Contraception , and speaks with her about love, losers, upcoming projects, and performance. Susie Wild, a noted bohemian writer living in South Wales, as well as editor for the literary journal  The Raconteur , has published an eclectic collection of stories that succeeds in captivating and entertaining its readers. Focusing on individuals who suffer from issues from the sexual to the familial,  The Art of Contraception  clings romantically to the reproductively unfortunate. Beginning with the tragic story of Rob Evans, an obese sloth who takes vacations in the tub and dreams of an underage love interest, readers temporarily find their egos comfortably elevated. This throne of narcissism is swiftly brushed out from beneath their buttocks, however.  They realize how easily they could become like the poor creatures they laugh at when Archie appears – and sweeps t...

' Bloomsbury have dubbed 2012 the 'year of the short story'. It will publish one short story collection a month in print and digital formats from January to May.'  These include collections by Roshi Fernando and Jon McGregor. Read More:  http://www.bookshedonline.co.uk/news/bloomsbury-2012-year-short-story

' How does the Storycuts series – an overarching brand to sell short stories and as singles out of their collections – fit into this theory? Well, adhering like it does to the iTunes sales model of songs versus whole albums, I think the digital short story can (and should) be the pop music of literature.' Read more:  http://www.theliteraryplatform.com/2011/11/storycuts-adventures-in-digital-pop-lit/ Should Single Short Stories Be Sold Or Given Away Online? (Huffington Post) ' I saw a tweet from @DigitalDan about their new idea Storycuts . I followed the link and browsed the list. Random House is a fine publisher with a wonderful stable of authors so I was soon tempted and drooling with anticipation. But as I went to download a story by  Alice Munro  I realized it was going to cost me £1.24 to do so.'  Read More:  http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/matthew-crockatt/should-single-short-stori_b_1120000.html

' Penguin is the latest publisher to embrace quick, digital-only reads, hoping they can reach a time and cash-starved market' ' And Penguin is not the only major publisher dipping its toe into exclusively digital short reads. Random House debuted  Storycuts , a collection of 200-odd digital short stories by authors including Barnes, Irvine Welsh and Ruth Rendell, last month, calling it a "new era" for the short story form. The pieces are largely pulled out of collections and made available as digital "singles", although the range also includes a selection of previously unpublished stories. Pan Macmillan, meanwhile, has begun a programme of digital  Short Reads  by Peter James, Donoghue and others. Pricing is much of a much-ness: Ether Books has published digital short stories for an iPhone application for between 50p and £2.39, depending on length, since last summer; the Pan Macmillan titles are £1, Penguin's £1.99, the Random House books vary but...