Plum Viewing

Welcome to the latest edition of Plum Viewing, my weekly roundup of arts and culture to enjoy online.

Hello lovely readers. As I type this, Mr. Fairs and I are packing to spend a magical weekend with friends, a pool and an outdoor pizza oven. Could life get any better? No, it could not. Needless to say, we are thrilled to be in the company of other people again. It has been a LONG time coming and I plan to enjoy every minute of it.

So, on that happy note, here are this week’s picks. Enjoy!

Let’s start at Joe’s Pub and their wonderful series, Duets. Here’s the concept:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many artists were feeling out of their element in their creative practices. To help solve this, Joe’s Pub commissioned 8 collaborative pieces, bringing together two artists/performers who have never worked together. Yesterday, July 15 marked the premiere of Shapeshifting Game, a collaboration between Dana Lyn, a composer and fiddler and Leonard Cruz, a dancer and choreographer. You can watch it for free on the Joe’s Pub Youtube channel here.

London’s Orange Tree Theatre is streaming Last Easter, a play that has been described as a ‘feel good death drama’ (on this alone, I’m hooked!). Four friends take a road trip to Lourdes after discovering that one of the friends has a secondary cancer and a limited time to live. I know I still have a bit more convincing to do to sell you on this, so here goes: at its core, it’s a play about friendship, with all the warmth, laughs and tears that come with it. The Guardian gives it 4 stars and calls it, “all messy, imperfect, cheesy, too loud and gabbling but supremely lovable despite its flaws, or perhaps because of them — just like a lifelong friend.” This sounds like exactly what we need at the moment. It is streaming on July 22 and 23 and you can reserve your ticket here.

This week also marks the beginning of Toronto’s Fringe Festival, which this year is all digital. Streaming from July 21–31, it feature 65+ productions from around the world, which you can stream or watch live. There are also a host of free events as part of their POSTSCRIPT Live(stream) series, and an interactive virtual reality patio space on gather.town. You can purchase a membership (which I think is $13 for three shows) or from July 21, you can opt for the ‘pay what you can’ option. You can see the full line-up here.

Ok, here’s a shocker dear readers, Mr. Fairs and I like to enjoy a nice cocktail in the evening (well, not every evening of course. Sometimes there’s wine instead!). And, to provide a bit of atmosphere for our evening cocktail, we have been known to add music. I stumbled on this today and thought, now this might work nicely indeed: Sir Simon Rattle conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, recorded live at the London’s Barbican Centre in September, 2017. So complex, so beautifully executed. Enjoy it here. (cocktails not included but happy to offer suggestions!)

Ok. It’s summer. Our restaurants and patios are now open again (thank the gods!) and slowly but surely, we are all coming out of our shelters to enjoy these long forgotten treats. Mr Fairs and I enjoyed a gorgeous dinner last night. For anyone planning to visit Montreal this summer (and please do!), you must go to this little gem in the heart of the plateau, Maison Publique. Oh my, what an experience. As we waited for our table, we were treated to a glass of sparkling and then once seated, we simply told our server what we like et voila, food and wine kept appearing. We never once looked at a menu. It was delicious and joyful.

So, to help prepare us for other such culinary experiences, who better to listen to than our favorite chefs. I scoured the 92Y website and found these treats for us. Get yourself a snack because trust me, you will be hungry watching this.

First up: Restaurant recommendations for NYC from our friends at Bon Appetit. After all, we’ll be heading there soon enough!

Next, a favourite in the Fairs’ household (Mr. Fairs has all of his books — lucky me!), Jamie Oliver talking about veggies

And, not to be outdone, fellow brit Nigella Lawson talking about food as only she can.

Enjoy!!

See you next week my lovely readers!

And, an ask: While we’re enjoying these wonderful performances, let’s remember that for the arts organizations producing this incredible content, this is their livelihood; not a hobby. If we can, now is our time to continue to support our incredible arts community!

And, if you’d like to receive Plum Viewing weekly, send me a note at maggiefairs@gmail.com and I will add you to my mailing list.