The Virtual World On Stage, London
The tangibility of the theatre can seem at odds with the abstract and ephemeral nature of the internet. How, then, can the virtual world be effectively portrayed IRL? Chaired by the Royal Court Theatre’s literary manager Chris Campbell, this talk explores how playwrights, directors and set designers have done just that in recent years. Speakers include Alistair McDowall, who penned postmodern sci-fi thriller Pomona, and Moira Buffini, writer of the net-based Lewis Carroll adaptation Wonder.land (National Theatre: Olivier, to 30 Apr). They will discuss their own works and others besides, including darkly dystopian tale The Nether by Jennifer Haley and Tim Price’s hacking caper Teh Internet Is Serious Business. It should all be worth prising yourself away from Snapchat for.
National Theatre: John Lyon Education Studio, SE1, Fri
HD
Ruby Wax: A Mindfulness Guide For The Frazzled, On tour
After a rather ignominious episode last year in which she told the Times that people suffering from mental illness should hide their condition at work, lest their boss decide to fire them, Ruby Wax is back with a new book on mindfulness, hopefully containing some less divisive advice for those dealing with mental health issues. Launched with this series of talks, it is a product of Wax’s studies at Oxford with Mark Williams, the man behind the go-to how-to guide on mindfulness, a practice that intends to undo lifetimes spent forging mental patterns that facilitate great worry and panic. Wax provides a programme, plus insights into the distress she has personally experienced.
RA
Jon Savage, Liverpool
Jon Savage is very much the alpha male of British music journalism, his credentials established beyond reasonable doubt by his definitive survey of punk rock, England’s Dreaming. He’s not a man who churns out books relentlessly but they tend to be worth the wait, with his recent tome, 1966, no exception. The book explores that most febrile of pop-cultural years in which the Beatles unleashed Tomorrow Never Knows, Dylan dropped Blonde On Blonde and the western world’s brightest young things reacted to the twin horrors of Vietnam and nuclear paranoia by bingeing on LSD, having lots of casual sex and wearing unusual trousers. Flippancy aside, 1966 is a year whose tropes and trends continue to loom large, and Savage animates and dissects them with typical flair and rigour. Here, he’ll be talking to fellow pop journalist-turned-author Kevin Sampson about an era that haunts our culture to this day.
Waterstones Liverpool One, Thu
PH
