Nick Hennegan presents your Holiday Season requests with Cerys Matthews and Dylan Thomas, a history of Christmas… and gives you a few bad Christmas Cracker jokes!
Also on BohemianBritain.com
Sunday 18 December 2022
Thursday 15 December 2022
Christmas, Carol and Cerys!
We get festive with Cerys Matthews and Nick Hennegan talks about his version and plays part of A Christmas Carol which he's adapted and directed and is currently touring the UK, performed by Olivier award-winner Guy Masterson!
Also on BohemianBritain.com
Thursday 8 December 2022
A Christmas Carol… by…er… Me! (And Charles Dickens. And Wheelers Lane Junior School..!)
Nick Hennegan launches the festive season by exploring his relationship with Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, including how his Junior School helped inspire a current UK tour with Guy Masterson. It features a reading by the Olivier Award-winning actor. With Music by Cerys Matthews and Robb Williams.
For details of where you can see the show now, see www.TheChristmasCarol.co.uk
Sunday 27 November 2022
Soho, Pubs, Karl Marx and Dylan Thomas
Nick Hennegan looks at Soho, Pubs on Dean Street, Karl Marx andDylan Thomas with his lost script and A Visit To America.
Also on www.BohemianBritain.com
Saturday 12 November 2022
Author interview: Meet first time singer/songwriter - Esme White.
Nick Hennegan talks to young London-based New Yorker, singer songwriter Esme White, about her first single Pearly Gate Crashers and her career to date. See the video at -www.BohemianBritain.com
Wednesday 9 November 2022
How early failure can lead to success later in creative careers.
A Bohemian lifestyle guide..!
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
Failing early in our careers can make us question whether we are on the right path. We may look at people who have succeeded from the outset and wonder why it doesn’t come so easily to us. Classical violinist Nigel Kennedy, actor Natalie Portman and painter Pablo Picasso are examples of young geniuses who were successful early on.
But for some of us, failure at the beginning of our careers is important to later success. For many creatives, how we deal with those moments when things aren’t going right or you’ve received yet another rejection letter can make or break us.
The author and self-improvement lecturer Dale Carnegie maintained that inaction breeds doubt and fear; action creates confidence and courage, which inevitably ends up helping a person to succeed. This chimes with what American psychologist Carol Dweck outlines in her 2006 book Mindset.
Dweck discusses the concept of people with a “fixed mindset” versus a “growth mindset”. The former is a way of thinking where there is a lack of self-belief and a negative persona while the latter is where no challenge or task is too large to take on board. Which mindset you have dictates how you will interpret failure and success and how well you approach everyday life.
A passion for learning and a desire to improve upon failure creates opportunities to learn and challenge yourself. This mentality is a boon to creatives. While yes, there are the Picassos and Portmans of the world, there are also a few famous creatives who had to overcome failure early on in their careers. These individuals demonstrate the “growth mindset”.
Rejection doesn’t have to kill dreams
A young schoolteacher from Maine, US, was a passionate part-time writer who worked tirelessly trying to get his novels published (unsuccessfully) in the late 1960s. He continued to believe in himself and chase the dream of becoming a successful author. But sometimes the reality of failure gets the better of a person and after 30 rejections he famously threw his fourth attempt at a novel away.
Fortunately, the manuscript was saved by his wife who, having confidence in his work, persuaded him to continue trying. Eventually, the novel was sold for an advance of £2000, a nice bonus for a schoolteacher. The publishing rights were ultimately purchased for an additional £200,000 and the novel Carrie turned Stephen King into a household name.
A young Stephen King failed to get his first three books published and nearly gave up on the fourth. Archivo/Alamy
Dreams can propel us forward but they can also be crushed by rejection. The composer Johnathon Larson spent years working on his 1991 musical Superbia only for it to be turned down by theatre producers. He was told by his agent to “go away and write something you know about”.
This was a crushing moment for Larson. Eight years of work rejected. However, he listened to the advice and his next musical Rent premiered on Broadway in 1996, becoming a box office sensation. The semi-autobiographical Tick, Tick Boom, which Larson began performing as a one-man show in 1990, went on to also be a hit when it premiered in 2001. It has recently been turned into a major motion picture directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda (creator of Hamilton).
