The Times - UK (2022-02-21)

the times | Monday February 21 2022 2GM 23

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heritage. From council estates, pubs

and clubs to farms, factories and ship-

yards, these are the places where most

people have lived, worked and played

for hundreds of years. We want to

explore these untold stories.”

The project, called Everyday Heri-

tage Grants: Celebrating Working

Class Histories, is the first of a series

planned for the next three years to

explore England’s diverse heritage. The

grants are being delivered as part of the

diversity and inclusion strategy, pub-

lished in November 2020.

Nigel Huddleston, the heritage

minister, said: “Our heritage belongs to

us all and should be accessible to every-

one. I welcome plans for new commu-

nity-led projects to tell the story of

working people across the country,

bringing our collective and shared

history back to life.”

The grants will open on Wednesday.

The closing date for the submission of

proposals is Monday, May 23.

Opera Richard Morrison

The Cunning Little Vixen

London Coliseum

HHHII

Humans

and nature

collide in a

wild panto

English National Opera was

supposed to open its new production

of Janacek’s 1924 masterpiece on

Friday, but its managers took fright

at the weather (ironic when staging

an opera that opens with the words

“there’s going to be a storm”) and

cancelled for safety reasons. You

would think they were performing

it outdoors.

Having booked a babysitter

anyway, we went up the road and

boosted Sir Cameron Mackintosh’s

bank account by joining the crowd

packing into Mary Poppins — one of

many West End shows that stayed

open. It was a stark illustration of the

difference between state-subsidised

companies such as ENO and the

commercial theatre, where “no show,

no dough” is a pretty inflexible rule.

ENO finally felt sufficiently brave

to open The Cunning Little Vixen

two days late. The good news is that

Jamie Manton’s staging has the

exuberance and visual élan of an

upmarket panto, albeit with some

messy moments more redolent of

village-hall dramatics.

Its success owes a lot to the

designer Tom Scutt. His costumes,

especially of the dozens of children

playing forest animals, are both

cartoonish and delightful, while

his set, based on continuously

revolving giant bookcases, suggests

the opera’s deeper meanings. The

passing of the seasons, and life itself,

is symbolised by an unfurling scroll

that bursts into gorgeous colours

to evoke sunrise or springtime.

Meanwhile, the suggestion that we

are in a giant logging factory

clearly evokes a society in which

humanity is constantly desecrating

the natural world it professes to love.

For his part, Manton captures well

the ambiguity, the overlap, between

the animal and human worlds. On

one level this opera contrasts the

two: the animals instinctive and

unaware of their mortality; the

villagers fretful, disillusioned and

demoralised by their circumscribed

lives. However, the drama gains

much of its piquant humour from

moments when the animals start

behaving like prissy humans — for

instance, when the Vixen and Fox

rush to get married because she is

pregnant — and when grumpy old

men such as the Schoolmaster and

Priest recall the fleeting animalistic

lusts of their youth.

All that is well captured by a

seasoned cast, of which Lester

Lynch’s Forester is the standout star,

especially in his final solo when he

at last understands the certainty that

the world will go on without him.

There’s lovely acting, too, from Sally

Matthews and Pumeza Matshikiza

as the Vixen and Fox. Shame that

neither enunciates the text with

enough clarity. I’d like more bite and

character from the orchestra, too,

though Janacek’s demanding score is

safely delivered under Martyn

Brabbins’s direction.

To March 1, eno.org

Two standouts on stage are Pumeza

Matshikiza, left, and Sally Matthews

The MCC has been accused of

“trashing” centuries of history, with the

cricket club’s members saying that they

have not been consulted over the

dropping of the two oldest fixtures at

Lord’s.

Some MCC members claim that the

Varsity match and the contest between

Eton and Harrow have been aban-

doned to appease lobbyists more con-

cerned about diversity and widening

opportunity than tradition.

The club is looking to increase the

number of people given a chance to

play on the hallowed turf and it wants to

stage more finals of competitions at all

levels at the home of cricket.

Some members suspect

that they were not consul-

ted because the committee

knew there would be objec-

tions. Nor were the schools

consulted. Disgruntled

members plan to object to

the committee at the club’s

May annual meeting.

In a letter to The Times

today, Guy Lavender, the

MCC chief executive, says

he hopes that the move will

provide “a route to Lord’s for talented

cricketers... having earned their seat in

the dressing room via their performan-

ces in competition”.

Mike Hall, 66, an MCC member who

batted for Harrow against Eton in 1972

and 1973, urged the committee to resign

over the “woke” decision.

He has written to Lavender, stating:

“You are trashing 216 years of history...

Your entire cricket committee should

resign and hang their heads in shame.

This woke decision is pathetic. Last year

I bought life membership and now I feel

I have been conned. What a disgrace.”

Eton and Harrow is the longest-

MCC members

say ‘trashing’ of

club’s tradition

is not cricket

running regular fixture at Lord’s, dating

back to 1805. Oxford have been taking

on Cambridge at the ground since 1827.

Tom Burridge, a full member since

2020, said: “If members were presented

with an option without context, then

the majority probably would vote to

retain the fixtures on the basis that it’s

more cricket and a strong tradition,

regardless of whether members attend.

My biggest issue is that lack of context

— why get rid of them? Are they no

longer cost-effective?”

Robin Knight, a member since 1963,

said: “Lord’s makes one consistent

claim for itself — that it is ‘the home of

cricket’. This claim is based entirely on

the traditions of the ground. If those

traditions are ended or eroded in the

name of ‘progress’, what is

left?”

Mark Peel, a member

since 1976, said: “MCC has

lost its sense of perspective

as to what is worth pre-

serving. In pursuing diver-

sity and inclusiveness to

extremes, you run the risk

of overturning the very

best of tradition.”

A total of 120 signatures

are required for a motion of

no confidence in MCC’s cricket com-

mittee, chaired by Claire Taylor, to be

submitted at an annual meeting — it is

too late for this year — or 180 for a

special general meeting.

MCC says that the fixtures need to go

to make way for male and female

cricketers from diverse backgrounds

because only 61 days of cricket are

possible at Lord’s during summer.

Eton and Harrow could play their

fixture at the Kia Oval in south London,

which is within reach of both schools.

The Varsity match could be held at

Arundel Castle in West Sussex.

Changes at Lord’s, letters, page 28

Ivo Tennant

CLIVE BARDA/ARENAPAL

How The Times

reported the move

by Lord’s last week

Funds hope to unlock stories

of the English working class

Historic England is looking to offer

grants for projects that aim to uncover

the country’s “overlooked” working-

class heritage.

The body sponsored by the Depart-

ment for Digital, Culture, Media and

Sport wants to shine a light on railways,

mines, factories, pubs, clubs, shipyards

and council estates.

Community organisations can apply

for grants of up to £25,000 to pay for

projects that will celebrate the environ-

ment, with a focus on projects of less

than £10,000.

Each scheme should allow people to

share “overlooked” or “untold” stories

of their neighbourhood. They are

encouraged to provide volunteering

opportunities to young people who

might be facing loneliness or isolation.

Duncan Wilson, chief executive of

Historic England, said: “The histories

of castles and great houses and their

inhabitants are well documented, but

we know far less about our everyday

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