Writing ranges from transcendence to travel, and all back in time for the theatre.Scroll for my latest work or use the topics filters to find more.
In a host of memories
In the bustle and routine of everyday life, it is easy to be both absorbed and disaffected. Today as I pulled a hundred things out of my handbag, a photograph fell out of my diary. It’s a photograph that I forgot that I had, and had not looked at for a long time. The picture…
Podcast: remember, remember
Our ‘Art of Dying Well’ podcasts aim to make death and dying something we can talk about openly without discomfort or fear. Each month we interview a guest on a key topic, engage in a little ‘death chatter’ before getting the view from the ‘chaplain’s chair’. November’s Art of Dying Well podcast, fittingly, looks at…
10 reasons why The Nutcracker is overrated
1. IT IS EXPENSIVE With tickets priced anywhere between £50 and £200, a fun family day to the theatre will be quick to burn a hole in your pocket. 2. IT IS OLD FASHIONED Whilst billed as a Children’s Christmas classic, it is difficult to find a little boy or girl in 2017 that would…
A Brief Encounter at the Empire Theatre
Tucked away in the bustle of Piccadilly, KneeHigh Theatre’s Brief Encounter is enjoying a pleasantly long run at the Empire Theatre Haymarket. The two-hour, no-interval production is based on Noel Coward’s classic film, released in 1945. This particular production has been doing the rounds since 2008, but has rarely settled in London for so long.…
The human face of conflict
As seen in Christian Today on Wednesday 23 May 2018. Following the move of the US embassy to Jerusalem last week, clashes broke out between Israelis and Palestinians resulting in the death of some 60 people, including 13 children. Both sides of this battle are entrenched in their own histories, cultures and hostilities. Their governing…
First Ladies on the border
Published in Christian Today on 19 June 2018 Former first lady Laura Bush and current first lady Melania Trump have spoken out against the controversial policy that is breaking up families attempting to enter America across the Mexican border. The Trump administration’s ‘zero tolerance immigration crackdown works to prosecute anyone who crosses the border unlawfully.…
Cracking on or chaste-ing off? Love Island 2018 brings chastity back
Love Island, ITV2’s answer to Big Brother (but in bikinis) came to a somewhat anti-climactic end with Jack Fincham and Dani Dyer winning the public vote by 79.6 per cent. Seemingly, this anticlimax has been attributed to the fact that the couple have been together since the beginning. What was perhaps more shocking was their…
Are the Pope’s pleas for forgiveness enough to save the Catholic Church?
After days of speculation, it was during the papal mass in Dublin’s Phoenix Park that Pope Francis chose to address growing anger in the Catholic Church. At the beginning of the Mass, in place of the traditional Penitential Act, Pope Francis asked forgiveness for what some are calling a ‘litany of failures’ from the Catholic…
Nothing to be Sauerkraut in Munich
There is a lot to be said for the unmistakeable combination of Bratwurst and a beer. But as a German city with one of the highest proportions of foreign nationals, there is a lot more to be found beyond a stein of Paulaner. Although Oktoberfest is of course, a popular time to hit up this…
L’talia a Londra
Sei arrivato a Londra, ma ti manca casa. Nessun problema! Con gli altri 600,000 italiani chi vivano in Gran Bretagna, puoi trovare un piccolo pezzo d’Italia in molti luoghi del questo paese. Una guida sulla bella pizza, fresco prosecco e giorni divertenti. Non c’è modo migliore di passare la domenica che esplorare una nuova…
Hearing the voices of young women the Synod on Youth in Rome
Roman Catholic bishops are meeting for their general assembly from October 3 to 28. Their theme is ‘Young People, Faith, and Vocational Discernment’. The Synod Fathers have entered a second week of discussion. On Saturday they met with young people from all over the world at an event called ‘Per noi – unici, solidali,…
Women helping Women helping Women
[As seen in The Times: Credo] Many of us are familiar with the biblical passage, and perhaps even the hymn, encouraging us to “set the prisoners free”. Whilst this phrase is not to be taken literally, the reality of the situation in England and Wales stands in sharp contrast with the spirit of this image.…
Will Brexit kill the British Ballet scene?
Whilst Theresa May flexes her Brexit plans in the face of Michel Barnier, the young graduates of Britain’s dance schools warm up for their daily classes all over Europe. Half of the 2018 graduates of Elmhurst Ballet School, a British, elite, classical ballet training academy, are in jobs across Europe. Just five years ago, twelve…
Iran’s Islamic Revolution: 40 years on
11 February 1979. Blondie’s Heart of Glass reached number one in the UK charts, Jennifer Aniston celebrated her tenth birthday, and Ayatollah Khomeini seized control of the Iranian capital, Tehran. An anniversary of this kind could pass quietly in the international forum, but a public announcement of weeklong celebrations across Iran has brought it to…
How a bad week for the Vatican just got worse
Cardinal George Pell, Vatican treasurer, has been found guilty of sexual offences against children. He is the highest-ranking Catholic figure to have been convicted. Cardinal Pell was charged in June 2017 and was given leave of absence from his work as the Vatican treasurer to defend himself in court.. The Holy See stressed at the…
Ten fantastic female saints you need to hear about this International Women’s Day
There are times in which we look into the Catholic sphere and think, where are the women? A male-dominated hierarchy, male disciples, men at the altar, financial council, annual BBQ (but often not at the children’s liturgy). The debate over a woman’s place in the Church has raged since the very outset. Rather than step…
Nowruz, New Year, New Life
Coinciding with the Spring Equinox, this year, the first day of the Persian new year often falls on 20 March in the UK. The exact time changes, but in 2019 it is thought that the first sighting of the moon, and therefore, the beginning of celebrations will take place at approcimately 21:40pm on the eve…
Women of Islamic Republics: The voice of women of faith
As seen in The Independent, IndyVoices, on Sunday 24 March 2019 The world is constantly reassessing women’s place in society: their reproductive rights, workplace equality, safety on the streets, education. We talk about liberation, from the patriarchy, from stigma and from religion; some people believe that the world would be a better place without Islam in particular. We in…
‘Christ is Alive!’ – but is the institution dying?
As is often the way with Vatican formality, Pope Francis has released his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation almost exactly six months since the end of the Synod meeting, and a year since his conversations with young people during the pre-synodal consolation. Christus Vivit (Christ is Alive) aims to be a response to the Vatican opening its doors to…
Fleabag’s “sexy priest” might be what the Catholic brand needs
As a Catholic millennial scrolling through twitter, the last thing that you expect to see trending is ‘sexy priest’. Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s superb BBC Three comedy drama Fleabag has taken the UK by storm in its address of London-living, sibling-rivalry, mental health, and the moment that you fall in love with the wrong person. Last Monday,…
The road we walk is paved with alleluias
This time last year, a friend of mine was telling me about beginning what she called a period of an ‘active practice of gratitude’. She had been reading a work by Dr Brené Brown, a research professor who studies courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. The book in question, The Gifts of Imperfection, demonstrates the science…
Nina Mattiello Azadeh 