Larson’s secret was to learn from failure and take on the advice given to him. He used that experience to propel himself forward. Sadly, Larson never witnessed his triumph, he died on the eve of Rent’s Broadway premier in 1996 from an aortic dissection. But his life, including his failures, made him successful. His roadblocks became his inspiration. Both of his successful productions tell the stories of larger-than-life characters struggling with their failings while trying to achieve a degree of success.
Overcoming difficult circumstances
There are situations in life that conspire to make us fail. However, adversity can often act as a springboard of determination to succeed. My turning point as a youngster was failing my grade five music theory exam. That one singular event, although heartbreaking, made me determined to succeed in music and become a composer and producer of Scottish Musicals.
Others deal with much more difficult circumstances. Imagine being homeless, penniless with partial facial paralysis, yet dreaming of an acting career. Never-ending rejection from talent scouts and agents, hours of waiting for appointments that never materialise, such a life would be demoralising. However, the realisation of personal failure can become the catalyst for success.
This real-life scenario eventually earned Sylvester Stallone over £178 million and catapulted his writing and acting career to stardom. He didn’t let these circumstances, which led to failure, stop him. The key here is that he believed in his ability and that drove him onward. Continual failure reinforced his resolve to succeed.
Steven Spielberg had poor high school grades and was rejected three times from film school. He battled through his early career failures before eventually directing 51 films and winning three Oscars. Again, it was his perseverance and self-belief that drove his determination to succeed.
We might never become the next Spielberg, King, or Larson but the lesson learned from their experiences is a sharp reminder of the mantra of playwright Samuel Beckett:
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Failure is not damaging, it is part of a proactive progression and once we learn to accept that we might be unstoppable. I eventually passed my grade five theory exam and went on to get two degrees and a Ph.D. in musical theatre, the rest is history … my personal history began with a failure for which I am very proud.
Stephen Langston
Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for Performance, University of the West of Scotland writing for The Conversation.
Saturday 5 November 2022
Author Interview - Elika Ansari and The Worst Refugee camp on Earth
Nick Hennegan talks to writer Elika Ansari, about her new novel, ‘The Five Stages of Moria: “The Worst Refugee Camp on Earth”’ based on true stories from her time as a worker in the camp.
See the video recording at www.BohemianBritain.com
Saturday 29 October 2022
MUSIC FROM THE EDINBURGH FRINGE - PART TWO!
Nick Hennegan presents unique music from some of the new musicals he attended at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022 - including a new folk musical - Prejudice and Pride, the classic The Choir Of Man - and the new ballet, Hamlet, starring Sir Ian McKellen.
Also at www.BohemianBritain.com
Wednesday 19 October 2022
MUSIC FROM THE FESTIVAL - PART ONE!
Nick Hennegan presents unique music from some of the new musicals he attended at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2022 - including the new ballet, Hamlet, staring Sir Ian McKellen.
Wednesday 12 October 2022
National Poetry Day - 2022
Nick Hennegan celebrates National Poetry Day with poems from some of the greatest names in the world... and some of his own!
Also on BohemianBritain.com
Tuesday 11 October 2022
Iphigenia in Splott
🍷🍷🍷🍷 🥃 (4 glasses out of 5, PLUS a shot !)
It’s always a novelty going to see a play with a name you find hard to pronounce! But having done a bit of research (you’re welcome!) it turns out the story is based, as so many brilliant stories are, on an Ancient Greek myth. And Splott is in Wales.
So good, so classical. But there is a burning contemporary edge to this story. Set in Wales, the modern name for our heroine is Effie… a Slapper and Dirty Skank. Although, of course, she is neither of these.
To be honest, I always get a bit nervous, when ‘working-class’ characters are presented through the prism of largely middle-class theatre practitioners. And this does miss a few beats and isn’t perfect — we occasionally lose some of the dialogue — but generally writer Garry Owen has created a classic character that I identify with as working-class myself. I instantly recognised and sympathised with the frustration of few opportunities, lack of self-worth and over compensation for an emptiness many working class people feel.
Sophie Melville gives a great performance that mixes elements of a wild Irvine Welsh character and a still Alan Ayckbourn monologue. Indeed, having just returned from the home of one-person shows, the Edinburgh Fringe, (where this show appeared some time ago) it is full of paradoxes: a monologue constrained by singularity through its form, but a production which feels peopled by an entire Welsh town. And an epic tragedy captured by a white working-class woman with no hint of ‘Vicky Pollard’ despite her scraped-back hair, snarls, three day piss-ups, hangovers and street brawls. She is eminently ordinary but exceptional in her heroism, too. And director Rachel O’Riordanmust take credit for her pacing and variation of the piece — and of course, for commissioning Gary Owen’s lyrical script back in 2015.
