Latest news with #Man'sBestFriend
The National
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The National
Douglas Maxwell's touching dog-walker play fetches more plaudits
The winning plays – The Sheriff Of Kalamaki (2023-24) and So Young (2024-25) – speak to the profound humanism, the insightful humour and the poetic sensibility in his writing. So, too, does Man's Best Friend – a piece originally written for the lunchtime theatre A Play, A Pie And A Pint – which is now being staged in a new, slightly longer version by the Tron. In this cleverly-structured monodrama, the excellent Jordan Young takes on the role of Ronnie, a young man from Edinburgh who resides in Glasgow, but never quite feels that he belongs there. A professional dog walker, he stumbled into his line of work almost accidentally while walking his own dog during the Covid pandemic. READ MORE: 'Completely unprecedented': BBC cuts live feed for Kneecap Glastonbury performance In the play's very funny first half, Ronnie wanders around designer Becky Minto's ingenious, quasi-abstract set (which manages to evoke simultaneously the paths and hills of Ronnie's walks and the solitary domesticity of his home life). As he does so, he regales us with hilarious tales of the trials and tribulations of walking five dogs attached to the 'central belt'; the dog-walking device he created and which he wears around his waist. Ronnie's encounters with a macho dog trainer and a hippy-ish animal lover are a source of tremendous comedy. So, too, are the dog walker's embarrassed recollections of the incident in which one of the pooches in his care managed to ingest a significant quantity of a well-known energy drink (the consequences of which would be best described as scatological). As Ronnie introduces us to his five charges – Albert (his own dog), Coriander, Fury, Carlos and Rex – illustrator Ross Collins offers us charming canine animations which are projected cleverly onto the set. To synopsise the second half of the play in any detail would be to commit a crime of spoiling so grave as to merit one being dragged through park mud by five energetic mutts. Suffice it to say that a dramatic, dog-related discovery takes Ronnie – and us, the theatre audience – into an emotional space that is radically different from the light-heartedness of the play's opening section. As Ronnie recalls two parallel stories of love and loss, the almost forensically empathetic dimension in Maxwell's writing comes to the fore. The turn in the narrative is executed to great dramatic effect, not only in the author's writing and Young's compelling performance, but also in Minto's set, which (with the help of Grant Anderson's superb lighting design) is transformed powerfully. Director Jemima Levick's production is sensitive and precise in equal measure. Patricia Panther's sound and music are appropriately atmospheric. What begins as a humorous monologue about professional dog walking ends as a touching and hopeful play about our collective experience of Covid and the universal experience of grief.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pop star's latest album cover slammed for depicting ‘humiliation ritual'
Sabrina Carpenter's latest album cover has drawn criticism from fans and media personalities alike. The 'Espresso' singer shared the cover art for her new album, 'Man's Best Friend,' on Instagram Wednesday, June 11. The cover shows the 26-year-old on her hands and knees, with one hand on the leg of a man who has her by the hair. In an interview with Rolling Stone that was done before the album cover was revealed, Carpenter said she was 'living in the glory of no one' knowing anything about the upcoming project. 'I can not care,' Carpenter told the outlet. 'I can not give a (expletive) about it, because I'm just so excited.' While World Music Views said on Facebook 'Man's Best Friend's' cover 'suggest a tongue-in-cheek commentary on power dynamics, gender, and self-possession,' many fans found it repulsive, offensive and degrading to women. 'Are we really gonna use 'irony' as an excuse here?,' one Instagram user commented on Carpenter's post. 'There's NOTHING ironic about this picture.' 'It's not a very empowering image for women,' another user commented. 'I think it's a mistake since most her fans are women and as a DV (domestic violence) survivor, I find it uncomfortable and I'd rather see her empowered than like that.' Other comments included 'this cover art is so disgusting,' 'Sabrina this is not the slay you think it is,' and 'is this a humiliation ritual?' The backlash over the cover for 'Man's Best Friend' was a topic of discussion on 'The View' this week. Alyssa Farah Griffin compared the criticisms to that of other major artists, such as Brittany Spears and Janet Jackson. 