Speak Frog

Apr.18
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Sappho is coming to London

Posted by in Blog, London, Music, News, Theatre

Wendy Beckett’s Sappho is a new play inspired by the famous Greek poet,  integrating the original poetry with contemporary music and dance.  It will première in its English version at Southwark Playhouse Elephant from 3 May 3 to 25 May. The original Greek production was created in Hydrama Theatre in August 2022 before touring to Andros, Delphi and Rhodes. Wendy Beckett and Adam Fitzgerald co-direct, both making their UK directorial debuts. They lead a multi-national creative team with Halcyon Pratt, Fotis Diamantopoulos, and Mehdi Bourayou all transferring with the production from Greece. INTERVIEW…read more

Apr.11
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Pericles, Prince of Tyr

Posted by in Blog, Language, London, News, Theatre

Cheek by Jowl is a multilingual theatre company with a truly international reach and three companies of actors  (UK, France and Russia). I first discovered them in France in 2004. The play was Othello, the place : the Theatre de l’Odéon at their ‘ateliers Berthier’ venue. I was so impressed by the level of acting and the vitality of the staging… and also struck by Nonso Anozie in the title role. He was extraordinary. Back then, I was a first year acting student at the Central School of Speech and Drama and had heard about Nonso, who had…read more

Nov.02
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Suzy Storck

Posted by in Blog, Language, Literature, London, News, Theatre

Suzy Storck, by French playwright Magali Mougel, directed by Jean-Pierre Baro, recently opened at the Gate Theatre. The play plunges us into the title characte’s life. Literally. Watch your step as you make your way through the toy-littered floor of Cecile Tremolière’s set. Performed by the magnetic Caoilfhinion Dunne, Suzy Storck carries the weight of the world. She lives with a man (Jonah Russel is utterly believable as Hans Vasilly Kruez) who doesn’t take ‘NO’ for an answer when she claims not to want children. He makes her give up her…read more

May.01
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Is work torture?

Posted by in Blog, Language, News

Whilst in England we all dance in the rain around maypoles, don’t we?….In France, May 1st is much more associated with labour day and the International Worker’s day. It is practically illegal to work, unless you are self-employed or your boss is willing to pay double. Instead we are meant to visit relatives and bring them a sprig of lilies of the valley as the unions (and unfortunately the FN too) take it to the streets in their May 1st rallies. Happy labour day! Vocabulary Le travail: work La fête du travail: literally…read more

Mar.10
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International Women’s Day

Posted by in Blog, History, London, News

This Saturday was international women’s day. We celebrated women’s achievements and the progress that has been made so far in terms of equality. It was important to do so:  as mentioned by Jude Kelly, the artistic director of the the Southbank Centre, where the very inspiring WOW festival was being held:  progress is never immune from a backlash. What is currently happening in Spain where the government is trying to scrap the right to abortion on demand is a nearby example of such a  regression. As shared in a recent post, France also has its battles….read more

Happy Valentine’s!

Posted by in Blog, News

Today most people celebrate Valentine’s Day but in 1970’s France it was still quite rare. Not everyone knew what it was. To mark the day, INA shared an old report featuring  street interviews of young and older men. I wonder why no women feature in the report. Maybe it was considered unseemly? But then, the reporter was female… Anyway, the video is interesting! It allows for a bit of time travelling and the soundtrack features some old love songs. My favourite is Brassens’ song Les amoureux des bancs publics Here…read more

Feb.14
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What’s in a word?

Posted by in Blog, Language, News

The french word genre, in its most common usage means ‘type, sort’. It is used as such in English to talk about an artistic style, mainly a cinema style. For example the ‘horror genre’…And in French it is also used to talk about ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ within grammar; as you may know, French nouns are either one or the other. In recent years the word has also been used as a translation of the English ‘gender’ specifically in the context of ‘gender studies’. Indeed, if you open  a French dictionary, it is…read more

Feb.05
1

London’s SkyCycle project

Posted by in Blog, News

Paris led the way with the ‘velibs‘ and London followed with the Boris bikes. More and more people use bicycles as way to get around in the city but some of us remain (rightly so) concerned that the life on the road is dangerous for a cyclist. Here is an idea for a  ‘cycle highway’ which would make it a much more pleasant and safe experience in London. Read the French summary of this GQ Magazine article.

Jan.10
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8 reasons not to lose faith in France

Posted by in Blog, News

As a response to the  current wave of ‘French bashing‘, the French ambassador in London wrote a 10 point statement in English. And,  in French, Le Monde also gives 8 reasons to keep believing in France. It contradicts certain stereotypes which, for example, see the French as lazy workers who take 2 hour lunch breaks. Interestingly, French workers would be the 3rd most productive in the world.

Jan.10
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French bashing

Posted by in Blog, News

I’ve recently come across the expression ‘French bashing‘. This term is used to describe the exaggeratedly negative views expressed about France and its economy by -mainly- English speaking journalists. And since the year started, the tradition of French bashing has apparently been re-awoken, and a multitude of negative articles have been published in the US and the UK, prompting outraged and sarcastic responses alike. So… what are the key ingredients of a a bad article on France? Amongst others, Slate.fr lists a  wrong figure, a reference to the 75% tax or…read more

Jan.07
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