tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87814751960234184142024-03-18T20:50:32.219+00:00Partially Obstructed ViewWriting down what I think about theatre I've seen in That London, whether I've been asked to or not.nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.comBlogger2443125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-64637126866005519462024-03-14T23:59:00.053+00:002024-03-18T20:49:58.634+00:00Theatre review: King Lear (Almeida)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMgSJMXGP4k1c8sRnEDKPNUJ6vfa36WGeAlu77KovPQ6c7qV0r15TUCrDdNBeQ96oRj76d_YfCTgr9aAHit2XgZO767tjwqeeI4KMhBX-DsprsP4aGEJTpuSOxeEew6IrkLbY9W-tRd1Ex4s_YVGeLSuxvqgmCXIpj8vq7zZtce2kAEpVB_TBm7wzAMzu/s1600/KingLearAlmeida2024.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMgSJMXGP4k1c8sRnEDKPNUJ6vfa36WGeAlu77KovPQ6c7qV0r15TUCrDdNBeQ96oRj76d_YfCTgr9aAHit2XgZO767tjwqeeI4KMhBX-DsprsP4aGEJTpuSOxeEew6IrkLbY9W-tRd1Ex4s_YVGeLSuxvqgmCXIpj8vq7zZtce2kAEpVB_TBm7wzAMzu/s1600/KingLearAlmeida2024.jpg" /></a></div>Given that it doesn't look like Yaël Farber’s going anywhere anytime soon, I feel like Rupert Goold's Almeida has really found the right match for the highly ritualistic South African director, by sticking to those Shakespeare plays where an apparent complete absence of a sense of humour isn't a major obstacle. So after her <i><a href="https://partially-obstructed-view.blogspot.com/2021/10/theatre-review-tragedy-of-macbeth.html">Macbeth</a></i> we now get a nearly four-hour long <i>King Lear</i> that despite being a particularly nihilistic take on the play is easily the best work I've ever seen Farber do. Regular readers of this blog may both decide for themselves how much of a compliment that actually is - but I'd say it's also one of the better <i>Lear</i>s I've seen in general. We begin at a live TV broadcast by the Royal Family where the succession is to be formally announced. Lear (Danny Sapani) asks his three daughters how much they love him, and the eldest two go along with the ritual, singing his praises.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>But the youngest refuses to flatter him, and in a rage he banishes her. As she was the most sympathetic to him, this means all his power has been devolved to the more pragmatic, ruthless daughters, and this has consequences both on a family and nationwide level.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-wf-C-bD-MLsyiTdJVwpiM3ZSdzYMfV46faWJ1U_gGaYoqJp4qKi64-VnGZT3OXz8WZCnvs0GoKXdorgrUqXLiIM27jx4IlaUa1CKqmGS1mAk9zVzPEmPZbAQsqMUrOvQClY5oAV9qkRlxiU9DT8OivjvKamzPBaUdydsTTai2VDkR6WfhCY61Jkx1053/s2250/KingLearAlmeida2024AkiyaHwenryDannySapaniFaithOmole.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2250" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-wf-C-bD-MLsyiTdJVwpiM3ZSdzYMfV46faWJ1U_gGaYoqJp4qKi64-VnGZT3OXz8WZCnvs0GoKXdorgrUqXLiIM27jx4IlaUa1CKqmGS1mAk9zVzPEmPZbAQsqMUrOvQClY5oAV9qkRlxiU9DT8OivjvKamzPBaUdydsTTai2VDkR6WfhCY61Jkx1053/s320/KingLearAlmeida2024AkiyaHwenryDannySapaniFaithOmole.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>While logically it's hard to argue with their stance (I've said it before and I'll say it again, there's nothing unreasonable about thinking a man prone to sudden fits of violence and unpredictability shouldn't have access to his own private army) Shakespeare is clearly on Lear's side with them painted as the wicked sisters, but Farber seems particularly sympathetic to Goneril (Akiya Henry) and Regan (Faith Omole) right from the start. There's a school of thought that Cordelia's (Gloria Obianyo) refusal to flatter is actually quite a brattish, attention-seeking move, an attempt to remind everyone she's the special favourite one that badly backfires.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5UohpR_kCgxhqPWXHeq7kqivVG2pmJ9UCR66eIYIaJ9tLUWpLOMeBns4qrCMVWUcwzO5WygFAR-2zaEfwyP7KPcD11hcBCu5qN6dV71kBjAVL5_IYGXSukYXS61tfcpTdAjE2zxSp6vHZ7MEW6iWqxqX5KwMj9xXspCTBESmVz4GEriC-aYS57f-owCck/s2250/KingLearAlmeida2024GloriaObianyo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2250" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5UohpR_kCgxhqPWXHeq7kqivVG2pmJ9UCR66eIYIaJ9tLUWpLOMeBns4qrCMVWUcwzO5WygFAR-2zaEfwyP7KPcD11hcBCu5qN6dV71kBjAVL5_IYGXSukYXS61tfcpTdAjE2zxSp6vHZ7MEW6iWqxqX5KwMj9xXspCTBESmVz4GEriC-aYS57f-owCck/s320/KingLearAlmeida2024GloriaObianyo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>That's what it feels like as the announcement that the succession will be decided by speeches of love is met with no surprise by anyone, evidently a traditional ritual that Lear, Goneril and Regan go through the motions with, but Cordelia sabotages for no reason. Sapani plays Lear's early-onset dementia from the start, and it's never quite gone even in his moment of clarity at the end. We never really know what kind of king he was before we meet him, because he's already the kind of person whose mental collapse includes sudden bouts of verbal and physical cruelty.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5NVjRERG4FNPB9wJaGpuZEZd5_BUdGc8ozGQ4i2yb_W9sZZZ-Jq62dELlG0AY518C2hAjt207LkyP76nuX545UZZtSCfa1iJqGXh2BAY2PwTJileGl7KxEAi3YoeVT1FkleJUVbtWQ1_05ZvFKfAfE2uz0A73BcncIdCIUv9pmwX9YwSyCVj-0GfQNGYU/s2250/KingLearAlmeida2024MichaelGould.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2250" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5NVjRERG4FNPB9wJaGpuZEZd5_BUdGc8ozGQ4i2yb_W9sZZZ-Jq62dELlG0AY518C2hAjt207LkyP76nuX545UZZtSCfa1iJqGXh2BAY2PwTJileGl7KxEAi3YoeVT1FkleJUVbtWQ1_05ZvFKfAfE2uz0A73BcncIdCIUv9pmwX9YwSyCVj-0GfQNGYU/s320/KingLearAlmeida2024MichaelGould.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>With Henry and Omole showing Sapani affection until his violent fits finally become too much to handle, it's hard to argue with them saying Lear gave power to them just in time, even if them ultimately sending him out to face the elements is... possibly not what most mental health professionals would recommend. In that context the unwavering loyalty shown to Lear by Kent (Alec Newman,) Gloucester (Michael Gould) and Albany (Geoffrey Lumb) seems foolish, men clinging on to the hereditary patriarchy even as its figurehead falls apart. While I wouldn’t say Oswald (Hugo Bolton,) the oleaginous servant who can almost be a panto villain in some productions, comes off as positive here, he’s a bit more neutral: His dedication to the “bad guys” is hardly a surprise given how relentlessly he’s bullied by the “good guys” from the start.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgzZ7PzWdkm757JMwAbmZHf7P0Q7agPLDFoaT5aIEX1ON3oGyVUaXuhWwnTJJuz6qiVwLDuKfa3sY16HTidEZJ5VN4dqMe0r30RY8RjPX2-f6GC6U3mPrsBeT_-knE3olbZVTSn-7LdfjJlkORpJXS-KqSE4BKnQNA-gGLM96vPEeW-xPyXsQoogApRZoO/s2250/KingLearAlmeida2024MatthewTennyson.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2250" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgzZ7PzWdkm757JMwAbmZHf7P0Q7agPLDFoaT5aIEX1ON3oGyVUaXuhWwnTJJuz6qiVwLDuKfa3sY16HTidEZJ5VN4dqMe0r30RY8RjPX2-f6GC6U3mPrsBeT_-knE3olbZVTSn-7LdfjJlkORpJXS-KqSE4BKnQNA-gGLM96vPEeW-xPyXsQoogApRZoO/s320/KingLearAlmeida2024MatthewTennyson.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>In general I’d say this production gives the supposed heroes pretty short shrift: Edgar can be hopelessly naïve about his brother at the best of times, but Farber has Matthew Tennyson actually on stage as Fra Fee’s Edmund delivers his plans to take down his family, and he still fails to smell a rat. In all this it falls to Clarke Peters’ Fool to provide the heart and soul of the production, and the relationship between Sapani and Peters is very clearly drawn: This isn’t a paid Fool with license to call out the mighty, but Lear’s oldest and closest friend who can speak to him as an equal because that’s just how they’ve always spoken to each other. It’s the most genuinely affectionate relationship in the show and Farber slightly expands the role to a quasi-narrator figure, even bringing him back at the end so that his presence brings a calming energy as things start to right themselves again.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTwIC1E5-IRGJNTEqcpQ-Z2v8jWBA_2Z56SAmO1hqpObnBm7YahMrZS78Zk3jCD3XLC350PoarjirVN1HEJBgR6QeVDuTB6fPiEZVyfi3pTRUiU_kSV2QDle5WilKf1t4guqyNgw_3pUvxDjZ2xKxUtKXaW0iRAEnwUAOhl4C_ZKo19za8tK-B-6cTf0B/s2250/KingLearAlmeida2024ClarkePetersDannySapani.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2250" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTwIC1E5-IRGJNTEqcpQ-Z2v8jWBA_2Z56SAmO1hqpObnBm7YahMrZS78Zk3jCD3XLC350PoarjirVN1HEJBgR6QeVDuTB6fPiEZVyfi3pTRUiU_kSV2QDle5WilKf1t4guqyNgw_3pUvxDjZ2xKxUtKXaW0iRAEnwUAOhl4C_ZKo19za8tK-B-6cTf0B/s320/KingLearAlmeida2024ClarkePetersDannySapani.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>But of course before that the Fool famously disappears for much of the play, and things really get thrown into chaos. Here almost everyone seems to get portrayed as downright mad, with the turning point being an expressionistic storm scene featuring characters running around trailing clear plastic sheets, or crashing through the metal beaded curtains that surround Merle Hensel’s set. I guess this makes it a bit easier to play the elder sisters more sympathetically, as the sudden lurch into Regan in particular going on a bloodthirsty rampage, and both of them getting distracted from a French invasion by fighting over who gets to shag Edmund, here fits into a more general feel of the nation and everyone in it collapsing into tempestuous, apocalyptic insanity. This is a space that lends itself to an intimate interpretation which feels literal in the first half, while for all the bells and whistles of the second it seems like the fall of the kingdom really is just the fall of these people within it.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6IAUhi5JEdyJJlNlTrLNiVRhTaPbp1N2TErc-p9zknGYyuZJoNZneSowI9Tg0W3w_XKnHqoq3qzDMgsmfJ6UmdwBPnqFdf9CQvUfduxiicpaJA-UdpM7M7Di3D1FczUc_Wzj_4OkXUaIdSGETT3bjpfxQMby7GIQUum797HjBV1VDjmkGd1JI3o8gC1n/s2250/KingLearAlmeida2024FraFeeFaithOmole.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2250" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6IAUhi5JEdyJJlNlTrLNiVRhTaPbp1N2TErc-p9zknGYyuZJoNZneSowI9Tg0W3w_XKnHqoq3qzDMgsmfJ6UmdwBPnqFdf9CQvUfduxiicpaJA-UdpM7M7Di3D1FczUc_Wzj_4OkXUaIdSGETT3bjpfxQMby7GIQUum797HjBV1VDjmkGd1JI3o8gC1n/s320/KingLearAlmeida2024FraFeeFaithOmole.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>I’m not known for being patient with over-long running times unless they’re very well-justified, and one of the reasons I’ve never really warmed to Farber’s work is that it often feels like the epic length is there for no reason other than to inflate its own sense of an event. But while I’m sure there could have been a few more cuts here with much the same overall effect – while there’s nowhere near as much despairing wailing as in your average Yaël Farber show I could still have gone without what we got - I can’t say that the hefty running time was something I ever felt (other than from my bladder or wondering if I’d get home before midnight.) The overall bleakness meant I didn’t find this the most emotionally affecting of Lears, and costume designer Camilla Dely’s fondness for unflattering grey Y-fronts is… a choice, but this went from something of a gamble for me to something I was very glad to have caught. (Also props to Lee Curran’s lighting; I know it’s a relatively small space but I’ve still never actually seen the white hair Regan plucks out of Gloucester’s beard held up in such sharp focus before.)</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://almeida.co.uk/whats-on/king-lear/">King Lear</a></i> by William Shakespeare is booking until the 30th of March at the Almeida Theatre (returns only.)</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 3 hours 45 minutes including interval (interval after 2 hours 5 minutes so pee accordingly.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Marc Brenner.</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-50532905436756982242024-03-12T22:21:00.047+00:002024-03-16T17:36:08.766+00:00Theatre review: The Lonely Londoners<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgivg1Q06uFnzwphs_Osz0n-mcjTYfaOslK1UkkosrTU2hloHHAWO33-0buW5WTy_kqvOzgWaNWktvkenu5zON-2y8WDitxErB4KbCHlsAw-tNE3Bx68IX6dqXPDgfgGluO7fkB-c4NGeNjE9o6jN6X3VAs4O536L3nZL0I6b_fpngxpylUUfhuxTzZrDAa/s1600/LonelyLondonersJermynSt2024.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgivg1Q06uFnzwphs_Osz0n-mcjTYfaOslK1UkkosrTU2hloHHAWO33-0buW5WTy_kqvOzgWaNWktvkenu5zON-2y8WDitxErB4KbCHlsAw-tNE3Bx68IX6dqXPDgfgGluO7fkB-c4NGeNjE9o6jN6X3VAs4O536L3nZL0I6b_fpngxpylUUfhuxTzZrDAa/s1600/LonelyLondonersJermynSt2024.jpg" /></a></div>Roy Williams' <i>The Lonely Londoners</i> is the first stage adaptation of Sam Selvon's classic novel of the Windrush generation, and he makes a concise, intense evening out of its sweeping journey through the lives of six people who've arrived in London from Trinidad in the 1950s. At the centre of the group is Moses (Gamba Cole,) one of a trio of early arrivals who've developed a healthy cynicism after years of struggling to find and keep work, and experiencing casual and not-so-casual racism in a mother country they'd been told was desperately in need of their help. To his irritation, Moses has found himself in the position of fixer for the community, someone newcomers have heard about and go to for help. He tries to prepare wide-eyed newcomers for the reality of life as a black Londoner, and they don't come much more wide-eyed and optimistic than Galahad (Romario Simpson.)<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>So in many ways this is the story of the shine being taken out of Galahad’s eyes – it’s not an easy task as he’s a force of nature, arriving with virtually no belongings as he assumed he’d quickly build them up in London (and getting bollocked by Moses for it as he could have stocked everyone up with his allowance of cheap booze and cigarettes) but everything from microagressions to eventually being attacked when he’s seen in public with his white girlfriend lead him to start hating the colour of his own skin.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCpGWvmLbHgVnqDYKD0yT-UYHTNZBWNFbl4isKm2c-qpoFVIq_f98HE1Dgnm96Woszq7_e6WOFYpyuMuccCdjvYxoCuuTm1y994X9XHH0QxPeCfBfoKBo2fgrbvrfo8Kw9WvHjYojwoDENoAEtRgjvIrfLV2b_0QvJXIsU9pxyIa0hwP-6PVZEaQvQ83h/s1200/LonelyLondonersJermynSt2024RomarioSimpson.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1200" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCpGWvmLbHgVnqDYKD0yT-UYHTNZBWNFbl4isKm2c-qpoFVIq_f98HE1Dgnm96Woszq7_e6WOFYpyuMuccCdjvYxoCuuTm1y994X9XHH0QxPeCfBfoKBo2fgrbvrfo8Kw9WvHjYojwoDENoAEtRgjvIrfLV2b_0QvJXIsU9pxyIa0hwP-6PVZEaQvQ83h/s320/LonelyLondonersJermynSt2024RomarioSimpson.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>So it’s unquestionably a harsh story that only gets harsher, but Williams is a writer whose work always comes with a strong sense of heart and faith in humanity, so for all the setbacks – from the cold and unfamiliar place, to being so hungry they kill and cook pigeons from the park, or getting caught up in an ill thought-out plan to rob a post office – this is a story that maintains some of that same optimism to the end, particularly with regard to the novel’s very telling title: These men firmly think of themselves as Londoners, and are part of the changing face of it despite anyone who might want to tell them otherwise. Even Big City (Gilbert Kyem Jnr) who, in a sustained running gag, is at best only able to remember very approximate names of parts of the city (“Nottingham Fence.” “It’s Notting Hill Gate.”)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLAuluUPt2FEdF_gXHxGaezvVxxadB_ncw05WY35jYpkOfPTdTDOB_UfWYR4VqtFJCmbA1wzsDoTPXbTBlEI3Lt5FM1JIzIItOKfwWvshbp9SOyorOh65cG7BodejCkPWtzMOQnFPSkdHlxapGMXPd_7LyPFo8810ErmTkagJJa5WgIBWMk52Ij5IpnRwf/s1200/LonelyLondonersJermynSt2024CarolMoses.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="787" data-original-width="1200" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLAuluUPt2FEdF_gXHxGaezvVxxadB_ncw05WY35jYpkOfPTdTDOB_UfWYR4VqtFJCmbA1wzsDoTPXbTBlEI3Lt5FM1JIzIItOKfwWvshbp9SOyorOh65cG7BodejCkPWtzMOQnFPSkdHlxapGMXPd_7LyPFo8810ErmTkagJJa5WgIBWMk52Ij5IpnRwf/s320/LonelyLondonersJermynSt2024CarolMoses.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Selvon’s story is certainly more the story of black men than women – with some justification as it’s true that in many cases the men came to London to set up their lives first before bringing their families over. But if the women in Williams’ version have smaller roles they’re often the most memorable ones: When Lewis (Tobi Bakare) brings his wife Agnes (Shannon Hayes) over after several years, he’s annoyed to find she’s also brought his mother along. Carol Moses’ no-nonsense, spotlight-hogging Tanty is an entertaining force of nature, but it’s Agnes who may eventually come across as the strongest character in the whole play.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDmrHZZwRpgoxLylcgPTtni76Jbp2dW-OPCUWp4_yOXLy5C-Sc6Zf1bu54dRJHtLAOodxTe89yZ3w_FcHP4HogT-QjVdeBlrH5Mddg7UAJNxug5jrsDjfQr85tmi5G-8O_g9EbIemOMflmazio44BC9oZoEy95ztESVjSI834S1NhmXi9Dq4ziYCNvRdkI/s1199/LonelyLondonersJermynSt2024ShannonHayes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="781" data-original-width="1199" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDmrHZZwRpgoxLylcgPTtni76Jbp2dW-OPCUWp4_yOXLy5C-Sc6Zf1bu54dRJHtLAOodxTe89yZ3w_FcHP4HogT-QjVdeBlrH5Mddg7UAJNxug5jrsDjfQr85tmi5G-8O_g9EbIemOMflmazio44BC9oZoEy95ztESVjSI834S1NhmXi9Dq4ziYCNvRdkI/s320/LonelyLondonersJermynSt2024ShannonHayes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>There’s a seventh character who never becomes a Londoner: Moses’ then-pregnant girlfriend Christina (Aimee Powell) was furious when he announced he was leaving Trinidad, and died in a storm before they could reconcile. She haunts Moses’ thoughts and, despite being superficially the most settled in London, he’s the one who talks most about returning to the Caribbean, and writes letters he never sends to the son he never met. Powell also provides live vocals for some of the anachronistic music - perhaps referencing the cultural influence this migration had over the following decades - that runs through Ebenezer Bamgboye’s production.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGrBOP5kH-HT3cZRiInRu6AgEPXWCtcyxGrgUazrJZpR68bwYm60RD47yhcxJUxd7hq9gV-j-gfMPxGyXcMNsP8ilfTFLMAVn4qvb6MQ6TpFRj6PMVw56EQZraPjhxDI0D-k4jb_2i1wMJN6H8BqdDGMj7A3H-uyN95EaTlOAFGuSKP_AJmqcjLfHLSbXg/s1200/LonelyLondonersJermynSt2024GambaCole.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1200" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGrBOP5kH-HT3cZRiInRu6AgEPXWCtcyxGrgUazrJZpR68bwYm60RD47yhcxJUxd7hq9gV-j-gfMPxGyXcMNsP8ilfTFLMAVn4qvb6MQ6TpFRj6PMVw56EQZraPjhxDI0D-k4jb_2i1wMJN6H8BqdDGMj7A3H-uyN95EaTlOAFGuSKP_AJmqcjLfHLSbXg/s320/LonelyLondonersJermynSt2024GambaCole.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>This is a very intimate space for a writer who’s recently had plays staged in the Olivier, but Bamgboye makes a good case for this intimacy with a tight, dark, minimalist set from Laura Ann Price and intense, stadium-like lighting from Elliot Griggs – the contrasts in lighting managing to make both the dark and the light oppressive. But for all that its parts can be bleak, the sum is hopeful – just as hunting pigeons goes from desperate act of hunger to bonding ritual between friends. Selvon’s story is a celebration of resilience, Williams’ version is also a love letter.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk/show/the-lonely-londoners/">The Lonely Londoners</a></i> by Roy Williams, based on the novel by Sam Selvon, is booking until the 6th of April at Jermyn Street Theatre.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes straight through.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Marc Brenner.</div></div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-80538417157929804102024-03-09T19:07:00.001+00:002024-03-13T18:28:21.295+00:00Theatre review: Uncle Vanya<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXIIuoBC8wFcw_PKnoa6uxzqkW6W1aC9BDg1K5ZOz7GC4bshVAY41CpCNvbHjoXsRBPPEnwpSRvpsaRzBj0Byxj3RSG8J4uJjjHev5Ucd5xkTNoS0UrFmcqoq1gHlFLtv8ERLLOm5EGd3Iqeg3NT2TnbUnDktpOHs7XWkwwObOweuprguMeyomNsNK2pz/s1600/UncleVanyaOT2024.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXIIuoBC8wFcw_PKnoa6uxzqkW6W1aC9BDg1K5ZOz7GC4bshVAY41CpCNvbHjoXsRBPPEnwpSRvpsaRzBj0Byxj3RSG8J4uJjjHev5Ucd5xkTNoS0UrFmcqoq1gHlFLtv8ERLLOm5EGd3Iqeg3NT2TnbUnDktpOHs7XWkwwObOweuprguMeyomNsNK2pz/s1600/UncleVanyaOT2024.jpg" /></a></div>Mere months since Chekhov's Vanya <a href="https://partially-obstructed-view.blogspot.com/2023/10/theatre-review-vanya.html">last graced a London stage</a> he's back, although this time he's brought the rest of the cast with him too. With Trevor Nunn both adapting and directing this version of <i>Uncle Vanya</i> it's not particularly surprising if it's a bit more traditional - Simon Daw's designs definitely take us to late 19th century rural Russia, and you bet there's a samovar in pride of place centre stage. But Nunn isn't just ticking another classic off his list or indulging in a bout of nostalgia, as the Orange Tree production has elements that give it its own personality. Not least of all in tone: One of Chekhov's bleaker plays, it wasn't even questionably billed as a comedy like many of them, but the blurb here calls it a tragicomedy, and that's something it pulls off. The setting is the country estate that once belonged to Vanya's sister, purchased as a dowry for when she married a St Petersburg academic.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>She died years ago, and the estate technically belongs to her daughter Sonya (Madeleine Gray,) but Vanya (James Lance) has continued to send almost every penny of profit from the land to his brother-in-law.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_cJ-OPPpjGLjIjzp_fvJJkCugrKrNPKFGxnn3fxaGv1QhdMuZAB2OhbstiEmIWecucqCuSGKntT7-6otUge26q5_0MIfEiciuQKDbjn-TAml9gc1RzQhz2EvMLkaV2tNIpstTgPElALi-VUV9excMu_7ZAJAJ-HJOY6Q-fu0jQT7X8uxmroHdPY7_5y2f/s1080/UncleVanyaOT2024cast.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="1080" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_cJ-OPPpjGLjIjzp_fvJJkCugrKrNPKFGxnn3fxaGv1QhdMuZAB2OhbstiEmIWecucqCuSGKntT7-6otUge26q5_0MIfEiciuQKDbjn-TAml9gc1RzQhz2EvMLkaV2tNIpstTgPElALi-VUV9excMu_7ZAJAJ-HJOY6Q-fu0jQT7X8uxmroHdPY7_5y2f/s320/UncleVanyaOT2024cast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Now Serebryakov (William Chubb) has retired and remarried, and has actually moved into the farmhouse with the much younger Elena (Lily Sacofsky,) where he's proceeded to disrupt everyone's routine to suit him, while spending every waking hour complaining about how bad he's got it. Lance is a particularly misanthropic Vanya: By the time we first meet him the scales have well and truly fallen from his eyes about the man whose supposed greatness they've all been financing for years at the expense of their own happiness. He's also in unrequited love with his brother-in-law's new wife.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEbwNaXw3uwx5mVbvE_7d1T-LyBeRLyTYYemjtV8SXiH6Jg5gIlWLqnTWoxln50cPwIlgZEKgBibJPOjA76ZiuKP-sRypb3-7BDQCOu5UBoQ8CQNeN1cYWvO4_ulpxFt1GOvFJ23CSBIz3dEkRewKrO-gBCwFvBhHKMC8EGT2UViAWVaeaLNTfZgUhd1Jw/s1080/UncleVanyaOT2024MadeleineGrayAndrewRichardson.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="1080" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEbwNaXw3uwx5mVbvE_7d1T-LyBeRLyTYYemjtV8SXiH6Jg5gIlWLqnTWoxln50cPwIlgZEKgBibJPOjA76ZiuKP-sRypb3-7BDQCOu5UBoQ8CQNeN1cYWvO4_ulpxFt1GOvFJ23CSBIz3dEkRewKrO-gBCwFvBhHKMC8EGT2UViAWVaeaLNTfZgUhd1Jw/s320/UncleVanyaOT2024MadeleineGrayAndrewRichardson.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Also falling for Elena, but getting a bit more interest back, is Dr Astrov (Andrew Richardson,) which is bad news for Sonya, who in turn has been in love with an oblivious Astrov for years. As Gray is a particularly wide-eyed and childlike Sonya, and Richardson is the personification of someone people call Daddy a lot when he doesn't have any kids, this is an obsession that's even more obviously doomed from the start than usual.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXHSg4NkEnFT2GgnWsymueZSjVuZrwhkefTsnUsZrG_t5EADEmRsbNtmv_7XjVsi09zuMZ92ZQIHuT7D46zropJKhUK-mU0wPRJzwp0l-L6lm8BPbWGvk07IOInBQgAOcnOZSjwhRQfmB3MgPZYxao9KcWrg3-IcY0Lj2iapBuCmYeVXcF5eP4_GB6jHIc/s1080/UncleVanyaOT2024AndrewRichardson.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="1080" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXHSg4NkEnFT2GgnWsymueZSjVuZrwhkefTsnUsZrG_t5EADEmRsbNtmv_7XjVsi09zuMZ92ZQIHuT7D46zropJKhUK-mU0wPRJzwp0l-L6lm8BPbWGvk07IOInBQgAOcnOZSjwhRQfmB3MgPZYxao9KcWrg3-IcY0Lj2iapBuCmYeVXcF5eP4_GB6jHIc/s320/UncleVanyaOT2024AndrewRichardson.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Not that Chekhov is generally action-packed but <i> Uncle Vanya</i> is particularly slow to get going - there's a lot of gradual character work before we really get any plot in Act III, and it probably doesn't help that everyone's always going on about how bored they are. Despite being a bit edited down this does feel particularly true at the start of Nunn's production, and I even felt like I was going to nod off at a couple of leisurely points. But that character groundwork does start to pay off nicely. Lance has a lot of comic experience which he brings even to a man in growing despair, with the first two acts often undercut by his bitchy asides.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWtOh_tMu1kkfHEGi58TniwgUItLG2WqCwnuoN0XlqpX4iSZc2lDgqxTL02jilzBFMby7KNH6M60C2Dhjee7SCfbxMD-XWkNpKZTWKjdiai-xr5DAHfKjqzZ8IYLR7vJi5nYMaJavYZEu9Ym9k9oK30O_LE7hB-e_CQ-XJ16aUsC7Dudz01TQwInzzbK6B/s1600/UncleVanyaOT2024LilySacofskyMadeleineGray.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWtOh_tMu1kkfHEGi58TniwgUItLG2WqCwnuoN0XlqpX4iSZc2lDgqxTL02jilzBFMby7KNH6M60C2Dhjee7SCfbxMD-XWkNpKZTWKjdiai-xr5DAHfKjqzZ8IYLR7vJi5nYMaJavYZEu9Ym9k9oK30O_LE7hB-e_CQ-XJ16aUsC7Dudz01TQwInzzbK6B/s320/UncleVanyaOT2024LilySacofskyMadeleineGray.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>By the third he knows not only that the man everyone including his mother (Susan Tracy) thinks is his superior is in fact a nonentity, but that the nonentity has never spared Vanya himself a second thought. His reaction can be an unintentionally funny moment, but the wrily comic tone of the production so far means it can be played as slightly more intentionally farcical. One thing that feels gently highlighted in this production is the fact that for all the focus on Vanya and Sonya working their lives away for someone else's benefit there's a further class commentary in the faithful old retainers Marina (Juliet Garricks) and Telegin (David Ahmad.) They don't have any big reaction to how casually Serebryakov is willing to throw their whole way of life away - they've known from the start nobody particularly cares about what they want.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-BbkP-eKaAydX8Ts8V_oTDvPHdeBWovTbxrh-CkU9_5zqMNUgeqjduuaIF4Qy87zUv2nRgzU_eH6ztNDESlNcu_HYjD132LAttLa2SzMZwyNOwYoxrAoWL1ypi1EG-xOdkPpiLRLjJF39_26vgnf_LqBPsxTGt19E_2W3zeWTgtqpfQoiKLUoNraNunz/s1600/UncleVanyaOT2024JamesLance.