Diary of a Somebody

Product Information

LifeLikeTheatre brings the Orton Diaries to the stage at Rialto Theatre, Brighton and attempts to explore the final months of Orton’s life at the height of the swinging sixties. The play centres around the exciting and salacious life of Joe Orton and his relationship with Kennith Halliwell. Such a subject matter promises so much and despite stellar acting, the play suffers from some odd staging choices and disappointingly tame approach.

Diary Of A Somebody by Brian Bilston | Goodreads

In 1983 Matthew, Tim Rice and Benny Green recreated Jerome K. Jerome's classic Thames journey in Three More Men in a Boat for BBC Television. [7] Our eponymous hero, Brian Bilston, starts the year with the intention of writing a poem a day. Whilst that goes by the wayside some days, we are still treated to many poems of the very clever and mostly rhyming variety that I love. The poems form the first part of the entries in Brian's diary over the course of a year of numerous ups and downs for him.So maybe you should also read this novel in short bursts, pausing to savour its individual brilliancies, such as this tweet on Star Wars Day: “Her name was Yoda / A show girl she was.” I laughed just typing that out. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience – the local community. Glorious. I will be astonished if I read a more original, more inventive or funnier novel this year.' - Adam Kay, author of This Is Going to Hurt I place Christopher Matthew’s Somebody next to the Grossmiths’ Nobody in my abiding affection. Simon Crisp belongs with Pooter, the Provincial Lady, Samuel Pepys and Adrian Mole in the gallery of memorably funny English diarists. Keith Waterhouse, Daily Mail Friends use him shamelessly as budgie minder, babysitter and amorous poste-restante. Girl friends – like nouveau-leftist Victoria or ever plainer Jane – seem less than wild about his charms.

Diary Of A Somebody: 3 star review by Alex McCord Diary Of A Somebody: 3 star review by Alex McCord

Brian sometimes reminded me very much of Mark from peep show who I adore and they mentioned one of my fave films Donnie darko It's all well-trodden ground these days, but it still hurts knowing what fate awaits Joe, so full of life, and Ken, so trapped in his own neurosis, unable to arrest its descent into psychosis. But, as alluded to above, it's not all quite the same as it was. There are fascinating possibilities in this situation. I’d get it down on paper if I were you” said Joe Orton once, the young playwright followed his own advice, and for a period of his short life kept a diary. American theatre critic John Lahr dramatized the diaries in 1989, and the result is Diary of a Somebody which has now opened as the second production at the new Seven Dials Playhouse in London. We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused. Is there anything better to sink into than a good comic novel? Is there anything harder to pull off? They look easy, but how many good ones have you read this year? Any year? This debut novel by and about Brian Bilston, the purveyor of supremely self-aware parody poems, is a welcome reminder of the joy to be had when you put yourself in the hands of someone who knows their way round both a joke and a bittersweet narrative.

The writing is so funny, witty and dry. I spent much of the book smiling, sniggering and giggling. I kept thinking that when I write my review I must mention this poem or that one but then I'd read the next one and think the same thing. They're all worthy of a mention, although I thought the excel spreadsheet one was particularly clever and I did enjoy singing My Favourite Words to the tune of My Favourite Things from The Sound of Music!