#Berkshire Theatre Group

[deadsnakey]

𝐒𝐋𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍 𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐆 —> 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏

GENRE —> FLUFF

characters; Mattheo Riddle, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson, Blaise zabini, Lorenzo Berkshire, Draco Malfoy.

You've been accepted into the friend group, the longer you're with everyone the more you build bonds with each one.

Inspired by @girllblogging777

✩ You and mattheo are definitely best friends and are the closest out of the whole group.

✩ Lorenzo sees you as a little sister and you see him as an older brother, but mattheo and you radiate the most sibling energy; you both have curly hair probably, bonus if it's also brown.

✩ You and blaise study together since the rest aren't helpful or they're just a distraction…mattheo and draco specifically. At least theo isn't too distracting even if he’s bored.

✩ chaotic, certain duos or trios are worse then others.

✩ Pansy and you always do girls night together every friday or Saturday depending if someone busy or not. masks, doing nails, crafts, make up on each other, trying products out theatre weird, movie marathon with snacks, etc. its a blast and the boys always complain because that seems so fun omg????

✩ the boys love teasing the shit out of you because they think its entertaining but will back off if they realize they're taking it too far

✩ you probably teach most of them how to correctly treat a women and things not/to say and not/to do, etc. give them a little reward for becoming gentlemen to keep motivating them. (they're dogs.)

✩ they listen to you most of the time

✩ tbh if you're studying or sum that needs a lot of focus and is serious to you, they will let you work and help as much as they can if you ask for it.

✩ they are probably really protective over you.

✩ most to lease? Mattheo, Draco, Pansy, Theodore, Lorenzo, Blaise.

✩ mattheo, Draco and Pansy is the worst of it, will fight for you.

✩ Theodore and Lorenzo are more verbally abusing someone and Blaise has a sharp tongue when he wants too, he is not afraid to be an ass to someone when it comes down to it.

✩ Lorenzo and Blaise are the nicest in the group not including you. They are still assholes but more toned down.

✩ Pansy and you team up on them allllll the time and they sometimes hate it, so they do it back to you cause they're petty little shits.

✩ when you're throwing up, they'll rush over to get your hair out of your way as quickly as possible.

✩ will try their best to comfort you if they find you crying or upset or sum. Theo and Mattheo are ones who immediately pull you into their chest to protect you; holding you firmly.

✩ they all give really good hugs, but Lorenzo's are probably the best.

✩ they make sure you're eating enough, drinking enough water, not over exhausting yourself and overall just watching over you to make sure you're taking care of yourself.

✩ if they find out you're not taking care of yourself like you should be, they will constantly be on you about it to the point it starts getting annoying.

✩ anytime y'all have classes with one another they will be pestering you asking if you drunk water today and if not, "ok, here's some water now drink, love.", like they will shove food down your throat so please just take care of yourself, its not worth the annoyance and hassle.

✩ crackheads, always getting into some shit and dragging you into it unless you don't wanna be apart of it. (though they'll beg you to agree lol.)

[sondheims-hat]

July 5, 2014: Opening night for Berkshire Theatre Group's Night Music at the Colonial in Pittsfield, Mass.

[head-post]

Extinction Rebellion begins 3-day climate change action outside Windsor Castle

Climate activists Extinction Rebellion (XR) have begun a three-day protest outside Windsor Castle, the Berkshire residence of Prince William and Princess Kate, with plans to march to the castle the following day.

The group chose the royal residence to symbolise what they describe as “an outdated system in need of urgent change.”

The protesters gathered in Home Park, a council-run neighbourhood close to the castle. XR’s plans include speeches, debates and a “mass meeting” to discuss improving democracy in the UK.

The group insists their actions are not intended to disrupt public order, although local authorities have expressed concern.

Windsor MP Jack Rankin expressed fears of possible disorder at the event. He urged council to be prepared to take “legal action” if the protesters do not leave the park after the scheduled events are over. Rankin stressed the need for a quick response to minimise any disorder in the area.

Despite these concerns, XR organisers have reiterated that the protest is peaceful and does not involve direct action or public disorder.

Camping, a “funfair” and theatre performances aimed at raising awareness of the climate crisis are planned for the weekend. The central event of the protest will take place on Saturday afternoon – a “mass assembly” on Long Walk, which XR says could be one of the largest democratic events ever held in the UK.

The assembly is expected to bring together activists to discuss and vote on proposals to improve the country’s democratic system.

The protest began on Friday with the opening of the encampment. A theatrical event featuring “oil slicks and costumed rebels” on Long Walk is also scheduled for that day. On Saturday, the group plans to march to Windsor Castle. Windsor council has explicitly stated it does not support or allow three-day camping at the park.

Read more HERE

[larryland]

REVIEW: "Hair" at the Berkshire Theatre Group

REVIEW: “Hair” at the Berkshire Theatre Group

[bakerstreetbabe]

The Goat or Who is Sylvia?

The Goat or Who is Sylvia?

T

he Berkshire Theatre Group in Stockbridge, Massachsetts is presenting The Goat or Who is Sylvia? by Edward Albee at The Unicorn Theatre until June 15. This  intriguing play received a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play when it was produced on Broadway in 2002. The play is well served by an outstanding cast in this production. After clicking below to listen to our discussion…

[calocera]

commission for @stage-props of the berkshire theatre groups version of audrey II!

[doriansapprentice]

Dr Remy Miles: About the present

Family: Remy were very close with his family growing up and still are. He try to visit his parents when he got of from work or they come visiting him. Mostly he likes to come home and take a break from the big city from time to time. His grandparents still lives in Stockbridge, Berkshire and he likes to visit them as well and almost every summer he tries to go to their summer home in Irland and visit his grandparents there. His sister Piper is bartending in Boston and have a small apartment there so they meet up more often.

Bryce: Bryce had meet Piper and so have Keiki. The three of them gets along pretty well having alot of traits incommon and the four of them often goes out on drinks. In the begining Remy had a cruch on Bryce who grown stronger as they spend more time together. It took longer for Bryce to see he liked Remy. Both of them being new on long relationships. So they did not want to rush things. Tho they called eachother boyfriends long before they came out to tell people about thrm. But their closest friend already figure it out as Remy were kind of obvious and tho Bryce were flirty in general, they could tell things were different with Remy. Remy and Bryce went on dates as often as they got. Trying to vary it from nights in to going out on town. Being so diffrent from eachother they were a great team. Bryce trying to get Remy out of his shell and be more confident and Remy brought out the more deep side out of Bryce. His parents thought Bryce were a charming and sweet boy as they meet him for the first time bringing the boys home for a homecooked dinner.

As a doctor: Remy is observant and quick in his cases. His thoughts running two steps ahead but he keep himself humble. Sometimes it all gets to much as he like to carry the whole world on his shoulder and wants everybody to be happy and healthy. Lucky enough Bryce is there to help Remy through his panic attacks in the medical closet. Remy got good morals and that can make him bend the rules if he have to. But only if he think there is a chance and that it will help the patients. He got a good patient/doctor relationship, most people likes him and he can be good friends with the patients. He is outspoken about his opinions and stand his ground if he thinks he is right.

Hobbies: Remy still like to draw and read and also likes to go out on events like the theatre or opera. Or have a nice dinner out and take a drink or two with his friends. In the friend group Remy is comfortable going out. But mostly like to stay in and do a home cooked meal, play boardgames and watch a movie.