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-BbkP-eKaAydX8Ts8V_oTDvPHdeBWovTbxrh-CkU9_5zqMNUgeqjduuaIF4Qy87zUv2nRgzU_eH6ztNDESlNcu_HYjD132LAttLa2SzMZwyNOwYoxrAoWL1ypi1EG-xOdkPpiLRLjJF39_26vgnf_LqBPsxTGt19E_2W3zeWTgtqpfQoiKLUoNraNunz/s320/UncleVanyaOT2024JamesLance.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>It does sometimes feel like Nunn forgot how intimate this in-the-round theatre is - Daw's set is piled with so much furniture half the audience has to shimmy past it to get to and from their seats, and the other half are at constant risk of having one of the actors sit on their laps. On the plus side the initmacy means you can see the detailed little moments in the performances - Sonya's face falling when her father's seemingly positive speech about her drops in a dig about her being unmarried, or Serebryakov finally snapping at Vanya's tirade when he starts to reveal just how minor an academic he actually was (this version has cut out the ongoing references to how relieved the university are to have finally got rid of him*.) It takes a while to get warmed up but this <i>Uncle Vanya</i> ends up a rewarding one.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://orangetreetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/uncle-vanya/">Uncle Vanya</a></i> by Anton Chekhov in a version by Trevor Nunn is booking until the 13th of April at the Orange Tree Theatre.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes including interval.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Manuel Harlan.</div><div><br /></div><div>*this does actually make for a marginally less bleak ending, as it removes all references to Serebryakov having lost that university income, and by the end the possibility of the land being sold has been taken off the table as they can just go back to the unequal arrangement they had before. It does mean Vanya and Sonya go back to having nothing so that her father can have the life he's accustomed to, with the added knowledge that it contributes nothing to the grand scheme of things, but actually that's only the case as long as Serebryakov is alive.</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-10221950569748883172024-03-07T23:24:00.066+00:002024-03-10T18:29:09.034+00:00Theatre review: Macbeth (Dock X & tour)Trigger Warning: This review contains references to an old man who shouts at clouds about trigger warnings.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXFOoS1XEbdbd5x-eW7AjVyQQv8Z9hN9Cm-MS9WC9Gd5LlERZVfcnPyuqYxSJd80o4UHnnB0LU99MO6kxxA3G5q768ZEfG2jqehvE1fs00Bt4M9eck94RX1SSU1AlgK4gAHHqvn_H6u7nEwfwfD3yfSqB5FKjT-i4joM-tZw1ITDzmpcdGZYZgbgxOKsa/s1600/MacbethDockX2024.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXFOoS1XEbdbd5x-eW7AjVyQQv8Z9hN9Cm-MS9WC9Gd5LlERZVfcnPyuqYxSJd80o4UHnnB0LU99MO6kxxA3G5q768ZEfG2jqehvE1fs00Bt4M9eck94RX1SSU1AlgK4gAHHqvn_H6u7nEwfwfD3yfSqB5FKjT-i4joM-tZw1ITDzmpcdGZYZgbgxOKsa/s1600/MacbethDockX2024.jpg" /></a></div>We might be a couple of months into 2024 but the 2023 <i>Macbeth</i>orama isn't quite done with us yet, as Simon Godwin's production, which has already played Liverpool and Edinburgh, reaches its London leg in a warehouse in Canada Water. Rafe "Ralph" Fiennes plays Macbeth, the Scottish war hero promised the keys to the kingdom by a trio of witches. Egged on by his wife (Indira Varma) he decides not to leave anything to chance and speeds the prophecy up by murdering the king and taking his throne. But once he's started killing friends and relatives for fun and profit the habit proves hard to break and he makes enemies of his entire nation. As rebellion grows, he's haunted by what the witches' prophecy <b>didn't</b> promise him: That once he had his hands on the crown he'd actually get to hold onto it for long.</div><div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>Frankie Bradshaw's designs and Christopher Shutt’s sound initially plunge us into a war zone – I don’t know if this was the specific intention but the camo, smashed-up concrete and burnt-out car were giving me 1990s former Yugoslavia wars (except for that one scene where Macbeth is dressed as a BA pilot.) In any case this aesthetic isn’t acknowledged much once we get into the political machinations.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgysbB08CUW4EZx6LiWASnHuvxCj4qfo_XPW8CLTgVBzRr_0uapZmwgCOtl4L1Y-Qz7Ayv457Ru5sWQ4xoMDVRvH3IGF504Q_YFU15a2iJ-JcmDQgdr4HPa82QyAU8tV3QY2bETBwFVYTWJ3aXg57CCFQYRFH0XKIFUhFhHFB3DANMjk9WKg2Gr2ouPiwRQ/s2560/MacbethDockX2024BenTurner.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1707" data-original-width="2560" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgysbB08CUW4EZx6LiWASnHuvxCj4qfo_XPW8CLTgVBzRr_0uapZmwgCOtl4L1Y-Qz7Ayv457Ru5sWQ4xoMDVRvH3IGF504Q_YFU15a2iJ-JcmDQgdr4HPa82QyAU8tV3QY2bETBwFVYTWJ3aXg57CCFQYRFH0XKIFUhFhHFB3DANMjk9WKg2Gr2ouPiwRQ/s320/MacbethDockX2024BenTurner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>In fact one thing I struggled to find much of was a through-line to the production, not least of all in the lead performance it’s being sold on. Fiennes is one of those actors with a sense of the old-fashioned Shakespearean about his delivery, precise, fruity and booming. I don’t find him as off-putting as, oh I don’t know, <a href="https://partially-obstructed-view.blogspot.com/2023/11/theatre-review-king-lear-wyndhams.html">SirKenBran</a>, especially since he’s started to at least speak fast enough that the words actually form sentences, but it’s still a bit more mannered and less naturalistic than I like my Shakespeare. And where we do get a bit more variety it doesn’t always make sense – right after the murder of Duncan he dodders about the stage as if he’s got early-onset dementia, but this isn’t followed up later*.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcazYEpzs41gdjRuf34qxr62cj4rCZcgg66aqQLUe5vXD_AwruMHYypTM1PXmCRT7zaFlyWQKrkWcdlfnE6HhoIJZ707E8BwWwMCJgu-_UdqWN4yHflj0n5VlOHy1k3CxwiKr6SvOd9qM_QrmYQD5KuGfgnMWn9v_4wBiFEPie5cnzBNDAW8r00Uvqi9qV/s2560/MacbethDockX2024RalphFiennesIndiraVarma.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1707" data-original-width="2560" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcazYEpzs41gdjRuf34qxr62cj4rCZcgg66aqQLUe5vXD_AwruMHYypTM1PXmCRT7zaFlyWQKrkWcdlfnE6HhoIJZ707E8BwWwMCJgu-_UdqWN4yHflj0n5VlOHy1k3CxwiKr6SvOd9qM_QrmYQD5KuGfgnMWn9v_4wBiFEPie5cnzBNDAW8r00Uvqi9qV/s320/MacbethDockX2024RalphFiennesIndiraVarma.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Where there <b>is</b> a much more impressive character progression is in Lady Macbeth, a character who’s given a lot less to work with by Shakespeare but who Varma shows us very clearly: On hearing of the prophecy of greatness she’s almost giddily excited, and we see someone who’s swept up in executing the plan to get them to the crown, without entirely stopping to think that this is all real. When Macbeth hints at the murder of Steffan Rhodri’s Banquo we see the precise moment she realises quite what she’s unleashed in her husband, and her mental deterioration from this point on makes sense.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHWIGktCuCxrmJdy0JMol7qmpW4L7IZcZzzHbHirtHAe5QjirPn8OYchCSMwC_NQHTneYkJtwuj2ld5rXlq4pt8W_-9Nev-05C1fqNZb9-tcpA7shilQGoDpYZdm7cOYqp0uqOSxy6Ipj94pzNC3MpJW4aidAgarz5vz631trJgzPABsTW0jWUSwdVLx8k/s2560/MacbethDockX2024SteffanRhodri.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1707" data-original-width="2560" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHWIGktCuCxrmJdy0JMol7qmpW4L7IZcZzzHbHirtHAe5QjirPn8OYchCSMwC_NQHTneYkJtwuj2ld5rXlq4pt8W_-9Nev-05C1fqNZb9-tcpA7shilQGoDpYZdm7cOYqp0uqOSxy6Ipj94pzNC3MpJW4aidAgarz5vz631trJgzPABsTW0jWUSwdVLx8k/s320/MacbethDockX2024SteffanRhodri.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>The Weird Sisters (Lucy Mangan, Danielle Fiamanya, Lola Shalam) come out of the rubble like collateral damage from the men’s war, and they hang around in the background of many more scenes than they’re written into, although again I felt unsure exactly what Godwin was going for, as sometimes it seems like they too have lost control of the situation they’ve kicked off, but this idea isn’t developed. It’s also a bit inconsistent that, in Macbeth’s second visit to them, the first two prophecies are delivered by the spirits possessing two of his henchmen, while the third is spoken by the witches themselves (especially since Seyton is <b>right there</b> and hasn’t been possessed yet.)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyBv1Om5YyYTfYFLT-HxbzKvVIBAS-rtZxkW9O7rdavMGllBzDGOVPelIisdhtFgi_RHae_mzEcu5m1Ft1AxCUryiqBfzPIQ0QZs1vbFbRcL8SEZmg1WNbe-py2feIoZOk4ID0O1ePzv3IO3C1dj3z7gFp7MnohLAc-6-UN45IcfkZt9TkSE9BxLkxMfm1/s2560/MacbethDockX2024Witches.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1707" data-original-width="2560" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyBv1Om5YyYTfYFLT-HxbzKvVIBAS-rtZxkW9O7rdavMGllBzDGOVPelIisdhtFgi_RHae_mzEcu5m1Ft1AxCUryiqBfzPIQ0QZs1vbFbRcL8SEZmg1WNbe-py2feIoZOk4ID0O1ePzv3IO3C1dj3z7gFp7MnohLAc-6-UN45IcfkZt9TkSE9BxLkxMfm1/s320/MacbethDockX2024Witches.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Speaking of whom, Seyton is a role Emily Burns’ edit has beefed up a bit: Played as a slight, efficient steward with a dangly earring by Jonathan Case, he’s a silent figure left out of his depth as the minor lord he’s been serving for years suddenly becomes a deranged tyrant and he’s expected to continue serving him in this capacity. It’s Seyton who gets given the job of trying, and failing, to save the Macduffs. The role of Ross, often merged or divided up, seems to be pretty much left as written, which just serves to highlight that Ben Allen’s just stuck delivering bad news all night.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0OAHX86c2oxMwUkJcXoUjtc728NxvYzHuiCk0igrsHHAa_fgfowwuhFRfrbRLj12c9E4WERYkNo4ZWM44BkU7c9eMtzPVht9F5kdjU2RM00F65w3zGc5y5lbf_ZxV5-5vpszthfdvLT12SzCdK7tGypKQATEYOfEQUzpXVzwlAvsmo2GSA1yIWCEkyAOS/s2560/MacbethDockX2024cast.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1707" data-original-width="2560" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0OAHX86c2oxMwUkJcXoUjtc728NxvYzHuiCk0igrsHHAa_fgfowwuhFRfrbRLj12c9E4WERYkNo4ZWM44BkU7c9eMtzPVht9F5kdjU2RM00F65w3zGc5y5lbf_ZxV5-5vpszthfdvLT12SzCdK7tGypKQATEYOfEQUzpXVzwlAvsmo2GSA1yIWCEkyAOS/s320/MacbethDockX2024cast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I did think Ethan Thomas could have done a different accent at the end as Young Siward, because as it is it seemed like Fleance had died, which changes the story completely, and certainly messes with the play’s status as an energetic rimjob on James VI & I. Unless he was actually <b>meant</b> to be Fleance, in which case that definitely would have needed more emphasis on the idea that even the witches had lost control of the narrative.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwjmnNkDzhSNrlbKxaH0fm6gDa2LzE5-k9-mtzi-C31_KIIU9SkPEoF7PBsZPQGaaQxtv9uo9j_ACip4IgUUryz_zmK8W97GwkXmlFVhYIbKrYkoDPWxHijwVaDlLUMf2V34R_LxF4aiVQ4ThX5-CHvTWBGKGqt0ViAkmsvHLIz7cdg-WC8ZaL1lw1_Be6/s2560/MacbethDockX2024EthanThomas.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1707" data-original-width="2560" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwjmnNkDzhSNrlbKxaH0fm6gDa2LzE5-k9-mtzi-C31_KIIU9SkPEoF7PBsZPQGaaQxtv9uo9j_ACip4IgUUryz_zmK8W97GwkXmlFVhYIbKrYkoDPWxHijwVaDlLUMf2V34R_LxF4aiVQ4ThX5-CHvTWBGKGqt0ViAkmsvHLIz7cdg-WC8ZaL1lw1_Be6/s320/MacbethDockX2024EthanThomas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>And in an utterly bizarre design choice, the foyer is decorated with sinister banners with an ersatz-fascist “M” symbol which also adorns the merch. I naturally expected it to make its way to the show itself once Macbeth fully embraced life as a totalitarian dictator but it never does. Which on the one hand means the venue’s been done up a bit fash just for, er fun? And on the other means we don’t get that visual push to confirm everyone’s accusations of Macbeth being a tyrant. So we don’t have that surveillance state feel to the first half of the notorious England scene between Macduff (Ben Turner) and Malcolm (Ewan Black) so good luck making that bearable without it.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha1Hw5UbbydW3PWX__LcBc-_f9JrXLx3CzsEpgvcT-PwYcZ_RBMIbyWjW31MzZm3mdUdM7_t_TAeT2KG7S1Lb8RK7jQnGIRc6Garh8q75i_k9cYdowQ3vcX1sFLHkwZ-4hUS67IaikPIEQEaaeSDkl21UnTcUaUbgyk37N0deAIDa-qwvpKeQWKXzHnqsu/s2560/MacbethDockX2024RalphFiennes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1707" data-original-width="2560" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha1Hw5UbbydW3PWX__LcBc-_f9JrXLx3CzsEpgvcT-PwYcZ_RBMIbyWjW31MzZm3mdUdM7_t_TAeT2KG7S1Lb8RK7jQnGIRc6Garh8q75i_k9cYdowQ3vcX1sFLHkwZ-4hUS67IaikPIEQEaaeSDkl21UnTcUaUbgyk37N0deAIDa-qwvpKeQWKXzHnqsu/s320/MacbethDockX2024RalphFiennes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>So for a number of reasons this won’t go down as one of the more memorable <i>Macbeth</i>s but on the plus side it’s clearly told, which is especially handy when it seems to have attracted such big crowds. And Varma’s performance is well worth seeing: For someone who’s seen the play many times it’s always good to see a clear, well thought-out take on a familiar character, and for fresher eyes it never hurts to have an intelligent character journey running through the play. I couldn’t quite see past the heads at the automatic standing ovation to the stage, but Ian tells me her solo bow got a bigger cheers than Fiennes’. Which I’m sure he’s OK with.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://macbeththeshow.com/">Macbeth</a></i> by William Shakespeare is booking until the 30th of March at Dock X, Canada Water Retail Park, then continuing on tour to Washington DC.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 2 hours 45 minutes including interval.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Marc Brenner.</div><div><br /></div><div>*I do have to give him props though for a line reading I like but don’t often hear: “Making the green one red” with the pause after “green” rather than “one.” i.e. it’s often pronounced as if the multitudinous seas are “the green one” and they’re being made red, but Fiennes pronounces it the way I read it, where the seas are “the green” and they’re being made a single block of red colour</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-19774014724909345862024-03-05T21:55:00.050+00:002024-03-08T18:34:37.746+00:00Theatre review: Nachtland<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZo9zl-IxCpxXQ3MXlsS_5W1S_XhyS15_PziYyoNDzCg-CGQd60dlmEYOvol7s9uVXxlJ5AWqAt6u8c-lLe9-0U9D6YbfUWxnVKUY0RaEGbVxH7v895rTY0DvMHOIBJA2iRgNX9w9pzb_VsUNK0TLKAdWLVeI5rRmkMUmX9U7ZCdQQGt1haCmweE3o37X/s1600/NachtlandYV2024.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqZo9zl-IxCpxXQ3MXlsS_5W1S_XhyS15_PziYyoNDzCg-CGQd60dlmEYOvol7s9uVXxlJ5AWqAt6u8c-lLe9-0U9D6YbfUWxnVKUY0RaEGbVxH7v895rTY0DvMHOIBJA2iRgNX9w9pzb_VsUNK0TLKAdWLVeI5rRmkMUmX9U7ZCdQQGt1haCmweE3o37X/s1600/NachtlandYV2024.jpg" /></a></div>Despite an incredibly irritating social media publicity campaign (who were those messages raving about the show months before it opened even meant to be from, anyway?) I've been looking forward to the Young Vic's <i>Nachtland</i>: Marius von Mayenburg's dark satire (translated here by Maja Zade) has a viciously clever premise, and Patrick Marber's production has a great cast. The resulting evening is an entertaining one, but a frustrating one as well. The audience enter to Anna Fleischle’s set absolutely covered in dusty old props, which the cast clear away before the action starts: Siblings Nicola (Dorothea Myer-Bennett) and Philipp (John Heffernan) are clearing out the house of their recently-deceased father, bickering about who looked after him when he was alive and whose story it is to tell even as they narrate it to the audience.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>Things take a different turn when Nicola’s husband Fabian (Gunnar Cauthery) finds a rather kitsch painting among the junk; when he takes it out of its frame they discover they’ve got an original Hitler watercolour, and discussions over whether it’s actually any good are replaced by discussions over how much they can get for it. Philipp’s Jewish wife Judith (Jenna Augen) argues they shouldn’t profit from it at all.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidhJc4SC0QVR3y_WtSolRzgQ762-1ja-BlJSPZeOSaglisZNdp13GWj5fiJB-T0kJ9SanRvw-HKGz3nnTNlCAfK5xS_7oiDLsKgX85yKpuZOUNoftpJk4cXuOtwrSl9VV8niRnNfDNuo5_9lEeoeffyvRSVItDK6fTEoXHEpwUIiuVgoA9AbZLwL0VVFGX/s1050/NachtlandYV2024JennaAugen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidhJc4SC0QVR3y_WtSolRzgQ762-1ja-BlJSPZeOSaglisZNdp13GWj5fiJB-T0kJ9SanRvw-HKGz3nnTNlCAfK5xS_7oiDLsKgX85yKpuZOUNoftpJk4cXuOtwrSl9VV8niRnNfDNuo5_9lEeoeffyvRSVItDK6fTEoXHEpwUIiuVgoA9AbZLwL0VVFGX/s320/NachtlandYV2024JennaAugen.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div>von Mayenburg is looking at modern Germany’s complex relationship with its past, the rise of neo-Fascism there, as well as the fact that the country has spent the decades since the end of the War publicly atoning for the Holocaust and making sure its past crimes aren’t forgotten. It seems an ironic contrast to the UK’s attitude to history in a way: This country has spent the last century pretending there was nothing problematic about its colonial past, and continues to aggressively resist any attempt to acknowledge the harsh realities. Meanwhile von Mayenburg suggests that Germany’s collective mea culpa has resulted in people like Nicola, frustrated and bitter about being made to feel guilty all their lives for their grandparents’ crimes.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWGR4y2wSUHbJySrmWgaz6k6voPiPugUlU3a8TYMvaEPvmKYzTT0Ei86Kkhn_eHmGIBz1xpp-PvUr2bPPX9Wnuggf032XcNnC8gC7Xghtq2jSPXAlRQjAAvbqwE4F80fV19_AGiey1SwwzUbdLU5pJTGRVwOKsc9O2muMdYpP2rTUy9Yaezy_HRI01stB1/s1600/NachtlandYV2024GunnarCautheryDorotheaMyerBennett.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWGR4y2wSUHbJySrmWgaz6k6voPiPugUlU3a8TYMvaEPvmKYzTT0Ei86Kkhn_eHmGIBz1xpp-PvUr2bPPX9Wnuggf032XcNnC8gC7Xghtq2jSPXAlRQjAAvbqwE4F80fV19_AGiey1SwwzUbdLU5pJTGRVwOKsc9O2muMdYpP2rTUy9Yaezy_HRI01stB1/s320/NachtlandYV2024GunnarCautheryDorotheaMyerBennett.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>It’s a point he makes with a sledgehammer early on, as Nicola responds to Judith’s concerns with a sudden stream of casual anti-Semitism. Meanwhile it turns out that while the inter-faith marriage was never even a subject of discussion, Philipp has been feeling a sense of smug superiority all along about how his wife’s background doesn’t matter to him. It’s the sort of uncomfortable lurch from polite language into what’s been suppressed that would form the climax of an American play about race, but here it comes about 20 minutes in, feeling very much like a shock tactic. And it’s not that it leaves the story with nowhere to go, more that it then goes… pretty much everywhere.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDLheHCZwyoPSgqpeqm0BErAtvy1y9xl8a6n1_rQCdjr6oJkiraNI7GddBCKcbO7-C5gjyh596oWeNyzor8Gyu4bdOl2b1-QoUW0-INw5E7qsTXe9abm1gfpiUdK_T49GBBntSwXxGew1a37FoMgAINBRYN9NuyCA5meh9V362-ndnv-_ir4edkh842xOo/s1600/NachtlandYV2024cast.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDLheHCZwyoPSgqpeqm0BErAtvy1y9xl8a6n1_rQCdjr6oJkiraNI7GddBCKcbO7-C5gjyh596oWeNyzor8Gyu4bdOl2b1-QoUW0-INw5E7qsTXe9abm1gfpiUdK_T49GBBntSwXxGew1a37FoMgAINBRYN9NuyCA5meh9V362-ndnv-_ir4edkh842xOo/s320/NachtlandYV2024cast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>So we get into the idea of the fetishisation of the Nazis as art expert Evamaria (Jane Horrocks) arrives to authenticate the painting; her knowledge of Hitler’s art is something that’s come down through her family, but it’s soon obvious she has a genuine fervour for the art and possibly… other things the artist did. Which is before we even get to Kahl (Angus Wright,) the buyer she’s got lined up, whose interest in the painting for reasons he insists don’t ally with his personal beliefs is mixed with a creepy exoticisation of Judith as a Jewish woman.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1VBWNsxvCK1EhIRdWWuyLGPCUUcNL-3JftJ97KMSo0Eu3v-lEU7A_sFa0a5qXwRv1TRpcTGdexG4PNccuL-LM3EWQfhGS9CBWn30U9lW3RPT5ERpDc7HJ5XtnunuEW6mO5lD1ymJuHO1-x5iwa66Jg4ZlcVtTeOB81-PnuCTxPVqt7vyjSzN3u13IzO4d/s1600/NachtlandYV2024JaneHorrocks.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1VBWNsxvCK1EhIRdWWuyLGPCUUcNL-3JftJ97KMSo0Eu3v-lEU7A_sFa0a5qXwRv1TRpcTGdexG4PNccuL-LM3EWQfhGS9CBWn30U9lW3RPT5ERpDc7HJ5XtnunuEW6mO5lD1ymJuHO1-x5iwa66Jg4ZlcVtTeOB81-PnuCTxPVqt7vyjSzN3u13IzO4d/s320/NachtlandYV2024JaneHorrocks.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>We also have a diversion into discussion of Israel and Palestine, and a potentially interesting thread that expands the premise to ask questions about the amount of artists over the centuries who’ve expressed anti-Semitic views, and separating the art from the artist. That one could potentially have been the subject of the play in itself, but as it’s one of many diversions it’s not dealt with long enough to address the false equivalency in the premise (Hitler isn’t primarily known for his art nor was it ever considered particularly important in its own right, so to use his case to ask whether Chaucer should be cancelled requires logical steps the play just doesn’t have the time for.)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqAJqHt8wQ0JHjhhJ9cF3YuecXIJ15k45uxU3__H8WozWkFa7Iv8LTmrQ_qGWKUpe8Yfa_aeG-ifEmvaCCuO4ZZalDkdmWhL8mok5spLTSn04pniViX-FdEyFp7FRO0qYHwLKF62_lJcySNgNfvQXpNjnopBzCHS8PoseFq_rdOn04pu_yPKgFuuJkyvk/s1600/NachtlandYV2024AngusWrightHeffDorotheaMyerBennett.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqAJqHt8wQ0JHjhhJ9cF3YuecXIJ15k45uxU3__H8WozWkFa7Iv8LTmrQ_qGWKUpe8Yfa_aeG-ifEmvaCCuO4ZZalDkdmWhL8mok5spLTSn04pniViX-FdEyFp7FRO0qYHwLKF62_lJcySNgNfvQXpNjnopBzCHS8PoseFq_rdOn04pu_yPKgFuuJkyvk/s320/NachtlandYV2024AngusWrightHeffDorotheaMyerBennett.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>It feels a bit of a cop-out to say that European theatre tends to have a very different, more expressionistic style than the UK, but I wonder if that’s part of why <i>Nachtland</i> doesn’t quite work here. Marber’s production is far from naturalistic, but maybe it’s still a way from the tone the script was designed for – the performances are a little bit broad but far from clownish, always funny but perhaps suggesting the characters are following some kind of logic. On the other hand we get moments like Kahl’s first appearance, dancing around the stage in fetish gear several scenes before he’s actually brought into the story, a scene never to be alluded to ever again. Or Fabian getting highly symbolic tetanus from the picture frame, being more or less ignored as he possibly dies in the background, and eventually leaving the stage with his arm stuck in a Nazi salute.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQ79jU3UvjWM1Xi9R4ioqyMWm-zDw03hY0VmNOZa5miSlPu9RP1MAovM1pCTPXyV3DLdGxUgjhyzZ_ZyIK3j-sd-u1riTSxbcASjQ_Ncfn6VwS5ZMTbxhj96k1O2eXFKpr9DbY3e4hcvEMmSHVGTcFpo469BLR2wySA3ACAlj42nyLMJXai6nhISqxEyx/s1050/NachtlandYV2024GunnarCauthery.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1050" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQ79jU3UvjWM1Xi9R4ioqyMWm-zDw03hY0VmNOZa5miSlPu9RP1MAovM1pCTPXyV3DLdGxUgjhyzZ_ZyIK3j-sd-u1riTSxbcASjQ_Ncfn6VwS5ZMTbxhj96k1O2eXFKpr9DbY3e4hcvEMmSHVGTcFpo469BLR2wySA3ACAlj42nyLMJXai6nhISqxEyx/s320/NachtlandYV2024GunnarCauthery.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>These are big lurches into the surreal and I wondered if that was meant to be more representative of the play as a whole. <i>Nachtland</i> is worth seeing in my opinion – well-acted, funny and raising interesting subjects but the way it deals with them is ultimately too chaotic. And I’m not sure if that’s down to the writing or the production: If it was intended to really dig into modern Germany’s dark legacy its approach is too scattershot and fond of shock tactics that come out of nowhere, in which case it’s the former. Whereas if the intention was to fling as many conversational topics and surreal moments as possible at the stage and see what sticks, a production that embraced that chaos more might have served it better.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://www.youngvic.org/whats-on/nachtland">Nachtland</a></i> by Marius von Mayenburg in a version by Maja Zade is booking until the 20th of April at the Young Vic.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes straight through.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Ellie Kurttz.</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-23273456690407641142024-03-04T23:23:00.063+00:002024-03-05T22:17:32.757+00:00Theatre review: The Human Body<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkbVc0Dazlk1ULIDyATwKWZhlK0aNqrkDZECxF_fybuuStk7wlN-JUdBxW2H76hpgFLMMx43pQ3kezGdwm0o-AhJ4qt3_wEb-x1j5cHffZR5xJDd1WBJtbb0OecHnGqN8A3fqyX1D1MRUIostYRiX0Fc-VjQTJxhgGeg4VxiVi5w9F83GDP16OgQdouV9n/s1600/TheHumanBodyDonmar2024.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkbVc0Dazlk1ULIDyATwKWZhlK0aNqrkDZECxF_fybuuStk7wlN-JUdBxW2H76hpgFLMMx43pQ3kezGdwm0o-AhJ4qt3_wEb-x1j5cHffZR5xJDd1WBJtbb0OecHnGqN8A3fqyX1D1MRUIostYRiX0Fc-VjQTJxhgGeg4VxiVi5w9F83GDP16OgQdouV9n/s1600/TheHumanBodyDonmar2024.jpg" /></a></div>Plays can take a while to go through development and writing and get to production, often ending up with similar ideas making it to the stage at the same time. I wonder if it was the sound of people banging pots and pans every Thursday night four years ago that now gives us a batch of plays about the founding of the National Health Service? I didn't have any particular preconceptions about how Lucy Kirkwood would take on the subject, but it certainly wouldn’t have been something quite as camp as the Donald and Margot Warehouse's <i>The Human Body</i> turns out to be, filtering the birth of the NHS through <i>Brief Encounter</i>. It's 1948 and Dr Iris Elcock (Keeley Hawes) juggles being a GP with being a local Councillor, prospective MP in an upcoming by-election, and right hand woman to a Labour MP (Siobhán Redmond.) She's also a wife and mother, although despite her reassurances to the press that she's also the perfect housewife this is a role she's less of a natural in.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>Her husband Julian (Tom Goodman-Hill) is also a GP, but badly injured in the War and in chronic pain, his more pessimistic, misanthropic nature comes to the fore when he admits he plans to vote against the creation of the NHS, Iris and her party's most ambitious and personal project.