Birthday (and Beats) as the Beeb turns 90

Alice Jones' Arts Diary

There’s a chance to catch Kieran Hurley’s mind-altering rave/ play Beats at the Bush Theatre in London next week.

The show, about the free party movement, written and performed by Hurley with DJ Johnny Whoop on the decks, played at 11.15pm on the Edinburgh Fringe and received rave (ahem) reviews.

In London, it’s on at the rather less euphoria-inducing time of 7.30pm. “11pm at the Fringe draws an interesting mix of a regular theatre audience and perhaps a younger lot, and maybe some people were a bit more drunk” says Hurley.

 “But for all that it’s about raves, for all that there are moving mirror lights and haze, for all that Johnny is a DJ, it’s still just a theatre show.” And a very good one it is too.

BBC archive

What a week for BBC Radio to be marking its 90th Birthday. And for the National Media Museum to be trumpeting its latest acquisition – a collection of 1000 artefacts from the BBC’s past almost-century.

Among the items making their way to Bradford is a microphone that was used to record the original Big Ben bongs in 1924 and a wartime ‘biscuit tin’ radio.

Whether George Entwistle’s (pictured) DG door plaque is also among the archive of antiques is to be confirmed. 

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