@openheartfanfics

[sarasmallmanwrites]

A-Level Playing Field

Nobody wanted my opinion on this, but it’s hard growing up poor. 

1988. It’s that damp kind of evening outside, clouded by condensation on the single glazed windows, and the smoke from my Nan’s Benson and Hedges. We’ve just had tea – this is North, of course – and everything is accompanied by slices of springy bread heavily lacquered in ‘soft spread’. The gold foiled butter is, usually, saved for my grandad, who works at a fibreglass factory. It’s a very long way away (actually 3.7 miles) and he leaves on his bike every evening with three rounds of tinned ham sandwiches in his bag. Tonight, my mum is out until half nine, working in the care home in the next town, picking me up at ten-ish, depending on how fast she walks. My mum is 27. Five years out of a loveless marriage, living in a council house, she has no qualifications but is working for her City and Guilds and her English ‘O-Level’, GCSEs haven’t hit our vocabulary yet, and won’t until my second cousin Mark does his two years later.

Tonight is Thursday. Nan goes out on a Thursday, which means she will leave the house at half seven in a haze of Vitapoint, Elnett and Lily of the Valley, to play Bingo at the local club. I am being looked after by Alan, my mum’s younger brother, living at home, working in the Mill that overlooks the town below like a stern Victorian overseer. He’s always grumpy, stuck in a town that has no opportunities, and no visible exit. The eighties have been cruel to young, working-class men. The vehement cry of ‘get the fuck out’ hasn’t reached our town but will do in eight years time, on a wave of Britpop, New Labour, cigarettes, and alcohol.

My uncle looks to the television for nightly escape. Thursday is Blackadder, it’s Not The Nine O’Clock News, it’s Comic Strip, it’s A Bit of Fry and Laurie, it’s Red Dwarf, it’s shipwrecked and comatose, and me engrossed on the couch, not sipping mango juice, but milky tea (the North!), as my uncle laughs his head off in between cigarettes. My mum returns, smelling like TCP and the outside, with salty, vinegary chips, and we eat them as we walk the newly tarmacked paths under the orange street lights. I ask her what a goldfish shoal is. She tells me to shush.

I decided that weekend that I wanted to be funny. I mean I could make people laugh when I did my Cilla Black impression, so surely that was a start, and thank to Carry On films I was brilliant at ‘Infamy, Infamy!’, I knew this because my grandad (the cleverest man I knew) had told me so. Even though I was only in Junior One, I knew that you had to be taught how to be funny, that there was definitely some kind of class that you would have to take to learn it, because I had never really been a natural at anything; apart from whistling, which I did with gusto in shrill, high- pitched tones wherever I could.

I read a lot, especially the paper – particularly the Daily Mirror, which probably explains why I am always heavily weighted to the left, and not just because of my ineptitude in heels – and found out that Hugh Laurie, who is obviously the funniest man I have ever encountered, went to Cambridge and was in something called ‘The Footlights’. Then was it, I decided. I was going to go to Cambridge and join ‘The Footlights’ and be funny like Victoria Wood and Dawn French. I imagine ‘The Footlights’ to be a rag-tag theatrical group living on their wits, humour, and more importantly, Pot Noodles. I tell my Grandad that I want to go to Cambridge. He tells me not to be daft.

Now, when I think about it, wanting to go to Cambridge was not a preposterous idea for any child at the age of seven; you are at the start of your education journey. There is plenty of time to get better at things, to practice, to be coached, to improve yourself; but for a working-class girl, who would eventually be the first member of her family to go to university, I might as well have said that I wanted to fly to Mars on fairy wings. But, children who attend private schools are told from the age of four that Oxford or Cambridge are the end goals for their education, with any of the higher-performing Russell Group universities being something that they could settle for, at a push. I didn’t even know what a Russell Group University was until about three years ago, and why would I? For me, in my small artsy primary school with forty children across four year groups, a dismissive attitude towards formal English education, and a liberal fancy for devoting the whole of the summer term to the end of year show, this was not something that was even thought about. Oxford and Cambridge were places printed on the back of books, they weren’t places that you went to university. In fact, most of my primary school teachers hadn’t even been to university but received their qualifications at the local teacher training college; the only exception is a brown jumpered gentleman with a penchant for using cupboards as a disciplinary technique. 

We’ll skip forward a few years later, and high school is a vigorous mixing bowl of talents, it takes until at least year nine before anyone even notices who I am amongst the squall of kids churning about in KS3. Dinner is pink sausage meat wrapped in a translucent puff pastry duvet, a treat even on the hottest days when the fat sticks to your lips; and the terms pass in a haze of cheap cider (the kind that tastes like sick), the floral pout of Cherry Lypsyl, and Chris Evans on the Radio One Breakfast Show; who is hastily snoozed every morning before I smell the lukewarm coffee my mum has left by my bed before she goes to work.  At this point my mum is a newly qualified nurse at the hospice two towns over, her fingers raw from hand sanitiser, but with rolls of antiseptic scented micropore tape that I use for a cacophony of projects. She is on nights right now, spooning gravelly granules of instant coffee into a mug, blurry from sleep, I am cobbling together a mask out of old Cornflake packets, stuck together with nursing supplies and painted with nail varnish that went past its best around the same time as the Thompson Twins. It is 1995, and the country feels like it is on the cusp of something.  I don’t know what, but I’m looking forward to the Year 2000 because I will be fully grown. Well, nineteen.

But what about Oxbridge? Well, for starters, if you attend a state school you have to be so immediately impressive to your teachers that they discuss you in the staffroom. It’s not enough to be good at one particular thing, you have to excel across the board. You have to be so amazingly shiny, that even the most jaded teacher in the school cannot fail to be dazzled by your brightness. For state school kids, Oxbridge is not something that they suggest to the average 10 A*-C kids, it’s not something that they even dangle in front of 10 A*-B kids who are pretty good. At state school, you have to be exceptional for your teachers to even consider you as a candidate, and then you have to achieve enough A*s in your GCSEs that you might as well open a Planetarium. Even then, all they can really do is say ‘I think you could go to Oxford or Cambridge, you know’, or flag you up to the local authority careers service as ‘potential Oxbridge’. There is no Oxford Fast Track programme in state schools, even for exceptional kids.

In a recent social media fracas, one lady proclaimed that if you gave kids a level playing field then poor kids would always triumph because they were more resilient - all those Crispy Pancakes, surely? But for children from a working-class background, we’re not even on the playing field yet; we have to borrow trainers with non-marking soles, scrape around for a quid for the bus. By the time we get to the playing field, we have already been running around for half the day trying to get there, we miss the warm-up because we were late and, honestly, by this point, we’re just knackered because we’ve had to work so much harder just to get there in the first place.

The warm-up is a given to those whose parents have been able to pay for their education – they even get complimentary orange slices for afterwards, just for extra pep and vigour. There are Oxbridge prep classes, extracurricular activities slanted towards the Oxbridge admissions interviews, and chances to take unpaid internships during the summer using family connections. It’s not just that though... it’s little things like knowing it’s pronounced ‘Barkshire’, not Berkshire, it’s when you use a napkin, it’s spending a week skiing at Courchevel. It’s olives. 