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlYyiOszjNI6tryTaxeOR1HaTZdDGOrv45IwtfGCp58l53_HPJW7OjyBdLQ9P_GSvKt9nYD_XbND2aQgL5NgHR_e8PUVtobbEn8aSr5Y5ERseYwiUvLLor_8udUorAueJw9zeNwUZFtX0cXSVhyphenhyphenQ5vgc9zIN3eOJbd9vf-OQpiGvc-8rywTydwNiGVQEsO/s1080/TheHumanBodyDonmar2024JackDavenportKeeleyHawes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlYyiOszjNI6tryTaxeOR1HaTZdDGOrv45IwtfGCp58l53_HPJW7OjyBdLQ9P_GSvKt9nYD_XbND2aQgL5NgHR_e8PUVtobbEn8aSr5Y5ERseYwiUvLLor_8udUorAueJw9zeNwUZFtX0cXSVhyphenhyphenQ5vgc9zIN3eOJbd9vf-OQpiGvc-8rywTydwNiGVQEsO/s320/TheHumanBodyDonmar2024JackDavenportKeeleyHawes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>On a train journey from London back to her home in Shropshire, Iris meets George (Jack Davenport,) a B-list movie star visiting his mother, who's a patient of hers. He’s left his actress wife (Pearl Mackie) back in LA, and as the two start to find excuses to keep bumping into each other flirtation turns to something more serious. The scenes that follow them are played more or less as a straightforward romance, although there are links to the overarching theme in their conversations – Iris is passionate about the project she’s dedicated the last few years of her life to, while George, who was in America during the War, has some distance and something of a sardonic view of the idea of British exceptionalism that grew over those years.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfhNUeZnWpwSaWf-R3huBSZOZZwFmsP0G8M4xQ4MMca0Vd8UnOdL8ytXXtZZWxGAHpJuwj8hI7mK7YT-w6btoIrivHyJp1Y1SZdF_Q33wvGATeDxuPsdVYfHUiTYcap-XlmGALyNGTHYADE68oR6L6hDTIfGrelNiUVCrKosVrLi6rHjDFf8nOYQnf30sq/s1080/TheHumanBodyDonmar2024TomGoodmanHillSiobhanRedmondPearlMackie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfhNUeZnWpwSaWf-R3huBSZOZZwFmsP0G8M4xQ4MMca0Vd8UnOdL8ytXXtZZWxGAHpJuwj8hI7mK7YT-w6btoIrivHyJp1Y1SZdF_Q33wvGATeDxuPsdVYfHUiTYcap-XlmGALyNGTHYADE68oR6L6hDTIfGrelNiUVCrKosVrLi6rHjDFf8nOYQnf30sq/s320/TheHumanBodyDonmar2024TomGoodmanHillSiobhanRedmondPearlMackie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Surrounding this and the wider story of the pressures Iris is under are scenes that remind us of the urgent necessity for a public medical system – while comfortable GPs opposed to the NHS grumble about being paid less or being sent to practices they don’t like, Iris encounters poorer communities whose situation is still positively Victorian in the mid-20th century: Women and children dying in childbirth or of easily preventable illnesses and people living in chronic pain for years, all because getting someone to look at it comes with a price tag they can’t afford. There’s even a nod to the Windrush generation coming to the UK to help prop up the service.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkEfmUtP2zCOrS6QRTPf8-t-7tOJQzWjhkC0i1tAF4fd0KFOQJuipizyvnO1ni-og-hs10glrjvu8KUh7wwJ9nwPizyogIiVoF5qS0Sl08QKGvChxZ9GQNqBZacCqlTR0Ovre2Iuh2San7Mfu8AF8MSGwIo2bwFtrSEXSclYs2qJ7yVxY7Q8oGT0EOVmKX/s1080/TheHumanBodyDonmar2024SiobhanRedmond.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkEfmUtP2zCOrS6QRTPf8-t-7tOJQzWjhkC0i1tAF4fd0KFOQJuipizyvnO1ni-og-hs10glrjvu8KUh7wwJ9nwPizyogIiVoF5qS0Sl08QKGvChxZ9GQNqBZacCqlTR0Ovre2Iuh2San7Mfu8AF8MSGwIo2bwFtrSEXSclYs2qJ7yVxY7Q8oGT0EOVmKX/s320/TheHumanBodyDonmar2024SiobhanRedmond.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>It’s not exactly subtle, but that’s where the surprisingly high element of camp comes in. Kirkwood’s script is full of funny, sometimes bitchy one-liners (if Redmond seems wasted in a number of small supporting roles, her scenes as Julian’s acidic sister make better use of her talents) and there’s a sense of panic to Iris’ dealings with her family: While there’s no question mark over the fact that she loves her daughter, she is utterly incapable of relating to a child, and their exchanges are snappy and impatient – her outburst about donkeys with sad eyes borders on the surreal. And Michael Longhurst and Ann Yee’s production only dials this archness up to 11.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr0r2NsAIvTIqUz1tE4-EDOtL60rnoJaXvYCCDNWA2djF-FuEJ0Ze2QKKPTsj78uBAD7XBOrpo33uPgDLkv0V47mMdawCI_Y3XBq1rzmVariSRU4868sdh0d4xv171XtKZtmRIAY8_Ty8O9ZOyb4dbjsTnH9uJEHF5V22ME6vh7WOc9GG2t_PausHXt2OV/s1080/TheHumanBodyDonmar2024KeeleyHawesJackDavenport.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr0r2NsAIvTIqUz1tE4-EDOtL60rnoJaXvYCCDNWA2djF-FuEJ0Ze2QKKPTsj78uBAD7XBOrpo33uPgDLkv0V47mMdawCI_Y3XBq1rzmVariSRU4868sdh0d4xv171XtKZtmRIAY8_Ty8O9ZOyb4dbjsTnH9uJEHF5V22ME6vh7WOc9GG2t_PausHXt2OV/s320/TheHumanBodyDonmar2024KeeleyHawesJackDavenport.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>On Fly Davis’ all-blue set, the action is constantly on a slow revolve, but when we get to the scenes of Iris and George’s building romance we go full throttle into the <i>Brief Encounter</i> allusion. The stage turns into an old-fashioned movie studio with Joshua Pharo’s lighting rigs descending from the skies, while the stage crew follow the actors’ intimate conversation with steadicams. Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom’s video design projects this as a live black-and-white movie onto the back wall, and I’ve got to hand it to Davenport and especially Hawes for the way they oh-so-gently tip their performances into 1940s cinematic melodrama, without losing the connection with their other scenes.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5RnAsEC9Txb8WpBxAxW3uLQuHY7F-_5JDGk_Rf8wT_XxDjdzaRQBddIclENwOPfTv_NjQbvm2QBSbE_A0aj4QDKrtPbTDiWZD1O5AMXtiHIDyNvBwrxzo566Ze33JkGQ3UCI5l_FQf-NA_ak3P9JNLdG_goVblk_ieQtcCC7B9aSjEkupjlJPmhC5jvHi/s1080/TheHumanBodyDonmar2024TomGoodmanHill.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5RnAsEC9Txb8WpBxAxW3uLQuHY7F-_5JDGk_Rf8wT_XxDjdzaRQBddIclENwOPfTv_NjQbvm2QBSbE_A0aj4QDKrtPbTDiWZD1O5AMXtiHIDyNvBwrxzo566Ze33JkGQ3UCI5l_FQf-NA_ak3P9JNLdG_goVblk_ieQtcCC7B9aSjEkupjlJPmhC5jvHi/s320/TheHumanBodyDonmar2024TomGoodmanHill.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><br /><div>Another notably arch touch is the running theme that, any time it looks like Iris might be thinking about cheating on her husband, a different supporting character played by Goodman-Hill will be hovering somewhere in the background. Like so many shows <i>The Human Body</i> is too long and could have made its point even with some significant editing, but I’ve got to admire it for the way it approaches its potentially dry history by framing it in the popular entertainment style of the time – with enough of a wink to the audience not to take itself too seriously, but not so much that it forgets to make its points.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://booking.donmarwarehouse.com/events/14401ASTBHRJNMRVVCMLVMRRSGQMJPHLG">The Human Body</a></i> by Lucy Kirkwood is booking until the 13th of April at the Donmar Warehouse.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 2 hours 50 minutes including interval.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Marc Brenner</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-36253678635291332962024-03-01T22:40:00.006+00:002024-03-03T21:39:07.932+00:00Theatre review: Shifters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3zp_eBk3Jw5To-UdgQr4K89xJv7x7Eg-4fKCtwFIkdvbeniCn_OExe1L8dH6l969WIzwj2eg4mXnL4bUJrhJGzKeDfm3De5rk34Ean7IGdYQDjrN_0wmWxkC9ji8HjOrgbLmMf3hrgMfpMvHYTizKI1dDpNOafd73Tjw6bBNIWGU-T_k1NyHEB2ctUBK/s1600/ShiftersBush2024.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht3zp_eBk3Jw5To-UdgQr4K89xJv7x7Eg-4fKCtwFIkdvbeniCn_OExe1L8dH6l969WIzwj2eg4mXnL4bUJrhJGzKeDfm3De5rk34Ean7IGdYQDjrN_0wmWxkC9ji8HjOrgbLmMf3hrgMfpMvHYTizKI1dDpNOafd73Tjw6bBNIWGU-T_k1NyHEB2ctUBK/s1600/ShiftersBush2024.jpg" /></a></div>Benedict Lombe's <i>Shifters</i> is one of those two-handers that follows a couple who seem perfect for each other but may or may not figure it out by the end of the show. And while it doesn't actually take place across the multiverse, there's musing about the choices we make and the different paths they could have led to, which makes it yet another show to give me flashbacks to <i><a href="https://partially-obstructed-view.blogspot.com/2021/11/stage-to-screen-review-constellations_21.html">Constellations</a></i>, surely one of the most influential shows on British theatre so far this century. (I'm not knocking it, it's better than when it looked a couple of years ago like every young theatremaker was going to fill the stage with solemn, slo-mo Yaël Farber processions.) Part of Lombe's twist on the formula is that instead of starting as a rom-com and building to tragedy, <i>Shifters</i>' leads have tragedy built into their stories early on. Dre(am) (Tosin Cole) first notices Des(tiny)* (Heather Agyepong) as the only other black kid in his new school in Crewe.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>Both are transplants from South London, both, it will later turn out, because of losses that threw their families into turmoil. They'll learn these things about each other later, but first Dre notices how well-spoken and forthright the middle-class Des is, and hatches a plan.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWJYfkCWZKfZJjI9dMCqhMdcaeK4gqlL57wdUFbJoMULX8D7_7Mn5FOEdFlLANamwzalpF0I1lGeXkNOJxlclvF4Fscg4IiR_nzklU3FuaZRPHBqnxSj80VL50d0eB-2hV0Nh8Xt_l7tKGyQsTojTwNsS-5KX7bG1zYhGgnM6-hBASp5sgC9WkfNvXPjDT/s2000/ShiftersBush2024HeatherAgyepongTosinCole.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="2000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWJYfkCWZKfZJjI9dMCqhMdcaeK4gqlL57wdUFbJoMULX8D7_7Mn5FOEdFlLANamwzalpF0I1lGeXkNOJxlclvF4Fscg4IiR_nzklU3FuaZRPHBqnxSj80VL50d0eB-2hV0Nh8Xt_l7tKGyQsTojTwNsS-5KX7bG1zYhGgnM6-hBASp5sgC9WkfNvXPjDT/s320/ShiftersBush2024HeatherAgyepongTosinCole.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>He convinces her to join him in the school's debate club, which is competing for a £2,000 prize. From teammates they become best friends, which builds to flirtation, an aborted attempt at a relationship around the time they leave school and both go back to London for University, and (in their early twenties) an actual relationship that goes well enough, but doesn't survive Des' move to America to pursue a successful career as an artist and illustrator of children's books. This story flashes back and forth with them meeting again at the age of 32, when Des briefly returns to the UK for the funeral of Dre's grandmother.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNz26pvjo8lgCRTNlTq2LW0Iw6uhq_LkTL28ifdhoH9tZQxnl_Ua1lW89SmA8FHJEp5op22rfEYCK-oWyy9jlP-V_OM8MR8OEuhU5gFpbQ0NE7evlIF4M5oA0rs10mT2jrNmKw2LB4wAaxznELx7DBwjlXKpacZ9EMglUqe4O0U4XZq7BqeBnDHu5GbF41/s2000/ShiftersBush2024HeatherAgyepong.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="2000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNz26pvjo8lgCRTNlTq2LW0Iw6uhq_LkTL28ifdhoH9tZQxnl_Ua1lW89SmA8FHJEp5op22rfEYCK-oWyy9jlP-V_OM8MR8OEuhU5gFpbQ0NE7evlIF4M5oA0rs10mT2jrNmKw2LB4wAaxznELx7DBwjlXKpacZ9EMglUqe4O0U4XZq7BqeBnDHu5GbF41/s320/ShiftersBush2024HeatherAgyepong.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>The timing of this premiere couldn't have been better, as another obvious comparison is <i>One Day</i>, so I'm sure there's plenty of audiences out there keen for their next decades-spanning will-they-won't-they story. I don't think they'd be disappointed by Lynette Linton's production or the chemistry between her cast. Cole is very charming and Agyepong has a natural comic ability (there's something quite staccato about her delivery that helps give comic lines their element of surprise.) But the emotional damage to their characters is also sensitively handled.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtyPx23uyTavutp3WdH55VukgjuQIZ9gTSqSQic6-5ar0Rw9biCYNF4QrKQwKiKOZSUTcZEdslHOtPdj3QRenw4mTp_loOhl_YRDQz4pF3kfxqQXRbo3mWT-quOkpGQDMLbVo-ON3zocvMM0c_wbn-bwOwIvU2zTJCtpy5cCjNmp28Fn5sCM6qdyl2Yws/s2000/ShiftersBush2024TosinColeHeatherAgyepong.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="2000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtyPx23uyTavutp3WdH55VukgjuQIZ9gTSqSQic6-5ar0Rw9biCYNF4QrKQwKiKOZSUTcZEdslHOtPdj3QRenw4mTp_loOhl_YRDQz4pF3kfxqQXRbo3mWT-quOkpGQDMLbVo-ON3zocvMM0c_wbn-bwOwIvU2zTJCtpy5cCjNmp28Fn5sCM6qdyl2Yws/s320/ShiftersBush2024TosinColeHeatherAgyepong.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>I liked the subtlety in the way Lombe tells us how much the two become parts of each other's lives - Dre's family is Nigerian, Des' Congolese and when, years after they break up, he realises his ambition of opening a restaurant, the food is a fusion of the two. On Alex Berry's shiny traverse set, Neil Austin's lighting also tells a lot through the ever-changing colours of the striplights surrounding them - I particularly liked how it's only background colour most of the time, but reflects off the actors' skin in the most intense scenes. Lyrically written, Linton's production brings this out nicely.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/event/shifters/">Shifters</a></i> by Benedict Lombe is booking until the 30th of March at the Bush Theatre's Holloway.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes straight through.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Craig Fuller.</div><div><br /></div><div>*the names, on the other hand, I doubt are deliberate <i>Sandman</i> references; Agyepong isn't dull enough to be Destiny of the Endless</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-5944392929933497212024-02-29T22:58:00.040+00:002024-03-02T14:14:58.494+00:00Theatre review: Out of Season<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH9dsWMJYxUd5jvJ20ATSJchS_axTCI7r6RaxaE4zipKZdyxDw4VRbmn3Kt7r8tEiy0gISSDlzX57DRFB2cfLAxxYbUVNFBwP3WenzPr_ylhfRs7Vt_6f6rTmotYnCr2Zz5Kamm40KhyphenhyphenXYCp3_7JTriKyXY-ieox-CqaSh02_5uflJRaX5Y_iTvX63UVYE/s1600/OutOfSeasonHampstead2024.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH9dsWMJYxUd5jvJ20ATSJchS_axTCI7r6RaxaE4zipKZdyxDw4VRbmn3Kt7r8tEiy0gISSDlzX57DRFB2cfLAxxYbUVNFBwP3WenzPr_ylhfRs7Vt_6f6rTmotYnCr2Zz5Kamm40KhyphenhyphenXYCp3_7JTriKyXY-ieox-CqaSh02_5uflJRaX5Y_iTvX63UVYE/s1600/OutOfSeasonHampstead2024.jpg" /></a></div>Back to Hampstead and this week I'm Downstairs for its latest commission, Neil D'Souza's <i>Out of Season</i> and a midlife crisis comedy that gently takes in some themes you don't often see on stage. Thirty years ago, a trio of university friends went on a memorable holiday to Ibiza. Now, to celebrate his 50th birthday, Chris (Peter Bramhill) has asked that they recreate the trip - right down to the same room in the same hotel. Regardless of how many times he and Dev (D'Souza) say it's been done up since they were last there, the grubby walls and fading paint of Janet Bird's set suggest both the fact that they might have unrealistically romanticised their original holiday, and that they, like the room, have seen better days. Once in a band that came within sight of success only to miss their chance, manchild Chris still plays gigs in pubs, while Dev has become an academic and music historian, grumpily putting himself through a week he didn't really fancy for his old friend's sake.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>The third friend has actually stayed and thrived in the music industry as an LA executive, and while he's promised to turn up the others doubt that he will. Michael's (James Hillier) arrival doesn't come until the second act, and when it does it brings a different, darker energy to the group.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1vjP0UckduXDQ4BzEHlQacDJ958LoGl3BXlQWTT2U9WiHCK01yULPoE5h4HEFn0dj21vh6Qjhq-OIIuXIrYINfzfF39dBUs8VkufYOOaZuiKFgRsUXwB86EjE_enagnoITc5wRPciES-YUgXVLGlgdsOsqdRHpSlZ0M4IMuwfZ_wAlStkqiFbXbOmOVf/s4000/OutOfSeasonHampstead2024JamesHillier.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2634" data-original-width="4000" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1vjP0UckduXDQ4BzEHlQacDJ958LoGl3BXlQWTT2U9WiHCK01yULPoE5h4HEFn0dj21vh6Qjhq-OIIuXIrYINfzfF39dBUs8VkufYOOaZuiKFgRsUXwB86EjE_enagnoITc5wRPciES-YUgXVLGlgdsOsqdRHpSlZ0M4IMuwfZ_wAlStkqiFbXbOmOVf/s320/OutOfSeasonHampstead2024JamesHillier.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>But first we have comic scenes as the two men hit it off with a couple of women from Hull on their annual trip to the island; older than most of the revellers by the pool but still younger than the men, Holly (Kerry Bennett) and Amy (Catrin Aaron) bring a different, mature but fun dynamic. The fairly short, funny first act comes with a lot of witty dialogue and some broader comedy - including Chris getting caught tied to the bed with phone charger cables and Dev getting a Dvořák tattoo. There’s a pleasing naturalism to both D’Souza’s writing and Alice Hamilton’s production – the characters feel real and recognisable without that taking away from the comedy, and Aaron’s Amy is a particularly well-drawn presence.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpSllJQppwptcHBqq2ksR2TsOuYGnWbZ3ltgAW7JxvFWEPvIHgZ7DC0l3DrSvgY6aggiY0yWIZOhzL7-YlyzvkcEToNQ0av-MILFTAw5iLtBCShqv3VeP3x_ujVdgrgijPY2jprU3ZiHSSUChGtK22yLPSiPR0M5z7z4pkfRzOvHynFzpGc58RRHfXOex/s4000/OutOfSeasonHampstead2024PeterBramhillKerryBennettCatrinAaron.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2668" data-original-width="4000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpSllJQppwptcHBqq2ksR2TsOuYGnWbZ3ltgAW7JxvFWEPvIHgZ7DC0l3DrSvgY6aggiY0yWIZOhzL7-YlyzvkcEToNQ0av-MILFTAw5iLtBCShqv3VeP3x_ujVdgrgijPY2jprU3ZiHSSUChGtK22yLPSiPR0M5z7z4pkfRzOvHynFzpGc58RRHfXOex/s320/OutOfSeasonHampstead2024PeterBramhillKerryBennettCatrinAaron.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>There’s still a lot that feels real in the second act, but it takes on a more threatening edge. One thing that struck me coming out of <i>Out of Season</i> is that although we’ve seen these kinds of unequal, bullying male friendships in drama before, often with the edge of racism and homophobia that we get here, what feels different in this play is the (entirely accurate) framing of it as an abusive relationship. Both Chris’ continued subservience to the dominant Michael and Dev’s attempts to escape the toxic dynamic build up to a satisfying climax, with the two women now representing an alternative way forward with their lives and ambitions.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgftlpH8Pm1V4sw4ZrQ9EeIqW9Hec0z1BRu02znWG8r66koRDsJMnkXjd8FL71J4m-YWqYPxZPbBifMf6AE_65hVngiZ2l0U385K3MYrTKbWRRq10_bR9zLQMXMsfYjgOL1url8vBMYdWQsN883xoNljCXvHyVS5oj9lxmgzW4kTji0Hh4WnmTwTs2XE7EQ/s4000/OutOfSeasonHampstead2024PeterBramhillNeilDSouza.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2648" data-original-width="4000" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgftlpH8Pm1V4sw4ZrQ9EeIqW9Hec0z1BRu02znWG8r66koRDsJMnkXjd8FL71J4m-YWqYPxZPbBifMf6AE_65hVngiZ2l0U385K3MYrTKbWRRq10_bR9zLQMXMsfYjgOL1url8vBMYdWQsN883xoNljCXvHyVS5oj9lxmgzW4kTji0Hh4WnmTwTs2XE7EQ/s320/OutOfSeasonHampstead2024PeterBramhillNeilDSouza.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>With even the rendition of the band’s almost-successful single feeling very authentically like a catchy ‘90s guitar song, <i>Out of Season</i> isn’t flashy but it’s well-constructed at every turn. Balancing comedy and drama to the end, D’Souza brings us through a story that’s always got a melancholy undertone of encroaching age and lost opportunities, while never giving up a sense of hope</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/whats-on/2023/out-of-season/">Out of Season</a></i> by Neil D’Souza is booking until the 23rd of March at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes including interval.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: The Other Richard.
</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-73513700874240228762024-02-27T22:46:00.242+00:002024-02-29T23:19:59.681+00:00Theatre review: Cable Street<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlv1lqgZ5dYHryKajPbIfnF01Y4dHJcv5ZCC0BpAokWLcaZC8fpb8qK1KIm4YHTrQ8HE2MRkKRn4udCjso60O542usLOX_Hfn8fJpIdo8-XQYukWVViOImEU_KEHiCsG_eDxZOjkp7XyOna2cw1W4xn__oVJy5XxiLdsp-753xHM4clFtMLZMqU2z56yU/s1600/CableStreetSouthwark2024.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlv1lqgZ5dYHryKajPbIfnF01Y4dHJcv5ZCC0BpAokWLcaZC8fpb8qK1KIm4YHTrQ8HE2MRkKRn4udCjso60O542usLOX_Hfn8fJpIdo8-XQYukWVViOImEU_KEHiCsG_eDxZOjkp7XyOna2cw1W4xn__oVJy5XxiLdsp-753xHM4clFtMLZMqU2z56yU/s1600/CableStreetSouthwark2024.jpg" /></a></div>The 1936 Battle of Cable Street in East London is known as the biggest anti-fascist protest on British soil. It's a piece of English history that can still be looked back on with pride at a time when most re-examinations of the past don't see it hold up too well, so it remains a popular subject. It also marks a significant moment of unity between the Jewish and Irish communities that until then might not have necessarily been on the same side, so there are bound to be many people in both those modern-day communities who have personal family stories about it. Which is all to say that when Southwark Playhouse put Tim Gilvin (music & lyrics) and Alex Kanefsky's (book) musical premiere <i>Cable Street</i> on sale it sold out the entire run before it had even opened, an impressive enough feat at the moment for an Off West End show with no star casting.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>So <i>Cable Street</i> is a hit off the back of its title alone, but does the treatment do it justice? That's where I was less sure. While other far right leaders gain power in Europe, Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists try to stir up sentiment against Jews, the Irish and Communists, riling up young unemployed men by blaming these groups for the economy's problems.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGSq_QthrHX3o1pPSnh7bnLIaErA7HKhmw6i5D5-rU9evYDFIZbkP92U8S16e-plngsA4l2p5Ixp0Z3pCg-YQlmCiEXqNHzHKqjVIsT1jzwSX9Cm2kvF4jvxNUF-KvNDG9VQstEKhbTyunG3ADYJTOcpcOnl7mB3zibnbsxMKMbK9VEbtGhf7Lx-LjU5HS/s4096/CableStreetSouthwark2024ShaDesi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2731" data-original-width="4096" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGSq_QthrHX3o1pPSnh7bnLIaErA7HKhmw6i5D5-rU9evYDFIZbkP92U8S16e-plngsA4l2p5Ixp0Z3pCg-YQlmCiEXqNHzHKqjVIsT1jzwSX9Cm2kvF4jvxNUF-KvNDG9VQstEKhbTyunG3ADYJTOcpcOnl7mB3zibnbsxMKMbK9VEbtGhf7Lx-LjU5HS/s320/CableStreetSouthwark2024ShaDesi.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>In the East End some of these tensions are felt between the groups, with the Jewish and Irish communities largely staying apart and hostile (the Communists try to bring everyone together but their efforts are too specifically focused on the Spanish Civil War to register with people worried about threats at home.) Kanefsky's story follows a large ensemble of characters from every demographic and political viewpoint, but is centred around a <i>West Side Story</i> central romance between Jewish Sammy (Joshua Ginsberg) and Mairaid (Sha Dessi, one of the show's standouts,) who as a Communist of Irish descent who works in a Jewish bakery, has links to pretty much everyone.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhE1zyYtESfpYJjKhnZKp7R23clRiEXU8qJgkJhTl7L7-ysKg7g9Wu0Sa9CHASbdmyilEwTRARXYVBYXoZnDblkTb0DbDIGrprZCYvvjNVXpA45WqYZUbMgC1agSEzhpTGyEYKZ_WwkfyshyphenhyphenRLzVNcdMjs-8NYYhCcElm7SvcNmEjJTU_DucunljT4cgXN/s4096/CableStreetSouthwark2024JoshuaGinsbergShaDesi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2857" data-original-width="4096" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhE1zyYtESfpYJjKhnZKp7R23clRiEXU8qJgkJhTl7L7-ysKg7g9Wu0Sa9CHASbdmyilEwTRARXYVBYXoZnDblkTb0DbDIGrprZCYvvjNVXpA45WqYZUbMgC1agSEzhpTGyEYKZ_WwkfyshyphenhyphenRLzVNcdMjs-8NYYhCcElm7SvcNmEjJTU_DucunljT4cgXN/s320/CableStreetSouthwark2024JoshuaGinsbergShaDesi.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Sammy has one of the Communists (Ethan Pascal Peters) hovering over his shoulder encouraging him to join up in Spain pretty much throughout, so he basically has "doomed" written all over him in crayon. Meanwhile Sammy's neighbour Ron (Danny Colligan) has moved from Lancashire to London for work and, finding none, has become an easy target for the BUF to recruit. And in a present-day framing device of an East End walking tour, the show suggests the history of Cable Street as a better alternative to the ubiquitous, problematic Jack the Ripper tours that famously infest the area.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhal9rza-dEd-rq1OWRQA9fRibxNFFnmmgh6iU36kKpE2UiS0UIzio9X8u4wQIhVNx3Nd8PVjAqsBdgXqLuzK-u9vhEf_kOMeFI2L-m3Qj-Iqkiu5pEsIHTjx9TaCX-4ENpqVpPLFf_Q9SI32cJKrEJrb7aCsz4SdWkRpQE1F7K1vPlCccMEV4BPll78x0x/s4096/CableStreetSouthwark2024DannyColligan.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2731" data-original-width="4096" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhal9rza-dEd-rq1OWRQA9fRibxNFFnmmgh6iU36kKpE2UiS0UIzio9X8u4wQIhVNx3Nd8PVjAqsBdgXqLuzK-u9vhEf_kOMeFI2L-m3Qj-Iqkiu5pEsIHTjx9TaCX-4ENpqVpPLFf_Q9SI32cJKrEJrb7aCsz4SdWkRpQE1F7K1vPlCccMEV4BPll78x0x/s320/CableStreetSouthwark2024DannyColligan.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>There's a lot to like here, but Gilvin and Kanefsky's writing had an unfortunate ability to take me right out of the show just as I was starting to get into it (as do some of the more... interesting choices in Jevan-Howard Jones' choreography.) A lot of this comes down to musical style - I'm probably not the only one who thought the theme focusing on these two communities might give us riffs on Jewish and Irish traditional music, and it's probably for the best that we <b>don't</b> get that, but instead Gilvin's style is steeped in musical theatre of the last 50 or so years. For the most part we get numbers that are broadly or specifically reminiscent of certain composers or songs, but where one composer's concerned the influence is a bit too on-the-nose.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-y9lHidQ1X1al-eAtyURdcefiXh4l2Czu2LVdW_YZlFq4YPVxb8r8BPc2Y6z5IcjFWURm-Q00iRCUnYik5CTlFPU3Uis_tZwF9DLgOT4zuTvysnjEqLsYZqHJFEkYRee0EX214wlchOTn2C4ltEXx6wP8O_-ffNbFQJUBBo3-TEvtlMRGyLUDb3ext33H/s4096/CableStreetSouthwark2024cast.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2731" data-original-width="4096" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-y9lHidQ1X1al-eAtyURdcefiXh4l2Czu2LVdW_YZlFq4YPVxb8r8BPc2Y6z5IcjFWURm-Q00iRCUnYik5CTlFPU3Uis_tZwF9DLgOT4zuTvysnjEqLsYZqHJFEkYRee0EX214wlchOTn2C4ltEXx6wP8O_-ffNbFQJUBBo3-TEvtlMRGyLUDb3ext33H/s320/CableStreetSouthwark2024cast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Obviously <i>Hamilton</i> has been the most influential musical of the last decade, with many British shows trying to replicate its irreverent take on history, but nowhere as on-the-nose as with the hip-hop numbers here. Ginsberg is the only actor required to actually rap, and the idea of turning a sparky young Jewish ex-boxer in the 1930s into a rapper is a fun one. But every rhythm, phrasing and cadence Gilvin gives him to perform is so unmistakeably Lin-Manuel Miranda that I spent much of the first act wondering how long it'll be before 10 to 4 Productions get a phone call from some lawyers.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ncTl25ndQq06T70xAYHH0G43KzWSJFW27yyjh9XfTSRAbfOvPOQdVrRpQ5JpNY2SHf64B5We4TRKt1bR59_1OcQxrC4Kb7ZB2FCK0gUpnwquhqPeRGEpt8SJJJkEG9Hw7JmdR2f0NPBWhuPrbGVBHSYd8re2Kwe8BG-uzNNpkxI5ZpXdYmSQ0Dw8ESjN/s4096/CableStreetSouthwark2024JadeJohnson.