MY LIST Rosy Carrick
DR Rosy Carrick is a playwright, poet, presenter and actor, and she lives in Hove, in Sussex. She gives talks, lectures and performances in venues all over the world, and Rosy is one of the leading scholars on the work of the Russian revolutionary poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. She is currently on tour with her new show, Musclebound.
I’m currently reading:
It’s a book of poetry, In the Beginning, by the Ukrainian writer Irina Ratushinskaya. A friend gave it to me as a birthday present, and it has turned out to be the most wonderful gift. Irina was an extraordinary lady, a dissident who was actually arrested and accused of plotting against the state through writing – and circulating – her collections of verse. The poor woman even served time in a labour camp, but she still went on writing whenever she could – which shows the power of the written word, doesn’t it? Her life is absolutely fascinating. I’ve loved reading, ever since I was a child, and I was seldom away from the local library, and I borrowed just about every book I was allowed. Back then, there were a lot of Enid Blyton adventures, such as The Faraway Tree and The Enchanted Wood, and I got very interested in time travel, for some reason – the idea that one could cross over a ditch, or open a door, and you’d find yourself in a different world. I also loved Helen Cresswell’s The Moondial.
I’ve been listening to: A wonderful piece of music by Lully, called La Folia, which is also known as folies d’Espagne .Hetookhis inspiration from the oldest noted folk songs and dances from the Iberian peninsular, that’s around the 14th century, and I must have played it hundreds of times. I love my music, but when I moved into my new home here in Hove, I pretty quickly learned that it was far better, if you want to get on with your neighbours, to put on your headphones, rather than turning up your speakers. I was thoroughly enjoying a “concert” from Bon Jovi one day, when I had a visit, asking me to turn down the racket. I gave them a much quieter Joni Mitchell after that.
On TV, I’ve been watching: I don’t have a TV, so I have my laptop hitched up so that I can watch The Crown, and some of it recently has stirred up a lot of memories, because it was all about Princess Diana, and her untimely death. I’m no royalist, but some of the footage was very moving. I’m also a sucker for the revived Gladiators franchise, because I can remember watching it as a youngster. It’s glorious, playful and camp at the highest levels, and my enjoyment is helped by the fact that I love muscle men, and muscly guys. I’ve been to a few body-building contests, and one of the things that I remember vividly is the look of concentration on the faces of the guys when they try to hold a pose – it’s part sadly pathetic, while at the same time being glorious.
The live performance I’d recommend is:
She’s in London in October, at The Bush venue, so I will be going to see Vonda Shepard, the singer, songwriter and actress who is probably best known for her musical involvement with Ally McBeal. She’s released no less than nine studio albums, and three live ones. The McBeal one holds the record for being the bestselling one in the TV soundtrack category. And I’m always scanning the internet to see if there are any performances coming up of the Lully music I mentioned.
My next box set will be (or my last boxed set was….): This will surprise you – it’ll be the entire series of Last of the Summer Wine. I adore it, even if it is, today, rather misogynistic . I love the gentle humour, the accents, the wit, and the landscapes. I’ve even rented the house in Holmfirth where the fictional Nora Batty was supposed to have lived, and when I go up to that town, I always go and pay my respects at the grave of Bill Owen, who is buried there.
The App I couldn’t be without is: WhatsApp, because I send a lot of voice notes, but I do try very hard to keep them relatively short. And then there’s Reverso, which is a great language facility – I have a regular weekly Russian lesson. But I’ve deliberately done without a phone in the past, and I regularly switch mine off, and I put it in a drawer so that I can’t use it. I think that we should all do that from time to time, we rely on phones far too much.
What is right at the top of your “To do” Bucket list?:
It would have been wonderful to have got on the Trans-Siberian express (in third class, where all the real people are) and to have stopped off along the route. But, with Russia as it is, and the war in Ukraine, I don’t think that is going to happen in the near future and, sadly, possibly never.
Musclebound is at the Theatre Deli, Sheffield, Thursday, March 14.