In 1998, I don’t know any of these things and, even if I did, my accent with its flat vowels and its Lancashire intonation would give me away in a heartbeat, because I sound like I’ve fallen off a pit pony on my way back t’mill. Things change quickly though. My mum has a baby. A screaming, mewling little boy born during The Simpsons on a Friday evening in October. Now there is absolutely no money for luxuries, and when our TV gets nicked, we end up using the small portable from upstairs. My Nan lends me money here and there to get to college, but it only covers the bus fare, and the small endowment that I receive  - supposedly to cover driving lessons - gets swallowed up with everyday things that seventeen-year olds shouldn’t have to pay for. I’m working for 4 hours a week in Woolies too, £3.10 p/h to stand around the toy department in a slippery polyester blouse the colour of synthetic mint ice cream, before skulking off to the bookshop to spend that money on things for college.  Nothing fancy but, by this point, I am well on my way to being a ‘Funny Girl’, studying a raft of ‘arty-farty’ A-Levels and English thrown in for good measure. The Cambridge Footlights hardly crosses my mind anymore, because Oxford and Cambridge are reserved for the kids doing the hard sciences, maths, law, politics, things that you need a calculator for. You don’t get into Oxford with A-Levels in Theatre Studies, Media, and Performing Arts, despite what they tell you about diversity.

Oxford or Cambridge do not offer a typical British university experience, and how can teachers who have never passed through the rigorous and exhausting Oxbridge admissions procedure be expected to offer any kind of advantage to their gifted and talented students? If you are a working-class parent relying on underfunded, underpaid and overworked FE lecturers to help coach your child through this, then you are immediately on the backfoot compared to a child whose parents can afford private tutors, admissions booklets, and interview coaches. This is no reflection on sixth form teachers in FE establishments across the country, who do all they can to nurture the kids with Oxbridge potential, but when some classes haven’t received new textbooks for two years, where students are encouraged to photocopy their own materials to save costs, you can see where the class difference begins to draw attention to itself without the need for neon yellow highlighters.

My UCAS book arrived in September; an impressive, thinly papered tome with a glossy black and white cover, University Colleges and Admission Services stamped across it in orange. It smells like a cross between the Argos catalogue and a phone book, which I feel is rather apt given that it contains the codes of institutions and courses that will break me out of this godforsaken town: a cypher that I etch out on the application form in black biro.

London

Southampton

Buckinghamshire

Preston

Liverpool

Manchester.

I don’t want to go to any of the bottom three, of course, far too close to where I came from to be relevant.  My second cousin Mark’s stint at Sheffield Hallam seemed to be an excuse for his mum to visit his ‘digs’ once a month with catering sized tins of Nescafe, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t quite looking forward to edging the lid off with a knife and stabbing through that ridged foil. My mum writes a cheque out in her secondary modern handwriting, crossing her fingers that they won’t cash it until after payday.

The discrepancies between low-income working-class families and those with a better income also show here too - this can be something as simple as slow internet connection, not having a working laptop and doing work on smartphones, access to transport, costs for travel to visit universities. Things like this are not included when factoring in costs for students from low income. How can you visit all the different university campuses, with all the travel costs and maybe even overnight accommodation, when your parents can barely afford to keep the lights on? There was only one institution that I wanted to go to. London Institute, a glamourous collection of art colleges that included the London College of Fashion, Central St Martins, and, more importantly for me, The London College of Printing.  The competition was fierce, but I was shortlisted for an interview in the capital with a former editor of the Daily Mirror. My house was showered in happy expletives that day. Even in 1999, tickets from Wigan to London were over £50 for a pre-booked return. My mum cashed in all of her Clubcard points for the ticket. But, just for me, because she hadn’t bought enough milk to cover the cost of two tickets. However, I must have impressed Tony Delano in that office in Clerkenwell, because he gave me an amazingly lowball offer meaning that my A-level results became a terribly graded self-fulfilling prophecy.

Oxford is different from usual universities in that there are colleges, thirty-nine in total. You might have seen them on University Challenge – Balliol, Trinity, Emmanuel, Brasenose – or from reading the Wikipedia pages of any of our last three Prime Ministers, including the incumbent Boris Johnson, who graduated with a 2:1 in 1987. That’s the other thing – you don’t study something at Oxford, you read it – you don’t start your studies, you matriculate, for which you need a robe. Now, I have been told by helpful and obstinate alumni via social media that Matriculation Robes are £25, ex-hire. However, I have also been told by a current Oxford student that the robe cost is £50 minimum, and no-one would dare wear a secondhand robe as ‘everyone would know’. It’s immediately singling yourself out as a Weasley in a room filled with Malfoys.

The accommodation costs are comparable to London prices; however, this does not cover the Christmas break, which means everything needs to be packed up and stored. Not only do you pay for the storage, but you pay for the boxes too. Much to my disappointment, no-one nips out for a Pot Noodle either, students are expected to dine ‘in hall’ (again, more cost!) where you can choose between an informal and a formal sitting – where your gown is required. I imagine for a working-class kid attending Oxford or Cambridge is very much like cosplaying on a Harry Potter set, but without the magic of a bottomless purse. There are balls too at the end of each term, formal affairs with ticket prices over £50. Again, said the former alumni, you don’t have to go! It’s not obligatory!

But let me tell you a harsh reality. Nothing ostracises a poor kid more than not being able to join in because they can’t afford it. Nothing. And we might have great friends who would all chip in and pay for our ticket, or lend us the money, but there is something very working-class about not wanting people to know that we can’t afford it. Surely we should not be asking these young adults who have studied and worked against all odds, to have a second class university experience because they know their parents won’t be able to help. You can’t even get a job to supplement your income either; the majority of colleges stipulate this, and as someone who had to work two term-time jobs at a much less prestigious university to live (even with the glorious student overdrafts of pre-austerity Britain), this really hit home at how much I would have struggled financially if I had gone to either of these institutions.

Recently my daughter applied for university. We get in the car and visit a university each week, driving miles up and down and across the country. We fight over choices and analyse each course based on employability, and whether or not she would like it. The process is completed in clicks and feels much more clinical than twenty years earlier, but rather than heading into unchartered waters, I have a map. It might be old and tattered, but I have a much better idea of where we are going now. My daughter believes that the meritocracy is a lie, and she tells me this in sharp, pointed tones as we receive her A-level results on a rainy Thursday morning. She goes to University in September and spends the autumn sending me videos of the Minster, or tutorials on how to swear in Japanese. She is only the second person in our family to continue on to higher education. I don’t just mean in her generation. I mean in total. We are the exception, not the rule.

One of the first questions someone at Oxford was asked by a fellow student last year was ‘private or state’, she replied ‘private’ and was met with a smile. There was no need to ask who the state school entrant was, as she queried the partridge and asparagus served for dinner – ‘this chicken is tough. Is that grass?’- and arrived for the formal sitting with her gown covering a denim skirt and shimmery top underneath. Private school teaches these things, no desperate faux pas for Isobel or Jeremy, whereas state schools do not have the resources or the knowledge to run classes on etiquette for the small number of their students that make it through the intense application procedures. This is not saying that low-income children should be discouraged – not at all – instead, it is saying that there is something inherently wrong with the system. At private school, you are disappointed if you don’t get into Oxbridge, whereas the state school child who gets in is an extraordinary anomaly talked about for years in hushed tones of reverence by the faculty.

And this is the issue with saying that children are on a level playing field, that everyone is measured on their own merit; because it is not true. For children on very low incomes, the odds are unfairly stacked against them, and the issues such as 2020’s disastrous A-Level results just add more bricks to an already near-insurmountable wall.