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2731" data-original-width="4096" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ncTl25ndQq06T70xAYHH0G43KzWSJFW27yyjh9XfTSRAbfOvPOQdVrRpQ5JpNY2SHf64B5We4TRKt1bR59_1OcQxrC4Kb7ZB2FCK0gUpnwquhqPeRGEpt8SJJJkEG9Hw7JmdR2f0NPBWhuPrbGVBHSYd8re2Kwe8BG-uzNNpkxI5ZpXdYmSQ0Dw8ESjN/s320/CableStreetSouthwark2024JadeJohnson.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>There are some clumsy moments in the dialogue that also took me out of the moment - "I can't find my bastard fags or my bastard lighter." "It's 2 o'clock in t'bastard morning!" (Mummy, I think they might be Northerners.) But all things told Kanefsky doesn't do a bad job of marshalling the multiple storylines and characters vying for attention. Not to mention the cast of Adam Lenson's production, most of whom are jumping between characters in various communities - at one point Jez Unwin is Jewish, Irish and Fascist father figures in the same song, possibly in the same verse.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ny0DfyfqAgWxGpF6evWIT30bg5SXrS7lIPZkFXwloA48BoO7owoVonSSQ9COCrl-fln1wxTlGk2_3J15cs_xUPiET9SWIlyTdJp6bggqLPPz65OC4Xp5u-V-voeSSgk8L7eP1MImN35ZmwAKnAipH8dZk4LOXuGy2huEdjr4jYabG6hXgJ4-8i_QfVyT/s4096/CableStreetSouthwark2024cast2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2731" data-original-width="4096" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ny0DfyfqAgWxGpF6evWIT30bg5SXrS7lIPZkFXwloA48BoO7owoVonSSQ9COCrl-fln1wxTlGk2_3J15cs_xUPiET9SWIlyTdJp6bggqLPPz65OC4Xp5u-V-voeSSgk8L7eP1MImN35ZmwAKnAipH8dZk4LOXuGy2huEdjr4jYabG6hXgJ4-8i_QfVyT/s320/CableStreetSouthwark2024cast2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Also there's a cardboard <i>War Horse</i></span></div><div><br /><div>Yoav Segal's set has a grungy grandeur that reflects the industrial jobs many of these people had, and in the present-day scenes Debbie Chazen's American tourist joins the walking tour midway then keeps interrupting the guide to read out some poetry she thinks might be of interest. I don't want to stereotype but I have a feeling one or two London tour guides might recognise that character. There's lots of energy and lots of good work being done here, but the way the show struggles to find its own musical identity - or, when it does, it's someone else's - was one of the things that meant I couldn't entirely lose myself in the action. I was too busy wondering how the show would go down if it was staged somewhere that didn't have the same kind of connection to the actual story.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/cable-street/">Cable Street</a></i> by Tim Gilvin and Alex Kanefsky is booking until the 16th of March at Southwark Playhouse Borough's Large Theatre (returns only.)</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes including interval.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Jane Hobson.</div></div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-61666532247292974902024-02-26T23:24:00.055+00:002024-02-27T22:58:35.939+00:00Theatre review: Dear Octopus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmBALO3so7pEA5icTuMev1FCAYC6AHfPFtAR5RSuBQmYxt3LEvnupLggf_Wc0AXqVIozOTa-WfxhCo3UXYVyDs4bFv9KGtB3sSZEqUqrdN8hw0c0JmrnNjdIzkHpZxi37cmFWoX7wNDBmh7zHOuTmiL2bvnsOLc8DV8l0v0QMCDxM8hTg4eT3xryczIr7/s1600/DearOctopusLyttelton2024.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmBALO3so7pEA5icTuMev1FCAYC6AHfPFtAR5RSuBQmYxt3LEvnupLggf_Wc0AXqVIozOTa-WfxhCo3UXYVyDs4bFv9KGtB3sSZEqUqrdN8hw0c0JmrnNjdIzkHpZxi37cmFWoX7wNDBmh7zHOuTmiL2bvnsOLc8DV8l0v0QMCDxM8hTg4eT3xryczIr7/s1600/DearOctopusLyttelton2024.jpg" /></a></div>An obscure rediscovery seems to have been a hit at the Lyttelton as Emily Burns directs Dodie Smith's <i>Dear Octopus</i>, a sprawling family drama set over the weekend of Dora (Lindsay Duncan) and Charles Randolph's (Malcolm Sinclair) golden anniversary. The sort of family who describe themselves as ordinary because they don't have a coat of arms, they assemble at the large country house built by Charles' grandfather. Over the weekend we see four generations of the family who've been raised in this house - three of them by the same nanny. Of the couple's six children four survive - the eldest son died in the First World War, while one daughter died of undisclosed causes. The others juggle various successes and neuroses: Margery (Amy Morgan) is trying to control her warring children, Hilda (Jo Herbert) manages to balance a successful job as an estate agent with her OCD, and Cynthia (Bethan Cullinane) works for a Paris fashion house, although rumour has it she's been in France for so long because she's concealing a scandal in her personal life.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>Surviving son Nicholas (Billy Howle) seems to wander rather obliviously through life, and one of the play's major plotlines sees him unaware - or wilfully ignorant - of the fact that his mother's hired companion Fenny (Bessie Carter) has been in love with him for the last ten years.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNiTIs3E6KqXVGeahRgKia_igIj72IIowl_Mq_VeJzbxHA3svSFzY77K6rV_kukOHu8rNyO8fUx4O0IRpDfKjbTJUM0IA9vp_1ypDvJ4oXXadKm4li7HoJGMAHfaZ-7xQeMmHTquuc9KD3Epx7tHuAt2pNPyy3r-xdOgF1yW-wn-usYAzz4q1PaJSzNMR/s1280/DearOctopusLyttelton2024BillyHowle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNiTIs3E6KqXVGeahRgKia_igIj72IIowl_Mq_VeJzbxHA3svSFzY77K6rV_kukOHu8rNyO8fUx4O0IRpDfKjbTJUM0IA9vp_1ypDvJ4oXXadKm4li7HoJGMAHfaZ-7xQeMmHTquuc9KD3Epx7tHuAt2pNPyy3r-xdOgF1yW-wn-usYAzz4q1PaJSzNMR/s320/DearOctopusLyttelton2024BillyHowle.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>His late brother's widow Edna (Pandora Colin) decides to finally tip him off to the fact, ostensibly so he won't lead her on, but in practice she does have a history of sticking her oar in any time it looks like Nicholas might have a romantic interest. Elsewhere Cynthia is trying to avoid her mother's attempts to find out what she's been hiding in Paris, as well as dealing with the fact that her late twin sister's daughter is looking at her as a replacement mother. And Margery's marriage to Kenneth (Dharmesh Patel) is supposedly held together by her allowing him to flirt freely, a theory that's tested when he actually takes her up on it.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhInxFE4n6dRUARuXDLXyBw-185OqUymTjs5gN_qtupGHXy0cqUBhOEj3S6zaMejX_qjIo5I8pCCbSG-SWVi1ndnYjHfKmmAqloMWIahg1VsdFk6mxysvuz9dN_a92rLdhoGCt_n71R3JZxydXuXjIA90rk_Mu8_GspEI1aQjpvBX7Fnv3a8LAAoXzA3DgP/s1280/DearOctopusLyttelton2024MalcolmSinclairLindsayDuncanKateFahy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="1280" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhInxFE4n6dRUARuXDLXyBw-185OqUymTjs5gN_qtupGHXy0cqUBhOEj3S6zaMejX_qjIo5I8pCCbSG-SWVi1ndnYjHfKmmAqloMWIahg1VsdFk6mxysvuz9dN_a92rLdhoGCt_n71R3JZxydXuXjIA90rk_Mu8_GspEI1aQjpvBX7Fnv3a8LAAoXzA3DgP/s320/DearOctopusLyttelton2024MalcolmSinclairLindsayDuncanKateFahy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Frankie Bradshaw provides the latest Lyttelton set to create a grand old maze of a house by slotting together elements revolved and flown in, but although scenes also take place in the drawing room and dining room, nearly half the play is set in the nursery where the characters regularly retreat - in part to escape Dora's relentless ability to find busywork for everyone, but largely as a return to a place of comfort and safety. It fits into the play's themes of nostalgia and ageing: The middle-aged characters are very aware of time passing but the ones in their seventies feel like they're in the prime of their lives.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmB1yiC-hSkzfPUScMd__9Tk8YR6S_PW4zXIk6iUCz5oQ0ZOiSifuEdZldhnXLPIlUXaYWjpt_2OOFkIOWt6ehmuMW-NYikqUCaxV_Umz0Ar-jPPfF_IKIVf0Tw6Y2_kM84OoS0GvKoZU1UycrENPB0lvQtZpYHmuCdcq99XdE7jEONz3kPc7DACFvpj5G/s1280/DearOctopusLyttelton2024LindsayDuncan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="853" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmB1yiC-hSkzfPUScMd__9Tk8YR6S_PW4zXIk6iUCz5oQ0ZOiSifuEdZldhnXLPIlUXaYWjpt_2OOFkIOWt6ehmuMW-NYikqUCaxV_Umz0Ar-jPPfF_IKIVf0Tw6Y2_kM84OoS0GvKoZU1UycrENPB0lvQtZpYHmuCdcq99XdE7jEONz3kPc7DACFvpj5G/s320/DearOctopusLyttelton2024LindsayDuncan.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div>It's in different approaches to the latter that we get some of the best comic one-liners, as Dora is reunited for the first time in decades with her sister-in-law, who was also in love with Charles but had to settle for his brother. Belle (Kate Fahy) is full of back-handed compliments about Dora accepting old age gracefully, while Dora isn't averse to the odd dig at Belle's youthful looks: "She struggled going up the stairs. You can get your face lifted, but you’ve got to lift your feet yourself."</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUpjqZQ2WukIPyZ2bkUNLnoFiNLdW-4I7zQw1K-4s5ABUQN6SgtR2RIuniBG5ofGZxFEMW0552oMTb2N1vweR_AzABqcpstOvl9UJ_qxbNFXj87IzJcI-rfiBq51UDNfnIuhxwnE9V5cb5dqQ0wtIeKjI4QhCOien6je8d4mMDzeAnrO_VwvcGGdePMA2L/s1280/DearOctopusLyttelton2024MalcolmSinclair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUpjqZQ2WukIPyZ2bkUNLnoFiNLdW-4I7zQw1K-4s5ABUQN6SgtR2RIuniBG5ofGZxFEMW0552oMTb2N1vweR_AzABqcpstOvl9UJ_qxbNFXj87IzJcI-rfiBq51UDNfnIuhxwnE9V5cb5dqQ0wtIeKjI4QhCOien6je8d4mMDzeAnrO_VwvcGGdePMA2L/s320/DearOctopusLyttelton2024MalcolmSinclair.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><i>Dear Octopus</i> premiered in 1938, and in a scene that’s presumably Burns’ addition we hear an extended radio news bulletin about bomb shelters and evacuation plans against a possible German attack on British soil. With the story still overshadowed by the losses of the First World War, you can see why a connection to the upcoming Second might make sense, but it’s not referenced anywhere else in the story so it feels like a non-sequitur. If anything it highlights the way there’s neither a huge amount of plot, nor any wider themes to the play than a fond tribute to families with all their complications and personal histories.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqidmT2n13E2Kxm7uLQ01J5gRel9fNHFa_9EhmyTYhN1r2KBhtum94geTWqs64jaVt7RUgSB9wNaE79IK8sxF_nRfro_sHZKmIvFfaL1s5oPoOrEsbobLZdZA3KMZDOYbf-8wDrca1TUJzAnqBlQohZwBgj0j25c-YUF_A01cIB4BUw2V1Yur9CIeUvyk/s1280/DearOctopusLyttelton2024cast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqidmT2n13E2Kxm7uLQ01J5gRel9fNHFa_9EhmyTYhN1r2KBhtum94geTWqs64jaVt7RUgSB9wNaE79IK8sxF_nRfro_sHZKmIvFfaL1s5oPoOrEsbobLZdZA3KMZDOYbf-8wDrca1TUJzAnqBlQohZwBgj0j25c-YUF_A01cIB4BUw2V1Yur9CIeUvyk/s320/DearOctopusLyttelton2024cast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>My only problem with this is the length, which to me dates it as much as Dora treating her staff like property that can be lent to her grandson Hugh (Tom Glenister) like a cup of sugar: This gentle mix of melancholy and humour works, and I can’t say there were many individual elements of Burns’ understatedly-acted production I didn’t like. But we’re in a world where the big climax is a proposal that’s been visible from space since Act I, and at three hours I couldn’t help wishing for something a bit meatier.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/dear-octopus/">Dear Octopus</a></i> by Dodie Smith is booking until the 27th of March at the National Theatre’s Lyttelton.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 2 hours 55 minutes including interval.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Marc Brenner.
</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-16772369533492102042024-02-24T18:22:00.226+00:002024-02-26T23:26:28.318+00:00Theatre review: Just For One Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0K7nVPEkzb2NkpLSpd-0tA2O7fX0sWAgJ_a5f9kbzP6IMVcprCyCiSjbk0fgqrr_doefSQE3eiRyn-CmoUfJ9up5tIUhRrRt3zdRUInG0HNKHRYM2Su5Yhw08VJPZ5ZxFO8JV9ZHRTOtwpurW7AQMLKdJCUaUQ9qQwcnjibbC6iCf_hC19Z0CRGDWJ0_G/s1600/JustForOneDayOV2024.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0K7nVPEkzb2NkpLSpd-0tA2O7fX0sWAgJ_a5f9kbzP6IMVcprCyCiSjbk0fgqrr_doefSQE3eiRyn-CmoUfJ9up5tIUhRrRt3zdRUInG0HNKHRYM2Su5Yhw08VJPZ5ZxFO8JV9ZHRTOtwpurW7AQMLKdJCUaUQ9qQwcnjibbC6iCf_hC19Z0CRGDWJ0_G/s1600/JustForOneDayOV2024.jpg" /></a></div>I've got to say I found the idea of <i>Just For One Day</i> a bit baffling, and having now seen John O'Farrell's jukebox musical setting the story behind the scenes of Live Aid to songs from the setlist, I still feel a bit vague about what exactly's going on at the Old Vic at the moment. I want to say the framing device is a young woman in the present day, Jemma (Naomi Katiyo) wanting to know more about the event for, I guess, a history project, but the use of multiple narrators muddles this. She gets help from Suzanne (Retired Lesbian Jackie Clune,) who was at Wembley for the concert, as well as Bob Geldof (Craige Els) himself, who for some reason is available to give the inside scoop. So in 1984 Bob sees a news report about a famine in Ethiopia and is horrified - by the suffering, the general indifference and lack of aid from wealthier nations, and from the fact that while he knows others will be upset by the story as well, it'll soon be forgotten by most people when the news cycle moves on.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>So he comes up with an idea both to fundraise and to make it impossible to ignore, by enlisting Midge Ure (Jack Shalloo) to write a Christmas single. The first act is taken up with them assembling the biggest British pop stars of the time for "Do They Know It's Christmas?"</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwShceI75Nf3VfKxzxzAB7LiuIMj8eqM4oGCeaF1Nf828EJjnNDREQVCpG3k8aRYZ1DqPPCFuKIEp6qCO4RC21ZtHapg93NB9Ld-h95klOagwknVcq9s0unldo-MLBFdUw-yF0mRHTUyAJqH1r0QSZbzEB6H6Ts00FRloZqnSTpRJjuE49tKMyttFzTmkD/s1500/JustForOneDayOV2024CraigeEls.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwShceI75Nf3VfKxzxzAB7LiuIMj8eqM4oGCeaF1Nf828EJjnNDREQVCpG3k8aRYZ1DqPPCFuKIEp6qCO4RC21ZtHapg93NB9Ld-h95klOagwknVcq9s0unldo-MLBFdUw-yF0mRHTUyAJqH1r0QSZbzEB6H6Ts00FRloZqnSTpRJjuE49tKMyttFzTmkD/s320/JustForOneDayOV2024CraigeEls.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>It's a hit, raises awareness and spawns an egregious American spin-off in "We Are The World," but on actually visiting Africa Bob learns that the political chaos in the region that was partly responsible for the famine in the first place, also means the supplies the record bought are virtually impossible to get to the people who need them. To get around the even greater cost of the logistics he decides to stage a fundraising concert, once again with the biggest musical stars, split between London and Philadelphia, with Phil Collins appearing at both venues because even if they're not the ones starving, it's only fair that the audience suffer <b>a bit</b> too.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglkMCMMZC9EhrVrV3FXo1RZdTIHhdHVXZwSMEt4ZA24Gwm7wO42nMvHBBF6RSukHEC1A34vG-QqK_yL7UB9GjQM7zpf9Bf7-D66XSJ2SusglaR-wBzMeiVa5NI03nuVipawLOaEAoK0u_DvVtt2P5QsSJjt1iYqC7xjvnfpRlMwnm3js2J1U4BuXHfmO_V/s1500/JustForOneDayOV2024AshleyCampbellDanielleSteers.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglkMCMMZC9EhrVrV3FXo1RZdTIHhdHVXZwSMEt4ZA24Gwm7wO42nMvHBBF6RSukHEC1A34vG-QqK_yL7UB9GjQM7zpf9Bf7-D66XSJ2SusglaR-wBzMeiVa5NI03nuVipawLOaEAoK0u_DvVtt2P5QsSJjt1iYqC7xjvnfpRlMwnm3js2J1U4BuXHfmO_V/s320/JustForOneDayOV2024AshleyCampbellDanielleSteers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>What makes <i>Just For One Day</i> hard to review is the huge difference in quality between the construction of the show, and the production Luke Sheppard has given it. As ever, it's hard to blame theatres in the current climate for trying to find a guaranteed hit, and nostalgia is about as safe a bet for that as you can find, but O'Farrell continues to strike me as someone who's written more musicals than he's seen, putting this together very clumsily. So the voice of this nostalgia is Suzanne, who we also see as her younger self (Hope Kenna,) working in a record shop with her crush Tim (Joe Edgar,) whom she's trying to convince of the project's significance.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrHnOcPfFKPVCHtlmLakDuvpUuXJSCEgyl6_g-GOAVfORASHfECnmcVGh9LourbWt2l7BOa-LnZL9_UE7snlONSrUK-u_Lk9YWv5jqz_Uk4OHIe8Jz9wZQMgojp3qvpCjGvP7gqOQHXDvKszNis_VgMUvOYvnBNdaT8pGcnQ_vy5b-vecPbrGiuuzc-7K4/s1500/JustForOneDayOV2024cast.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrHnOcPfFKPVCHtlmLakDuvpUuXJSCEgyl6_g-GOAVfORASHfECnmcVGh9LourbWt2l7BOa-LnZL9_UE7snlONSrUK-u_Lk9YWv5jqz_Uk4OHIe8Jz9wZQMgojp3qvpCjGvP7gqOQHXDvKszNis_VgMUvOYvnBNdaT8pGcnQ_vy5b-vecPbrGiuuzc-7K4/s320/JustForOneDayOV2024cast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>But there's also an idea of trying to credit the behind-the-scenes people without whom Geldof couldn't have pulled off anything - Ashley Campbell, Olly Dobson, Joel Montague and Danielle Steers are the team of execs, technicians and lawyers who make the concert happen, reminding us it wasn't a one-man show. The show forgets about Midge Ure about halfway through, but then it wouldn't be the Live Aid story without everyone forgetting about Midge Ure. We also get a voice from Ethiopia itself, albeit not from the famine victims but from British Red Cross worker Amara (Abiona Omonua) who's cynical about Geldof getting anything done but eventually is impressed by his determination. As is even Margaret Thatcher (understudy Kerry Enright,) with the play suggesting Geldof was the only person ever to make the Iron Sociopath change her mind. And duet with him on "I'm Still Standing."</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5iUTnr6wGwEcMdZoHgkVSQnMUOgNxh99pS4yG2bb3Czlom0dmcUSXlKeYokQy7t16663SP8KDuNyg8Fio8PXk_WbDstvmG6pqOfTUdRbCLK8O1LUMfyRJN1WjD0l2zCJGoaDqFPMEZgBS53kzkA_wllY3ii3npXvY2RV5sL8mmevAKy-z_63t1ICvDqOb/s1500/JustForOneDayOV2024AbionaOmonua.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5iUTnr6wGwEcMdZoHgkVSQnMUOgNxh99pS4yG2bb3Czlom0dmcUSXlKeYokQy7t16663SP8KDuNyg8Fio8PXk_WbDstvmG6pqOfTUdRbCLK8O1LUMfyRJN1WjD0l2zCJGoaDqFPMEZgBS53kzkA_wllY3ii3npXvY2RV5sL8mmevAKy-z_63t1ICvDqOb/s320/JustForOneDayOV2024AbionaOmonua.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Although the production doesn't star household names, people who know musical theatre will recognise a hell of a lot of these, some as leads in major productions, so Sheppard certainly isn't skimping on talent as far as the cast goes. And it pays off, as Matthew Brind's new orchestrations of the many hits are given fresh, exciting and energetic performances. I'm guessing it's also Sheppard who's ensured the show is a bit more diverse in terms of race and gender than the concert - a quick reference to the stage being full of middle-aged white men is the closest the script comes to dealing with accusations of white saviour complex.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-MbsfFTRk7z8Y1luhzyR4TGAwsh_Oj1WbPgths7UK_nGoBDyEcUtd2J0UXcnVJvR8imTPzF-upSWRq5aaOKnZYmvRPvxSH6chlxGLi5DpMOtCCDJJu3Bh5yejN53dVPyyE5jBmdeXFMy30sQiKldLTvNqmgXPJELxo_LuvwHHYvpvv6fLKeqOFMT8mvY/s1500/JustForOneDayOV2024JackShalloo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-MbsfFTRk7z8Y1luhzyR4TGAwsh_Oj1WbPgths7UK_nGoBDyEcUtd2J0UXcnVJvR8imTPzF-upSWRq5aaOKnZYmvRPvxSH6chlxGLi5DpMOtCCDJJu3Bh5yejN53dVPyyE5jBmdeXFMy30sQiKldLTvNqmgXPJELxo_LuvwHHYvpvv6fLKeqOFMT8mvY/s320/JustForOneDayOV2024JackShalloo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>So I certainly can't say <i>Just For One Day</i> isn't an entertaining couple of hours - I did have a good time and the cast and production are well worth seeing. It's not a well-constructed musical though, and while there's nothing wrong with a nostalgia trip, it seems a wasted opportunity to do something more than just an '80s tribute concert. I'm also going to guess it's a fairly personal nostalgia trip and O'Farrell was at Wembley, given the Philadelphia leg is referenced but not many songs from it show up. I wonder if he was near the woman sitting next to us, who cheered when Clune asked if anyone in the audience was there. I wonder if she clapped off the beat during "We Will Rock You" then as well.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://www.oldvictheatre.com/stage/event/just-for-one-day">Just For One Day</a></i> by John O'Farrell, <span style="white-space: normal;">John Fogerty, </span>Bob Geldof, Johnnie Fingers, Warren Cann, Chris Cross, Billy Currie, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, <span style="white-space: normal;">Phil Collins, Sting, Mary, Mungo, </span>Midge Ure, <span style="white-space: normal;">Daryl Hall, </span>Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, Brian May, David Bowie, Brian Eno, <span style="white-space: normal;">Pete Townshend, </span>Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Your Mum, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, D. McDaniels, J. Mizel, J. Simmons, L. Smith, R. Simmons, Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance, <span style="white-space: normal;">Ray Davies, Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, </span>Madonna, Stephen Bray, Ric Ocasek, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter is booking until the 30th of March at the Old Vic.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes including interval.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Manuel Harlan.</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-6556363078166806662024-02-22T22:35:00.062+00:002024-02-23T22:22:25.048+00:00Theatre review: Double Feature<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKl7rs_OXJsiLMzNonLMp-waLDD1N0fCe0GOnWHBvX5k2WYQ-Ye32c9HcF4QFO11yLz1hwgZ9owCciNBEZvLRYmSTZMKGBg4987bx6Y6mE8Ng3MTf_m4IIZz8Lkyt8Gj3qDAHTuyefLfu0fK-cEVo1B7sb1WNmQ8YOc2TgbUH_xbJMihdzt6bnCbs9QxgG/s1600/DoubleFeatureHampstead2024.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKl7rs_OXJsiLMzNonLMp-waLDD1N0fCe0GOnWHBvX5k2WYQ-Ye32c9HcF4QFO11yLz1hwgZ9owCciNBEZvLRYmSTZMKGBg4987bx6Y6mE8Ng3MTf_m4IIZz8Lkyt8Gj3qDAHTuyefLfu0fK-cEVo1B7sb1WNmQ8YOc2TgbUH_xbJMihdzt6bnCbs9QxgG/s1600/DoubleFeatureHampstead2024.jpg" /></a></div>John Logan has written two major West End plays (plus wrangled the general madness of <i><a href="https://partially-obstructed-view.blogspot.com/2021/11/theatre-review-moulin-rouge.html">Moulin Rouge</a></i>,) so a third is to be approached with a mix of excitement and trepidation, as I loved one of his previous plays and hated the other. Fortunately while his latest premiere isn't the instant classic that <i><a href="https://partially-obstructed-view.blogspot.com/2018/05/theatre-review-red.html">Red</a></i> was, it also never threatens anything like the tedium of <i><a href="https://partially-obstructed-view.blogspot.com/2013/03/theatre-review-peter-and-alice.html">Peter and Alice</a></i>. Logan is best-known as a screenwriter, and it's in the movies where he's found his inspiration for <i>Double Feature</i>. Particularly in the spiky relationships between actors and directors, as he gives us two pairings behind the scenes of famous movies: Anthony Ward's set is a dimly-lit Suffolk cottage, an authentically old building in the countryside that a studio has given young director Michael Reeves (Rowan Polonski) to stay in while he shoots the grisly 1967 horror movie <i>Witchfinder General</i>.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>But it's also representing a Disneyfied version of the same kind of building, a bungalow in the middle of a Hollywood studio that Alfred Hitchcock (Ian McNeice) has bought himself and decorated as a quaint vision of England - a kind of fake nostalgia as he admits it's not really a style linked to any happy childhood memories, but it fits the image of the grand old British director.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioU8t6w13lIOO-RBpST360ufvoeCl5njRg01JOox3NabCdBmdfQG8bzIqwtwh6ru8cbFwVniAuwT6CMj0r5i5qbOUdGZdTTdetOTb6iYmW-NS8PuRFI_ENl4_6-HTruqO_x2PqSkSR4fO1LCSZ8diGuqU9me2wgdPSCJGRC-N1yN0oAqpJahHSg90WGrbo/s3000/DoubleFeatureHampstead2024JoannaVanderhamIanMcNeice.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="3000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioU8t6w13lIOO-RBpST360ufvoeCl5njRg01JOox3NabCdBmdfQG8bzIqwtwh6ru8cbFwVniAuwT6CMj0r5i5qbOUdGZdTTdetOTb6iYmW-NS8PuRFI_ENl4_6-HTruqO_x2PqSkSR4fO1LCSZ8diGuqU9me2wgdPSCJGRC-N1yN0oAqpJahHSg90WGrbo/s320/DoubleFeatureHampstead2024JoannaVanderhamIanMcNeice.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>In 1964, Hitchcock is in the middle of filming <i>Marnie</i>, the second of his movies to star Tippi Hedren (Joanna Vanderham,) and he's called her round to the bungalow to rehearse the next day's scenes. Although he doesn't seem to have much rehearsal planned; ignoring the fact that Hedren's anxiety means she can barely keep food down, he's ordered in a rich three-course meal and wine. He's also brought storyboards for his adaptation of J.M. Barrie's <i>Mary Rose</i>, a project he's had earmarked for all his previous blonde muses/objects of obsession, but he's sure Hedren will finally be the one (he never did make the film.)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfUtITxIoR7N0HCFhxIVVQPtlK_JxLnNWxhIW7Om8K-ygQ_I8SC9lhgQS7HwIbxj1-LWND3cDz97siLTnQObkV0Vfr1btkT1dan1wSaZVGhT2h8MdVBA_yVQWEYtcAlNlOjNVMfjF1U_3ylb80ZguOq_Z8MhiVwQkk5AMFhN2zb-BZT3Y8r8TaAtkC5EOL/s3000/DoubleFeatureHampstead2024PowanPolonskiJonathanHyde.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="3000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfUtITxIoR7N0HCFhxIVVQPtlK_JxLnNWxhIW7Om8K-ygQ_I8SC9lhgQS7HwIbxj1-LWND3cDz97siLTnQObkV0Vfr1btkT1dan1wSaZVGhT2h8MdVBA_yVQWEYtcAlNlOjNVMfjF1U_3ylb80ZguOq_Z8MhiVwQkk5AMFhN2zb-BZT3Y8r8TaAtkC5EOL/s320/DoubleFeatureHampstead2024PowanPolonskiJonathanHyde.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>A few years later in Suffolk, Reeves has also got his star round for dinner, but the fish he's attempted to cook is inedible, and the reason Vincent Price (Jonathan Hyde) is there is because the director desperately needs to persuade him not to walk off the movie, ending it and Reeves' career in the process. He's having trouble convincing him though, as he's made no secret that he actually wanted Donald Pleasence, and Price was instead foisted on him by the studio. With all four actors staying on stage for almost all of the play’s running time, we mostly segue between the two stories, although sometimes the dialogue overlaps and highlights similarities and differences between the dynamics.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXMpF4zKE-KhRDcyKxVxPDb8nIh1u2sm97jrYm31EmAFOtd2_vY7mKS9boTIPZt51UyTA131XlSO9pvp00C-25yDLlx12IBB0uoUe05_OsHPt4XZyCkuTLhLGR_Z94A3Na_yld7fvll8LHxRraTZ3_TVaf0sv4k1RFgXNEcLrTV4up1JFqfo2aWz8NE-UI/s3000/DoubleFeatureHampstead2024JonathanHyde.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="3000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXMpF4zKE-KhRDcyKxVxPDb8nIh1u2sm97jrYm31EmAFOtd2_vY7mKS9boTIPZt51UyTA131XlSO9pvp00C-25yDLlx12IBB0uoUe05_OsHPt4XZyCkuTLhLGR_Z94A3Na_yld7fvll8LHxRraTZ3_TVaf0sv4k1RFgXNEcLrTV4up1JFqfo2aWz8NE-UI/s320/DoubleFeatureHampstead2024JonathanHyde.