An Audience with Joan Bakewell - Hull Truck theatre Monday 10th November. By Steven Hall

Joan Bakewell is a wonderful speaker. That should come as no surprise really, she is one of the great pioneers of TV journalism and in her time she has interviewed everyone - from Margaret Thatcher all the way to Marcel Duchamp. But knowing that someone is a great speaker and actually hearing them speak are two different things. Bakewell's tone, delivery, her pauses and her pitch were all perfectly perfect. It was great just to listen to her voice.

Bakewell spoke about events in her life and illustrated these with readings from her autobiography. She spoke about the sexism women experienced at university in the 50's and of the powerful male bias which existed within the BBC (and in society generally) at that time. She spoke about the huge changes the 60's brought, and how many of our present-day ideas of social fairness and equality came about within such a short space of time. She talked about Late Night Line Up and her belief that the 60's were the golden age of intelligent television, making the suggestion that the dumbing down debate really began over forty years ago.

She also shared her thoughts on the problems with modern television and the processes involved in commissioning it: Bakewell believes that the ongoing strategy of intensive focus groups which ask people what they would like to see on television naturally produces unoriginal programming - people can only voice their preferences based on programmes which already exist, and this inevitably leads to more of the same types of programmes being commissioned. Bakewell suggested that the focus group system could never have produced the completely innovative Monty Python's Flying Circus, for example.

Bakewell spoke about her life chronologically, taking questions from the audience when her story reached the present day. Although this was very interesting and she was wonderful to listen to, I couldn't help but feel we were being treated to a polished performance, and the real Joan Bakewell was never truly accessible. Bakewell is a wonderful speaker and without any doubt a remarkable person, but I still left the theatre feeling that I hadn't really met her.

Continued on www.thisisull.com...... The Humber Mouth Homepage.

Reviews - Readers Day: Jake Arnott, Julia Darling, Patric Gale, James Nash By Humber Mouth Critic Steve Hall
	Jake Arnott - Author of the hugely (and rightfully) successful novel The Long Firm and its two sequels He Kills Coppers and truecrime, Arnott's work to date has explored crime, crime culture and criminals in stark, dirty, realistic and above all, disturbingly human manner. His novels stand as an important counterpoint to the brown tinted, stylised mockney gangster-ism of films like Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and .. Read more...

Humber Mouth Reviews - Shopping and F**king - Hull Truck Theatre - Friday 14th November By Cilla
	I'm not sure when I've been more confused or out of my depth or maybe too tired or something - but I didn't enjoy this evening at all. Maybe I should have been more suspicious when I saw the St. Johns Ambulance team with their resuscitation gear sitting in the audience. After it was finished, I turned to my friend Ruth and said 'Can you explain that to me? I didn't get that at all? What was the story?' She looked back blankly and said 'I was hoping that maybe you could tell me'. Read more...

Reviews Humber Mouth - Jeremy Hardy vs the Israeli Army. By James Russell.
	Leila Sansour is a Palestinian. Her parent's home was destroyed during an operation carried out by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). Jeremy Hardy is a stand-up comedian, and a long-time supporter of left-wing causes. Read more...

Reviews - Sun 9th Nov Ibsen vs. Strindberg. By Steve Hall
	By Humber Mouth Critic Steve Hall On Sunday night you go to see Ibsen vs. Strindberg at Kingston Rowing Club. Not quite knowing where the venue is, you order a taxi. Your taxi diver drives you to the end of Beresford Avenue, which ends in a line of trees and darkness. Naturally, you are confused by this. You say something like: Read more...

Reviews - Creative Afternoon with the Hull and East Yorkshire MIND Step Up and Arts in Mind projects.
	Sat 8th Nov Reviewed by Michelle Dee The Way of Things and Look at You - Look at Me! The lights went down to murmurs of excitement and expectation inside the Live Arts Space for the premier of Caroline Mendelsohn's, "The Way of Things," a captivating film exploring the idea of change. The film was made with the help of pupils from Issac Newton, Henry Cooper and Thoresby Schools. Read more...

Reviews - Writers Day: Russell T Davies, Jill Dawson, James Nash, Lee Karen Stow.
	By Humber Mouth Critic Steve Hall Russell T Davies is a giant in every sense of the word. Physically he stands at around six foot five, with his personality and infectious enthusiasm being even larger. And of course professionally he is taller still; he’s simply one of the best, bravest and most imaginative scriptwriters to have made television in Britain in the last ten years. Read more...

Reviews - The Warren Center Humber Mouth Opening Event.
	By Mo Directly after the Humber Mouth Launch party, I accompanied Maggie Hannan to 'The Warren Centre' to take some photos and get a taste for what the Humber Mouth Festival is all about. This is my first time, and I'm certainly not a writer, far less a critic, leave that to the experts Maggie and Steve that is, but here's a glimpse of what I experienced at Freedom of Expression 7:30 that night. Read more...

Reviews - The Remedy - Renegade Writers at the George
	By Cilla We don't often get a night out but tonight was it. It was change for me to put on a frock and do my hair, have a few drinks and be entertained. But I had to get out my pen and start writing, didn't I? I'm not a critic at all, but this is what I made of the night. If you missed it you should try and get there next time. Read more...