Has the hard man of Scottish literature gone soft? Babylon Heights by Irvine Welsh (pictured below) - a controversial play about the actors who played the Munchkins in the Wizard of Oz film - is touring the world, but there are no plans as yet for the show to come to London. Welsh's co-writer, Dean Cavanagh, tells me that this is because the author of Trainspotting is "scared" of the London critics. "I guess we're bottling out," says Cavanagh. "London can make or break you, and the theatre critics are so savage here." Come on, Irvine, where's your attitude?
The Good German, Steven Soderbergh's muddled homage to 1940s film noir, is in trouble. The $40m production starring Cate Blanchett and George Clooney has flopped in the States, which is a bad omen for upcoming European showings. Word is that the project was a sop to get the director to make Ocean's Thirteen. Unlucky for some.
The artist D*Face is famous for mucking around with the Queen's image on UK banknotes. But what did the Yanks make of his recent US showing of a giant dollar bill featuring a dead George Washington? "They asked me if I was anti-American, and were only OK when I said I'd done much worse things to the English Queen," says the artist, who has a show at the O Contemporary gallery in Brighton at the end of the month.
It's no secret that the Tory ex-MP Gyles Brandreth advised Steve Thompson on his West End political romp Whipping It Up. But I hear there was another source who would rather not be named: Michael Portillo.
bendowell@ btinternet.com
Post this article to
Post your comment
Please note: you will need to login or register before you can comment on the website