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>And this actor/director dynamic is what the play explores, in situations where the balance of power is reversed: In Hollywood Hitchcock has all the power, both as the established director and as the man. The main thing I know about Hedren is that her experience working for Hitchcock was so bad she quit acting altogether, which makes this the darker strand of the play as, like her, we can tell the moment Hitchcock will make a sexual move is coming, but we don’t know when. Back in England it’s the actor who’s in control, as the 24-year old Reeves, who sees himself as an auteur, needs to show some respect to the man who could derail his prospects. This is a gentler scene as, despite Price wanting to some degree to humiliate the director for his clumsy way of dealing with actors, there is a growing respect between them as it becomes clear Reeves’ objection to Price is the way he’s become a self-parody to cash in – something Price can’t entirely disagree with. (Who knew we'd get so many references to Egghead, the Batmain villain whose superpower was egg-based puns?)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDo_7AawTJywFhjr12MC5SmW9D82iSyGIy3P6N-impYRGAcNp00YkpdBOT8pMZlPE8TB-7rNicVljlHJ5RIeQfnsulGYVf8bDZ1EaFpX8jZlNEelBA9lhKMKffz43gWHodyjzrSIfk6kFud2jA2q8IUysMINBoajzO0AEO8RV665OxFA9vHbX-uG_gj_Jq/s3000/DoubleFeatureHampstead2024JoannaVanderhamIanMcNeice2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="3000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDo_7AawTJywFhjr12MC5SmW9D82iSyGIy3P6N-impYRGAcNp00YkpdBOT8pMZlPE8TB-7rNicVljlHJ5RIeQfnsulGYVf8bDZ1EaFpX8jZlNEelBA9lhKMKffz43gWHodyjzrSIfk6kFud2jA2q8IUysMINBoajzO0AEO8RV665OxFA9vHbX-uG_gj_Jq/s320/DoubleFeatureHampstead2024JoannaVanderhamIanMcNeice2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Where Logan’s play doesn’t really succeed is in convincing that there’s any real overarching theme in common between the two encounters, beyond the general idea of power dynamics. There are certainly moments where events in one section are a reflection of those in the other, and not just when he has the dialogue overlap: Reeves defending the goriness of <i>Witchfinder General</i> as a response to other films’ love of showing violence without showing the consequences, contrasts with Hitchcock justifying the violence and misogyny in <i>Marnie</i> as a transparent way of defending his own letching behaviour towards his leading ladies; an unsavoury but impressive element of McNeice’s performance is the way he never overstates Hitchcock’s predatory nature but manages to have it underpin the action at all times. But for all the interesting elements it would be hard to pin down what they make the play as a whole about.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv238IzUWHUK5efsEY6naMXkDWNIYOtgjRthqGf1GxtHxhrq-LhBO9wWpzxvdpGIFcwS0W2cQEa2dVtjqk7bS4-ksuEeJj_ZJdBfuZ0fD2OUcn5jgbJnq7wZ_RHfaipD4m_dwBnD41xMtPP20nPoa3QShvdmySmQowzhS5JK4cqvSV23_l2LOSku2h0c6X/s3000/DoubleFeatureHampstead2024PowanPolonskiJonathanHyde2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="3000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv238IzUWHUK5efsEY6naMXkDWNIYOtgjRthqGf1GxtHxhrq-LhBO9wWpzxvdpGIFcwS0W2cQEa2dVtjqk7bS4-ksuEeJj_ZJdBfuZ0fD2OUcn5jgbJnq7wZ_RHfaipD4m_dwBnD41xMtPP20nPoa3QShvdmySmQowzhS5JK4cqvSV23_l2LOSku2h0c6X/s320/DoubleFeatureHampstead2024PowanPolonskiJonathanHyde2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>But ultimately Jonathan Kent’s production is an entertaining and successful evening, helped hugely by a cast that keeps you engrossed even if this boils down to two pairs of people talking in dimly-lit rooms for 90 minutes. Those playing the more famous characters don’t really try to do impressions, which is probably for the best – Hitchcock and Price in particular are so well-known and cartoonish anyway, this approach means they can be created as new characters for this fictionalized version of them. The <i>Witchfinder</i> section is probably the most enjoyable and not just because Polonski ends up in his pants at one point. Despite the power difference they feel more evenly matched, you root for them to find common ground and there’s a melancholy atmosphere to the whole thing that’s not overstated: There’s no epilogue about the characters’ later lives but it wasn’t surprising to look Reeves up afterwards and find out the reason I’d never heard of him was that he died (of an accidental overdose) within a year of these events. The creepiness of the <i>Marnie</i> section means I shuddered a bit every time we came back to it, but even here Logan is building up to giving Hedren a defiant ending. Imperfect as a whole, <i>Double Feature</i> still kept me in its storytelling throughout.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/whats-on/2023/double-feature/">Double Feature</a></i> by John Logan is booking until the 16th of March at Hampstead Theatre.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes straight through.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Manuel Harlan.</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-80197882809128387072024-02-21T23:14:00.048+00:002024-02-22T22:51:22.800+00:00Theatre review: An Enemy of the PeopleTrigger Warning: This review contains references to an actor who doesn't really seem to understand what trigger warnings are for.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGJvBBx7jxV-ny4IC-yQ_1nvKiyC_fFQ9qhEvWn9O98lEn_7Dtf3aFJYkKJ2yQ_9cig-Zw5Pxl3S81YaWbP1jcv-ft16IEi246W9xiueHIshnRqF4QXj6zDYJzj_TOy4JV5J9K6LOmuMXNToErQqxhi5N-cuJNr9IPFXGA1r7-W9G9apZ3OWOq1fmEmhZy/s1600/AnEnemyDOY2024.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGJvBBx7jxV-ny4IC-yQ_1nvKiyC_fFQ9qhEvWn9O98lEn_7Dtf3aFJYkKJ2yQ_9cig-Zw5Pxl3S81YaWbP1jcv-ft16IEi246W9xiueHIshnRqF4QXj6zDYJzj_TOy4JV5J9K6LOmuMXNToErQqxhi5N-cuJNr9IPFXGA1r7-W9G9apZ3OWOq1fmEmhZy/s1600/AnEnemyDOY2024.jpg" /></a></div>Paul Hilton has catapulted himself across the river and straight from <a href="https://partially-obstructed-view.blogspot.com/2023/11/theatre-review-ghosts.html">one Ibsen play</a> into another, as the corrupt mayor in Thomas Ostermeier, Florian Borchmeyer and Duncan Macmillan's adaptation of the overtly political <i>An Enemy of the People</i>. Matt Smith is the star turn in Ostermeier's production, playing Thomas Stockmann, the (medical) doctor who works at a spa known for its borderline miraculous water, and which is at the heart of a small town's economy. But an industrial complex that was built a few years earlier has been polluting the waters, and Thomas has just completed a study proving as much. He informs his brother Peter (Hilton,) the town's mayor, but doesn't get the enthusiastic spring into action he's rather naïvely expecting: Closing the springs to make repairs wouldn't make the shareholders too happy.</div><div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>It would also cost millions, and thanks to a carefully-worded contract, while the damage was done for the benefit of the industrialists, any repair costs fall to the taxpayers.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVscU2V97UEQ48MsBaXFmdbo7mJcxb_jhxl0xoy5txHGSXqdcdshLFnnB8Zrc88n63MUzLPGuLO-vtwdInrXLxtGtWnpvc2DOusFP5A2ntzBIdei7LqkdkvQqlyCa3iApnpgHvNhrj0GIRo2q_fE9C3_PIZNy__ylV_2-hC2KH09TCkDjouXroQiuqitSp/s1920/AnEnemyDOY2024PaulHilton.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVscU2V97UEQ48MsBaXFmdbo7mJcxb_jhxl0xoy5txHGSXqdcdshLFnnB8Zrc88n63MUzLPGuLO-vtwdInrXLxtGtWnpvc2DOusFP5A2ntzBIdei7LqkdkvQqlyCa3iApnpgHvNhrj0GIRo2q_fE9C3_PIZNy__ylV_2-hC2KH09TCkDjouXroQiuqitSp/s320/AnEnemyDOY2024PaulHilton.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>So Thomas is left alone to announce the environmental disaster to the town, with the entire local establishment including former friends and allies dismissing his findings, or focusing on the economic disaster that fixing the problem would entail. Ostermeier’s take on the story was first seen in Germany in 2012, and you can see why now might be the time for him – with Macmillan providing the English language version and presumably some of the specific local references – to bring a story that begins with big business catastrophically polluting the water to the UK.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOxP-76r2GECx0djZz5QanOGxOdsgXjLM_TYi5BGcWtuTx9NJiJW4jgbqY3jTGuCUF8Vi3t03EOOH-DqWNa_gR5EZFdwC1F7gop8FtyJ1HKTGFIVYsGquGSGAF4NiqUEXCiX4zCYXUEnmg8cLlSVn8_5Dg_Gb3vIqrF8_aEkQxBM-zYc3xde-2rsaKgCZ8/s1920/AnEnemyDOY2024MattSmithJessicaBrownFindlay.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOxP-76r2GECx0djZz5QanOGxOdsgXjLM_TYi5BGcWtuTx9NJiJW4jgbqY3jTGuCUF8Vi3t03EOOH-DqWNa_gR5EZFdwC1F7gop8FtyJ1HKTGFIVYsGquGSGAF4NiqUEXCiX4zCYXUEnmg8cLlSVn8_5Dg_Gb3vIqrF8_aEkQxBM-zYc3xde-2rsaKgCZ8/s320/AnEnemyDOY2024MattSmithJessicaBrownFindlay.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>But whether it’s different theatrical styles between London and Berlin or the fact that 12 years is a long time for a production to stay fresh, there’s something very awkward about the first act that refuses to come to life. This isn’t the cast’s fault – Smith has a kind of blend of exhaustion and energy to his increasing frustration and rage, and everyone supporting him gets their moment to shine – but the production feels disconnected from itself, and therefore from the audience. It’s like Ostermeier is trying to bring different elements to the story – balancing the drier political elements with humour and music – but they’re all presented individually as if they come from different shows. Zachary Hart as Billing is funny, but his scenes are an abrupt tonal lurch, very much feeling like someone decided it was time for some light relief.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOklWWC2Z38YojuCaQ3K4g6N0dYaDVkznigrO55FNKh1YcvGl3jZKM97lM00Vf4mRmKNeHEXrd_LYlXfhKvk8XMzUriw7cf4LL7jFRL-LpAhh0c4UFb-dmtyzgeR5RFK9Jc1ZHGYoqDOLAXoxj-C6jmMFCTc6WMmUHjHAYhKWCGYo0BbahJCZhJRRHMbgW/s1920/AnEnemyDOY2024cast.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOklWWC2Z38YojuCaQ3K4g6N0dYaDVkznigrO55FNKh1YcvGl3jZKM97lM00Vf4mRmKNeHEXrd_LYlXfhKvk8XMzUriw7cf4LL7jFRL-LpAhh0c4UFb-dmtyzgeR5RFK9Jc1ZHGYoqDOLAXoxj-C6jmMFCTc6WMmUHjHAYhKWCGYo0BbahJCZhJRRHMbgW/s320/AnEnemyDOY2024cast.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The musical interludes are just as abrupt, and while Thomas and his friends rehearsing their covers band is presumably meant to show them starting the show as clinging on to their youthful but vague ideals, there’s something about the group of friends led by a 41-year-old jamming Bowie’s “Changes” that makes it clear the show thinks it’s a bit cleverer, and a whole lot cooler, than it actually is. The first act ending, as the press and politicians prepare to bury the scandal, with the cast actually whitewashing the blackboard walls of Jan Pappelbaum’s set, is just painfully literal. Outside of this, the show’s biggest unintentional gag is everyone seemingly being terrified of Kiil’s (Nigel Lindsay) incredibly docile German Shepherd, a dog so laid-back it would fail an audition to play Crab in <i>The Two Gentlemen of Verona</i> for yawning too much.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOWUvecoDevyuyiXuMVZsTPVCeDdQ9LIqR_n19-DklsCQ0lK_YT0gMSUpLSt6x-AzNSOf0bq0Y8OUdFP3M0fI9imxaqRv5ywmREYCbRaIqQSyFtVm2Kzs4esJsF97RYw75s2M_wXsWg60RLSRtpiWItQfHh8h85kurKCOPrp212lxgFLL50kf-0rSLRDjC/s1920/AnEnemyDOY2024MattSmithNigelLindsey.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOWUvecoDevyuyiXuMVZsTPVCeDdQ9LIqR_n19-DklsCQ0lK_YT0gMSUpLSt6x-AzNSOf0bq0Y8OUdFP3M0fI9imxaqRv5ywmREYCbRaIqQSyFtVm2Kzs4esJsF97RYw75s2M_wXsWg60RLSRtpiWItQfHh8h85kurKCOPrp212lxgFLL50kf-0rSLRDjC/s320/AnEnemyDOY2024MattSmithNigelLindsey.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>The second act comes to the point, and Matt Smith being involved in a non piss-related coup de théâtre at the Duke of York’s, as the house lights go on for Thomas’ big speech, and microphones are given to the <b>actual</b> audience to give their responses (whether this is entirely real or involves plants, audience participation is a major source of anxiety for some people so might have been something you could include in oh, I don’t know, a trigger warning of some kind.) Priyanga Burford particularly comes to the fore here as the local newspaper publisher, her frustrating ability to deflect every question to something unrelated being all-too accurate to real-life politicians.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs-0jI_XiiGYqxu9lypg87R4le0lT3KKHE7zqHICbl50TYFEnYTO9acsB7sxMVYkWD2ek0gJr5ViO44xEauF9cBh29G7n1k9UbmVKhdgr_jlRMxe8Xmroef1Ba7wZq7JKNC4zom99EuQ_41jzhYcBMWKgYvptDi25uVtjE3vjxuTwvkfzvNMAzu1WeAmUp/s1920/AnEnemyDOY2024PriyangaBurford.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs-0jI_XiiGYqxu9lypg87R4le0lT3KKHE7zqHICbl50TYFEnYTO9acsB7sxMVYkWD2ek0gJr5ViO44xEauF9cBh29G7n1k9UbmVKhdgr_jlRMxe8Xmroef1Ba7wZq7JKNC4zom99EuQ_41jzhYcBMWKgYvptDi25uVtjE3vjxuTwvkfzvNMAzu1WeAmUp/s320/AnEnemyDOY2024PriyangaBurford.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>As I say, I got the feeling that the evening being anchored around this central scene, and the angry speech and ensuing Q&A that moves away from a fictional ecological disaster and focuses on the breadth of real-life inequality and injustice, is what has led to some of the other elements being disconnected, as if they were exposition and atmosphere being got out of the way before the real show started. It also may explain the plot strands that get abandoned: Jessica Brown Findlay as Thomas’ wife Katharina has the suggestion of an affair with Shubham Saraf’s Hovstad (possibly after bonding over both having played Ophelia,) but this is forgotten as thoroughly as the Stockmanns’ baby. A bit of a weird evening this one, with plenty of good elements but a bit too pleased with itself to get round to making them all hang together. Good dog though. Good dog.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://anenemyofthepeople.co.uk/">An Enemy of the People</a></i> by Henrik Ibsen in a version by Thomas Ostermeier, Florian Borchmeyer and Duncan Macmillan is booking until the 13th of April at the Duke of York’s Theatre.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 2 hours 25 minutes including interval</div><div><br /></div><div> Photo credit: Manuel Harlan.
</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-25715975057872430422024-02-19T22:50:00.052+00:002024-02-20T21:05:40.587+00:00Theatre review: The Frogs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrK5Ji5DtKU0MQ3-ytKLKD5tJXphzTk-hX2pYjvymuCDPHUgB7hAG60a56Yg7pHY-83dhWlYBV6Js-S0IlzVwf8_Eh5jdtsyEcUizfC4r8_EYNUlEtHbUZzt7r1A1Ab5fnIctaHhfOapmL0lMmdx0rQB-Jw0-HfV04KpfKkB-Ui6DN0aaD2RwMmn2fL8sE/s1600/FrogsKiln2024.jp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrK5Ji5DtKU0MQ3-ytKLKD5tJXphzTk-hX2pYjvymuCDPHUgB7hAG60a56Yg7pHY-83dhWlYBV6Js-S0IlzVwf8_Eh5jdtsyEcUizfC4r8_EYNUlEtHbUZzt7r1A1Ab5fnIctaHhfOapmL0lMmdx0rQB-Jw0-HfV04KpfKkB-Ui6DN0aaD2RwMmn2fL8sE/s1600/FrogsKiln2024.jp" /></a></div>I've seen two previous shows from Spymonkey, the veteran physical comedy troupe who tend to be a lot more hit than miss. Even if I wasn't seeing it on a quiet Monday night their latest show would come across as a little less full-on than the others though, as it comes with an added element of melancholy as the established quartet is now a duo: Petra Massey has left the company and Stephan Kreiss died suddenly in 2021, so there's an added significance to the remaining pair of Toby Park and Aitor Basauri tackling Aristophanes' <i>The Frogs</i>, itself written in reaction to the death of a beloved theatrical figure. That figure is Euripides, the Greek tragedian who'd died a year before Aristophanes premiered this parody of a heroic quest. With him gone Dionysus, Olympian god of drama (Park) thinks theatre is doomed, and decides to get him back.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>He and his human servant Xanthius (Basauri) seek advice from Heracles, who's already journeyed to the Underworld, on how to get there and back with the minimum inconvenience to a pampered deity.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlwlWTXSmMoRiUjz-MO0UFL4Yw1GxLGfPTp5WROlKgzjnzdH9PK_fn7FVzMsRfhinl4WqxX0dpyzSjVPIJsx0n_7FhymqG0WH3cUtr5hTbf2rAOhZFfBDYAs51WN8WzWYGfX77A0vS4NYNn4jCJ-x_ArMGPngWFD0uSrSYhJF8HFYrXyfKsUxW_Gt4YN0K/s1080/FrogsKiln2024AitorBasauriTobyPark.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlwlWTXSmMoRiUjz-MO0UFL4Yw1GxLGfPTp5WROlKgzjnzdH9PK_fn7FVzMsRfhinl4WqxX0dpyzSjVPIJsx0n_7FhymqG0WH3cUtr5hTbf2rAOhZFfBDYAs51WN8WzWYGfX77A0vS4NYNn4jCJ-x_ArMGPngWFD0uSrSYhJF8HFYrXyfKsUxW_Gt4YN0K/s320/FrogsKiln2024AitorBasauriTobyPark.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>The original cast members are joined by Jacoba Williams as the nepo baby niece of the production's backer, taking on the role of Heracles and various creatures of the Underworld providing obstacles to the quest. She fits in very comfortably with the silly, clowning style of the company, but the play is clear that she's there as an enabler of the company's new iteration, rather than becoming its newest member: Part of the theme of Carl Grose's adaptation is that <i>The Frogs</i> is the archetypal appearance of the classic comedy double act.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0d937Ixpf_yVe_B82qVQEpFg4qUQCNdrwci0S-EdofgDHQfaJs5m_5KRB6WW2FsYnKZxTAf2fhy88_7P61jnipA7ZyqDfQOx2QVxGc0-D5ebjZnp7mOHv00GClSfcxkpTwO80zTjOhzwNsFxRa1gNR5nGt1ni0GdypZAKwQ04ERu6OyXPnWfxxUXL0fal/s1024/FrogsKiln2024JacobaWilliams.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="683" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0d937Ixpf_yVe_B82qVQEpFg4qUQCNdrwci0S-EdofgDHQfaJs5m_5KRB6WW2FsYnKZxTAf2fhy88_7P61jnipA7ZyqDfQOx2QVxGc0-D5ebjZnp7mOHv00GClSfcxkpTwO80zTjOhzwNsFxRa1gNR5nGt1ni0GdypZAKwQ04ERu6OyXPnWfxxUXL0fal/s320/FrogsKiln2024JacobaWilliams.png" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div>So you have the combination of the idiot who knows he's an idiot - Xanthius - and the idiot who thinks he's smart - Dionysus. Spymonkey's telling of the story keeps jumping out of it though, as the actors get caught in a parallel theatrical universe between scenes, deconstructing the real-life changes on the company and their own attempts to handle their grief through comedy: Ultimately Basauri and Park discover they're taking on the story of a journey into death because they hope they can find and bring back Kreiss.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDpoHe6bRw1UdBqK6asekzOLYFYvqlvejj8NFmvp2IbexZKQIZ8O3-F4DujDCsuSZHcm6oq9s6I5YgP-mM9q-FkK3G3gysBnc_lRe8TG_bUcGR39ikoRADVHZOPdmxw7qHBztqySGul9KfYVouwcfVevQglAAG8uH7IcXEu37YAVBAcg0oz_SurASteFpF/s1024/FrogsKiln2024TobyParkAitorBasauri.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDpoHe6bRw1UdBqK6asekzOLYFYvqlvejj8NFmvp2IbexZKQIZ8O3-F4DujDCsuSZHcm6oq9s6I5YgP-mM9q-FkK3G3gysBnc_lRe8TG_bUcGR39ikoRADVHZOPdmxw7qHBztqySGul9KfYVouwcfVevQglAAG8uH7IcXEu37YAVBAcg0oz_SurASteFpF/s320/FrogsKiln2024TobyParkAitorBasauri.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The idea is a moving one as well as offering the comic potential that brought the original team together in the first place, but Joyce Henderson's production can't quite pull together the extremes, or the fact that there's too many layers of deconstruction. That's not to say the comic moments aren't great - I particularly liked the idea that the ferryman of the Underworld is called Sharon - and there's parts that are genuinely moving, but there's awkward lulls as we try to get from one to the other. In the end, if this is the transitional stage to "Spymonkey 2.0" it does feel like that: Not quite there but promising that a different kind of dynamic is worth pursuing.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://kilntheatre.com/whats-on/the-frogs/">The Frogs</a></i> by Aristophanes in a version by Carl Grose and Spymonkey is booking until the 2nd of March at the Kiln Theatre.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes including interval.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Manuel Harlan.</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-43202928609970780782024-02-17T20:58:00.090+00:002024-02-18T18:29:52.715+00:00Theatre review: A Midsummer Night's Dream(RSC/RST)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgefW-85bUi6ZtfEl4dDsTvIY1u0q4Lit3awAjts8YYb3Lzn8IZ9lwIwB464kl9eLOM6W3GDXMrclOH6zMwGEtROXtja_tGzky5RXb1kaK5v-yjd1Kf8hextt3PoMRDuADC9k3Sk5RdZQs140R_gARBL_fsUURh6JplQUyiQ8inxUJCHWVogp1C88Xuew77/s1600/AMNDRST2024.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgefW-85bUi6ZtfEl4dDsTvIY1u0q4Lit3awAjts8YYb3Lzn8IZ9lwIwB464kl9eLOM6W3GDXMrclOH6zMwGEtROXtja_tGzky5RXb1kaK5v-yjd1Kf8hextt3PoMRDuADC9k3Sk5RdZQs140R_gARBL_fsUURh6JplQUyiQ8inxUJCHWVogp1C88Xuew77/s1600/AMNDRST2024.jpg" /></a></div>When a theatre decides when to schedule <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> they tend to do so with a fairly literal approach to the title; if it shows up out of season that usually means we're in for one of the "darker and edgier" takes that honestly believes it's the first production ever to notice the line "I wooed thee with my sword" and proceeds to apply it to every scene, <i><a href="https://partially-obstructed-view.blogspot.com/2017/02/theatre-review-midsummer-nights-dream.html">Joe</a></i>. So it's refreshing to see Eleanor Rhode's new RSC production - the last Shakespeare of Erica Whyman's interregnum period - open in a very different way: The lines about winning love with injury are still there, but their context feels a lot less personal. The Duke of Athens and Queen of the Amazons' wedding is definitely an arranged one made as part of a peace treaty, but both of them are pawns in this situation, and Bally Gill's sweetly awkward Theseus is clearly intimidated by Sirine Saba's businesslike Hippolyta.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>So when a man arrives demanding a brutal, archaic law is invoked so that his daughter is either married off to his liking or executed, it doesn't feel like Theseus is too steeped in the patriarchy to bother helping her, more that it would never occur to him he has the power to overrule the law. (Hippolyta wanders off carefully inspecting the legal document, which I like to think influences the way the story eventually pans out.)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCjdD6BqpqfDWro_IWKHRzpEn1xTqlfY7E2lGExXVR2yfSyRXvvfyyfTcRN9Bk8R49Ld1oT1CkI-hmF-PcX28EU9kuVTwNNLJL2kaetgKnTrO-GeGghA0iiHBqsBTCQh66lAF1rj4ovM35-_rsWa5UoorkoYCbMN_pbIRLTCxvGW_aUsE9j37rYEgw5e0Z/s1824/AMNDRST2024BallyGillSirineSaba.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1216" data-original-width="1824" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCjdD6BqpqfDWro_IWKHRzpEn1xTqlfY7E2lGExXVR2yfSyRXvvfyyfTcRN9Bk8R49Ld1oT1CkI-hmF-PcX28EU9kuVTwNNLJL2kaetgKnTrO-GeGghA0iiHBqsBTCQh66lAF1rj4ovM35-_rsWa5UoorkoYCbMN_pbIRLTCxvGW_aUsE9j37rYEgw5e0Z/s320/AMNDRST2024BallyGillSirineSaba.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>This kicks off one of the two major plotlines of humans going into an enchanted wood and getting meddled with by fairies, as Hermia (Dawn Sievewright) and Lysander (Ryan Hutton) run away to elope, pursued by rival suitor Demetrius (Nicholas Armfield) and his obsessed admirer Helena (Boadicea Ricketts.) Over midsummer night the mischievous spirit Puck (understudy Premi Tamang) uses a love potion to try and mend the situation, only ending up causing even more confusion.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgctWy4-5IaTMNW6yWRlmTq9PvK8vJeEV1OPUIlEn1nkpQOX2jmuPDtstaR31zxfIbHG2hOgMic0D3XhaHtIdP41M0vQvAJ6ZSMaSq0NJUY0lkaVwECV-KFlc5RLZWfIkfaEQtPmQewLmsTq8Pmv0WyNPh7StxvnCX2gRQevMxKMZHY8MBYj-Wmzj7Ny7V2/s1823/AMNDRST2024RyanHutton.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1215" data-original-width="1823" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgctWy4-5IaTMNW6yWRlmTq9PvK8vJeEV1OPUIlEn1nkpQOX2jmuPDtstaR31zxfIbHG2hOgMic0D3XhaHtIdP41M0vQvAJ6ZSMaSq0NJUY0lkaVwECV-KFlc5RLZWfIkfaEQtPmQewLmsTq8Pmv0WyNPh7StxvnCX2gRQevMxKMZHY8MBYj-Wmzj7Ny7V2/s320/AMNDRST2024RyanHutton.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Rhode's production leans into the idea of the love potion as a drug - Puck has to be stopped from running off and taking it herself or offering it to the audience, and the projections and Matt Daw's lighting don't skimp on the psychedelic colours. I thought the show might lean more into the idea that the nighttime events are a literal dream or illusion for the characters, but instead it feels more like it's the audience who shouldn't trust their senses. Everything's just a little bit off-kilter, including Lucy Osborne's design, which in Lysander's mullet, Hippolyta's shoulder pads and Oberon's New Romantic look seem to be taking us to the eighties.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizX5Gfzw2Fs0kYajMnBicYlBb0WU7e4ghzMKHrmo-kbBL03bW9SNUtLluAHa02jUGw2_zYAUqbuLxjgxsZgdJDOJgZT3v_EwlSznLPbzsVAlKRl7rw7Eth9uVpbVuUzAvfC95Wzbdu_Sl2VkCgB_j7yUL2z5vY_rLVsNwgreC1hLPkqPodUpAHAJMLS2fW/s1823/AMNDRST2024BoadiceaRickettsNicholasArmfield.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1823" data-original-width="1248" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizX5Gfzw2Fs0kYajMnBicYlBb0WU7e4ghzMKHrmo-kbBL03bW9SNUtLluAHa02jUGw2_zYAUqbuLxjgxsZgdJDOJgZT3v_EwlSznLPbzsVAlKRl7rw7Eth9uVpbVuUzAvfC95Wzbdu_Sl2VkCgB_j7yUL2z5vY_rLVsNwgreC1hLPkqPodUpAHAJMLS2fW/s320/AMNDRST2024BoadiceaRickettsNicholasArmfield.jpg" width="219" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>But the rude mechanicals in the other major plot strand come from the sixties, while Mathew Baynton's Bottom seems to have taken his acting inspiration from the kind of lauded mid-20th century performances that haven't aged too well - including Olivier's Dick (the Third.) Mitesh Soni leans into the idea that Flute is actually the better, more natural actor even while putting on a squeaky voice, in a climactic play-within-a-play that is, as it should be, the comic highlight.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1PlVegeCijBLqdFmIbArvuX44xgJ5RDBkfNsfuuPriMPn1tjGgdwycRB0oQV-vQbJUZZe3pAgtlOCJ7ooh1Iz67PBfcVFuZKiE9BmmIcF75d7c-zeTjWh_LYzervtKKeCNJjJ6Hbg_r7NO2pELnkSqLDsTgJjC0FXIpNLBqSwYY3Z_exiTo9NS_q9DfR/s1823/AMNDRST2024HelenMonksMiteshSoni.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1295" data-original-width="1823" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1PlVegeCijBLqdFmIbArvuX44xgJ5RDBkfNsfuuPriMPn1tjGgdwycRB0oQV-vQbJUZZe3pAgtlOCJ7ooh1Iz67PBfcVFuZKiE9BmmIcF75d7c-zeTjWh_LYzervtKKeCNJjJ6Hbg_r7NO2pELnkSqLDsTgJjC0FXIpNLBqSwYY3Z_exiTo9NS_q9DfR/s320/AMNDRST2024HelenMonksMiteshSoni.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Here we get the most physically awkward of the ways you can play Snout (Emily Cundick) as an actual Wall, a Pyramus death scene that seems to skimp on the gore before going in the complete opposite direction, and Starveling (understudy Tom Xander) playing the Man in the Moon as Sadako because sure, why not. Among the lovers Ricketts is the standout but she does have the best of the four roles; they're not the funniest quartet I've seen but they're funny enough.