It’s a modern classic in a beautiful theatre and feels even more relevant now than when it was first created in Austerity Britain. The play is brutally effective in depicting the human cost of the cuts and closures and ends on a note of accusatory fury. Yet its politics are surprisingly subtle.
The name may be a bit confusing, but this is a quality piece that makes perfect sense. Go see it.
Thursday 6 October 2022
The Chiswick Book Festival party Part 3 - and new writing venue TheSpaceUK in Edinburgh!
Nick Hennegan was at the 14th Chiswick Book Festival, at the local author's party, where the writers have 2 minutes against the clock to talk about their books - or get ‘horned’ off! This is the final part. And we hear from the founders of The Space UK - enterprising venues at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Also at BoheminaBritain.com
Monday 26 September 2022
Chiswick Book Festival Writers Party - Part Two!
Nick Hennegan was at the 14th Chiswick Book Festival, at the local author's party, where the writers have 2 minutes against the clock to talk about their books - or get ‘horned’ off! Part Two of Three!
Also at BoheminaBritain.com
Thursday 15 September 2022
Bohemian Britain at the Chiswick Book Festival 22
Nick Hennegan was at the 14th Chiswick Book Festival, at the local authors party, where the writers have 2 minutes against the clock to talk about their books - or get ‘horned’ off!
Also at BoheminaBritain.com
Monday 5 September 2022
Life after the Edinburgh Fringe... and before!
After the Edinburgh Festival Fringe finishes, Nick Hennegan revisits his old haunts in Stratford-on-Avon near the Royal Shakespeare Company, where his theatre ventures first began - back in the 1990's!
Tuesday 30 August 2022
Week…? Oh heck.. the last day!
Nick Hennegan’s VERY Rough Guide to the Fringe. He presents quick updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe! On his last day in the Scottish Capital!
Also at BohemianBritain.com
Friday 26 August 2022
Watson - The Final Problem, at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Rating: 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
5 out of 5. The Full bottle!
We all know about Sherlock Holmes and his arch-enemy, Moriarty. And we all know about Holmes' best friend, Watson.
But do we?
Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street is a world-wide Literary Legend. Indeed, I've quite recently interviewed an author who has been commissioned to write new Sherlock stories. Have a fumble through this blog and you'll find it!
But here, at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, Watson is touchingly alone. His beloved wife Mary and the great Sherlock Holmes are both gone. London seethes with false reports and rumours. So it is time to set the record straight.
What the hugely talented Tim Marriott has done, with co-writer and director Bert Coules, is give us a fresh and fantastic take on the whole Sherlock Holmes and Watson story and what really happened with the two friends from Watson's partisan point of view.
You need no previous knowledge of Sherlock Holmes. Tim (forever famous for playing Gavin in the rather brilliant BBC sitcom The Brittas Empire) takes us on an adventure that is both epic, yet strangely emotional. Watson, the now lonely old soldier, is very keen to do the right thing by everyone - especially Holmes. Marriott brings a very relevant characterisation to a fictional conceit and plays the various characters - including of course, Holmes - with a nuanced talent which is both intimate yet expansive.
Watson, the old soldier, has a story to tell. And we get an entertaining Boys-Own romp with an adult and emotional heart.
Elementary, my dear Marriott.
Day four… no! Week 3!
Nick Hennegan’s VERY Rough Guide to the Fringe. He presents quick updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe! This time, Sir Ian McKellen, Sherlock Holmes and Scrummie Mummies!
Also at BohemianBritain.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bohemianbritain/message
Monday 22 August 2022
Robin and the Newbury Youth Theatre.
Nick Hennegan’s VERY Rough Guide to the Fringe. He presents updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe! Here we find out about a youth company in Edinburgh
Also at BohemianBritain.com
Friday 19 August 2022
The SPACEUK Edinburgh 22 Launch!
Nick Hennegan blasts off with full coverage of the SpaceUK venue launch for the Edinburgh Fringe, 2022.
Contains some strong language and adult themes.
Also on BohemianBritian.com
Thursday 18 August 2022
Levy The Fringe Legend
Nick Hennegan's Rough Guide to the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe continues with the creator of Fringe Review, Paul Levy. Also on BohemianBritain.com
Brendans Eulogy for Roman
Nick Hennegan talks to American Brendan George about his time at the Edinburgh Fringe with A Eulogy for Roman.
