The Arcade Market in the Commercial district is not the most prestigious of the markets in Port Naain. One will not find the truly exotic, but there again one will not find the grossly overpriced either. It provides decent quality produce. The price is higher than I would expect to pay, but if one uses … More Vegetating
There are disasters that can strike even the most well organised entertainment. Some you can plan for and seek to avoid. Some you can watch out for and step in immediately to nip trouble in the bud. Others seem to strike out of the blue. If I was apportioning blame, the temptation would be to … More Unfashionably Tired …
I cannot be sure now when I first met Wilam Charmwater. He’s just one of the people I got to know over the years. I probably met him at some event I was to host. But he’s a pleasant enough chap. People would say ‘there’s to him,’ and he was generally liked. I know people … More The Civilising Influence of Betta Thrang
I suppose I ought to just call her Lotti, if only because that was the name she ‘worked’ under and inadvertently ended up with. I’m trying to be tactful here because I always liked Lotti, but it has to be admitted that her occupation was perhaps not the one her mother would have hoped she’d … More Something of the night?
I’ve known and respected old Tallan Wynfeather for many years. He is, in my humble opinion, one of the great actor-managers. Admittedly you’ll rarely see him or his troupe grace a Port Naain stage. But over the last forty years he has kept on the move. By his own account he’s performed in every keep, … More No strutting or fretting.
It has to be said that as a gentleman who works with many ladies of mature years, I have discovered more than I really want to know about the relationship a woman has with her mother. Some of these relationships are good. As daughter grows older she comes to recognise the mother for the wise … More Mother mine
Salina Toldeck was, to be honest, an incurable romantic. It wasn’t merely that she read those slim volumes of romance where love finds a way and the story ends tactfully at the bedroom door, she even wrote them. Now please don’t think I’m mocking another genre. Whilst I may hold strong opinions on the subject … More Matchmaker
Perla and Mayla were sisters. Born a year apart, they were the daughters of Tilford Wheelboom, a man of some means. They tended to divide their time between Port Naain, where the family lived in a delightful house in Dilbrook, and their summer villa on the coast south of the Estuary. They were, to put … More Love letters
It is always wise to be cautious when dealing with the theatrical profession, especially if it you find yourself involved with agents or impresarios. I find that compared to them, even poets become persons of solid worth and unshakeable integrity. As a cautionary tale I shall relate the story of Elsa and Mattan. They were … More Learning a role!
I have mentioned musicians in the past, and I apologise for doing so again. Normally the musicians I deal with are those performers who play their instruments at the events I am brought in to stage manage. They are sadly predictable, drinking anything that isn’t locked up and seducing anybody who isn’t strictly chaperoned. Yet … More In tune with the Zeitgeist
