No Man's an Island

10/26/2018

Just in, this review from a most unexpected place by theater goers who saw "No Man's an Island":

OK. This is how it was. I have a wonderful Russian hairdresser and she asked to come to see No Man's An Island with some friends. So I gave her tickets for the first night. It was only the other day that I decided it was time for another trim so I went to see her in her place on Turl Street in the city centre here. To be honest, because she's Russian and English is not her first language, I was hesitant at first about asking her how she'd found the play. (We speak a bit of Russian together too.) Anyway, I got around to asking, tentatively, how she and her two friends had felt about the play - and...and...and...she nearly exploded! She was virtually saying that it was probably the best piece of theatre they had ever seen. She loved every moment, every scene, every character - she picked out one or two as being, well, magnificent and unforgettable. She went on and on and on, as I stared at myself in the mirror, watching her clip away and thinking (as I have sometimes thought - we saw Shakespeare's Richard the Third in Moscow) that the Russkies may have a level of art and culture appreciation that we may be losing a bit here in the west. OK, she loved it! But hey! One of the friends who came to see the play with her was an English woman who was also cutting hair in the same salon as we were talking! She quit her post and came to join us. I continued to stare at myself in the mirror. The newcomer - a model of hairdressing self-presentation: high-standing upright silver hair, lips that would get a bull charging, and the warmest smile this side of the sun - she joined in the chorus of how much she'd loved it! I asked her about the scenes with Tunney and Shaw..."my favourites! my favourites!" she exclaimed. "Philosophical! and I love philosophy!" So there we are! The hairdressing community here in Oxford, England, appear to have been blown over by your collective good work, and - I have to say - not a scrap of this enthusiasm was courtesy and politeness. I just asked, quietly, "how did you find it?" - the deluge of high glee was spontaneous. So there we have it! As I left I called: До свидания and heard an eager call-back (meaning, of course, till we see again!) Love to all, and thanks for the good work, Ian F.

10/19/2018

10/18/2018

Charlotte, the maid and Polly discuss more serious matters over tea as Charlotte says: "The soul of a woman is unique and should be allowed to follow its own destiny. That's why I founded the new 'Free-Woman' after the first publication was chauvinistically closed down".

10/18/2018

10/07/2018

Playbill notes from the director: Ian Flintoff
“You could say that it all started on the Oxford Railway Station when the trains were running late and two couples happened to sit together at the same table waiting for their trains.
On couple was from California the other from Oxford. They started to chat and it turned out that the couple from California, Rich and Renee, were working to put on an open-air production, back home, of The Great Gatsby, dramatized by Rich of Scott Fitzgerald. The Oxford couple were invited over—with Ian, actor and director, invited to direct the piece. Well, that’s what happens on Oxford Station, isn’t it? Well it did happen! The experience in California was wonderful, the cast brilliant, the script perfect, the costumes, by Renee, superb, and the audience (some in 1920’s costume themselves) were a delight.
Rich then drafted a play about the friendship of American World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Gene Tunney, and the highly successful playwright, George Bernard Shaw with their wives—two strong women of their time, Polly and Charlotte. They holidayed together on the island of Brioni. While there, a near fatal incident occurred which compelled both men to examine themselves and their beliefs.
I immediately knew that I wanted to direct the play—it takes the audience into the minds of the characters with respect and intelligence. There are no short-cuts or patronizing paraphrases. The two men, and their wives , explain what they make of the world in the l920’s. Also, the rise of Mussolini’s black-shirts chimes with the rival of extremes in politics in some countries of Europe today. There is much humor too, and good food for thought. I admired the work from the outset. So now, with a team of very gifted and hard-working actors from Oxfordshire, we combine a New York boxer with and Irish playwright, author and costume from California, actors from Ireland, and other parts of the UK in what I consider a fine American premiere here in Oxford.