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKF8LL4APvEh9QyDOqpesr1VAuOz9ilVhnmv0mByvdEqRLk0V_1RGgZ1yqqWKLymZ4R5l_orykZJ1tnQJCEe9094EhuYfR4JDWy17gHBQszMGQZFJo7aqTbZgco8stWoYTmqjq4pwRIx9aZv4Q_Fo6Dv-AbgLc21ENyutUOi7Ay3qVZ_imhLMtooeogTiD/s1823/AMNDRST2024RyanHuttonDawnSievewright.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1823" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKF8LL4APvEh9QyDOqpesr1VAuOz9ilVhnmv0mByvdEqRLk0V_1RGgZ1yqqWKLymZ4R5l_orykZJ1tnQJCEe9094EhuYfR4JDWy17gHBQszMGQZFJo7aqTbZgco8stWoYTmqjq4pwRIx9aZv4Q_Fo6Dv-AbgLc21ENyutUOi7Ay3qVZ_imhLMtooeogTiD/s320/AMNDRST2024RyanHuttonDawnSievewright.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>But for me it's Gill and Saba who are the most interesting in their dual roles, the fairy characters definitely not heightened versions of the humans but their opposites: It's Saba's Titania who's got her head a bit in the clouds even when not under a love spell, and Gill's Oberon who's the more dominant character, not to mention managing to bring the sexy to the Adam Ant look.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilaMRFNZtonLefkFmdGZYNXjJVlaJS4T1Jgm1UP22J1oTNfE8Tck7P9yAhPg8OJMlldKm7S_Ewt4yKTQAK53FOYL2H8jdOrSobQA5fkJktuQk_8efkNC__Xl15QSq1lDh9ToNhyphenhyphenQ8BeHuo5ondAXIk5l22pGTa1uy4c6HFwluBQDNW63A7JSxMZWmhQ4fK/s1823/AMNDRST2024BallyGill.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1289" data-original-width="1823" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilaMRFNZtonLefkFmdGZYNXjJVlaJS4T1Jgm1UP22J1oTNfE8Tck7P9yAhPg8OJMlldKm7S_Ewt4yKTQAK53FOYL2H8jdOrSobQA5fkJktuQk_8efkNC__Xl15QSq1lDh9ToNhyphenhyphenQ8BeHuo5ondAXIk5l22pGTa1uy4c6HFwluBQDNW63A7JSxMZWmhQ4fK/s320/AMNDRST2024BallyGill.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>It's with Oberon that any suggestions of a darker side lie, but even then I liked the way Gill suggests his experience with the humans softens him and teaches him some empathy. And having opened with a pair preparing for a political marriage, I liked that we didn't end with the complete flip to happy newlyweds we usually get. Instead Theseus finds the nerve to actually use his power to do the right thing, Hippolyta gains some respect for him for it, and the two go off not into the sunset or a steamy night of passion, but into figuring out that they might actually make the relationship work.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGiXuxpyl5O01e_keLHfgkfp057bqRaa26Zc2SA2ax0c7k9hCl0CU0tUduSznBf9QeCy2PhfqtmEqiID8auTJDYBf-LdxYePeFdsYUNWDdnex1ZRkFcCIEvvacxSnNLbzBR97PW8zWmNUaASVAUXnz_g3rFSaRuYSO-PjRSWM6TlmrGDytruOIuy-vZ7n-/s1823/AMNDRST2024MathewBayntonSirineSaba.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1823" data-original-width="1461" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGiXuxpyl5O01e_keLHfgkfp057bqRaa26Zc2SA2ax0c7k9hCl0CU0tUduSznBf9QeCy2PhfqtmEqiID8auTJDYBf-LdxYePeFdsYUNWDdnex1ZRkFcCIEvvacxSnNLbzBR97PW8zWmNUaASVAUXnz_g3rFSaRuYSO-PjRSWM6TlmrGDytruOIuy-vZ7n-/s320/AMNDRST2024MathewBayntonSirineSaba.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>A couple of dozen <i>Dream</i>s down the line they won't all stand out but there's enough here to make it distinct, and more importantly than the old jaded Shakespeare veterans like me is the fact that this would be a strong introduction for the higher than usual amount of kids in the audience. They're likely there largely because of Baynton but those near me at least seemed to be laughing their heads off at everyone else's comic scenes as well. It's also a production that takes joy in theatricality from high to low tech - whether that's John Bulleid's illusions, a floating holographic flower, Bottom's ears moving of their own accord or the lovers suddenly disappearing through trap doors, I'm sorry to inform parents that some of them are going to lose their kids to a theatre addiction after this one.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://www.rsc.org.uk/a-midsummer-nights-dream/">A Midsummer Night's Dream</a></i> by William Shakespeare is booking until the 30th of March at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 2 hours 50 minutes including interval.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Pamela Raith.</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-27945517364592636942024-02-15T23:21:00.050+00:002024-02-16T20:43:09.716+00:00Theatre review: Plaza Suite<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJ_B8L3IMvHWuSbPscJ92Vyey0deogKAzBt-M-KXcF9ce_KsFtCLbbopN_yPmyOxBSwvTyzXxuN2_URVZyvwS1Wll67etw8IH3fNjf2geccRcSNu_xuCS8UoN0vVnS02v2wA36D591_ZXTsxc6NI6GF9S60Cl0I_pWkro7NiKtWa4X2-lYg0A3p6whgJa/s1600/PlazaSuiteSavoy2024.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJ_B8L3IMvHWuSbPscJ92Vyey0deogKAzBt-M-KXcF9ce_KsFtCLbbopN_yPmyOxBSwvTyzXxuN2_URVZyvwS1Wll67etw8IH3fNjf2geccRcSNu_xuCS8UoN0vVnS02v2wA36D591_ZXTsxc6NI6GF9S60Cl0I_pWkro7NiKtWa4X2-lYg0A3p6whgJa/s1600/PlazaSuiteSavoy2024.jpg" /></a></div>Back at the theatre after another unscheduled, Covid-related break of a couple of weeks, and it's to one of the year's first London visits from big US names: Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are the real-life couple playing three different pairs in Neil Simon's <i>Plaza Suite</i>. Wonder if they'll explore the country while they're here? Probably best to steer clear of Liverpool, that's Cattrall country. And hopefully he won't be driving. Anyway, John Benjamin Hickey directs Simon's portmanteau of stories taking place at the end of the 1960s in the same suite of New York's Plaza Hotel overlooking Central Park. For the first couple it's a significant location - if Parker's Karen has got the right room, that is: She and her husband Sam are staying there for the night while their house gets redecorated, but she's decided to surprise him for their anniversary by booking the same suite they stayed in on honeymoon.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>Except she's very possibly got the room wrong, as well as the date, and the amount of years they've been married. She's generally known for being terrible with numbers, including getting her own age wrong (he complains that at the very least she could conform to the feminine stereotype and knock a couple of years off her age, instead of adding to it.)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnYjNdpwwgvbs3P0nBflSS-snDk27LXoqE3hnQucUCaymqweaODJfTmP_r9hEHJlyLQlb-wjeyDrgBwsnFHNOkww7aXNvjMcafgLWmbnc-1N_eT4WikEhUGHoX7v3IwQM08z6GYeXb1YcGcJ64Fk28zCEIektH047T3lVqWfauLx-_SQ32ZKkIOBHx83bO/s1200/PlazaSuiteSavoy2024SJP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnYjNdpwwgvbs3P0nBflSS-snDk27LXoqE3hnQucUCaymqweaODJfTmP_r9hEHJlyLQlb-wjeyDrgBwsnFHNOkww7aXNvjMcafgLWmbnc-1N_eT4WikEhUGHoX7v3IwQM08z6GYeXb1YcGcJ64Fk28zCEIektH047T3lVqWfauLx-_SQ32ZKkIOBHx83bO/s320/PlazaSuiteSavoy2024SJP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Sam on the other hand is a successful businessman who's always on top of the numbers, with the help of his colleagues and his secretary Jean (Charlie Oscar.) If his not noticing the romantic gestures his wife makes and spending a lot of nights working late at the office suggests he's the one living a midlife stereotype, Karen's going to find her suspicions are depressingly accurate. This is very much the bittersweet start to the evening, with the one-liners witty but acerbic, and a definite undercurrent of sadness that only comes more to the fore over this first hour.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBvnPhFHwhyK4nR9iTezfXEvPGd-ZizZwK-ra5UlxiRn02HGHKDaBA6NWciVAusn2vKz_O2hmu1jbeUZH6BGZVst0abcIRC0-zAr7qPJOrhSJ-Dx_i38yz-B4MdbArB4AVapUrN1g1IXfugITCqZ69KNKJ0QMf_o8GX5PRv9H990oMdXG6QkIjUrIn0V96/s1200/PlazaSuiteSavoy2024MatthewBroderick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBvnPhFHwhyK4nR9iTezfXEvPGd-ZizZwK-ra5UlxiRn02HGHKDaBA6NWciVAusn2vKz_O2hmu1jbeUZH6BGZVst0abcIRC0-zAr7qPJOrhSJ-Dx_i38yz-B4MdbArB4AVapUrN1g1IXfugITCqZ69KNKJ0QMf_o8GX5PRv9H990oMdXG6QkIjUrIn0V96/s320/PlazaSuiteSavoy2024MatthewBroderick.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>There’s two, slightly shorter pieces after the interval, with the comedy getting increasingly broad – Broderick’s Jesse is a Hollywood producer in town for a meeting, and after three failed marriages he’s arranged a nostalgia-tinged reunion with Parker’s Muriel, his high-school girlfriend who’s travelled specially from New Jersey. She’s now married with three children (a boy and a girl) but he’s not the only one who’s never quite got over the teen romance – she’s followed his career so closely in the showbiz papers she knows it better than he does.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbqdl8mrBeULIl_qTS4MGorU6-DPdw7ThT8FRijblh1_Yck2anJcSqB4nlO0Q3YtHPKVhNNZ2PKw3rl_vribU3kZpFto7-JRvYt0NNjWWYmsXuOnL3tmD8-eIuPPKu8_K3lAkjt4ph-P2lXDGfl0kRZdrS7XYN758rzAsPHuUMMrJrsL34cr1_QmZsy_-I/s1200/PlazaSuiteSavoy2024SJPMatthewBroderick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbqdl8mrBeULIl_qTS4MGorU6-DPdw7ThT8FRijblh1_Yck2anJcSqB4nlO0Q3YtHPKVhNNZ2PKw3rl_vribU3kZpFto7-JRvYt0NNjWWYmsXuOnL3tmD8-eIuPPKu8_K3lAkjt4ph-P2lXDGfl0kRZdrS7XYN758rzAsPHuUMMrJrsL34cr1_QmZsy_-I/s320/PlazaSuiteSavoy2024SJPMatthewBroderick.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Finally Parker is Norma, who enlists her husband Roy to help get their daughter Mimsey (fnar) out of the bathroom where she’s locked herself before her wedding to Border, who’s played by a curly comedy wig with Eric Sirakian attachment. As well as the bickering between the couple this scene goes all-out into physical comedy and slapstick (were the Plaza’s carpets really so slippery, I guess this is before the days of Health & Safety checks) but serving as the end of the evening it also feels the most drawn-out, like an extended sketch that takes too long to get to its fairly obvious punchline. The evening as a whole feels like it’s a little bit too long, but for the most part the comedy still raises smiles if not a lot of belly-laughs, and if some of the gender politics makes you wince, there’s plenty of 1960s plays that have aged much worse.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxOoIPquOxmQ_4DUHty3Ka9OfJpxI0LFLvlUhKKjO9yx80GQirFCMOcQqFWP0zUGDfZ0EFnWFZy6NZHeeLFYZ3JQCgNW92fwN0Qcclr69CFI8L1VKA-IhIACTRKIq2-Xcyc42hxDRp-7H5VvqIG3Lru1oT59HltdmDv9HA_yWS7pW0UGEwBSwu0rfWDsi2/s1200/PlazaSuiteSavoy2024MatthewBroderickSJP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxOoIPquOxmQ_4DUHty3Ka9OfJpxI0LFLvlUhKKjO9yx80GQirFCMOcQqFWP0zUGDfZ0EFnWFZy6NZHeeLFYZ3JQCgNW92fwN0Qcclr69CFI8L1VKA-IhIACTRKIq2-Xcyc42hxDRp-7H5VvqIG3Lru1oT59HltdmDv9HA_yWS7pW0UGEwBSwu0rfWDsi2/s320/PlazaSuiteSavoy2024MatthewBroderickSJP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Parker definitely has the edge over her husband in giving a bit more variety in character and energy between the three scenes; Broderick offers the full vocal range from Depressed Kermit the Frog, via Austin Powers Kermit the Frog, to Drunk Kermit the Frog. Maybe they’re just giving back the performances the audience are there for: On the one hand I’m not snobbish about getting in new audiences, on the other you can sometimes tell when people are only there to see someone from <i>Sex and the City</i> in real life and have no other interest in the play. Quite funny when Parker gets the full, obnoxious Broadway round of applause on her first entrance, then everyone half-heartedly remembers they should probably do it when her husband enters as well; less funny when a woman in my eyeline would literally only deign to look at the stage when SJP was on it, and was straight back on WhatsApp the second she was off. I did like John Lee Beatty’s set design for the titular luxury suite – it’s simultaneously opulent and somehow bleak, which seems apt for the stories being told in it. All things told <i>Plaza Suite</i> has stood up fairly well, but won’t prove hugely memorable for me.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://plazasuiteuk.com/">Plaza Suite</a></i> by Neil Simon is booking until the 13th of April at the Savoy Theatre.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 2 hours 45 minutes including interval.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Marc Brenner.</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-74213294586446577392024-02-01T23:42:00.247+00:002024-02-08T10:44:55.176+00:00Theatre review: Othello (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2xQ_O9T6d3TmiwLGdT0TVaXNf4qLqTTQ5Kqm_5WnFtCbM5V-Gxq0X087y1qXEDDZ-pQS_gdCdWVuUa4Cj6sYJIr7hmej2NV2XPrH2luHKemr1xegletRsni9l92GjDRZBXVO5cAb0ng1gmin57dBOYNNLtGMN7K8G-ej9OoWSk7XsDmsZqr77FK412Ye/s1600/OthelloSwanamaker2024.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2xQ_O9T6d3TmiwLGdT0TVaXNf4qLqTTQ5Kqm_5WnFtCbM5V-Gxq0X087y1qXEDDZ-pQS_gdCdWVuUa4Cj6sYJIr7hmej2NV2XPrH2luHKemr1xegletRsni9l92GjDRZBXVO5cAb0ng1gmin57dBOYNNLtGMN7K8G-ej9OoWSk7XsDmsZqr77FK412Ye/s1600/OthelloSwanamaker2024.jpg" /></a></div>Interesting times to be visiting the Globe, the venue that can do everything except draft a press release that doesn't dig them into a deeper hole. Ola Ince is looking like one of those directors who can reinvent a Shakespeare play to fit a very specific modern-day issue, and actually follow through with the idea. After her 2021 <i><a href="https://partially-obstructed-view.blogspot.com/2021/07/theatre-review-romeo-juliet.html">Romeo & Juliet</a></i> was filtered through the way Tory cuts would have caused every beat of the story, her <i>Othello</i> in the Swanamaker becomes about racism in the Metropolitan Police, and some of the language is modified to match this setting: Othello is no longer referred to as the General but the Guvnor, Desdemona is usually called Desi, one of the story's inciting incidents now involves Othello choosing an Eton old boy as his new Inspector rather than a more experienced cop, and instead of a military action from Venice to Cyprus, the characters from Scotland Yard are going on an undercover cartel bust in Docklands.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>Actually the "undercover" part probably doesn't bear too much scrutiny, especially what with people being allowed to bring their spouses along for the ride, but other than that I was happy with how effectively Ince's concept and Amelia Jane Hankin's designs transposed the characters into a world where they're sneaking through underground tunnels and setting up stakeouts.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_6rGPRxuDaKY7TH6GWyvUnASS4iLQK1RnygiiK4EmBt2_fNM5CyIBfxuaUXSb4bliLRq_gVfS7rEUxG1nagwmRK_YMZeICrtUSn_QaJp0MzkqTZVJt2s7PLhKQMSzqNMzyvTgIWChsWJ0MyCSWIXY3piXG0nkE71PJpYiokEPil7HGcwTJx4mPoa8ELUV/s1400/OthelloSwanamaker2024KenNwosuPoppyGilbert.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="1400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_6rGPRxuDaKY7TH6GWyvUnASS4iLQK1RnygiiK4EmBt2_fNM5CyIBfxuaUXSb4bliLRq_gVfS7rEUxG1nagwmRK_YMZeICrtUSn_QaJp0MzkqTZVJt2s7PLhKQMSzqNMzyvTgIWChsWJ0MyCSWIXY3piXG0nkE71PJpYiokEPil7HGcwTJx4mPoa8ELUV/s320/OthelloSwanamaker2024KenNwosuPoppyGilbert.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Amid completely unfounded rumours of kidnap and coercion, DCI Othello (Ken Nwosu) has just married Desdemona (Poppy Gilbert,) and appointed Michael Cassio (Oli Higginson*) as his second in command. But as the mission begins, things start to go wrong: Cassio gets drunk when he should be on surveillance duty, and clues start to suggest that the young Inspector is having an affair with Desdemona. Othello confides in and takes advice from the trusted Iago (Ralph Davis,) unaware that for murky reasons of his own, Iago is actually masterminding everything behind the scenes.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZQOv06d4nF7RjqJkL38HPrzwTJpE18AggDFRkhLem4jM9ZC3uh1HPtzc5pYfdGE2mV-d5imCVEuQq_5e3yiJij-1qI7G_YA_s1Ae14G07qRCu2TztCx5XSSLaVhILzFQGdG2Vdh3NXp19SWEMMFLl8_V5nXeleArYg83yrYxrhausTkR-mEfAMqtYNp-X/s1400/OthelloSwanamaker2024RalphDavis.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="1400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZQOv06d4nF7RjqJkL38HPrzwTJpE18AggDFRkhLem4jM9ZC3uh1HPtzc5pYfdGE2mV-d5imCVEuQq_5e3yiJij-1qI7G_YA_s1Ae14G07qRCu2TztCx5XSSLaVhILzFQGdG2Vdh3NXp19SWEMMFLl8_V5nXeleArYg83yrYxrhausTkR-mEfAMqtYNp-X/s320/OthelloSwanamaker2024RalphDavis.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Ince's other major twist on the play is to have Ira Mandela Siobhan play a version of Othello's subconscious who appears in a number of his scenes. Mostly he expresses what's going on under the surface through movement and dance, although the soliloquies turn into dialogues where the two versions of Othello talk to each other and hash out his thoughts. It's a striking and interesting conceit although I did find it contradictory about exactly what it represented: The first time he appears it feels very clear, as Nwosu can put on a blandly impassive front when presented with unfounded accusations about his marriage, while Mandela Siobhan can show all the pain he's feeling and supressing.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoBRMFbvMICyzXjOYgyn3iqcCOD1tAQ5KHs4BD0UU992Oi_CbgsV-WiVqPrS99Fw82aRVTMvLvFrwnrbC678rPs_lZ78J-JQ1Nl8dEytpqg68ZYv-JU6aabym6hTTVdo4M-QvEKngPQbtjtxPCHJoS1jLWd6Pu6EulAzDIFtJa3yCYorhxNvKcmL2S7sH0/s1400/OthelloSwanamaker2024KenNwosuIraMandelaSiobhan.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="1400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoBRMFbvMICyzXjOYgyn3iqcCOD1tAQ5KHs4BD0UU992Oi_CbgsV-WiVqPrS99Fw82aRVTMvLvFrwnrbC678rPs_lZ78J-JQ1Nl8dEytpqg68ZYv-JU6aabym6hTTVdo4M-QvEKngPQbtjtxPCHJoS1jLWd6Pu6EulAzDIFtJa3yCYorhxNvKcmL2S7sH0/s320/OthelloSwanamaker2024KenNwosuIraMandelaSiobhan.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>But later there are times when Subconscious Othello appears to represent all the worst impulses that Iago is successfully stirring up, and others where he's trying and failing to calm them. In the end I got my head round it by seeing Subconscious Othello as similar to a <i>His Dark Materials</i> dæmon, and not even a particularly healthy human/dæmon relationship, more like a Mrs Coulter/Golden Monkey relationship where Othello only pays heed to his dæmon's negative influences, ignoring his positive ones, repelling his attempts to offer comfort and eventually rejecting him altogether.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrz-m9GBI1LfRcyzVbXkYqL7EuXicLiBUSsEJpWvW6ixVV3HJ9qFZ0UyXJKNeb-bwed-Yq_JGpe-LY85lYlKztkz4WWT44QfC3Sqg79s_kGLwHao-aw_b6Ph4NEL4qB1VD4t88ozyTAhytLqMI-Zjm4GfiB9UNKfFX0_niHy-zRezttuUBEwZ91YqjJQHg/s1400/OthelloSwanamaker2024PoppyGilbertKenNwosuIraMandelaSiobhan.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="1400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrz-m9GBI1LfRcyzVbXkYqL7EuXicLiBUSsEJpWvW6ixVV3HJ9qFZ0UyXJKNeb-bwed-Yq_JGpe-LY85lYlKztkz4WWT44QfC3Sqg79s_kGLwHao-aw_b6Ph4NEL4qB1VD4t88ozyTAhytLqMI-Zjm4GfiB9UNKfFX0_niHy-zRezttuUBEwZ91YqjJQHg/s320/OthelloSwanamaker2024PoppyGilbertKenNwosuIraMandelaSiobhan.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>You'd imagine Nwosu not being best pleased at getting one of the great Shakespearean roles and having to share it, but whether it's despite or because of the added gimmick, he really puts a personal stamp on the part, making it one of the most nuanced developments of the role I've seen.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04hKbR5a7d8A3deyx9CgijHTdcK9SDL9vYLlF9Yy4eliyZaGy1SZ43H9bn42FSuts7XWYGxvsCTIm0yvq6ps-MKTJE593MeWd7EutW41ioErNpVZtj91RNKEQve5s1WCoo6ZemFjfslURRg0C83Vd9PLMX_NfCYR-galGgwfKI_0s2OzWo5C7JwurW0Q7/s1400/OthelloSwanamaker2024OliHigginson.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="875" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04hKbR5a7d8A3deyx9CgijHTdcK9SDL9vYLlF9Yy4eliyZaGy1SZ43H9bn42FSuts7XWYGxvsCTIm0yvq6ps-MKTJE593MeWd7EutW41ioErNpVZtj91RNKEQve5s1WCoo6ZemFjfslURRg0C83Vd9PLMX_NfCYR-galGgwfKI_0s2OzWo5C7JwurW0Q7/s320/OthelloSwanamaker2024OliHigginson.png" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>But there's a lot of good character work going on elsewhere as well, including the usually thankless roles of the female victims: Charlotte Bate has the advantage that Emilia is part of the squad and a no-nonsense cop - she's as fooled by her husband as anyone else is, rather than being cowed by him. But Gilbert also manages to get some fire into Desdemona, making her a worthy partner to Othello, and her fate a tragedy in itself, rather than just the culmination of her husband's.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsR-trrjs1o0aXVTn6Xi_2duy8oOpMKwHDWbK4kJZUEIHZ1ORER6rJgASA1r_RCCujfL0etYVn49Gt1Ztya5t0zK3O7TBgKC4KASVgGBQ0BrXvS6JGi_E75sR3ULAu7alMw97mewd07jj7iYx_TK8iB8bXCEIiYvmxaMXUP5IpuA4n3YP0etSXsw5GfN7E/s1400/OthelloSwanamaker2024PoppyGilbertCharlotteBate.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="1400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsR-trrjs1o0aXVTn6Xi_2duy8oOpMKwHDWbK4kJZUEIHZ1ORER6rJgASA1r_RCCujfL0etYVn49Gt1Ztya5t0zK3O7TBgKC4KASVgGBQ0BrXvS6JGi_E75sR3ULAu7alMw97mewd07jj7iYx_TK8iB8bXCEIiYvmxaMXUP5IpuA4n3YP0etSXsw5GfN7E/s320/OthelloSwanamaker2024PoppyGilbertCharlotteBate.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>With Othello's inner world feeling clearer here, it's Iago who becomes the most shadowy character. The character's motives are contradictory at the best of times, and productions often place emphasis on either the rumours of Emilia's infidelity with Othello (which Iago seems to be the only person to have ever heard or spread) or being passed over for promotion. Here the motives remain vague in a way that feels deliberate and in keeping with the theme: If Iago's dislike of Othello comes not just from racism, but from a racism embedded in the system he's always worked in so he's barely even considered that it's part of him, it makes sense that he would be throwing around more valid motives to convince himself as much as the audience that there's some logic to his actions.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5q1CTrEe0V2nJGL9TpUe5u1wpGLolWbkgKdsBCljlDtkmbeZFCg_iIKgOLYlTYK2azXxGNz_3rYdRgUhV-Z2Env1C8VZXZHx1JH4hwIp8V6qY8XtsRW3NjNoxa-bJF8cK2dqZz2yR6nOyBIqsAGgYFxlNXmSa_e_9JZ1fGvofelQEolITChtwpkxQrph3/s1400/OthelloSwanamaker2024SamSwannRalphDavis.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="1400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5q1CTrEe0V2nJGL9TpUe5u1wpGLolWbkgKdsBCljlDtkmbeZFCg_iIKgOLYlTYK2azXxGNz_3rYdRgUhV-Z2Env1C8VZXZHx1JH4hwIp8V6qY8XtsRW3NjNoxa-bJF8cK2dqZz2yR6nOyBIqsAGgYFxlNXmSa_e_9JZ1fGvofelQEolITChtwpkxQrph3/s320/OthelloSwanamaker2024SamSwannRalphDavis.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div>Davis is an Iago whose strategy is to go under the radar - the kind of colleague people would say they liked if you asked them, but who they don't actually think about often enough to notice anything he's actually doing. It means the audience can underestimate him as well: Sam Swann's Roderigo is played pretty unambiguously as a comic foil, the running joke being him turning up in a series of disguises - in CSI overalls, as a Deliveroo rider - so the casual way Iago dispenses with him is a cause for gasps.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZEZU6WgjDKHsAW4o2Z0WXOej_CsEbAMHHypC5BzoFw0TusRfL7HHrCk3PicyaKKp0h5C7NUq4Nw7fbI30GAfzUowq6DFnw2KftdhgUVxuG74iMjxLeSczIQ-UPbm1hrpspiaSJ2yJ9k4zvd6vi4zqUoBlVcUUrzGcqkb6rT7uDU0bA3BZYYmGIDhwcWw/s1400/OthelloSwanamaker2024RalphDavisKenNwosu.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="1400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZEZU6WgjDKHsAW4o2Z0WXOej_CsEbAMHHypC5BzoFw0TusRfL7HHrCk3PicyaKKp0h5C7NUq4Nw7fbI30GAfzUowq6DFnw2KftdhgUVxuG74iMjxLeSczIQ-UPbm1hrpspiaSJ2yJ9k4zvd6vi4zqUoBlVcUUrzGcqkb6rT7uDU0bA3BZYYmGIDhwcWw/s320/OthelloSwanamaker2024RalphDavisKenNwosu.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Other than it being a bit shorter there's not much more I could ask for from a production of a play whose oppressive nature can make it hard going. Not that it's a barrel of laughs here but there's a real sense of energy, not to mention of really understanding the conceit and the characters. There's also a good mix of candlelight and external light from Anna Watson's design, and sound plays a large part: Renell Shaw's music is eclectic and cinematic but I particularly liked how its jazzy edge during the action scenes referenced cop show sountracks, and the repetition of the more racist language in the script coming through walkie talkies - like something Othello wasn't meant to hear but did - feels an important part of our understanding of his mental state. Earning its high concept, this has to be one of the strongest productions of the play I've seen.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/othello-2023/">Othello</a></i> by William Shakespeare is booking in repertory until the 13th of April at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 3 hours 5 minutes including interval.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: John Persson.</div><div><br /></div><div>*taking another role previously played by Jonathan Bailey, increasingly making him the Al Weaver to Bailey's Ben Whishaw. Now if he just plays John in <i>Cock</i>, he can be the Al Weaver to both of them.</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-58194334692362526842024-01-30T22:42:00.081+00:002024-02-03T20:12:53.314+00:00Theatre review: Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT5EJWirln36KkWHRQVhutnb_Yc4s-sNemxGcMe3TQfuzVVKYjS7M8-XcK3EDLovN04NuW5qAgW89-In_AzND3Q6NEqmzrm8fj-s3T7AJbIfa6As6DJhMZEWPYssjpfmk2vI94xz37k0rpPzhhFFySd9d1xnA-PaniwznWtmjrrWnFK-yGn-VntRJYrcgc/s1600/CruelIntentionsTOP2024.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT5EJWirln36KkWHRQVhutnb_Yc4s-sNemxGcMe3TQfuzVVKYjS7M8-XcK3EDLovN04NuW5qAgW89-In_AzND3Q6NEqmzrm8fj-s3T7AJbIfa6As6DJhMZEWPYssjpfmk2vI94xz37k0rpPzhhFFySd9d1xnA-PaniwznWtmjrrWnFK-yGn-VntRJYrcgc/s1600/CruelIntentionsTOP2024.jpg" /></a></div>My third show in a row to make liberal use of bisexual lighting, Roger Kumble, Lindsey Rosin and Jordan Ross' <i>Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical</i> is based on Kumble's 1999 film, which is based on Stephen Frears' 1988 film <i>Dangerous Liaisons</i>, which is based on Christopher Hampton's 1985 play <i>Les Liaisons Dangereuses</i>, which is based on Pierre Choderlos de Laclos' 1782 novel. But yeah, as the subtitle says, we're very much sticking with the 90s teens here, and the version that famously starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon, and Ryan Phillippe's arse. Set in a New York private high school for the rich, bored and terminally horny, Sebastian Valmont (Daniel Bravo, whose parents Johnny and Juliet must be very proud,) is the resident fuckboi whose bad reputation precedes him. His step-sister Kathryn Merteuil (Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky) is the class president and golden girl.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>In fact she's at least as bad as Sebastian, but much better at hiding it. She pulls the strings behind the scenes, learning and exposing everyone's secrets, and slut-shaming her classmates for occasionally doing the sort of things she does twice before breakfast.