[architectnews]

Texas Architecture: Texan Buildings

Texas Architecture News, Building Images, Architects, United States of America Property

Texas Architecture : Buildings

Major Architectural Projects, USA – Texan Built Environment Information

post updated October 25, 2020

Texas Architecture News

Texan Architecture News – latest additions to this page, arranged chronologically:

Oct 10, 2020 National Medal of Honor Museum, Arlington Architecture: Rafael Viñoly Architects image courtesy of architects National Medal of Honor Museum National Medal Of Honor Museum Foundation Reveals First Architectural Renderings Of The Museum’s New Home By Rafael Viñoly Architects As Part Of A 1-Year Anniversary Celebration.

July 2, 2020 Honest Mary’s, Austin Architecture: Chioco Design picture : Chase Daniel Honest Mary’s Restaurant in Austin A 2,665 sqft complete renovation of an existing restaurant in Austin, Texas. The softly curving plaster ceiling, custom booths, shelving and wood paneling, paired with plenty of natural light and deep blue accents, resulting in a bright, inviting space.

July 2, 2020 Woodward Duplexes in Austin

June 30, 2020 River Ranch, Blanco Design: Jobe Corral Architects photography : Casey Dunn and Casey Woods River Ranch in Blanco The River Ranch is about the connection to the land. The indoor/outdoor relationship of the spaces is strengthened by specific moments that connect the user to three site features.

June 29, 2020 Filtered Frame Dock, Austin Design: Matt Fajkus Architecture photography : Charles Davis Smith; MF Architecture Filtered Frame Dock in Austin, TX This single-slip boat dock of Filtered Frame Dock is a result of liberation through constraints balanced with sensory experience. Devised concurrently with the property’s new residence, the boat dock creates both tangible and implied connections of experience and shelter.

Feb 5, 2020 Bouldin Creek Residence Architecture: Restructure Studio photography : Michael Hsu Bouldin Creek Residence in Austin, TX The Bouldin Creek Residence is a new home for a young family, Restructure Studio pays respect to a unique site, including a heritage live oak tree, Bouldin creek, and steeply sloping lot in an established neighborhood.

Nov 21, 2019 Brownwood House

Nov 20, 2019 AISD Performing Arts Center, Austin Architecture: Miró Rivera Architects photography : Thomas McConnell and Miró Rivera Architects AISD Performing Arts Center AISD Performing Arts Center (PAC) is the first purpose-built, district-wide Fine Arts facility in the 134-year history of the Austin Independent School District.

Oct 25, 2019 The Heights School Building in Arlington

Apr 12, 2019 Carpenter Hotel, Austin Architecture: Specht Architects image courtesy of architects Carpenter Hotel Austin A hidden oasis in one of the last pockets of Old Austin. It is a compound of buildings of different vintages surrounding a pecan tree-shaded courtyard and pool, and features a restaurant, café, event pavilion, and 93 guest rooms. It has a character that is unlike any other hotel in town.

Dec 13, 2018 Residence 1446, Austin Design: Miró Rivera Architects photograph : Paul Finkel, Piston Design Residence 1446 in Austin Situated in a low-lying field adjacent to both a lake and a quiet lagoon, Residence 1446 was the final element of a ten-year master plan that includes a guest house, pedestrian bridge, pool, and boathouse.

Dec 12, 2018 Hill Country House, Wimberley Design: Miró Rivera Architects photograph : Paul Finkel, Piston Design Hill Country House in Wimberley Conceived as a prototype for a sustainable rural community, the Hill Country House serves as a beacon to show what could be: a self-sustaining home in a rural setting, virtually independent of municipal water and energy.

Aug 13, 2018 Casa de Sombra, Rollingwood, Travis County Design: Bade Stageberg Cox, Architects image from Chicago Athenaeum Contemporary Rollingwood Residence Casa de Sombra, named for an exploration of light and shadow, is a re-thinking of the suburban house that examines dichotomies between interior/exterior, public/private, and what it means to experience light and its absence.

Dec 5, 2017 East Austin District, Austin Design: architects BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group East Austin District Arena The new East Austin District created by Austin Sports & Entertainment and designed by award-winning architects BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group is an entirely new sports and entertainment neighborhood tailored to celebrate world-class sports and cultural experiences under one checkered roofscape.

Dec 12, 2016 News from US architecture studio of Miró Rivera Architects image from architect Miró Rivera Architects in Texas LifeWorks and the AISD Performing Arts Center took home honors at the inaugural Austin Green Awards celebration on November 9. Launched this year by the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, the awards are the first program “to specifically highlight the outstanding accomplishments in the broad area of sustainable design and innovation” in Austin.

[Bracketed Space] House in Austin

Nov 10, 2016 Threshold House in Austin

Oct 13, 2016 Edgeland Residence in Austin

Oct 13, 2016 Annie Residence in Austin

Aug 28, 2016 Carved Cube House in West Austin

May 2, 2016 Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences, Lubbock image from architect Buddy Holly Hall of Performing Arts and Sciences in Texas This arts complex will be built in Lubbock, Texas, birthplace of the legendary 1950s pop star whose brief career influenced generations of musicians and fans.

The Secret Life of Buildings: A Call for Objects A selection of twenty ‘Objects’ will be exhibited for two weeks around a three-day symposium to be staged by the Center for American Architecture and Design (CAAD) at The University of Texas at Austin in October 2016 called “The Secret Life of Buildings.” The Secret Life of Buildings Architecture Competition

May 23, 2013 West Lake Hills Residence, Austin, Texas Design: Specht Harpman photo: Taggart Sorensen West Lake Hills Residence On a densely tree-covered site in the Austin, Texas exurb of West Lake Hills, Specht Harpman was tasked with the renovation and expansion of a modest 1970’s house. Much of the original internal structure was maintained, but the alterations sought to erase all visible traces of the original house.

Apr 5, 2013 Observation Tower at Circuit of the Americas, Austin Design: Miró Rivera Architects picture : Paul Finkel | Piston Design Observation Tower at Circuit of the Americas Texas Austin360 Amphitheater completed: located southwest of downtown Austin, the Circuit of the Americas will be the host to the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix, MotoGP, V8 Supercar, and American Le Mans races starting with the inaugural race on November 16-18, 2012. Built around a 3.4 mile racetrack, the facility has the capacity for 120,000 visitors and will become a significant attraction for the city of Austin.

Jun 11, 2012 Menil Drawing institute Building, Houston Johnston Marklee wins this Texan architecture competition image : David Chipperfield Architects Menil Collection Houston

Jun 15, 2011 Museum of Fine Arts Houston Steven Holl Architects Selected for Expansion photograph © MFAH Museum of Fine Arts Houston This project will involve the construction of a new museum building intended primarily for art after 1900 to complement the Audrey Jones Beck and Caroline Wiess Law Buildings. It will also try to integrate the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden and the expansion of the Glassell School of Art.

Aug 3, 2011 Irving Convention Center Design: RMJM Hillier Architects image from architect Irving Convention Center The Las Colinas Convention Centre in Texas, designed by RMJM Hillier’s New York Studio, is wrapped in copper cladding designed to generate a changing patina as it ages over time – a striking and timeless icon for a Western boomtown in the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

McNay Art Museum – Jane and Arthur Stieren Center for Exhibitions, San Antonio Design: Jean-Paul Viguier S.A. d’Architecture photo : Jeff Goldberg / ESTO McNay Art Museum

Texas Architecture

e-architect choose the key examples of Texan Buildings, USA. The focus is on contemporary Texan buildings.

We have 2 pages of Texan Architecture selections with links to many individual project pages.

