{"id":199958,"date":"2020-02-09T13:12:49","date_gmt":"2020-02-09T10:12:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ww-vb.mine.nu\/w108\/on-my-radar-david-lans-cultural-highlights\/"},"modified":"2020-02-09T13:12:49","modified_gmt":"2020-02-09T10:12:49","slug":"on-my-radar-david-lans-cultural-highlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/on-my-radar-david-lans-cultural-highlights\/","title":{"rendered":"On my radar: David Lan\u2019s cultural highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Born in South Africa<\/strong>,<\/strong> David Lan trained as an <\/strong>actor<\/strong> before <\/strong>gaining a PhD in social <\/strong>anthropology<\/strong> at the London School of Economics<\/strong>.<\/strong> He <\/strong>has been a writer in residence at London\u2019s Royal Court theatre (1995-97)<\/strong> and was artistic director of the <\/strong>Young Vic<\/strong> from 2000 to 2018<\/strong>,<\/strong> when he received the Laurence Olivier special <\/strong>award<\/strong> for his role in productions <\/strong>such as The Jungle<\/em> and <\/strong>The Inheritance<\/em><\/strong>.<\/strong> Lan\u2019s memoir, <\/strong>As If By Chance: Journeys, Theatres<\/em><\/strong>, <\/em><\/strong>Lives<\/em><\/strong>,<\/em> is published by Faber<\/strong> on 20 February<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n
1. Music<\/h2>\n
Madonna\u2019s Madame X tour<\/strong><\/p>\n
I caught this in New York, where I\u2019m producing at the moment. It\u2019s \u201cWow!\u201d modulated a hundred different ways. It kicks off with James Baldwin (\u201cartists are here to disturb the peace\u201d), then dives into Madame X\u2019s recent adventures (\u201cAs you all know, I moved to Lisbon to become a soccer mom\u201d), features her hits old and brand new, stops off for a thrilling fado section, then for the all-female Orquestra Batukadeiras from Cape Verde. It whirls to an end with the first lady of the brave and the crazed encircled by a chorus of black women intoning \u201cI\u2019m not your bitch!\u201d, herself hurling out the coda: \u201cHave we made ourselves clear?\u201d Yup.<\/p>\n
2. Book<\/h2>\n
Migrant, Refugee, Smuggler, Saviour by <\/strong>Peter Tinti<\/strong> and Tuesday <\/strong>Reitano<\/strong><\/p>\n
One of the last shows I produced at the Young Vic was The Jungle<\/em>, which recreates the Calais refugee and migrant camp. As preparation I read many of the recent books about the vast currents of people desperate to escape conflict and the degradation of their lives. This one contains the most adventurous analysis. The title says it all: if you leave your home because otherwise you\u2019ll starve, you\u2019re a migrant; if it\u2019s because bombs are falling on your village, you\u2019re a refugee. Those who help you cross borders may be criminals profiting from your defencelessness, but it may be those same thugs who save your life.<\/p>\n