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhWry-El1l8jAsVfA53xqoUiDcRxGbor3D3Yl6dQVG07FqJj-ZIN-xTUh5eNoY3nUN2wCZjl7WZDaZiq9UXkLcbWQchxGpNiDPt3iQbG3CSv0zqfdQ9GEKWw_j0JjLevUFnvgQEKfjDR68_4J-fssKh0mlGBdhO9K9pmIu6tnIEiWG00ydNqnxLQwkf-Y_/s1692/CruelIntentionsTOP2024cast.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="1692" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhWry-El1l8jAsVfA53xqoUiDcRxGbor3D3Yl6dQVG07FqJj-ZIN-xTUh5eNoY3nUN2wCZjl7WZDaZiq9UXkLcbWQchxGpNiDPt3iQbG3CSv0zqfdQ9GEKWw_j0JjLevUFnvgQEKfjDR68_4J-fssKh0mlGBdhO9K9pmIu6tnIEiWG00ydNqnxLQwkf-Y_/s320/CruelIntentionsTOP2024cast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>She exploits the sexual tension with her step-sibling to make a bet: If he fails to seduce the virginal daughter of the new headmaster, he has to give her his car, and if he succeeds she has to give him something instead. Anal, it's anal, there is nothing ambiguous about this. Spoiler alert, Sebastian is instead changed forever when he actually falls in wuv with Annette <strike>Curtain</strike> Hargrove (Abbie Budden) for reasons that are a lot less obvious than the anal stuff - Kumble didn't give Annette anything resembling a personality in the original screenplay, and he's not going to change that winning formula now.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxeKGwaot7RBQXAVG0aXhuYYKQ93GgLIqwavEjk8KqzMbogKcHJAItO5w0D8d8VN-SQZitLdaavg37L8ieEBhCrbt4bdOfgzl5yGI_6rtlvJ5VwI3Zx8vy6UIfrrdz8cuj5uywk98F0HKFu1waR0Sf2gjefiyEWM8ybMd6jYgsz7Zwy2kaLz5hU8pqZPG7/s1554/CruelIntentionsTOP2024DanielBravoAbbieBudden.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="1554" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxeKGwaot7RBQXAVG0aXhuYYKQ93GgLIqwavEjk8KqzMbogKcHJAItO5w0D8d8VN-SQZitLdaavg37L8ieEBhCrbt4bdOfgzl5yGI_6rtlvJ5VwI3Zx8vy6UIfrrdz8cuj5uywk98F0HKFu1waR0Sf2gjefiyEWM8ybMd6jYgsz7Zwy2kaLz5hU8pqZPG7/s320/CruelIntentionsTOP2024DanielBravoAbbieBudden.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>If the original film was sold as a guilty pleasure, this is the same but with added nostalgia thrown in; recreating the film would be enough to do that in fairness (I wouldn’t say I could remember every detail of the film off the top of my head, but Polly Sullivan’s costumes in particular seem to have gone all out in trying to recreate the characters’ looks) before you get to the ‘90s pop hits. These range from the occasional number that’s quite cannily and thematically worked into the action, to those that are hurled at the stage with reckless abandon. The creatives asked themselves some serious questions during the construction of this show, and 99% of those questions were “can we afford the rights to this one?”</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9x3JnM9LZ1kAJLimQ9qkDuQ82eynRBoFY1qQZDbYkIeU_RFbl_Mjuc7O0UTxYPHuqPjDLXm9mDEcmVjTxwopF1YYPkHjwkUJ7dLOiGBHo-9Nq3h99Dr0bnS1ID3JyOM41qWaHBBMzwrURzKiDB57CNSrxybezmCTODhriQ3N-aIS4m2Hr9cGv2qCVmazl/s1447/CruelIntentionsTOP2024NickcoliaKingNDaRoseGalbraith.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1447" data-original-width="1100" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9x3JnM9LZ1kAJLimQ9qkDuQ82eynRBoFY1qQZDbYkIeU_RFbl_Mjuc7O0UTxYPHuqPjDLXm9mDEcmVjTxwopF1YYPkHjwkUJ7dLOiGBHo-9Nq3h99Dr0bnS1ID3JyOM41qWaHBBMzwrURzKiDB57CNSrxybezmCTODhriQ3N-aIS4m2Hr9cGv2qCVmazl/s320/CruelIntentionsTOP2024NickcoliaKingNDaRoseGalbraith.jpg" width="243" /></a></div><br /><div>The best moments come when the song placement hits the absolute sweet spot for jukebox musicals, of crowbarring a tune in with tongue firmly in cheek, the highlight being when McCaulsky and Rose Galbraith as Cecile are about to recreate one of the film’s most famous scenes, SMG teaching Selma Blair how to kiss, to the strains of Sixpence None The Richer’s “Kiss Me.” The fact that the majority of the audience know both what scene’s coming up, and what song the opening notes announce, is a big part of the comic success.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB13YbMxIx2WQQmX7IcBBxNg043wo8fbsU34FOFqLGcWey4foCY4i3I3O_3LV9J0xh0C-id6G3y35kvPFJdPc_YhBy54_EefZvOKlsVM2NciqRKio87cWRVt9z4m-wRkU2mX5Zv0GuV5Yr_9zaZ9xJ5Q69viWm3trvumCYg4_acW_V5QfxrYzqSbhfcQxT/s1650/CruelIntentionsTOP2024DanielBravo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="1650" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB13YbMxIx2WQQmX7IcBBxNg043wo8fbsU34FOFqLGcWey4foCY4i3I3O_3LV9J0xh0C-id6G3y35kvPFJdPc_YhBy54_EefZvOKlsVM2NciqRKio87cWRVt9z4m-wRkU2mX5Zv0GuV5Yr_9zaZ9xJ5Q69viWm3trvumCYg4_acW_V5QfxrYzqSbhfcQxT/s320/CruelIntentionsTOP2024DanielBravo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>The show comes with a number of trigger warnings that come about from the difference in attitudes between 1999 and 2024 – a bit of racism, although this is mostly contextualized as highlighting the characters’ attitudes, and a fair few more homophobic insults than I remembered. It also feels notable now that Kathryn attacking Cecile’s relationship with Ronald (Nickcolia King-N’Da) instead of the man who actually wronged her isn’t really interrogated for its misogyny. To what extent this is all just reflecting the time, and to what extent it’s Kumble making as few changes to the original script as humanly possible is up for debate; it’s one of the reasons I’m not sure how much the show’s adapters themselves are dialing up the self-parody, and how much of it is Jonathan O’Boyle’s production leaning into the camp. Either way, after a slightly shaky first half-hour the show embraces the idea of its own inherent ridiculousness and is all the better for it – both the cast and the audience seemed to relax more at this point.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_4HMJHfbokFvOPV8yoQ8XGK5hngG_v3OZ5yjh_H8DxgFbE9o28IjpTRLRk9HKyI2MQVFa7DlXdd_usNhCLYenw7NFzwWWShUXMTdjQ7_gi7dbMGrg1PIJUtqSny6CSN37gHNXASn4MFRbNwxh2455WtOxgJeD-p3Jo1HJuQBvAgMDOKomxvZHOn4BVI-g/s1024/CruelIntentionsTOP2024RhianneLouiseMcCaulskyNickcoliaKingNDaDanielBravo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="1024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_4HMJHfbokFvOPV8yoQ8XGK5hngG_v3OZ5yjh_H8DxgFbE9o28IjpTRLRk9HKyI2MQVFa7DlXdd_usNhCLYenw7NFzwWWShUXMTdjQ7_gi7dbMGrg1PIJUtqSny6CSN37gHNXASn4MFRbNwxh2455WtOxgJeD-p3Jo1HJuQBvAgMDOKomxvZHOn4BVI-g/s320/CruelIntentionsTOP2024RhianneLouiseMcCaulskyNickcoliaKingNDaDanielBravo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The two leads make for a gleefully sinister pair, and McCaulsky delivers the bigger numbers with a powerful voice, but the cast is generally strong. I’d forgotten that Joshua Jackson was in the film, but remembered as soon as the appropriately-named Josh Barnett turned up with the same terrible blond dye job (it’s ‘90s for Gay.) He’s a lot of fun as the louche accomplice Blaine, who traps closeted jock Greg (Barney Wilkinson) so Sebastian can blackmail him, through the time-honoured medium of them both suddenly breaking into the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe” (apparently a very late addition to this UK version of the show.) The whole ensemble also throw themselves into Gary Lloyd’s choreography, whose ‘90s boyband stylings feel as authentic as the rest of the nostalgia touches.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiewOCEIUaoHf7fISgdwUIM7VLfZ3m-QAl46IxBoGWmds_wCOzyBPIwjxVAeiOoczZc4IqNOb7jO-tZkCTHXEBcfQi8i8pVDiz4raoxIS9O1JPN0OBhztWZD-c5st8hddSV-8c1hD3DvnL4JQTQmXuj_e7Dk1fMnkmU7a5HfL7RJ-IJsoS2R_R2aFaQtmLY/s1685/CruelIntentionsTOP2024BarneyWilkinsonJoshBarnett.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="1685" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiewOCEIUaoHf7fISgdwUIM7VLfZ3m-QAl46IxBoGWmds_wCOzyBPIwjxVAeiOoczZc4IqNOb7jO-tZkCTHXEBcfQi8i8pVDiz4raoxIS9O1JPN0OBhztWZD-c5st8hddSV-8c1hD3DvnL4JQTQmXuj_e7Dk1fMnkmU7a5HfL7RJ-IJsoS2R_R2aFaQtmLY/s320/CruelIntentionsTOP2024BarneyWilkinsonJoshBarnett.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Squeezing songs into a fairly short running time only emphasizes the way the story is overloaded with plots, and Kathryn and Sebastian’s victims never get anything like the characterisation the villains do. I’m not convinced the show as written quite captures the archness that would make none of the flaws matter, but fortunately O’Boyle’s production tips the scales in the right direction.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://theotherpalace.co.uk/cruel-intentions-the-90s-musical/">Cruel Intentions: The ‘90s Musical</a></i> by Roger Kumble, Lindsey Rosin, Jordan Ross, Charles Drummond, Steve Hewitt, Brian Molko, Stefan Olsdal, Melissa Etheridge, David Frank, Steve Kipner, Pamela Sheyne, Gwen Stefani, Tom Dumont, Andreas Carlsson, Max Martin, Matt Slocum, Peter Svensson, Nina Persson, John Wozniak, Kristian Lundin, Jake Schulze, Todd Pipes, Kevin Briggs, Kandi Burruss, Tameka Cottle, Lisa Lopes, Sir Bufton Tufton, Jean-Paul Sartre, Zippy, Bungle, Jeffrey Archer, Shirley Manson, Duke Erikson, Steve Marker, Butch Vig, Jonas Berggren, Paula Cole, Babyface, Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell, Victoria Beckham, Matt Rowe, Richard Stannard, Scott Cutler, Anne Preven, Phil Thornalley, Jörgen Elofsson, Your Mum, David Bryson, Adam Duritz, Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, Matt Malley, Ben Mize, Dan Vickrey, Eric Stefani, Tony Kanal, John Rzeznik, Jewel Kilcher, Meredith Brooks, Shelly Peiken, Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Richard Ashcroft is booking until the 14th of April at The Other Palace.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes including interval.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Pamela Raith.</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-14630502968957405052024-01-29T23:03:00.054+00:002024-01-30T23:01:31.460+00:00Theatre review: Cowbois<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCpLi-Gi2Ws0BB4P36Y51gogbp1S9JP4gSFJ2WgAGD2m5V5dPlivqf1wfVcXnSPYGBCiUs3HrG4W-BFTRZJQIRGTY3nijXxgRF2dN5AJn0yYSaWMhs0STQhAlK0hyphenhyphen7P4uLCn810LUB7RdkuUl69rLW_dfKR_TRrE2iKG_cu2-SwAPzKHHglmPFL_wC8nj/s1600/CowboisRC2024.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCpLi-Gi2Ws0BB4P36Y51gogbp1S9JP4gSFJ2WgAGD2m5V5dPlivqf1wfVcXnSPYGBCiUs3HrG4W-BFTRZJQIRGTY3nijXxgRF2dN5AJn0yYSaWMhs0STQhAlK0hyphenhyphen7P4uLCn810LUB7RdkuUl69rLW_dfKR_TRrE2iKG_cu2-SwAPzKHHglmPFL_wC8nj/s1600/CowboisRC2024.jpg" /></a></div>Considering that attempting a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon amid rolling rail strikes is a bit of a coin-toss, I decided not to book for the RSC's <i>Cowbois</i> last year, fairly confident that we'd get a chance to see it transfer to London. Given the creative team I would have guessed the Globe, but instead the Royal Court gets Charlie Josephine's queer fantasy Western. Co-directed by Josephine and Sean Holmes, whose signature style of letting the actors use their own accents even in plays where you'd expect a very specific one means the Wild West is populated with voices from every corner of the UK and Ireland, the action takes place in a little town built on principles of acceptance and equality. Whether that's how it actually plays out when the men are around is a different story, but right now they're not: Most of the men left over a year ago to go prospecting for gold, and with no word from them and news of a cave-in, they're presumed dead.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>In her husband's absence Miss Lillian (Sophie Melville) runs the town's saloon, where the women of the town (plus the only adult male, Paul Hunter's Sheriff Roger Jones) gather and fret over whether they'll get any supplies or a new pastor.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEPb9-uzdTZ42AQpUyc65NOW2FIcAK_Pk0NeHbIdfT3qgAgLW8B5l3bhn17JyMSB-CgckPbP0divfbZpRz5ArRDK0aYQfECdGC5DIJo-3aramDFq-7vnQu4JU9JzRKxSGPIx2hyQGjXcvqM0uL7h9ow3-kjOE_O1I6S2S9zSY5zZjgnd-gbNfgpOEDCYl3/s1823/CowboisRC2024BridgetteAmofah_AliWright.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1215" data-original-width="1823" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEPb9-uzdTZ42AQpUyc65NOW2FIcAK_Pk0NeHbIdfT3qgAgLW8B5l3bhn17JyMSB-CgckPbP0divfbZpRz5ArRDK0aYQfECdGC5DIJo-3aramDFq-7vnQu4JU9JzRKxSGPIx2hyQGjXcvqM0uL7h9ow3-kjOE_O1I6S2S9zSY5zZjgnd-gbNfgpOEDCYl3/s320/CowboisRC2024BridgetteAmofah_AliWright.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Into this secluded world comes the notorious bandit Jack Cannon (Vinnie Heaven,) who’s on a mission of revenge but needs to rest up for a while where the law can’t find him. The women are all quite taken by the outlaw, but it’s Lillian who ends up in an affair with someone who isn’t quite like the other men: Although they don’t have the terms for it, it’s fairly common knowledge that Jack wasn’t born a man, and if anything that’s added much to his fearsome reputation and mystique. While Jack’s in town the residents start to discover themselves, from one of the women starting to think she might actually be a they, to the alcoholic Sheriff managing to kick the booze. Also a couple of nights with Jack seems to have left Lillian several months pregnant, and nobody knows what that’s all about for any number of obvious reasons.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAtuSo7ERf1gkuOTjbf2faHm77BZfHvYY4LXTdv65yTlT6uOMLDiYGyZR0dg5CUskriM1-UE9QG0Y6OjH6408IZ95f4RjleffumGcSc6jqwL5V-48BndLb11fpBx9oNzemU1i4sUnhn77U3X6Oa3EHOpvRA5v4Fa_CuY8gxk_ErMlEM6W5Z1mmqxibjd3Y/s1823/CowboisRC2024SophieMelvilleVinnieHeaven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1215" data-original-width="1823" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAtuSo7ERf1gkuOTjbf2faHm77BZfHvYY4LXTdv65yTlT6uOMLDiYGyZR0dg5CUskriM1-UE9QG0Y6OjH6408IZ95f4RjleffumGcSc6jqwL5V-48BndLb11fpBx9oNzemU1i4sUnhn77U3X6Oa3EHOpvRA5v4Fa_CuY8gxk_ErMlEM6W5Z1mmqxibjd3Y/s320/CowboisRC2024SophieMelvilleVinnieHeaven.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Josephine gives their cast time to really establish themselves before Jack arrives, making for a show that quickly sets its stall with broad comedy: Widow Mary (Bridgette Amofah) is dedicated to her son The Kid (Lemuel Ariel Adou, Alexander Joseph or Philip Kamau) while Lucy (Lee Braithwaite) starts to wonder if “tomboy” is really quite the way they see themselves. But the early scenes are stolen by the repressed duo of Emma Pallant’s fiercely religious Sally Ann and Lucy McCormick’s bored schoolmistress Jayne, fanning themselves all over at the very suggestion of anything scandalous. Over the course of the story Sally Ann fights hard to stay under control, while Jayne takes great pleasure in letting go of it.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5gkH8N71FeBjfPOMbHN0t6cCLkEVHHYOcKXikBSAKndV7Mu5niBKGjrW-l4b3MJlI5wY520TYT86ivd75NdRcSTkDhzxfzt6Jcob2tA0AjHNnRs5arPXg_NUd66cEIWbzIrGD-PY4bp8vnITq3sEEi7P5SS2A_Zchw-X1lISNjeRUHWuOFEP5TlgwSux/s1823/CowboisRC2024VinnieHeaven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1215" data-original-width="1823" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5gkH8N71FeBjfPOMbHN0t6cCLkEVHHYOcKXikBSAKndV7Mu5niBKGjrW-l4b3MJlI5wY520TYT86ivd75NdRcSTkDhzxfzt6Jcob2tA0AjHNnRs5arPXg_NUd66cEIWbzIrGD-PY4bp8vnITq3sEEi7P5SS2A_Zchw-X1lISNjeRUHWuOFEP5TlgwSux/s320/CowboisRC2024VinnieHeaven.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>When Jack finally arrives, Heaven’s arch performance and outrageous flirting fit right into the overall camp tone of the evening – after last year’s notoriously misjudged comedy flop, <i>Cowbois</i> provides the big laughs that the Royal Court Downstairs was sorely missing from <i><a href="https://partially-obstructed-view.blogspot.com/2023/11/theatre-review-mates-in-chelsea.html">Mates In Chelsea</a></i>. The only time this energy dips is when Lillian’s husband Frank (Shaun Dingwall) returns along with the other cis men thought dead, and their intentions to create an open-minded utopia in their little town are put to the test by the new normal.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnTo5zUyMuvYcn_FOsh1eXL68oPolwERuupyW90m67MKcxY5Zq0-WwsL7dYtf7CPOIAuBq74c0abAGTKyE7hqKb6_2sSJZgUxF2RalwjwqH_xtwewmhZPu7VL646YwdujOC1WLpUN41d0u_DUaHgao2E0My4GyxJgNK3WNufmlnq_zto8q1E4spXcE347i/s1824/CowboisRC2024cast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1216" data-original-width="1824" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnTo5zUyMuvYcn_FOsh1eXL68oPolwERuupyW90m67MKcxY5Zq0-WwsL7dYtf7CPOIAuBq74c0abAGTKyE7hqKb6_2sSJZgUxF2RalwjwqH_xtwewmhZPu7VL646YwdujOC1WLpUN41d0u_DUaHgao2E0My4GyxJgNK3WNufmlnq_zto8q1E4spXcE347i/s320/CowboisRC2024cast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>It’s an intrusion of a more old-fashioned kind of masculinity that makes things take a sour turn, but ultimately Josephine’s vision is an optimistic one, and one that makes sense of the Western metaphor: Trans and other communities who differ from the accepted norms having to keep barricading up and fighting as there’ll be another wave of attacks coming, but ultimately winning one battle at a time. It’s an attitude that sees the second act soon return to the comic highs of the first, with new dynamics including Julian Moore-Cooke’s James initially aggressive, eventually just gently baffled, at his fiancée Lucy being replaced by some bloke called Lou, and a cameo from another trans cowboy in the form of LJ Parkinson’s psychotic bounty hunter Charley. <i>Cowbois </i>feels like a textbook example of how you don’t need to sacrifice the heart and politics of a piece to make it an unambiguously entertaining, raucously funny evening.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/cowbois/">Cowbois</a></i> by Charlie Josephine is booking until the 10th of February at the Royal Court’s Jerwood Theatre Downstairs.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 2 hours 45 minutes including interval.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Ali Wright / Henri T.</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-5377633407076847432024-01-27T18:28:00.060+00:002024-01-28T20:37:50.889+00:00Theatre review: Northanger Abbey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Z-7E_ldmiM_co_YnobwX_unIrkxmVwSWZGVpsBJnFco0Pyrm-oz2eogv8kpkCuQHEJI8G5QQ9DoJr-B1JuU7iCY5Wy6_l1SbEhdOfh9JQqXbWFaRrBNsRyV5PDoD4HwoGbsiW3Ltg-M9R9g4WT9DuTBR-faGAA1yHLjCmdSiHyFmayfEMo248ASmYbPW/s1600/NorthangerAbbeyOT2024.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Z-7E_ldmiM_co_YnobwX_unIrkxmVwSWZGVpsBJnFco0Pyrm-oz2eogv8kpkCuQHEJI8G5QQ9DoJr-B1JuU7iCY5Wy6_l1SbEhdOfh9JQqXbWFaRrBNsRyV5PDoD4HwoGbsiW3Ltg-M9R9g4WT9DuTBR-faGAA1yHLjCmdSiHyFmayfEMo248ASmYbPW/s1600/NorthangerAbbeyOT2024.jpg" /></a></div>It's no great insight to say people in this country, and probably most of the world, love Jane Austen's stories in the original novels and the many stage and screen adaptations, but maybe we love metatextual Austen just as much: We've had <i>Lost In Austen</i>, <i><a href="https://partially-obstructed-view.blogspot.com/2019/10/theatre-review-watsons.html">The Watsons</a></i>, and now Zoe Cooper's queered-up interpretation of the beloved author's swipe at the lurid gothic novels that were all the rage in her day: <i>Northanger Abbey</i> isn't the most famous of the books - it was one I never got round to reading, and I don't think I've even seen an adaptation before, given how unfamiliar the story was to me. Then again I'm sure some of the places Cooper takes her heroine would have been unfamiliar to the 18th century author herself, if not outright sent her straight to her fainting couch. Stripped down to a three-person show, Cooper puts Catherine Morland, aka Cath (Rebecca Banatvala) in charge of telling us her own story.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>Growing up in the nonspecific North of England as the only sister of seven brothers, Cath liked to take charge of the narrative, casting and directing her brothers in all their games, and that's what she's still doing now. Joined by the other two major characters, Isabella Thorpe (AK Golding) and Henry Tilney (Sam Newton,) she gets them to play all the other characters as she grows up, reaches her teens, and becomes engrossed in books about tall, dark, handsome and mysterious men, and the innocent young women who get transfixed by them and their windswept ancestral castles. I know, the Harry and Mollie from <i>The Traitors</i> jokes write themselves. On her first visit to Bath to indulge her growing interest in balls (yeah, Cooper isn't afraid to take the sense of humour there although she doesn't overplay this hand) Cath meets Hen and Iz, her big romantic interest and her new best friend. Except, which one of them is which?</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitUgbx_29rO_BvPR7x6rCXc9s6LU3XLexWQrC3i1lemolqkxBTK8aBuD2ZGrmTWR1AkMw6UpciO0xxvHuT53Utfcw1mWFTRG4bpN8COYY9EcOptgD0pPiwZmFTDh-YH7Cd9939HKhho5gyuljhI6iVq0Ftf1KpfKbz-qnygNwX1fk-GfJ31Jkim8SbLzAm/s1600/NorthangerAbbeyOT2024AKGoldingRebeccaBanatvala.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitUgbx_29rO_BvPR7x6rCXc9s6LU3XLexWQrC3i1lemolqkxBTK8aBuD2ZGrmTWR1AkMw6UpciO0xxvHuT53Utfcw1mWFTRG4bpN8COYY9EcOptgD0pPiwZmFTDh-YH7Cd9939HKhho5gyuljhI6iVq0Ftf1KpfKbz-qnygNwX1fk-GfJ31Jkim8SbLzAm/s320/NorthangerAbbeyOT2024AKGoldingRebeccaBanatvala.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>On Hannah Sibai's simple set dominated by chandeliers that give off bisexual lighting, Tessa Walker's production manages quite a distinct comic storytelling style that dips into the very silly - the panto puns, cross-dressing, and if Jane Austen ever wrote down the word "twat" anywhere, let alone in this novel, I'd be fairly surprised - but doesn't feel defined by parody or clowning. Instead it really feels like it knows and likes its central trio and wants to understand them.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ6hIib0dn3bdQoWov1Y0CYh0g6PlV54UrirRX1reejHs3IwE1Y80nZX_A5HQda3ngozNdZlvqlYQXhCfw7XiZexPlP7ot7iLc1Vdv98ARge5CsH3lHq5tf-YQntmiL2c6kl_8z8ODhC9O6FuF9HCOomndUFO_8MaINm_GkNeNGYueYtt0BBbKd2TzzKIM/s1600/NorthangerAbbeyOT2024RebeccaBanatvalaSamNewton.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ6hIib0dn3bdQoWov1Y0CYh0g6PlV54UrirRX1reejHs3IwE1Y80nZX_A5HQda3ngozNdZlvqlYQXhCfw7XiZexPlP7ot7iLc1Vdv98ARge5CsH3lHq5tf-YQntmiL2c6kl_8z8ODhC9O6FuF9HCOomndUFO_8MaINm_GkNeNGYueYtt0BBbKd2TzzKIM/s320/NorthangerAbbeyOT2024RebeccaBanatvalaSamNewton.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>The crux of the plot is the two women making a pact that they'll marry each other's brothers so they can be sisters-in-law and always have an excuse to get together as often as they want. They soon both regret this when they meet their prospective husbands, but Cooper also explicitly tells us they'd rather cut out the middle men and be with each other, and this becomes the reason Iz refuses to go along with it. (Frankly fair enough, as Cath has already made it clear she'd rather pursue Hen and his titular spooky old mansion.)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ct4NXRWIBS8zXSzcrd7f5D2oVQIhpS6uois06hBq_EGoIiDgnmNyFDPA5mGLi4sAuGosRV2SZ3Bx19q7xFf6712racplaLthFm54Fqv1hfyupkT-dh7ID00_UcN4sG00QEi_RIrjyuxc1091CZ_a9kkrkwPG1lxJkudMtKYvaMMLUU-G6nfhDUwu9hlY/s1600/NorthangerAbbeyOT2024cast.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ct4NXRWIBS8zXSzcrd7f5D2oVQIhpS6uois06hBq_EGoIiDgnmNyFDPA5mGLi4sAuGosRV2SZ3Bx19q7xFf6712racplaLthFm54Fqv1hfyupkT-dh7ID00_UcN4sG00QEi_RIrjyuxc1091CZ_a9kkrkwPG1lxJkudMtKYvaMMLUU-G6nfhDUwu9hlY/s320/NorthangerAbbeyOT2024cast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>While there's sensitivity in the character portrayals there's still room for big comic setpieces: The cast manage to keep multiple parodies of the famous talking-and-dancing scenes funny, and when we eventually get to the gloomy Abbey itself, Newton gets a plum comic role as Hen's mysterious sister, all distant looks into dark corners and sentences that tail off into a sigh. But despite sniffing at the gothic genre the show suggests Austen was showing nuance of her own, understanding the way the lurid tales with supernatural overtones might comfort people experiencing loss and grief.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidlxKCSXBvXIplgKtNvkg18JZdCOzzBiOv4JGylhG6AhMRgGyba1zED1PV_HN0_6cRhRj2RaxNagHqOs6F8l7vfebbdN5SNKJlakGEWjMEmlauxOz_VInNJ83QOsN7fE3LQ32sOErX7h9mc1oaSmv4rY-EE415QjEsta0-o5OcZ17KFp6oqhgJKIvR2iQc/s1600/NorthangerAbbeyOT2024RebeccaBanatvalaAKGolding.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidlxKCSXBvXIplgKtNvkg18JZdCOzzBiOv4JGylhG6AhMRgGyba1zED1PV_HN0_6cRhRj2RaxNagHqOs6F8l7vfebbdN5SNKJlakGEWjMEmlauxOz_VInNJ83QOsN7fE3LQ32sOErX7h9mc1oaSmv4rY-EE415QjEsta0-o5OcZ17KFp6oqhgJKIvR2iQc/s320/NorthangerAbbeyOT2024RebeccaBanatvalaAKGolding.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Cooper's rejection of the traditional happy ending was a bit abrupt for me, but this is undoubtedly a hit, managing to mix the spirit of Austen with something completely current and ever-so-gently subversive. Based on today's matinée audience Austen's box office power is as strong as ever, and if fans of period romance aren't going to get exactly what they were expecting, surely only the grumpiest will be disappointed.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://orangetreetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/northanger-abbey/">Northanger Abbey</a></i> by Zoe Cooper, inspired by the novel by Jane Austen, is booking until the 24th of February at the Orange Tree Theatre, then continuing on tour to Bolton, Scarborough and Keswick.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes including interval.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Pamela Raith.</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-46083546552177707452024-01-25T22:00:00.002+00:002024-01-26T18:56:54.603+00:00Theatre review: Afterglow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeKz6Cpd_wV_YmRyLKqJUO1pZdiJDKCU6a3LLzvhgl4vg7IaAycm__Q8ju478N_xxk2_m0-lutKwe8IE4mgF4alHzx_hQ1YCX0IkSS0D4hSujtPmbDk6YiCmzXslswNNpGwCEY73zUL5nIYD58QVr0CP8V0jCAAvjDrF8X59wrswvTyhnlQsF-kf3xYxD/s1600/AfterglowSouthwark2024.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeKz6Cpd_wV_YmRyLKqJUO1pZdiJDKCU6a3LLzvhgl4vg7IaAycm__Q8ju478N_xxk2_m0-lutKwe8IE4mgF4alHzx_hQ1YCX0IkSS0D4hSujtPmbDk6YiCmzXslswNNpGwCEY73zUL5nIYD58QVr0CP8V0jCAAvjDrF8X59wrswvTyhnlQsF-kf3xYxD/s1600/AfterglowSouthwark2024.jpg" /></a></div>S. Asher Gelman's <i>Afterglow </i>was a big success for Southwark Playhouse <a href="https://partially-obstructed-view.blogspot.com/2019/06/theatre-review-afterglow.html">a few years ago</a>, so with theatres still needing a few bankable hits to keep them afloat, maybe it's not entirely surprising if a show about three attractive men who shower on stage a lot, and also some other stuff happens probably, is back in The Large for another run*. And if I'm sounding judgemental about the "sex sells" policy, regular readers of this blog will both know I am absolutely the target audience for this, or why else would I be back for a play whose actual merits I was always fairly ambivalent about in the first place? Broadway director Josh (Peter McPherson) and his husband Alex (Victor Hugo,) who is a Something Something Chemistry, have an open relationship which has always seemed to work well for them - their marriage is happy and stable, and they're about to have a baby with a surrogate.