Also on Bohemian Britain.com
Edinburgh 2022 - Izzy's First Time!
Nick Hennegan talks to first-time theatre producer Izzy Parriss about her first ever production and launch at the Edinburgh Fringe, Dear Little Loz.
Also on Bohemian Britain.com
Ed Fringe 2022 - Heather's 'Room WIth A View'
Nick Hennegan’s VERY Rough Guide to the Fringe. He presents quick updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe! Here he finds out about an adaptation of Virginia Woolf's speeches with Heather Alexander, a former Pans People dancer!
Also at BohemianBritain.com.
Monday 15 August 2022
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe. How much does it cost to take a show to the biggest open Arts Festival in the World?
It’s a question I’m often asked. My first Edinburgh Fringe was in 1992. And it cost me nothing. Zero. Zilch! Other than beer and food, of course! And I wasn’t COMPLETELY happy about that!
I feel a bit click-bait about this, but if you know me, you’ll know I’ve never been as commercial as I should be. I’ve also only recently realised that I’m actually very experienced when it comes to the Edinburgh Festival having been there most years since 1992.
So, how much does it cost? The short answer is it can be hugely expensive. This year, 2022, ironically, post-lockdown, perhaps more than most! Accommodation, particularly, has rocketed. But it doesn’t have to be. If you are an artist reading this, the first question you need to ask yourself is - WHY do Edinburgh? We all kinda know the answer. Probably everyone you’ve ever seen in comedy on British TV was ‘discovered’ in Edinburgh. The whole theatre and TV industry decamps to Scotland for the festival in August. But don't let the idea of fame and fortune be your only motivation. It's a sobering fact that the average audience in the Fringe is four. Yep, four people. I've been to productions where I'm the only person in the audience!
It’s also worth clarifying what the Edinburgh Festival is. It’s actually a number of different festivals. The Fringe was a radical reaction to the very posh International Festival started after the Second World War. Which was a Very Good Thing! But then, 75 years ago this very year, a bunch of Oxbridge type students (I think) decided to 'ambush' the Posh Festival and be 'alternative'. I put these words in quotation marks, because what was then the Fringe has now become the biggest open arts festival in the world.
So, should you go? Maybe. Are you doing Comedy? Look at the Free Fringes. There's a couple of them. You have to do your own door-keeping and I'm not sure they're so good for drama, but let me know if you disagree. It's no frills, pass the hat around afterwards, and you may not make your student accommodation rent (oh, and by the way, in spite of the madness of the Scottish Government changing the rules this year, try and get student accommodation for August. It'll cost more than a Chelsea flat, but less than the £10.5k I was quoted for a 3 bed flat this August!!)
And, mainly, expect nothing, but have fun!
Week 2? My Birthday, Sherlock Holmes and Les Dawson!
Nick Hennegan’s VERY Rough Guide to the Fringe. He presents quick updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe! Also at BohemainBritain.com
Thursday 11 August 2022
Bohemian Brains at the Bar!
Nick Hennegan's VERY rough guide to the Edinburgh Fringe continues when he grabs a word with Edinburgh Fringe venue The SpaceUK creators, Charlie and John. In a bar, of course!
And thanks to the Assembly Festival for supplying the brilliant Club Bar! Home to much Bohemian Creativity
Wednesday 10 August 2022
Edinburgh Fringe Tuesday? A sell out and the USA!
Nick Hennegan's VERY rough guide to the Edinburgh Fringe.
Not sure what day it is - but we sold out Winston and David at the Edinburgh Fringe and there's talk of the USA - gee wiz!
Tuesday 9 August 2022
The end of Day one. I think.
Nick Hennegan presents quick updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe!
Also at BohemainBritain.com
Edinburgh Festival Day One. (Not really!)
Nick Hennegan presents quick updates from the World's Biggest Open Arts Festival - the Edinburgh 2022 Fringe!
Also at BohemainBritain.com
Thursday 14 July 2022
Percy Bysshe Shelley - drowned at 29 years old, 200 years ago!
Nick Hennegan (in the pub!) marks the 200th anniversary of the passing of one of Britain's best-loved poets, Percy Bysshe Shelley who drowned at the age of 29, a relative, if controversial, unknown. Nick looks at one of his most famous poems.
Friday 1 July 2022
Shakespeare's Globe Burns Down!
