Category Archives: Odds & Ends
Theatre Magic – Seven Scenes from Show Business
“Let’s meet at the office,” says D., our producer. The “office” is Muffinsky’s, in Covent Garden, where the first one to arrive grabs the table by the back window, overlooking St Paul’s Church. The Actors’ Church. D. pulls out the … Continue reading
Posted in Odds & Ends
Tagged actors, katherine gregor, musicals, scribe doll, show business, theatre, west end
12 Comments
Autumn as a Touchstone
I asked to have my latte at my usual small round table just outside the door, on the step above the pavement, while the weather still allows it. Soon, it will be too cold or too wet, and I will … Continue reading
Posted in Odds & Ends
Tagged autumn, katherine gregor, musings, scribe doll, touchstone, wimbledon village, writing
14 Comments
River Voices
Let me speak to you about rivers*. The sea is the protagonist of plays, symphonies and operas. The sea is a power than can break man, and man has wrestled with the sea, trying to tame it, since the dawn … Continue reading
Posted in Odds & Ends
Tagged cam, katherine gregor, rivers, scribe doll, thames, tiber, wear
2 Comments
In Grantchester.
My friend C. has a sticker on her vehicle, which says, “My other car is a broom”. She keeps it by the back door, ready to sweep out dust and other unwanted dirt. To keep the house clean from unpleasant … Continue reading
Posted in Odds & Ends
Tagged friendship, grantchester, healing, katherine gregor, magic, scribe doll, writing
10 Comments
Turandot – A Story of Redemption
One of my favourite operas – if not my actual favourite – is Turandot. Inspired by the Persian fairy tale Turan-Dokht, it was Giacomo Puccini’s swansong, left unfinished at his death and completed by Franco Alfano. There is something profoundly different about … Continue reading
Posted in Odds & Ends
Tagged katherine gregor, love, music, opera, puccini, scribe doll, turandot, writing
18 Comments
Three Women in the Kitchen
Three women in a South-West London kitchen, on a scorching summer afternoon. The only cool room in the house. Only the red setting sun peers through these windows. Three women in a South-West London kitchen. One, in the early Spring … Continue reading
Posted in Odds & Ends
Tagged fairy tales, fortune telling, katherine gregor, magic, scribe doll, women, writing
10 Comments
Sunday at the Globe
Focussing my thoughts is proving impossible, this weekend. Like trying to corral cats. They dart across the room, bounce off the walls, whizz past me before I can catch them, hover before my eyes, teasing, then spiral upwards at vertiginous … Continue reading
Posted in Odds & Ends
Tagged globe theatre, katherine gregor, macbeth, musings, scribe doll, writing
10 Comments
Deciphering the Music Code
Saturday morning. My friend L. and I are on the ‘phone, arranging one of our brunches in Notting Hill. Her soft Irish tone turns businesslike. “Now do you want to come up for your lesson before or after brunch?” I … Continue reading
Trees as Story-Hoarders
Someday, I would like to live near a weeping willow. “You’re mad! It’ll wreck your water pipes!” My beloved friend S., with her bucketful of sobering practicality. “Their roots are so long, they’ll reach out from the bottom of your … Continue reading
Posted in Odds & Ends
Tagged cambridge, cedar of lebanon, copper beech, katherine gregor, lemon trees, magic, musings, scribe doll, trees, weeping willows, writing
16 Comments
Skiving Off
Something woke me up earlier than usual, this morning. It was the light pushing through my curtains. It had a different colour and texture than of late. I switched on Radio 4, negotiated myself out of bed, and approached the … Continue reading
Scribe Doll 