Greenwich Park Event All Next Week

Dragon's Song

Time: 11am, 1pm, 3pm

Where: In the playground of Greenwich Park

What is it?: Traditional storytelling combining physical theatre, fooling and musical instruments.

Kathakali: classical dance-drama from South India

To celebrate its 21st anniversary, The Kala Chethena Kathakali Theatre Company, one of the world’s foremost Indian dance companies presents a UK tour of Kathakali: classical dance-drama from South India featuring legendary Kathakali master Kalamandalam Gopi.

Kathakali - meaning ‘story play’ - embraces drama, dance, music, visual arts and ritual to create one of the world’s most exotic, visually exciting, and powerful forms of theatre. Colourful costumes and elaborate three dimensional make-up (known as ‘chutti’) magically transform the actors into gods, kings, devils and princesses, allowing them to tell universal stories of the struggle between good and evil through gesture, emotion and expression.

Ancient and classical in nature, Kathakali embodies centuries of Asian tradition and culture. It is not simply a dance-drama but an act of devotion combined with physical virtuosity and symbolic storytelling.

Kathakali originated in the temples of Kerala, South India, over 500 years ago, and most of the characters and stories are derived from Hindu epics. Spiritual, social and personal issues form the basis of the stories, and many topics have resonance with modern life: tales of war, power, single parent families, gambling, homelessness, murder, theft, love, marriage, forgiveness and loyalty are all touched on.

The Kala Chethena Kathakali Theatre Company, featuring visiting internationally renowned artists from Kerala, South India - including world famous Kathakali master, Kalamandalam Gopi - celebrates its 21st anniversary year with this ten week UK tour, taking in venues from Somerset to the isolated villages of Scotland.

Formed in 1987, the company is now the foremost exponent of Kathakali, and this tour offers a rare opportunity to see such eminent artists perform this exceptional, legendary artform, and experience extraordinary non-western theatre and culture.

For show timings which start in September and run through to November 2008, see: www.kathkali.net

Hand-covered catalogues unveiled

The Viewfinder Photography Gallery in Greenwich, south east London, has just unveiled an innovative collection of exhibition catalogues - we are delighted to offer these bespoke catalogues to our visitors, photography lovers and book collectors.

The catalogues are produced using the latest print-on-demand techniques, hand-covered with traditional buckram (bookcloth) and ribbon, and feature a tipped-in print on the cover.

Besides using print on demand technology, in itself more environmentally responsible than traditional printing in bulk, the handbound cases are designed to hold catalogues from any exhibition which allows the gallery to produce copies to order and so minimise waste.

Bookbinding is something of a dying art and the Viewfinder Photography Gallery is proud to be supporting London bookbinders, and to be combining new print on demand technology with traditional craftsmanship.

Poets, journalists, art writers, academics and photographers contribute substantial texts for the catalogues, providing further background and research on each exhibition.

The catalogues are on sale now, priced £20, or £10 for the softback version without the case. Advance orders are also being taken for boxed sets of 10, priced at £180.


For more information or further images, call 020 8858 8351 or email louise@viewfinder.org.uk

A Pie to Warm the Heart

Ingredients:

1 pack of fresh English Spinach leaves, steamed and drained
400g of sliced butternut squash
1/2 bag of frozen mixed peppers
200g of sliced fresh mushrooms
1 large brown onion, sliced
1/2 tin of thick condensed mushroom soup
A dash of nutmeg
2 tsp of Parmesan cheese
2 sheets of rolled puff pastry

How to make it:

1. Spray the pan with non stick cooking spray and add the onions and mushrooms, saute until tender. Add the peppers and saute again until tender. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add Salt and pepper to taste.
2. Add the mushroom soup and stir and allow to simmer for another 15 minutes. Remove from pan.
3. In an oven proof dish, lay out the first sheet of puff pastry at the bottom of dish. Now we start layering. First spread out the cooked spinach leaves, then the roasted butternut squash on top. Then pour out the contents of the pot on top of all that and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and nutmeg.
4. Cover the contents of the oven proof dish with the second layer of puff pastry and seal the edges so it looks like a pie. Make several slits and place in the oven to cook.