Texas Architecture : news + key projects A-G (this page)

Texas Buildings : H-Z

Major Texas Building Designs, alphabetical:

Alpine Courthouse Building Design: PageSoutherlandPage photo : Chris Cooper Alpine Courthouse

Arthouse, Dallas Design: Morrison Seifert Murphy photograph from architects Arthouse

Beechwood Residence, Dallas Morrison Seifert Murphy photo from architecs Beechwood Residence

Berkshire Residence, Dallas Morrison Seifert Murphy photograph : Charles Davis Smith © MSM Berkshire Residence

Dallas Center for Performing Arts Joshua Prince-Ramus / Rem Koolhaas photo : Iwan Baan Wyly Theatre – AT&T Performing Arts Center

Destination Universitas, Nevada desert Chetwood Architects picture from architect Texan architecture

Discovery Tower – office building, Houston Gensler picture : Gensler Discovery Tower Houston

El Paso Housing OFIS, architects picture from architects El Paso Housing

Glendora I Residence, Dallas Morrison Seifert Murphy photograph from architects Glendora Residence

GSA Field Office Building, Houston PageSoutherlandPage photo : Timothy Hursley GSA Field Office

More Texan Buildings online soon

Major Texas Architecture Designs, A-G, no images, alphabetical:

Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth – Philip Johnson

Annette Strauss Artist Square, Dallas 2008- Foster + Partners

Austin City Hall + Public Plaza 2007 Antoine Predock Architect

Dallas City Hall, Dallas 1977 I.M. Pei and Partners

Dallas Cowboys Stadium & entertainment venue, Arlington 2007-09 HKS, Inc. Due to be largest NFL stadium in the world

Fountain Place, Dallas 1986 Pei Cobb Freed and Partners

Globe News Center for the Performing Arts, Amarillo 2007- Holzman Moss Architecture

More Texan Building Designs online soon

Location: Texas, USA

Architecture in Texas

Dallas Buildings

Dallas Architects

Texan Buildings : Forth Worth

American Architecture

American Architects

Website: USA

Neighbouring State Buildings

Arkansas Architecture

Louisiana Architecture

New Mexico Architecture

Oklahoma Architecture

Houston Developments

Comments / photos for the Texas Architecture page welcome

Website: Texas

The post Texas Architecture: Texan Buildings appeared first on e-architect.

[livinglikebritishroyalty]

𝒫𝓇𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝑅𝒾𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹

♕ 𝐹𝓊𝓁𝓁 𝒩𝒶𝓂𝑒: Richard Alexander Walter George

♕ 𝐹𝓊𝓁𝓁 𝒯𝒾𝓉𝓁𝑒: His Royal Highness Prince Richard Alexander Walter George The Duke of Gloucester

♕ 𝐵𝓸𝓇𝓃: Saturday, August 26th, 1944 at St. Matthew's Nursing Home in Northampton, England

♕ 𝒫𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈: His Royal Highness Prince Henry The Duke of Gloucester (Father) & Her Royal Highness Princess Alice Duchess of Gloucester (Mother)

♕ 𝒮𝒾𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈: His Royal Highness Prince William of Gloucester (Brother)

♕ 𝒮𝓅𝓸𝓊𝓈𝑒:  Her Royal Highness Birgitte The Duchess of Gloucester (M. 1972)

♕ 𝒞𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓃: Major Alexander Earl of Ulster (Son), Lady Davina (neé Windsor) Lewis (Daughter), & Lady Rose (neé Windsor) Gilman (Daughter) 

♕ 𝐸𝒹𝓊𝒸𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓸𝓃: Barnwell Manor (In Northamptonshire, England), Wellesley House School (In Kent, England), Eton College (In Berkshire, England), & Magdalene College at the University of Cambridge (In Cambridge, United Kingdom: Studied Architecture, Bachelor & Master of Arts Degrees in Architecture)

♕ 𝐼𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒲𝓸𝓇𝓀: Interests: Armed Forces (Air Force, Architecture, Court System, Defense, Disabled, Fallen Soldiers, Heraldry, & Security), Education, Food (Wine Trade), Health (Blindness, Cancer, Historic Sites, Hospitals, Leprosy, Medicine, & Support Animals), Nature (Agriculture, Conservation, Forests, Horticulture, Land Management, Soil, & Wildlife), People (Disabled, Elderly, Homelessness, Religious, & Trade), Science (Anthropology, Archeology, Art History, Engineering, Technology, & Transportation (Cars, Trains, & Trams)), Sports (Golf & Rowing), & The Arts (Architecture, Metal Work, Music, Shoe-Making, Stonemasonry, & Theatre). Work: Chancellor of The University of Worcester, Commissioner of the Historic Building & Monuments Commission for England, Co-Patron of Abbotsford Trust Appeal, Corporate Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Fellow of The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts/Manufactures/Commerce, Founding Chancellor of The University of Worcester, Freeman of The City of London, Freeman/Liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Masons, Honorary Fellow of The Institution of Civil Engineers, Honorary Fellow of The Institute of Clerks of Works and Construction Inspectorate, Honorary Fellow of The Institution of Structural Engineers, Honorary Fellow of The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, Honorary Freeman of The City of Gloucester, Honorary Freeman/Liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, Honorary Freeman/Liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Vintners, Honorary Freeman of The Worshipful Company of Grocers, Honorary Life Member of The Bath Industrial Heritage Trust Ltd, Honorary Life Member of The Farmers Club, Honorary Life Member of The Friends of All Saints Brixworth, Honorary Life Member of The Royal Army Service Corps & Royal Corps of Transport Association, Honorary Member of The Architecture Club, Honorary Member of The Friends of Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens, Honorary Member of The Oxford & Cambridge Club, Honorary Member of The Petal Childhood Cancer Research, Honorary Member of The Reform Club, Honorary Membership of The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway Association, Honorary President of The The 20-Ghost Club Limited, Honorary President of The BR Class 8 Steam Locomotive Trust, Honorary President of The Somme Association, International Advisory Board Member of The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, Joint President of Cancer Research UK, Member of The International Advisory Board for The Royal United Services Institute, Member of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Member of The Scottish Railway Preservation Society, Member of The St George's Chapel Advisory Committee, Patron of Action on Smoking & Health, Patron of Canine Partners for Independence, Patron of English Heritage, Patron of Flag Fen, Patron of St Bartholomew's Hospital, Patron of The Architects Benevolent Society, Patron of The Black Country Living Museum, Patron of The British Association of Friends of Museums, Patron of The British Homeopathic Association, Patron of The The British Korean Veterans Association, Patron of The British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association, Patron of The British Mexican Society, Patron of The British Society of Soil Science, Patron of The Built Environment Trust, Patron of The Built Environment Education Trust (SHAPE), Patron of The Church Monuments Society, Patron of The Cresset (Peterborough) Ltd, Patron of The Construction Youth Trust, Patron of The De Havilland Aircraft Museum, Patron of The Essex Field Club, Patron of The Forest Education Initiative & Forest Education Network, Patron of The Fortress Study Group, Patron of The Fotheringhay Church Appeal, Patron of The Friends of Gibraltar Heritage Society, Patron of The Friends of Gloucester Cathedral, Patron of The Friends of Peterborough Cathedral, Patron of The Friends of St. Bartholomew the Less, Patron of The Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Patron of The Gloucestershire Millennium Celebrations, Patron of The Grange Centre for People with Disabilities, Patron of The Guild of the Royal Hospital of St Bartholomew, Patron of The Heritage of London Trust, Patron of The International Council on Monuments & Sites, Patron of The Isle of Man Victorian Society, Patron of The Japan Society, Patron of The Kensington Society, Patron of The Learning in Harmony Project, Patron of The Leicester Cathedral's King Richard III Appeal, Patron of The London Chorus, Patron of The London Playing Fields Foundation, Patron of The Magdalene Australia Society, Patron of The Mavisbank Trust, Patron of The Middlesex Association for the Blind, Patron of The Norfolk Record Society, Patron of The North of England Civic Trust, Patron of The Northamptonshire Archaeological Society, Patron of The Newcomen Society, Patron of The Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust, Patron of The Oriental Ceramic Society, Patron of The Oundle Town Rowing Club, Patron of The Peel Institute, Patron of The Pestalozzi International Village Trust, Patron of The Richard III Society, Patron of The Royal Academy Schools, Patron of The Royal Air Force 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron Association, Patron of The Royal Anglian Regiment Association, Patron of The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Patron of The Royal Blind (Services for the Blind and Scottish War Blinded), Patron of The Royal Epping Forest Golf Club, Patron of The Royal Royal Pioneer Corps Association, Patron of The Scottish Society of Architect Artists, Patron of The Severn Valley Railway, Patron of The Society of Antiquaries of London, Patron of The Society of the Friends of St Magnus Cathedral Association, Patron of The Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum, Patron of The St George's Society of New York, Patron of The Three Choirs Festival Association, Patron of The Tramway Museum Society, Patron of The United Kingdom Trust for Nature Conservation in Nepal, Patron of The Victorian Society, Patron of The Westminster Society, Patron of The Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers, Patron-In-Chief of The Scottish Veterans' Residences, Patron-In-Chief of The Friends of St Clement Danes, Practicing Partner at Hunt Thompson Associates Architectural Firm, President of Ambition, President of British Expertise International, President of Christ's Hospital, President of The Britain-Nepal Society, President of The Cambridge House, President of The Crown Agents Foundation, President of The Greenwich Foundation, President of The Institute of Advanced Motorists, President of The London Society, President of The Lutyens Trust, President of The Peterborough Cathedral Development and Preservation Trust, President of The Public Monuments and Sculpture Association, President of The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, President of The Society of Architect Artists, President of St Bartholomew's Hospital, Ranger for The Epping Forest Centenary Trust, Royal Bencher for The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, Royal Patron of Bede's World Museum, Royal Patron of Habitat for Humanity (UK Branch), Royal Patron of The 82045 Steam Locomotive Trust, Royal Patron of The British Museum, Royal Patron of The Global Heritage Fund UK, Royal Patron of The Global Heritage Fund UK, Royal Patron of The Lilongwe Wildlife Trust, Royal Patron of The Nene Valley Railway, Royal Patron of The Peace and Prosperity Trust, Royal Patron of The Royal Auxiliary Air Force Foundation, Royal Patron of The Strawberry Hill Trust, Royal Patron of The Wells Cathedral - Vicars' Close Appeal, Senior Fellow of The Royal College of Art, The Duke of Gloucester Young Achiever's Scheme Awards, The Offices Development Group for the Ministry of Works, Vice Royal Patron of The Almshouse Association, Vice Patron of The National Churches Trust, Vice President of LEPRA, Vice President of The Royal Bath and West of England Society, Vice President of The Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association, Vice President of The Royal Smithfield Club, & Visitor of The Royal School Dungannon

