Sarah Blake

🎟️Another couple of tickets sold for The Book of Sir Thomas More - it's a small room, and there aren't many spaces, so book now to avoid disappointment! More (ahem) on the event and other exciting developments in this thread.👉
#drama #theatre #live #DeepDive #unique #events

The language of modern political theory isn’t helping us describe what’s going on in the U.S. because it assumes rational actors. This is the kind of situation democracy is meant to prevent. Look to your premodern thinkers: we’re in Caligula country now.

@hcrichardson.bsky.social - also tagging you for this, because I don’t know who else to contact to get the word out about this idea for jamming up the ICE recruitment process… but I’m guessing you do!

Journalist claims ICE offered her job after six-minute interview and ‘sloppy’ vetting Slate reporter Laura Jedeed describes experience of recruitment process and concludes it is ‘so sloppy that the administration effectively has no idea who’s joining the agency’s ranks’

@muellershewrote.com - off the back of this article… could we cause some good trouble by asking all the Leguminati to apply for ICE? Once the Trump folks realized what was happening, their recruitment process would be gummed up for months… www.the-independent.com/news/world/a...

So I'm utterly hopeless at blowing my own trumpet on social media... but I have quite a nifty little line in ASMR cultural audio talks, to help people relax and fall asleep... so here's a link to a new one, on The History of the Tarot... youtu.be/BHDpOSZDwnE
#Tarot
#ASMR
#History
#Sleep
#ArtHistory

Yes!

Good lord, I’d almost forgotten what it was like to wake up to good news from the other side of the pond… well done America (or, to be more precise, the states that were voting yesterday)… what a relief!❤️🤍💙

Picture is a 1920s illustration of a red-headed witch, seen in profile, who is kissing a large pumpkin lantern. Behind her, a thin sliver of crescent moon hangs in a deep blue sky and in front of her, below the pumpkin, a black cat is stretching up one paw towards her. The cat is wearing a red ribbon around its neck - the witch is wearing what appears to be a black lace gown and a very long, thin and pointy witches’ hat, which is criss-crossed with orange ribbons.

Happy Hallowe’en! 💙🧡💙

Image shows a still from the film 'The First Wives Club' and depicts a New York apartment interior, with a beige marble floor, a studded leather door on the left, slab wall-panelling in white and wood, and a hideous staircase with a metal frame, wooden slat stair risers and metal tubular banister rails. Mounted on the wall behind the staircase is a rectangular mirror in a heavy gilt, faux-rococo frame, underneath a pair of wall-mounted frosted-glass torchiere lamps - and to the left of these, an open door reveals a cloakroom with a ridiculous gold, Louis XIV-style lavatory, brown carpet and navy blue striped wallpaper.

In honour of #DianeKeaton, I watched The First Wives Club. It's still so funny & joyful, but it struck me that the interior of Shelly's apartment - which is clearly meant to be a trashy joke - is emulated today by many designers, as well as a certain president. We live in such a bad taste era.

That rumba from Alex, tho 🔥🔥🔥#Strictly

Gorgeous - my fave so far!

Lovely tribute to Singin’ In The Rain from Katya Jones and Lewis Cope tonight… even if absolutely no one on the actual dance programme seemed to spot it. #Strictly

A head and shoulders shot of Roel Fox as Doctor Faustus, hand to face as though remembering something - lit in red on the right hand side. Background black. Text overlaid to the right: Beyond Shakespeare Company, Wyrd Revels, 21-25th October - Have you forgotten to book tickets for the Revels? 7 Days to Go. Logo for the White Bear Theatre

🚨One Week to Go!
Have you booked your tickets for our Wyrd Revels yet? Five days, five shows, recording live for the Beyond Shakespeare Podcast.
The Witch of Edmonton, The Wise-woman of Hogston, Thyestes, and both versions of Doctor Faustus!
#Wyrd #Horror #Drama #AudioDrama #Demon #Witch #Halloween

Things are happening at Portland's ICE facility tonight.

Read more of our protest coverage here: www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

I don’t normally like to draw attention to my chronic illnesses, but this is too funny and brilliant not to share… 😆😭😆

Isn't it wonderful? But can't claim any credit for it... they're the original worktops and flooring from 1908! 😍

Photo shows the back door of a kitchen, which is painted yellow and has a four-paned window in the upper half of it. To the right of the door is a low kitchen cabinet, also painted yellow, with a black and white stone worktop on top of it and a stone sink set into it. To the left of the back door is another, matching yellow cabinet and, above it, another four-paned window. Both windows look out over a garden, which is still very green, with a turf lawn and a high wall covered in dark green ivy. However, hanging down in front of both windows are several long strands of virginia creeper, which has taken on its autumn colours of bright orange and crimson. The orange tones of the creeper are picked up by a wooden bowl of satsumas and golden kiwis that are sitting on top of the kitchen cabinet on the left, in front of the window, and by the edge of a bright orange washing-up bowl that’s just visible in shot on the right. However, the scene is not enhanced at all by the pile of washing-up that’s sitting on the worktop next to the sink, on the right. Should I have done the washing-up before taking the photo? Yes. Should I have at least moved it out of shot, before taking the photo? Yes. Could I be arsed to do either of these things? No.

You’ll have to excuse the pile of washing up by the sink, but when I walked into the kitchen this morning, the burnished creeper looked so beautiful hanging over the back door that I had to take a photo of it ❤️
#autumnglory #autumnvibes #autumnbeauty #autumn

Sarah Mullally named as new Archbishop of Canterbury - BBC News She becomes the first female leader of the Church of England, replacing Justin Welby who resigned over his handling of a safeguarding scandal.