'Oh boo-hoo, it sounds like the '90s to complain about an album cover,' she said. 'They're always provocative, you want to grab people's eyes.' Griffin also defended Carpenter by citing her music — including the album's lead single 'Manchild' which just dropped last week — as being 'all about women's empowerment.' Sara Haines then chimed in saying, 'It's an important distinction that she's choosing it and she's the powerful one.' Joy Behar, however, mentioned that messages like these are 'subtle' and that people often miss the deeper meaning. 'People just see pictures. They don't know the fine print a lot of times,' she said. 'I think that imagery is important and even if her lyrics are strong and she's a feminist, I just think about young girls seeing that who may not understand the brand,' added Sunny Hostin, who admitted to not knowing about Carpenter beforehand. Whoopi Goldberg compared the cover to a scene from the 1984 comedy 'This Is Spinal Tap,' in which Fran Drescher's character, Bobbi Flekman, tells Tony Hendra's character, Ian Faith, about the backlash over an 'offensive' and 'sexist' album cover involving a naked woman on all fours wearing a dog collar. 'The girl is doing her thing,' Goldberg said. 'God bless her.' This is not the first time Carpenter's work has sparked controversy. In 2023, the pop star received backlash when she filmed scenes of her dancing provocatively on the altar at the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Brooklyn, New York. The scenes were used in the music video of Carpenter's hit song 'Feather.' Despite the church's pastor claiming he was unaware of the shoot, Carpenter told Variety that she had advance permission, jokingly noting, 'Jesus was a carpenter.' 'Man's Best Friend,' which serves as the follow-up to Carpenter's 2024 Grammy-winning album 'Short n' Sweet,' will be released on Aug. 29. Live Nation to open 18 new venues nationwide, including 1 in New England Iconic rock band teaming up with popular candy for a limited time collab '80s rock icon learned in his 60s he had adult son Country music star's son calls him 'lamest man to ever walk planet earth' With new album out soon, country star has already 'got ideas' for next one Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pop star unveils God-approved alternate version of controversial album cover
Sabrina Carpenter has seemingly responded to accusations that her latest album cover is not the most appropriate. On Wednesday, the pop star unveiled 'a new alternate cover approved by God' of her upcoming album 'Man's Best Friend.' 'I signed some copies of Man's Best Friend for you guys,' Carpenter wrote in an Instagram post. 'Here is a new alternate cover approved by God available now on my website.' The alternate album cover shows a black-and-white photo of the 'Espresso' singer in a shimmery gown putting her hand on a well-dressed man's arm who is facing away from the camera. Carpenter's coy gesture was well-received by fellow musicians and fans alike. ''Approved by god' haha I freaking love you,' one fan wrote. Meanwhile singer Ashe commented, 'Ahahahah I love you,' and rapper Russ simply said, 'lmao.' Carpenter previously received backlash over the cover for 'Man's Best Friend,' which she originally shared on Instagram June 11. The original cover shows the 26-year-old on her hands and knees, with one hand on the leg of a man who has her by the hair. In an interview with Rolling Stone that was done before the album cover was revealed, Carpenter said she was 'living in the glory of no one' knowing anything about the upcoming project. 'I can not care,' Carpenter told the outlet. 'I can not give a (expletive) about it, because I'm just so excited.' While World Music Views said on Facebook 'Man's Best Friend's' cover 'suggest a tongue-in-cheek commentary on power dynamics, gender, and self-possession,' many fans found it repulsive, offensive and degrading to women. 'Are we really gonna use 'irony' as an excuse here?,' one Instagram user commented on Carpenter's post. 'There's NOTHING ironic about this picture.' 'It's not a very empowering image for women,' another user commented. 