[causeiwanttoandican]

The deal that cuts ties between Royal family and Harry and Meghan - explained in full

Edward Malnick Victoria Ward Patrick Sawer Jack Hardy

It was, perhaps, the most significant announcement about the future of the Royal family for almost three decades.

And in a glimpse of the disaffection with tradition that partly lay behind their move, the public was informed of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision to renounce their royal titles in a post on the couple’s Instagram page, at 6.30pm yesterday.

The post itself conveyed a heartfelt statement by the Queen that appeared to speak as much as a loving grandmother as a monarch concerned about the future of the Royal family.

The Queen said she was “pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family”, following their wish “for a more independent life”.

A separate statement from Buckingham Palace revealed that the Duke and Duchess – whom the Queen said had “so quickly become one of the family” – would step back from royal duties, including official military appointments, give up their His and Her Royal Highness titles, and no longer formally represent the monarch.

Here, The Telegraph details the key changes agreed as part of the deal between the couple and their family, and their significance to the Duke and Duchess:

Titles

The Sussexes, who will now go by Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, will give up their HRH style – which Prince Harry has had since birth and Meghan since their marriage on May 19, 2018.

Some royal watchers had predicted that the couple may have been preparing to surrender the style after it emerged that their son Archie, born on May 6 last year, had been given no title.

Joe Little, the managing editor of Majesty magazine, said: “The fact Archie isn’t Earl of Dumbarton or styled HRH makes me wonder whether this wasn’t already part of a wider masterplan.”

Their home

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have indicated they will spend the majority of their time in North America, but retain Frogmore Cottage as a UK base, and that they will pay commercial rent on the home.

Taxpayers paid £2.4 million to renovate the cottage, which the couple moved into just nine months ago – leaving Kensington Palace, which only fanned rumours of a rift with the Cambridges.

The couple have agreed they will pay the Sovereign Grant cost of the refurbishment back to the public purse. Work on the property in the Berkshire property overran and it was reported that the couple made constant design changes, meaning the builders fell behind schedule.

Their new website sussexroyal.com says the Duke and Duchess moved to Windsor for “various reasons”, and that their previous residence of Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace “could not accommodate their growing family”.

There is now expected to be a short “transition period” during which the couple will divide their time between Britain and Canada, before spending the majority of time in North America.

The Duchess is on Vancouver Island with their eight-month-old son Archie, and the Duke is expected to join her there soon.

Military patronages

The announcement that the Duke of Sussex will lose his military patronages comes as a significant blow to the prestige that he has enjoyed until now.

Prince Harry’s military titles and patronages include that of Captain General of the Royal Marines, a position he was understood to have been particularly proud of, having been appointed in December 2017, when he succeeded his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, in the role.

He will now also lose the other military titles and patronages which he has been awarded since serving two tours of Afghanistan with the British Army, where he rose to the rank of Captain.

These are: Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington; and Commodore- in-Chief, Small Ships and Diving.

Commonwealth

One of the major roles lost by the Duke of Sussex in his deal with Buckingham Palace is Commonwealth Youth Ambassador, which had been the focus of several overseas tours.

The Duke was appointed to the position by the Queen in 2018 with a view to helping young people use “Commonwealth platforms” to address social, economic and environmental challenges facing their generation.

It was work that the sixth in line to the throne pursued with zeal. Last year, he visited South Africa, Angola and Malawi on an official diplomatic engagement in the role.

Prince Harry had also seen it as part of his future work with his wife. In his first speech in April 2018, he said he was “incredibly grateful” the woman he was, at that point, about to marry, would join him in the job.

The role of youth ambassador – his most high-profile at the time – is considered particularly important because of the Commonwealth’s demographic, with 60 per cent of the population of its 53 member nations being under the age of 30.

Despite Harry stepping back from the position, he and Meghan will remain president and vice-president respectively of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust.

Security

Buckingham Palace will not comment on the couple’s future security arrangements save to say these will be determined by well-established risk assessments carried out by the police and security services.