I am excessively sad that Patricia Routledge has died at the grand old age of 96 - she was amazing ❤️ But the news comes so fast these days - and fuck me, we now have a female Archbishop of Canterbury! 😍 Amazing 🥰 www.bbc.com/news/article...

Picture shows a black headless mannequin wearing a pink and cream-striped Robe à la Francais, which dates from around 1775. It features an embroidered stomacher, decorated with pink and blue ribbon flowers, and a full crinoline skirt that is also embroidered with small pink flowers and red ribbon trim, and is looped up at the sides, in the style known as 'à la Polonais'. Underneath the dress is a white cotton chemise that is visible around the neckline and at end of the three-quarter sleeves, where white ruffles fall gently down the arms to where the wrists would be.

Photo shows a long, cream and peach-coloured striped silk gown, seen from the back on a black, headless mannequin. The gown dates from around 1787 and is in the Robe à l'anglaise style, with long sleeves, a tight bodice and a skirt that is gathered over the hips and has pleats to make it full, as well as a short train that trails on the floor.

Picture shows a front view of a floor-length, cream satin gown on a black mannequin. The gown dates from around 1780 and is in the 'Robe à la Francais' style, with a tight bodice, half-length sleeves and a very full skirt - designed to be worn over a crinoline hoop, or panniers. The bodice has a plain scoop neck and fastens down the front with a vertical, central line of concealed hooks, while the skirt is made up of a flat fronted under-skirt, which is then covered by a mantua, or split-front over-skirt. Both skirt parts are embroidered with sprays of pink and yellow flowers and are also trimmed with bands of pale blue ribbon and cream lace.

Image shows an exhibition gallery in the V&A museum, which has a plain cream background and floor, with six white mannequins displayed upon it. From left to right, the mannequins are wearing: a long dark pink gown with filly sleeves by Moschino; a blue and white toile-patterned ensemble made up of a short, belted coat with a full crinoline skirt, over matching blue and white toile thigh-high boots, all by Jeremy Scott for Moschino; a calf-length ruffled dress in shades of beige and pale green, with a ribbon-decorated bodice and heavily-flounced skirt, by Vivienne Westwood; a long floral chiffon gown featuring heavy pleating and a pattern of large pink roses and green leaves on a cream background, by Alessandro Michele for Valentino; and a lemon coloured mini-dress that is shaped like a tiered wedding cake and covered in structured white decorations that are made to look like piped royal icing, by Jeremy Scott for Valentino. On the far right-hand side of the photo, next to the lemon-colured 'cake' dress, we can see half of another mannequin, wearing another 'cake' dress, this time in pale pink. All of the Moschino mannequins are wearing high, Marie Antoinette-style wigs that complement the colour of the outfit they are wearing (dark pink, blue, pale yellow and pale pink, respectively). By contrast, the Westwood and Valentino mannequins are both bald.

The Marie Antoinette Style exhibition at the V&A is stunning. Lots of original artefacts, plus a fabulous collection of couture designs that have been inspired by her legacy. Definitely worth a visit!
#MarieAntoinette
#MarieAntoinetteStyle
#V&AMuseum
#couture
#fashion
#fashiondesign
#18thcentury

🧵 Gentleman in DC on the suspension of @jimmykimmel.com:

“But you know who the real villains in this whole thing are?

The 60-some percent of American voters who didn’t [vote].”

LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK. 1/

Important.

Dear @teamlabouruk.bsky.social, please can we have @jessphillipsmp.bsky.social for Deputy PM, now?

The picture shows a beach, with yellow sand on the lefthand side and soft waves coming in from the right across the centre of the picture. The sky is very blue, with lots of small, fluffy clouds, and at the top centre of the picture, there are refracted shafts of sunlight. The sunlight is also creating a sparking effect on the waves. In the distance, we can see the silhouette of buildings on the left, and a pier stretching over to the right, with a tower and a big wheel.

It’s a sparkling Friday afternoon where I am… happy weekend, all!
#Fridayfeeling
#Seafever

YouTube video by Sarah Blake Deepfakes - political satire by Sarah Blake

I wrote this digital play 4 years ago &, post-pandemic & post-AI, I’m still really proud of it. Although it’s about UK politics, it’s scarily-prescient about the current US situation & contains beautiful, nuanced performances by the cast. @hcrichardson.bsky.social is right - art uplifts, art helps ❤️

Scene is two people and four horsemen of the apocalypse in coloured robes instead of the dark ones. Instead of the normal "death, famine, pestilence" etc, they have banners saying "Hope", "Justice", "Empathy" and "Just basically not being a dick" Horseman 1 is saying to the two people "THe whole apocalypse thing got too depressing so we've reinvented ourselves as the Four Horsemen of Working Together to Get Us All Out of the Mess We're in"

ICYMI- Horses Changing Courses- yesterday's cartoon for @australia.theguardian.com

Picture shows text from the Folger edition of Coriolanus, Act One, Scene One. The First Citizen is speaking and the speech reads: "We are accounted poor citizens, the patricians good. What authority surfeits on would relieve us. If they would yield us but the superfluity while it were wholesome, we might guess they relieved us humanely. But they think we are too dear. The leanness that afflicts us, the object of our misery, is as an inventory to particularize their abundance; our sufferance is a gain to them."

Shakespeare - succinctly describing the problem with trickle-down economics all the way back in the early 1600s (Coriolanus, Ii)...
#Shakespeare
#trickle-down
#billionaires
#Musk
#Trump
#SNAPbenefits

This Is What Being in Your Twenties Was Like in 18th-Century London A restored collection of letters describes a 27-year-old’s office job, social life and financial concerns beginning in 1719.

getpocket.com/explore/item...

#18thcentury #LondonHistory #LettersHome

From Rose Garden to Olive Garden.

From Rose Garden to Olive Garden.