29th June 1613. The Globe Theatre, London - a short history, a few speeches and a few tunes too with Nick Hennegan.
Wednesday 15 June 2022
London Writers - Focus on Fitzrovia!
Nick Hennegan looks at the famous writers and locations of Fitzrovia, London W1.
Thursday 2 June 2022
In Conversation with 'Call the Midwife' creator, Heidi Thomas.
Nick Hennegan attended the House of St Barnabas Private Members Club in Soho for a conversation with acclaimed Writer and Producer Heidi Thomas, arranged by the Sandford St Martin Trust. Part One of Two.
Saturday 14 May 2022
Dylan Thomas Day - and Cerys Matthews.
This week Nick Hennegan celebrates the annual Dylan Thomas Day, with a reading from the man himself and Thomas-inspired music from the fabulous Cerys Matthews.
Also at www.BohemianBritain.com
Saturday 30 April 2022
Welsh Holiday Stories!
This time Nick Hennegan is writing in Wales, bumping into a Craft Beer House in Aberystwyth and sharing holiday stories with Dylan Thomas! Also on BohemianBritain.com
Sunday 24 April 2022
Celebrating Shakespeare
On the Bard's Birthday, Nick Hennegan presents a tapestry of Shakespeare happenings, from famous speeches by John Gielgud and Sir Laurence Olivier, to modern music from the 'Shakespeare In Love' movie and Hennegan's own 'Hamlet - Horatio's Tale', by Robb Williams. On Resonance 104.4fm and BohemianBritain.com
Thursday 7 April 2022
Soho Poly returns!
The original Fringe space - and the first home of the Soho Theatre - that allowed some famous writers, directors and actors to cut their teeth, celebrates its 50th anniversary - by reopening after being abandoned for years! Nick Hennegan went to find out what's happening for Resonance 104.4fm and BohemianBritain.com
Monday 28 March 2022
Rare Irish Writers - W.B. Yeats and Sean O’Casey - celebrate St Patrick’s Day.
This time Nick Hennegan plays some very rare recordings of WB Yeats and Sean O’Casey to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.
Thursday 17 March 2022
Films inspired by Shakespeare
This time Nick Hennegan is at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-on-Avon, where, amongst the swans and the boats, he runs down modern films inspired by the Bard!
Monday 28 February 2022
Writers of London - Part 1 - West London
Nick Hennegan looks at some of the world famous writers who made their home in West London. Including a tragic tale of Peter Pan!
Thursday 17 February 2022
A Ulysses Virgin!
Celebrating the centenary of its publication, join Nick Hennegan as, for the very first time, he reads the first part of Ulysses, by James Joyce on Resonance 104.4fm and https://bohemianbritain.com
Saturday 5 February 2022
Tuesday 1 February 2022
Murder in Chiswick! (and New York!)
Nick Hennegan talks to Chiswick crime-writer SR Garrae, about her writing and the life-changing circumstances that saw her quit the corporate world and start her new career.
See it at BohemainBritain.com
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BL935WY.
Wednesday 26 January 2022
Julius Green, Agatha Christie, Spies and the West End!
West End Theatre Producer Julius Green talks to Nick Hennegan about theatre and his THREE books – on Agatha Christie – A Life In The Theatre, Stars and Spies and How To Produce A West End Show. Blood Brothers by Willy Russell features!
Friday 21 January 2022
Thursday 20 January 2022
Cahal and Nick celebrate WB Yeats in London!
Broadcaster, writer and producer Nick Hennegan – on Resonance 104.4fm and The London Literary Pub Crawl YouTube Channel and BohemianBritain.com – talks to poet and critic Cahal Dallat about an ambitious project to raise funds to celebrate W.B Yeats and his upbringing in Bedford Park, Chiswick, West London.
For further details see - www.wbyeatsbedfordpark.com.
Or Twitter @YeatsBedfordPk
Wednesday 12 January 2022
Poet Cahal Dallat, WB Yeats and Chiswick, West London.
An interview with broadcaster, writer and producer Nick Hennegan – on Resonance 104.4fm and the Maverick Theatre Company YouTube Channel and BohemianBritain.com – with poet and critic Cahal Dallat about an ambitious project to raise funds to celebrate W.B Yeats and his upbringing in Bedford Park, Chiswick, West London. For further details see - www.wbyeatsbedfordpark.com. Or Twitter @YeatsBedfordPk
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