But experts have warned that taxpayers will need to fund police protection for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for years to come. They fear couples will continue to be at risk from terror groups, political fanatics and lone obsessives long after they separate from the Royal family.

Dai Davies, who was head of Royal Protection from 1994 to 1998, said: “We don’t want the situation where Harry and Meghan are being followed, without protection, by paparazzi or people with a fixation and we need to be sure that protection is of the highest level.”

Ministers and senior police officers are thought to be determined to avoid the mistakes made over Diana, Princess of Wales, who in 1993 turned down police protection except when she was with her sons or staying at Kensington Palace.

That left her relying on private security at other times, leading to her being in the hands of the Ritz Hotel’s head of security Henri Paul on the night she died when their car crashed in the Pont de l’Alma underpass as he tried to evade photographers.

What they can keep

As Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, the newly-independent couple will retain many of their patronages in a private capacity.

The Duchess, who has made clear her intention to continue to work on causes relating to female empowerment, remains as patron of SmartWorks, a charity which provides clothes and mentoring to disadvantaged women seeking employment.

She is also patron of the National Theatre, animal charity Mayhew and The Association of Commonwealth Universities.

Prince Harry will continue to work with his key charities, including the Invictus Games and Sentebale, which helps children affected by HIV in Lesotho and Botswana.

Others close to his heart include WellChild, which supports families caring for seriously ill children, and African Parks, a conservation charity.

He remains 6th in line to the throne, with Archie Mountbatten-Windsor at 7th. He is also expected to appear at several scheduled engagements in the UK before the new arrangement takes effect in spring 2020.

The future

What is to come for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remains uncertain, with many details still yet to be agreed.

The SussexRoyal branding, under which they operate their social media, has already been copyrighted, but aides were last night unable to say whether they would retain it as non-working members of the Royal family.

Experts have pointed out that their official branding could allow them to make millions as a direct result of their former status.

Buckingham Palace will no longer have influence or oversight of the Sussexes’ working lives, leaving serious questions about whether the couple can continue to operate as “SussexRoyal”.

A source said the couple have not yet secured any commercial deals.

The couple’s foundation, due to launch later this year, may also need to be renamed.

Although they will no longer automatically be part of official public events, they are likely to appear at family occasions at the invitation of the Queen.

Aides have not yet indicated whether they will appear on the balcony at Buckingham Palace for Trooping the Colour, at Remembrance events or occasions such as Royal Ascot.

Last night, the couple’s website, sussexroyal.com, published a promise to update “information on the roles and work of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex...in due course”.

[centrecollege]

Name: Jonathan Hunt ‘18 Major: Dramatic Arts Organization: Berkshire Theatre Group Position: Directing Assistantship Intern Location: Pittsfield, MA Term: Summer 2017

[a-duchess-and-a-prince-wk]

A very interesting read

Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton’s fans are fighting a fierce new royal feud

In the world of British duchess fandom, there’s no room for divided loyalties: praising one means automatically 'hating' the other, writes Patricia Treble

A new war started in 2018, and it’s a take-no-prisoners affair with major implications for the future of the royal family. The once-genteel, even genial, online world of royal watching has been turned upside down and inside out as fans of Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, duel for social media supremacy and, in the process, tear down anyone who dares to challenge their view of the royal world. There’s no room for divided loyalties: praising one means automatically “hating” the other.

Signs of the slagging aren’t hard to find. Just dive into the royal family’s own social media accounts, then follow the online infection trail. “Please give us MORE MORE MORE of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Sick to absolute death of fake narcissistic MeAgain Markle,” a commenter wrote on a photo of Prince William and Kate on the royal family’s Instagram account. Kate is “clinging to dear life to Willnot [sic]. His attention is on HRH Meghan,” says another beside a Kensington Palace photo of Kate at a laboratory. “Kate will never be on Meghan’s level, all that lazy consort did was marry a Prince, she don’t know about working, and connecting with others, don’t disrespect Meghan like that,” writes @HRHmegh on Twitter. “Meghan speak so bad and she was fake and she is an actress she know who act. But Kate always is natural,” comments another.

“It is really unbelievable,” says Susan Kelley, who is near the epicentre of the Kate vs. Meghan fan wars because of her two popular royal fashion websites—What Kate Wore, which she started in 2011, and What Meghan Wore, which she co-manages with Susan Courter. “Every time I tell people about it who aren’t in the Kate-Meghan world, they are incredulous.” While the two Susans, as they are known, approve comments before they are posted on the Meghan and Kate sites, “on certain days you can’t go 30 to 60 minutes without checking” Facebook to delete over-the-top comments, Kelley notes.

The reason for the sudden increase in vitriol isn’t hard to find. Seven years after marrying Prince William and being the only leading young female royal, Kate has “competition” in the form of a beautiful American former actress, Meghan Markle, who married Prince Harry in May. William, Kate, Harry and Meghan may be known as the “Fab Four,” but to fans, it’s an either-or choice. The Meghan and Kate acolytes appear to be very young, and accustomed to a social media world that not only condones but seems to encourage anonymous insults. It’s not for nothing that such devotees are known as “stans,” a combination of stalker and fan.

The fans aren’t living in an “and” world but in an “or” one. “Don’t get out of your lane, don’t be coming into my lane,” is how Kelley sees them. “This has been just extraordinarily troubling to me,” she continues. “This is 2018. If this was two men, this would not be happening. I thought we were beyond this…There is something so off, the level of hatred and how intense it is, and the volume.” Perhaps most disturbing for everyone is the level of intolerance, even racism. Not only is Meghan, the daughter of a black mother and white father, the focus of racist attacks, but her fans, in turn, quickly toss the “r” word at perceived Meghan opponents.

Susan Kelley isn’t alone. Everyone reports the same thing—a sudden, disquieting increase in harassing attacks that seem completely over-the-top given the rather sedate royal topics being discussed, including fashion, engagements, living arrangements, protocol and even the state of a curtsy or bow. “I have witnessed what amounts to be roving Twitter gangs that find a tweet/blog post about Meghan and kind of rally the troops and stoke up the fires and suddenly you have a hail storm of abuse flowing at you,” explains Jane Barr, who runs the From Berkshire to Buckingham fashion site, which focuses on Kate. “For me, it is very frustrating to write a nuanced analysis and have people just take a black-and-white interpretation and run wild with it.”

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“I think it is indicative of a larger societal problem,” says Barr. “We have an inability to listen to other people, and reason and debate together as a community. The ramifications are obvious for free democratic societies, and very concerning.” In seven years of blogging, Barr has blocked two people for foul language. In the past year, she’s blocked between 15 and 20 for “completely out of control behaviour.”

Royal outrage is complicated by a transatlantic culture clash. Many intense Meghan Markle fans are Americans who don’t understand the monarchy, its place in British society and how there has always been criticism of the family, royal author Victoria Arbiter told the Express. “The American community doesn’t have anything like the royal family so they can only liken them to celebrities or politicians,” she explained. Their lack of knowledge of the intricacies of royal life, protocol and history explains some comments. For instance, they can interpret a photo being posted on a royal feed as a sign of the Queen’s personal approval for Kate or Meghan, their clothes or their behaviour, rather than the work of a member of the royal media department.

“Celebrity rivalries are always conducted by us, the fans, the people who buy the concert or theatre tickets, the records, the merchandise and who send the memes through social media,” contends Ellis Cashmore, a sociology professor at Aston University in England whose book Kardashian Kulture will be published in early 2019. “It helps if there is genuine animosity, but it’s far, far from essential—or even necessary. As long as we think they’re fighting, that’s enough to sustain the feud. We enjoy the feuds so much, we’re tempted to take sides and engage, albeit vicariously. Today, social media has made this easy; so much so that fans can keep the fight going independently of the principals.”

