Proteus Recommends

Resident office horror/thriller fans Mary G and Janet have been devouring time-travelling German noir thriller DARK (our words, not theirs!), an utterly gripping, nail-biting, mind-bending story of the interweaving lives of residents in a small town, and a great study of cause and effect. Our Artistic Director Mary S. has been gripped by BBC documentary ‘Once Upon A Time In Iraq, beautifully put together with well-chosen interviewees. Although the series is a documentary, each episode has a distinctive story arc, and despite being a a tough watch at times with some graphic and distressing footage, it is unexpectedly funny and hopeful.

We’ve been heading down a podcast rabbit hole after rediscovering the Adam Buxton podcast and listening to the episode that was recorded live from the London Podcast festival (highly recommended) with George the Poet. We’ve subsequently discovering George’s own podcast which can only be described as being a beautiful education. This man has a breathtaking way with words, such a unique way of approaching narrative and the ability to connect so personally with the listener on a subject that they may never have arrived at otherwise. We urge you to listen: Have you heard George’s podcast?

It seems no coincidence that the themes of myths, legends and history are running through the team’s current reads. From Pat Barker’s Silence of the Girls; a re-imagining of Homer’s Illiad through the female lens, and Christopher Hadley’s Hollow Places; examining the truth behind folklore, through to Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other; “a love song to modern Britain and black womanhood” (Waterstones). As 2020 becomes a pivotal year during which many people begin unlearning global racial, patriarchal and societal mytholologies and learning how we can work towards better allyship, questioning what we thought we knew about history and seeking out the stories of the previously unheard, is one of many good places to start.