'I think it's a mistake since most her fans are women and as a DV (domestic violence) survivor, I find it uncomfortable and I'd rather see her empowered than like that.' Other comments included 'this cover art is so disgusting,' 'Sabrina this is not the slay you think it is,' and 'is this a humiliation ritual?' The backlash over the cover for 'Man's Best Friend' was a topic of discussion on 'The View' earlier this month. Alyssa Farah Griffin compared the criticisms to that of other major artists, such as Brittany Spears and Janet Jackson. 'Oh boo-hoo, it sounds like the '90s to complain about an album cover,' she said. 'They're always provocative, you want to grab people's eyes.' Griffin also defended Carpenter by citing her music — including the album's lead single 'Manchild' which just dropped last week — as being 'all about women's empowerment.' Sara Haines then chimed in saying, 'It's an important distinction that she's choosing it and she's the powerful one.' Joy Behar, however, mentioned that messages like these are 'subtle' and that people often miss the deeper meaning. 'People just see pictures. They don't know the fine print a lot of times,' she said. 'I think that imagery is important and even if her lyrics are strong and she's a feminist, I just think about young girls seeing that who may not understand the brand,' added Sunny Hostin, who admitted to not knowing about Carpenter beforehand. Whoopi Goldberg compared the cover to a scene from the 1984 comedy 'This Is Spinal Tap,' in which Fran Drescher's character, Bobbi Flekman, tells Tony Hendra's character, Ian Faith, about the backlash over an 'offensive' and 'sexist' album cover involving a naked woman on all fours wearing a dog collar. 'The girl is doing her thing,' Goldberg said. 'God bless her.' This is not the first time Carpenter's work has sparked controversy. In 2023, the pop star received backlash when she filmed scenes of her dancing provocatively on the altar at the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Brooklyn, New York. The scenes were used in the music video of Carpenter's hit song 'Feather.' Despite the church's pastor claiming he was unaware of the shoot, Carpenter told Variety that she had advance permission, jokingly noting, 'Jesus was a carpenter.' 'Man's Best Friend,' which serves as the follow-up to Carpenter's 2024 Grammy-winning album 'Short n' Sweet,' will be released on Aug. 29. Iconic '80s singer cancels show last minute as travel-weary band 'can barely see' Rock band backs out of legendary metal group's farewell concert Country music star 'doing much better' after having stroke on stage Country music star falls off stage with beer in hand, keeps on singing Legendary punk singer halts show, confronts fan, saying 'I'll beat your ass' Read the original article on MassLive.
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Scotsman
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Theatre reviews: Man's Best Friend The Inquisitor
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Man's Best Friend, Tron Theatre, Glasgow ★★★★ The Inquisitor, Oran Mor, Glasgow ★★★★ The Croft, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh ★★★ It's a truth universally acknowledged that during the pandemic, the relationship between people and their pets gained a whole new significance and intensity. I'm not sure, though, that that inflexion-point in human-pet relations had ever been celebrated in theatre, until the moment in 2022 when Douglas Maxwell's monologue Man's Best Friend first appeared at A Play, A Pie, and A Pint. Jordan Young in Man's Best Friend | Mihaela Bodlovic The monologue tells the story of Ronnie, who, after the tragic loss of his wife, and a decision to walk away from his job, finds himself - as the world opens up again - working as a dog-walker to five rowdy canine charges, four of them owned by his Glasgow neighbours. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Now Ronnie reappears - at the Tron and on tour - in an expanded 80 minute version of the play, directed by Jemima Levick, and performed by Scotsquad star Jordan Young; and three years on, Man's Best Friend emerges as an even more powerful response to a moment in history that changed so many lives, and left unresolved pain in so many hearts. In this version, the show receives a slightly more elaborate staging, courtesy of designer Becky Minto and lighting designer Grant Anderson. In truth, though, it hardly needs them, so clearly does the play's strength lie in Douglas Maxwell's writing - often hilariously funny, yet also profound, and sometimes richly poetic - and in the performance at the centre of the show. In this version, Young takes centre stage as a fine tragi-comic actor at the absolute height of his powers; younger than Jonathan Watson's original Ronnie, but all the more poignantly lost for that - until the play's pivotal moment, when his own dog leads him towards s shocking discovery that, at last, begins to awaken him from the long sleep of grief. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad This week's final spring season Play, Pie and Pint show is likewise a profound and thoughtful monologue; but in Peter Arnott's The Inquisitor - a 2007 play restaged to mark Arnott's 40th anniversary as a playwright - the speaker is not alone. He is an investigator conducting a final interview with a man accused of terrorism; but he finds that his interviewee will not speak, and sits in silence throughout the encounter. The effect is to create a monologue in which the speaker - powerfully played by Tom McGovern - spends an all but fruitless hour trying to bring his interviewee (an eloquently silent Michael Guest) back from his exalted commitment to a martyr's death, to the compromised, messy yet magical stuff of ordinary human life. McGovern's style, in making these arguments, is deliberately quixotic, and a shade hyperactive, as if he barely trusts Arnott's powerful words to carry the weight of the play. Carry it they do, though; to a conclusion that has only become more telling, as definitions of terrorism and hate crime grow ever more far-reaching, and the morality of those in power ever more compromised, and contested. The Croft | Contributed There's no such gravitas, alas, about Ali Milles's touring play The Croft, at the Festival Theatre, which takes a potentially powerful drama about love between women across three generations - all connected to a remote seaside croft in the western Highlands - and makes the fundamental mistake of trying to turn it into a horror movie. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad An impressive cast give the show their best shot, with Gracie Follows and Caroline Harker as lovers Laura and Suzanne, and Liza Goddard as 19th century crofter Enid, all turning in bold performances. In the end, through, a dramatic script has to play to its strengths; and here, that strength lies in the portrayal of brave women trying to defy patriarchal thinking down the ages, rather than in the cheap suggestion of some nameless supernatural evil, lurking in the very stones of the place.
Elle
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Elle
Sabrina Carpenter Is a Scene-Stealer in a Cinched Blazer and Skirt at Dior's Menswear Show
THE RUNDOWN Sabrina Carpenter took a break from touring and promoting her upcoming album, Man's Best Friend, this afternoon and joined Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, and other stars at the Dior menswear show in Paris. The collection marks creative director Jonathan Anderson's debut at the French fashion house. Carpenter channeled Dior's iconic New Look, wearing a blazer cinched at the waist with a pleated gray midi skirt. Her blonde hair was styled straight with curled ends. She added a black barrette, which matched her black Lady Dior bag. This is Carpenter's first Dior show, and she made the most of the milestone as she posed for photos: Carpenter made headlines this week when she introduced the alternate cover for Man's Best Friend after her initial cover sparked widespread discussion. 'Here is a new alternate cover approved by God,' she wrote on Instagram. Earlier this month, Carpenter spoke to Rolling Stone about her decision to release a new album while on tour for her 2024 album, Short n' Sweet. 'If I really wanted to, I could have stretched out Short n' Sweet much, much longer,' she said. 'But I'm at that point in my life where I'm like, 'Wait a second, there's no rules.' If I'm inspired to write and make something new, I would rather do that. Why would I wait three years just for the sake of waiting three years? It's all about what feels right. I'm learning to listen to that a lot more, instead of what is perceived as the right or wrong move.' Of Man's Best Friend, she said, 'I'm living in the glory of no one hearing it or knowing about it, and so I can not care. I can not give a fuck about it [feedback], because I'm just so excited.' She added of its creation process, 'I've really just been making things, excited about them, and then continuing forth. Not to be dramatic, but what can I do while my legs still work? I'm limber, let's use it. My brain is sharp, let's write. I try not to get sad about the fact that nothing lasts forever, but genuinely, it's such a beautiful time right now. I want to soak it up and keep making things while I'm feeling this way.'