Many stans believe that Meghan and/or Kate don’t like each other and are coming between the close relationship of brothers William and Harry. The reality that the two brothers now have their own families and own priorities doesn’t appear to factor into their online fights. Every new bit of information—Harry and Meghan leaving the tiny two-bedroom Nottingham Cottage around the corner from William and Kate’s London residence for a larger house on the Windsor estate, or reports that they are ending their joint staffing arrangement, established when they were teens—is fought over. To some, the former Meghan Markle is the Yoko Ono of Kensington Palace: “Megan [sic] is the reason for the split between William and Harry,” commented one fan on the royal Instagram feed.

And in the busy autumn season of royal engagements, the war may be at a tipping point. Earlier in 2018, the work schedules of the two popular duchesses didn’t overlap. At the beginning of the year, the focus was on Kate while Meghan slowly dipped her toe into royal engagements. Then, when Kate went on maternity leave in late March, the focus swung back to Meghan, who married Harry in a wedding watched by billions. Kate stayed largely out of the public eye until after Harry and Meghan completed their high-profile tour of Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand.

But now, both royal women are both doing royal work, both based in their London home of Kensington Palace. And that’s setting up an inevitable “showdown” between how the media covers them—who gets top billing, who gets criticized? The palace, no doubt aware that social media is swimming in bile and acid, appears to be trying to mitigate the intense fan reactions. On Nov. 21, both Meghan and Kate were out and about in London, yet their schedules were carefully timed to not conflict with each other. As well, neither event touched on the subject matter of the other, and neither was announced to the public in advance.

In the morning, the Duchess of Sussex went to the Hubb Community Kitchen. Meghan had been making private visits there since January and, with the help of funds raise by a charitable cookbook she helped create, the women are making 200 meals daily for local groups in the area, devastated by the Grenfell Tower fire. A few hours later, Kate arrived at University College London’s developmental neuroscience lab to be briefed on the latest “research into how environment and biology interact to shape the way in which children develop both socially and emotionally.” Coincidently (or not), both wore outfits in shades of burgundy and plum. The preparations paid off. The Express put the two on its front page with the headline “Double duchess: Kate and Meghan’s copy-cat fashions.” For the record, the large photo was of Meghan, the inset of Kate.

The irony is that the Kate and Meghan stans are engaging in behaviour the royal women they profess to adore would find abhorrent. All four of the young royals are committed to raising the profile of mental health issues, including the negative effects of social media. On Nov. 15, William gave a powerful speech about the harmful effects of cyberbullying: “When I worked as an air ambulance pilot or travelled around the country campaigning on mental health, I met families who had suffered the ultimate loss. For too many, social media and messaging was supercharging the age-old problem of bullying, leaving some children to take their own lives when they felt it was unescapable.”

“I am very concerned though that on every challenge they face—fake news, extremism, polarization, hate speech, trolling, mental health, privacy, and bullying—our tech leaders seem to be on the back foot,” William continued before issuing a challenge: “You have powered amazing movements of social change. Surely together you can harness innovation to allow us to fight back against the intolerance and cruelty that has been brought to the surface by your platforms.”

Cashmore doesn’t see the Kate/Meghan social media battle stopping any time soon. “The beauty of our screen society is that, once people get on their phones or laptops, they become a force majeure—nothing and no one can stop them,” he explains. “If they say there’s an argument, then there’s an argument. Meghan and Kate can deny it all they like; it won’t alter a thing!”

There seems little room for neutral observers. Journalists are taking it from all sides. Any criticism—real or imagined—of one duchess is perceived by many fans as an attack, and also favouritism for the other royal woman. In the past year, virtually every full-time royal correspondent in London issued a plea for tolerance on Twitter. After being accused of everything from bias to racism, Richard Palmer of the Daily Express wrote, “We have all faced unpleasant and unfounded accusations of racism towards Meghan.” He pinned a tweet to the top of his account stating that “with the exception of a few I have known for years, I’ve decided I will only now engage with those who share their real identities.” Some journalists are also blocking extreme fans.

And the attacks don’t just stop at those who critique. The fans demand total loyalty. As Richard Palmer commentedon Twitter, “As far as I can see the pitchfork brigade have just regarded anything not 100-per-cent gushing as racist ever since with no evidence.” Susan Kelley has seen the same: it’s not enough to speak the truth, but they many readers accept only “complimentary, laudatory things.”

Netty Leistra, a veteran Netherlands-based royal journalist and blogger, has tried to avoid the Kate vs. Meghan fight, but an online critic called her a racist a few months ago for saying “absolutely nothing special.” For Leistra, the current phenomenon brings back memories of around 15 years ago, when Australian Mary Donaldson married Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark. In the era before Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, she and a few others ran an online forum about the couple. Soon, the anti-Mary folk were battling with the pro-Mary fans. “The bad thing to us was that we tried to be objective, and in the end we were the ones being attacked for not protecting any of the two sides,” she recounts. In the end, they stopped the forum.

Today, no one thinks things will improve any time soon. Both Kate and Meghan are full-time working royals, both gearing up their charitable activities, Kate after her maternity leave, Meghan as she settles into her new royal role. Perhaps a break will come when Meghan gives birth in the spring and steps away from the public spotlight to concentrate on being a mother. Meanwhile, royal watchers who want to engage in polite conversations and debates are trying to block the more extreme commenters, and hoping tempers will cool—or interest will die down.

[anxioussilence]

Hai! I'm doing a thing. Progress Theatre in Reading have very kindly asked me to supply artwork/photography to accompany their production of Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem running from 7th-16th February.  You'll be able to see my images in the foyer/bar area for the course of the run, a selection of abstracts, light painting, nature and a tiny smidgen of folk horror.  Progress put on fantastic productions in a really intimate space and it's always worth making the effort to see what they are up to, a really creative and boundary pushing group. I'm absolutely stoked to have been offered this opportunity and will hopefully provide fitting decor for the show. Quite excited. A bit terrified. #gallery #show #theatre #art #photography #reading #berkshire (at Maidenhead) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsZGT9FBlNk/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1kk4nzhsl1zl2

[larryland]

Burns and Cane on "Bells are Ringing," a musical from the Berkshire Theatre Group at Colonial Theatre

Burns and Cane on “Bells are Ringing,” a musical from the Berkshire Theatre Group at Colonial Theatre

James Ludwig (center) in Bells Are Ringing at Berkshire Theatre Group. Photo by Reid Thompson. Bells are Ringing at the Berkshire Theatre Group Theatre Review by Gail M. Burns and Roseann Cane Roseann Cane: Bells are Ringing opened on Broadway in 1956 – the same year that Candide, The Most Happy Fella, and My Fair Lady premiered (Oh, to have a time machine!) – and ran for 924 performances With a…

[bakerstreetbabe]

The Skin of Our Teeth

The Skin of Our Teeth

The Berkshire Theatre Group presents The Skin of Our Teeth at The Fitzpatrick Main Stage through August 3. Thorton Wilder won one of his three Pulitizer Prizes for this play which is as relevant today as it was when he wrote it in 1942. David Auburn directs an outstanding production with a fine cast who bring this unique play to life as Mr. and Mrs. Antrobus and their two children survive three…