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>The play opens with them having a threesome with Darius (understudy Paddy Cavendish,) a younger massage therapist, with Josh then arranging to meet him again the next day on his own. This is totally within the rules of the relationship, but what complicates things is Josh and Darius developing feelings for each other, which definitely isn't. Alex ends up on the outside of his own marriage, and Josh is in a situation where any outcome will see him lose at least one person he loves.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyDSJutBF2G5gKDDDKejxcGjiW4ZP5sPD8l_rMlSioJNL5OCZmTqf82x9zkf0lh8SvtSRsYAJrnOkQZwrr6AQY90qtn0c_ZoPSnuQP5d8MnqhrrToev_ivQcRbjCbwbwOiDS5mjn8XX41-JZ6vIRSU9Fs1Vb9AyGuKjV-YVmMqUDD3f58x_CogiRYier9M/s4096/AfterglowSouthwark2024cast.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2723" data-original-width="4096" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyDSJutBF2G5gKDDDKejxcGjiW4ZP5sPD8l_rMlSioJNL5OCZmTqf82x9zkf0lh8SvtSRsYAJrnOkQZwrr6AQY90qtn0c_ZoPSnuQP5d8MnqhrrToev_ivQcRbjCbwbwOiDS5mjn8XX41-JZ6vIRSU9Fs1Vb9AyGuKjV-YVmMqUDD3f58x_CogiRYier9M/s320/AfterglowSouthwark2024cast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>This is a new production of the play, with the playwright himself directing, but it didn't feel very different from what I remember from five years ago - right down to the awkward scene changes that hold up the action. I guess there's only so much you can do with a story that revolves around the characters taking quite so many showers, and Ann Beyersdorfer's mirrored set has to juggle the furniture into various configurations around the central drain.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCe2lHB4VJUkPud6zSsIpkZgRKQDbyp9blOnYeJc7Fc-A64EsZjsPPS3diYboAdbU78C2C_fphK4KWTapGCgwNNwoWDytmjXyvtFXtlYB9w8izJD2Gi_mbv8VzVTWCH1KhW4KrCXjo2_R-aolsVF9NX_924rPrTRw1TTgJh8l9wNwrwHuFfuzwk9ivtP0l/s1080/AfterglowSouthwark2024PeterMcpherson.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCe2lHB4VJUkPud6zSsIpkZgRKQDbyp9blOnYeJc7Fc-A64EsZjsPPS3diYboAdbU78C2C_fphK4KWTapGCgwNNwoWDytmjXyvtFXtlYB9w8izJD2Gi_mbv8VzVTWCH1KhW4KrCXjo2_R-aolsVF9NX_924rPrTRw1TTgJh8l9wNwrwHuFfuzwk9ivtP0l/s320/AfterglowSouthwark2024PeterMcpherson.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I was also reminded of some of my issues with the play itself, like the fact that the couple expecting a baby is frequently referenced as a reminder of the stakes in keeping their relationship strong, and ultimately it feels like too huge a thing to take second fiddle in the story. Plus the characters' vague-but-glamorous-sounding careers straight out of a rom-com are a bit of a personal bugbear, although either I missed a line about Josh having family money the first time around, or it's been subsequently added because the idea that a not-particularly-famous theatre director was keeping himself and two other people in luxury was inadvertently providing the show's funniest gag.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPm8y3aJzkQTLZt7lhI3xzIKReofzL-6UgfuUSEOxw0JiTgPxWD35Jf3BCah__903Jsr_hbqedV3QiHMaeR1_jF9WX810oDDgxZr0-hkTeal6-wFEXKNNFIIjaJM0eqQBD-086v5vIqFv9qxV9LSbDXV80W84bKLIvzLDTjy-e_kjWKozelPxI-p39BGkM/s4096/AfterglowSouthwark2024VictorHugoPeterMcpherson.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2726" data-original-width="4096" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPm8y3aJzkQTLZt7lhI3xzIKReofzL-6UgfuUSEOxw0JiTgPxWD35Jf3BCah__903Jsr_hbqedV3QiHMaeR1_jF9WX810oDDgxZr0-hkTeal6-wFEXKNNFIIjaJM0eqQBD-086v5vIqFv9qxV9LSbDXV80W84bKLIvzLDTjy-e_kjWKozelPxI-p39BGkM/s320/AfterglowSouthwark2024VictorHugoPeterMcpherson.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe these niggles stood out more this time around because I didn't buy the relationship between Josh and Alex - there's just not enough of a spark between McPherson and Hugo to invest in them as a couple. Cavendish brings an impressive energy to Darius' growing relationship with Josh though, and while I'm not going to be <b>quite </b>so crass as to comment on size regarding the numerous<marquee>FULL FRONTAL MALE NUDITY ALERT!s</marquee>I will say I think after tonight I could recognise Cavendish's front bottom from a lineup, and as for his back bottom that could be in the running for the end-of-year awards. On the way out Ben commented that there wasn't much plot but a lot of the dialogue was good, which is more or less what I said in my review last time - Josh accidentally comparing his and Darius' romance to Woody Allen and Soon-Yi is probably the best gag. Overall, though, this feels like a slightly chillier retread of the last time this show was here.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/afterglow/">Afterglow</a></i> by S. Asher Gelman is booking until the 10th of February at Southwark Playhouse Borough's Large Theatre.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes straight through.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: The Other Richard.</div><div><br /></div><div>*they're also getting in on the merch game with <i>Afterglow</i>-themed scented candles, for anyone who wants to spend £20 on a candle that smells of, I would assume, cum.</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-13587733062948263632024-01-23T22:36:00.052+00:002024-01-24T18:49:26.047+00:00Theatre review: Blood On Your Hands<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoVph-FMtO6uFM0RpSFgk-YqPI0XSVflZW-uVRwsCrP-8Qk1x9M8Vzxsxy4e3daCxZauKbcRvhFBQjYZwD8TJ7Fx4UhwwX2hCrEimHj1L0EWb7qGdZZomCRmawUl82LDMiYmGXM8GFaptzpTVwb-XHNfo6lcnNv9kR73NOLHu0sxeXu-GRv8vtgTCZQu0/s1600/BloodOnYourHandsSouthwark2024.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoVph-FMtO6uFM0RpSFgk-YqPI0XSVflZW-uVRwsCrP-8Qk1x9M8Vzxsxy4e3daCxZauKbcRvhFBQjYZwD8TJ7Fx4UhwwX2hCrEimHj1L0EWb7qGdZZomCRmawUl82LDMiYmGXM8GFaptzpTVwb-XHNfo6lcnNv9kR73NOLHu0sxeXu-GRv8vtgTCZQu0/s1600/BloodOnYourHandsSouthwark2024.jpg" /></a></div>Blood was nearly spilt before the show even started, as we got to ten minutes after the advertised start time and the twentieth repetition of the 60-second loop of funereal accordion music on the speakers. But officially the villain of Grace Joy Howarth's <i>Blood On Your Hands</i> is the meat industry, not The Araby Bazaar's sound design. Dan (Phillip John Jones) and Konstyantyn (Shannon Smith) are slaughterhouse workers who meet on their lunch break: The latter is a Ukrainian vet who's just arrived in Wales, taking on a grim minimum wage job until he can get himself settled and bring his family over. The former is a local who, after making some mistakes in his teens, has struggled to find anything better and has been in the job for five years. Most mornings they go into work to the sound of vegans protesting outside the abattoir.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>Leading the vegans is Eden (Liv Jekyll,) Dan's vegan ex-girlfriend who is vegan. Ironically we discover she was the one who encouraged him to take the job, only for the stories he brought home to be what pushed her to the opposite extreme.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjqAh48ESqLYY42gwErHO0TYzMLzuOI7zN467dqnauSdKcyP-pN2-dRvm8zKbFaTq0s5qcgrqVminWPYkFJWncgaHY0BeKhOPiGVo1eKT6i-yyMB6c7dx9YrGL3iAyIF9pjsrczJorTUFYwEuE9zmvqO_fJMbBsBSSJJ4IbWb-WZOTwfKn0o8A8-QoPJun/s1200/BloodOnYourHandsSouthwark2024PhillipJohnJonesShannonSmith.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="1200" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjqAh48ESqLYY42gwErHO0TYzMLzuOI7zN467dqnauSdKcyP-pN2-dRvm8zKbFaTq0s5qcgrqVminWPYkFJWncgaHY0BeKhOPiGVo1eKT6i-yyMB6c7dx9YrGL3iAyIF9pjsrczJorTUFYwEuE9zmvqO_fJMbBsBSSJJ4IbWb-WZOTwfKn0o8A8-QoPJun/s320/BloodOnYourHandsSouthwark2024PhillipJohnJonesShannonSmith.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Given that the play has all the marks of being a vegan play by vegans for vegans (unafraid to live up to a stereotype, a large amount of the audience had clothes and bags announcing to the world at large that they’re vegan,) what I found most interesting about <i>Blood On Your Hands</i> was where Howarth levels much of her criticism. Dan and Kostyantyn are unambiguously the sympathetic figures here, victims of circumstance with few to no other options, while Eden’s made veganism her personality and has no capacity for nuance. The title comes from what the activists shout at the workers as they go into the slaughterhouse, but with a running theme of half-hearted support being offered to the many cases of depression among the factory workers, and the activists only contributing to that, it feels like the accusation’s being laid at the target audience as much as anyone else.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeWUMYKX4puvzqRR05ZAG71vZF3enQ4JY03YgDhIVrhjYzqAkqHeQOoD4VXwSh2q639LqG06_LuXT9dWpA8tk7WpiigvvdS92q0ItpHU_LqpTniwwphhHffgz-YdkiDthZhxiQ_J20oBQmyPs0EWhagE_nVQI0SUZf2f9GxqyL8IF8Le5SSG48QMlQfGrB/s1200/BloodOnYourHandsSouthwark2024PhillipJohnJonesShannonSmith_CharlesFlint.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="1200" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeWUMYKX4puvzqRR05ZAG71vZF3enQ4JY03YgDhIVrhjYzqAkqHeQOoD4VXwSh2q639LqG06_LuXT9dWpA8tk7WpiigvvdS92q0ItpHU_LqpTniwwphhHffgz-YdkiDthZhxiQ_J20oBQmyPs0EWhagE_nVQI0SUZf2f9GxqyL8IF8Le5SSG48QMlQfGrB/s320/BloodOnYourHandsSouthwark2024PhillipJohnJonesShannonSmith_CharlesFlint.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Less successful is the subplot about Kostyantyn lying to his wife (Kateryna Hryhorenko) back in Ukraine about what he’s been doing for a living in the UK. It feels like an attempt to bring in a more global perspective that’s been left underdeveloped. Anastasia Bunce’s cast is completed by Jordan El-Balawi as a variety of slimy characters only too happy to patronize and sneer at Dan, so there’s an even-handedness here about the people adding to the pressure of an already unpleasant job. There’s a couple of clumsy touches here but overall subtler than you might expect from vegan agitprop but please, directors and sound designers I beg you, if you can’t afford more than a minute’s music maybe let the audience come in to eerie silence, don’t make them hate the play before the lights have even gone down*.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/blood-on-your-hands/">Blood On Your Hands</a></i> by Grace Joy Howarth is booking until the 3rd of February at Southwark Playhouse Borough’s Little Theatre.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes straight through.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Charles Flint.</div><div><br /></div><div>*it’s not just me being awkward, the group sitting next to me groaned louder every time the loop reset</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-57828235717384655152024-01-20T16:56:00.210+00:002024-01-22T20:45:52.374+00:00Stage-to-screen review: Hamlet (Bristol Old Vic / BBC)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8QKZ7EO-XXX9mQelzjzU50xvn1v_FKVOZIywRRF4t2G4FOcmc_F1xfF-Sd7Vnwo2KhTlAA0XxGQHjXzzsHIpqmBmN-zBUJ5MHGjqWsrOXa9mOOsHWg6Sd2TjlbzuiuL3iVfKQWW7s53K80GrcerTotatZTTJoAPFm0r47johM1IoPyrBcNVWaLoRTooW/s1600/HamletBBC2024.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8QKZ7EO-XXX9mQelzjzU50xvn1v_FKVOZIywRRF4t2G4FOcmc_F1xfF-Sd7Vnwo2KhTlAA0XxGQHjXzzsHIpqmBmN-zBUJ5MHGjqWsrOXa9mOOsHWg6Sd2TjlbzuiuL3iVfKQWW7s53K80GrcerTotatZTTJoAPFm0r47johM1IoPyrBcNVWaLoRTooW/s1600/HamletBBC2024.jpg" /></a></div>It's been a couple of years since I last saw a full production of <i>Hamlet</i>, and with a while yet before the next major one is due (now watch as another gets announced the second after I click Publish,) it seemed as good a time as any to check out the version the BBC offered up recently as part of their First Folio season. This was John Haidar's 2022 production at the Bristol Old Vic, one that had caught my eye for casting real-life husband and wife Finbar Lynch and Niamh Cusack as the king and queen of Denmark. Haidar didn't cast Calam Lynch in the lead to complete the family set, but instead Billy Howle plays Hamlet, the prince of Denmark who's moping quietly at the start of the play after his father's sudden death. Alex Eales' set is slickly black and I want to call Natalie Pryce's costumes modern-dress, except the characters' tech is very Nineties: Hamlet loves soliloquising into his dictaphone, and "The Mousetrap" is interrupted when Polonius' pager goes off.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>So we open with Hamlet listening on his Walkman to speeches by and about his uncle Claudius (Lynch,) who's not only succeeded Hamlet's father to the throne but hastily married his mother Gertrude (Cusack) as well. Then the prince is visited by his father's ghost (Firdous Bamji) who gives him a new, murderous purpose in life by revealing he was murdered by Claudius.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJUM8sjQIRRR7tB-sMVxxohgKPAA1EJ55SlgWqD0iM3VUoFWVkeVgLpdjcLCjAYTs222bKv9vY8pSA05XQGHh-li7Qn0MEJeEkiBSFfawWSZ_CVustaL6Y3Gh0J_YSXCAxI6mePJL5i2BRY1tjmYiRN0EKcvkkvqvr88tdmFThtNrRZWAHgumHM0HKokl/s1080/HamletBBC2024FinbarLynchBillyHowle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="1080" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJUM8sjQIRRR7tB-sMVxxohgKPAA1EJ55SlgWqD0iM3VUoFWVkeVgLpdjcLCjAYTs222bKv9vY8pSA05XQGHh-li7Qn0MEJeEkiBSFfawWSZ_CVustaL6Y3Gh0J_YSXCAxI6mePJL5i2BRY1tjmYiRN0EKcvkkvqvr88tdmFThtNrRZWAHgumHM0HKokl/s320/HamletBBC2024FinbarLynchBillyHowle.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I've written Ghost of King Hamlet on my slate because something tells me you're a Traitor</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Much like <a href="https://partially-obstructed-view.blogspot.com/2021/10/theatre-review-hamlet-young-vic.html">Cush Jumbo's 2021 take on the character</a>, Howle's Hamlet seems to be a topical comment on toxic masculinity, and it comes with much the same pitfalls. Lacking any real direction at the start of the play, the ghost affects Hamlet in the way a misogynistic YouTube conspiracy theorist might affect a disaffected modern teenager: He goes into a permanent self-pitying rage, and while there's a lot of talk about taking it out on the man who's actually wronged him, in practice most of it seems to end up aimed at his mother, Isabel Adomakoh Young's female Horatio, and of course Mirren Mack's frail Ophelia.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxoR0uZjrQN624Ez5i9mYUm0WWXchrWJUVfyOewx_o6VWB8r9NNKqSI17pBztMutrszXlVgWYFe8mD0LEvWcJ4tnoElOFuWkoIma5mCtKtrtl99K0sGchj9VjiqyfU5q23wkCpuc-jk4L3GQMQ5e_-aC5OYQeVFFp7RbwwyeKkmlDh2iCnQW7doFPmrM4/s1080/HamletBBC2024JasonBarnettMirrenMack.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="1080" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxoR0uZjrQN624Ez5i9mYUm0WWXchrWJUVfyOewx_o6VWB8r9NNKqSI17pBztMutrszXlVgWYFe8mD0LEvWcJ4tnoElOFuWkoIma5mCtKtrtl99K0sGchj9VjiqyfU5q23wkCpuc-jk4L3GQMQ5e_-aC5OYQeVFFp7RbwwyeKkmlDh2iCnQW7doFPmrM4/s320/HamletBBC2024JasonBarnettMirrenMack.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>This focus on Hamlet's rage and negative qualities and away from his more charming side is, in theory, perfectly valid, but in practice this is a long play where, famously, the lead has half the lines. And if that lead gives us absolutely nothing to root for it makes for a real slog of a watch. It's weird to find yourself cheering on Claudius but Lynch's calm, controlled, meticulously planned evil is a welcome break from (the appropriately-named) Howle's relentless shouting and impotent rage. By the time Howle finally cracks a smile and shows some humanity in the Gravedigger scene, it's too late for us to care about him.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpyJbXNW-72AwwoS_ZRHfBEza_qcilkuKcD8ogjLjZxfULLP4VkOz10bG7TRTcp3zCTv0Ho2aCaIuylzCBQh2TbZdRisPHUeL2tqvEqeW154U970gmtReXQS-ABgTSNvXGMB0qQEJbRoxdE1jyc7GMRHscwprWpGOeCFK5dkkR81BhlaXNVwFzDIlcxStm/s1080/HamletBBC2024FinbarLynchTaheenModak.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="1080" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpyJbXNW-72AwwoS_ZRHfBEza_qcilkuKcD8ogjLjZxfULLP4VkOz10bG7TRTcp3zCTv0Ho2aCaIuylzCBQh2TbZdRisPHUeL2tqvEqeW154U970gmtReXQS-ABgTSNvXGMB0qQEJbRoxdE1jyc7GMRHscwprWpGOeCFK5dkkR81BhlaXNVwFzDIlcxStm/s320/HamletBBC2024FinbarLynchTaheenModak.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Haidar's text moves things around a bit, not particularly to the show's detriment but there's a couple of odd choices - I'm not sure why you'd even bother including Reynaldo (Catrin Stewart) if you're going to cut the bits where Polonius tells him to spy on and try to entrap his son. And weirdly there's another link to the Young Vic's version, as this mostly-domestic version of the play loses Fortinbras and gives his generic eulogy for Hamlet to Horatio, ostensibly his best friend*. I did, though, like Hamlet's lines at the play being shared around the rest of the cast, because he's about to turn up himself as the Player Murderer.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYPr4qHv1FRsJ6vnktmkrvcfigX_XQgPUFKMv1vIvaZtplsibpKXjmx-wxbrBt4-Me4EyfJ57XTKo1MY6JUrS9ec4ziHSf9ksx_GGtGNCthwZ5ef0plq6H7piD2jhmFE40x1wCl1Sj4413dmxPPMuivLo8RRlDNMTePKYKnPnPiPVi3maBWvaKcY4d5KzR/s1080/HamletBBC2024IsabelAdomakohYoungBillyHowle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYPr4qHv1FRsJ6vnktmkrvcfigX_XQgPUFKMv1vIvaZtplsibpKXjmx-wxbrBt4-Me4EyfJ57XTKo1MY6JUrS9ec4ziHSf9ksx_GGtGNCthwZ5ef0plq6H7piD2jhmFE40x1wCl1Sj4413dmxPPMuivLo8RRlDNMTePKYKnPnPiPVi3maBWvaKcY4d5KzR/s320/HamletBBC2024IsabelAdomakohYoungBillyHowle.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Which links into one of Hairdar's nicer touches, as I do feel Hamlet tends to get too easy a ride for cornering a troupe of professional actors and lecturing them on How To Do Acting. Here he's reading the lines from a book of acting tips, which Bamji and Stewart's utterly bored Player King and Queen have given him to keep him from bothering them on their fag break, and because he's decided to cast himself in their show so he might as well do it right.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmf0NqmsGwHKQ1gv6xDao6PBf2s34msVdo0Dw_A0IgVmCPVcjvdY5VfI1mpVBnrqdnngUv7zNC9zg8g49EWE5FjZKaC0lLhCycjJOZpTdUp-bTehodBUVgOJvpPWDY94EmxuZdWkWFybRjSfSL6rvsM1lv7Oudi9KpykqE2jt5b5dIGBcpbvTSJetmIUS/s1080/HamletBBC2024TaheenModakBillyHowle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmf0NqmsGwHKQ1gv6xDao6PBf2s34msVdo0Dw_A0IgVmCPVcjvdY5VfI1mpVBnrqdnngUv7zNC9zg8g49EWE5FjZKaC0lLhCycjJOZpTdUp-bTehodBUVgOJvpPWDY94EmxuZdWkWFybRjSfSL6rvsM1lv7Oudi9KpykqE2jt5b5dIGBcpbvTSJetmIUS/s320/HamletBBC2024TaheenModakBillyHowle.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>There's also a couple of character elements that aren't explored very often, particularly Jason Barnett's Polonius being less focused on the rambling old duffer and giving us the character's genuine nastiness - his treatment of Ophelia is a mix of patronising and bullying, and I don't remember when I've seen it shown so clearly that, after she follows his instructions to reject Hamlet's advances, he then blames her when he thinks it's driven him mad. And Cusack is as good as you'd hope, really taking Gertrude on a journey from slightly cowering wife, to gaining confidence as she gradually understands that her son's accusations are true.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja5ccVCN91C-9-do0a7322gA6sxtp8Ud6Lo_VxVHigiV-8tYbBadBAZYRpWCLmzJTTNsE5AMCoHVkreGXXOooI7iH5dGQV-WzNrK_N14QGa7JvccYVnXsjGpVxBuGUVQsqTmWwV4GLfpNlTNJLw7SeNfFvUiwyQHEgyK8nEkYSSTnVf_yk5hUQglSx_UqF/s1080/HamletBBC2024NiamhCusack.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="1080" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja5ccVCN91C-9-do0a7322gA6sxtp8Ud6Lo_VxVHigiV-8tYbBadBAZYRpWCLmzJTTNsE5AMCoHVkreGXXOooI7iH5dGQV-WzNrK_N14QGa7JvccYVnXsjGpVxBuGUVQsqTmWwV4GLfpNlTNJLw7SeNfFvUiwyQHEgyK8nEkYSSTnVf_yk5hUQglSx_UqF/s320/HamletBBC2024NiamhCusack.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Haidar also follows Gregory Doran and Simon Godwin in giving us a cliffhanger by putting the interval at the point where Hamlet is considering killing Claudius at prayer, except this time there's also the misdirect of having him shoot him dead, before it being revealed in the second half that this was a fantasy and he's talked himself out of it. Plus, in a cast mostly seeming to use their own accents except when doubling roles, you've got Taheen Modak's Rosencrantz reminding us we're in Bristol. Ultimately I found that Howle's non-stop, shouty fury wore me down so this wasn't a production I could love or even fully enjoy, but that's not to say there aren't interesting elements here as well.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001s71k">Hamlet</a></i> by William Shakespeare is available to stream in the UK on BBC iPlayer.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 2 hours 25 minutes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Marc Brenner.</div><div><br /></div><div>*Fortinbras' speech is essentially "er... looks like I don't have to bother invading Denmark now but hey, I'm sure Hamlet would have put up a good fight before I killed him."</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-4064923181793021332024-01-18T21:56:00.031+00:002024-01-20T22:14:38.764+00:00Theatre review: Ķīn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIrC2Li94U6uM65WZZgYCcpskh-UrExk0W4jOOqJ0-Gh17Gd8bFPYHdhz65QATVftIHZKk7r7QoZSr2YMSKKK6TIgOJq-8unXlihFuL8KbsPcXlPkZOiYcOEE999vNRyy4Fm9fx4ArQ1i-o6MPV2_9GWBnr_fAzNM8OVNNMNp2E7s2dv7isBOFaJEly5T9/s1600/KinLyttelton2024.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIrC2Li94U6uM65WZZgYCcpskh-UrExk0W4jOOqJ0-Gh17Gd8bFPYHdhz65QATVftIHZKk7r7QoZSr2YMSKKK6TIgOJq-8unXlihFuL8KbsPcXlPkZOiYcOEE999vNRyy4Fm9fx4ArQ1i-o6MPV2_9GWBnr_fAzNM8OVNNMNp2E7s2dv7isBOFaJEly5T9/s1600/KinLyttelton2024.jpg" /></a></div>Mixing outgoing National Theatre boss RuNo's intention of making it more of an international theatre, with an ambition to give different performance styles a chance in the main stages, physical theatre company Gecko's show <i>Ķīn</i> uses an international cast and dance-like style to tell stories of immigration over the last century. Although whether any actual stories end up getting told in the process might be a matter of opinion. Devising performer Amit Lahav's show takes as its inspiration the story of his real grandmother, who as a young girl in the 1930s fled Yemen for Palestine. We begin with a Jewish family fleeing persecution - they're chased away by officials painting yellow streaks onto their coats - before various encounters with malicious border guards and an eventual arrival in a modest home that offers safety for a while.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>There's at least one other family making a similar journey in the play - the fact that I can't swear there isn't a third should indicate where some of the show's problems lie, as despite some interesting visuals (Rhys Jarman’s designs and Chris Swain’s lighting have a gloomy intensity) the show quickly lost me in its muddled action.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgro_GB23sb0OhRc0sU-0P6-vzglLOqqY0uninDMPb_3msPjO7imDhAHLAbwF6XPfD5B7npH-z_jGVqbQY56MuyVOKP6LXRngTidoX8c4x_TyEfQoCFZOK5oBdfXra_XlwsFTwn5HzIijRicCqHGz1a0lp3LzMxuxbWSRkRrvl7PxjWeeVUzG8YMLjgXQA_/s1500/KinLyttelton2024cast.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1038" data-original-width="1500" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgro_GB23sb0OhRc0sU-0P6-vzglLOqqY0uninDMPb_3msPjO7imDhAHLAbwF6XPfD5B7npH-z_jGVqbQY56MuyVOKP6LXRngTidoX8c4x_TyEfQoCFZOK5oBdfXra_XlwsFTwn5HzIijRicCqHGz1a0lp3LzMxuxbWSRkRrvl7PxjWeeVUzG8YMLjgXQA_/s320/KinLyttelton2024cast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Because while there are clearly certain characters who we follow throughout the evening, they don’t feel defined as distinct personalities, so it’s hard to make the emotional connection that’s so crucial to what the play is trying to do. Although mostly told visually there is some speech, the conceit being that the multilingual cast all use their own first language, creating an onstage Tower of Babel. But mostly Spanish in practice. Other than that the soundtrack features more anguished women wailing than Yaël Farber’s Spotify Unwrapped.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLsGQWH9Dly0SOg1hMxHUAfAVw8BEP-Oj77j1YFE1E4-JbGIpnxJN60RnfdwHIK-V3JpkHuIkxcidafWGZwMh_M4XQXRnaU-pZKOC-PX0I5kuED108zNt9wNrVmd-yadPVF5Dc44G4Iv5Pf_mD5PGI-jlcuYGf9i7tmN6TYFuLD-mFMPYdsLxTEXtw9-sJ/s1500/KinLyttelton2024cast2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLsGQWH9Dly0SOg1hMxHUAfAVw8BEP-Oj77j1YFE1E4-JbGIpnxJN60RnfdwHIK-V3JpkHuIkxcidafWGZwMh_M4XQXRnaU-pZKOC-PX0I5kuED108zNt9wNrVmd-yadPVF5Dc44G4Iv5Pf_mD5PGI-jlcuYGf9i7tmN6TYFuLD-mFMPYdsLxTEXtw9-sJ/s320/KinLyttelton2024cast2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The play’s a repetitive cycle of persecution, occasional triumphs and regular encounters with bullying, racist officials. Although there’s moments of joy this is largely a record of the misery of the journey, and while that’s an important part of the story I felt we needed something of what they’re aiming for: A South Asian family are encouraged to wear whiteface and copy the locals to fit in, but we don’t get the flipside of how the immigrants’ culture can make a positive impact on their eventual home. As well as making for a hard slog of an evening, this focus on the hardship is an odd choice given the show apparently has grand, rather naïve ambitions of being able to convert the sort of person who supports the Rwanda bill. So I’m not sure why it tries to do this entirely by appealing to the empathy of people who don’t have any (and wouldn’t come to this show if you paid them anyway.)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijsQkG2M6ua3yrAH8L6qK8Tl_uAUjQihUL1p1veQT1OWHM7GJDiLDyhSYm4JuaPgo0Tos1rVPK7VWzXjcfWA9GOioZ6gQkHy5Jq-M_WzPS8Cz-T3riytO2lIbcgVYI6JUvXVOjwkth1CU-LqmaErP5nlSqqAoNO6x7H428WASTJtQF1mSNMf_tkzxYavC_/s1500/KinLyttelton2024MiguelHernandoTorresUmbra.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1103" data-original-width="1500" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijsQkG2M6ua3yrAH8L6qK8Tl_uAUjQihUL1p1veQT1OWHM7GJDiLDyhSYm4JuaPgo0Tos1rVPK7VWzXjcfWA9GOioZ6gQkHy5Jq-M_WzPS8Cz-T3riytO2lIbcgVYI6JUvXVOjwkth1CU-LqmaErP5nlSqqAoNO6x7H428WASTJtQF1mSNMf_tkzxYavC_/s320/KinLyttelton2024MiguelHernandoTorresUmbra.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe I was set against the show from the off, by the programme note about how Lahav’s process begins with a year of “thinking and feeling.” I think and feel stuff all the time, largely against my will, I had no idea I could get the Arts Council to pay me for it. Regardless, a show so earnestly trying to appeal to the emotions should be able to raise a few, but it fell way short of the mark for me. By the time a final sequence sees the groups of immigrants we’ve followed make a perilous sea journey in orange lifejackets, it’s clear the kind of impact that link to the present day should have, but it’s just not there.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/kin/">Ķīn</a></i> by Amit Lahav and the company is booking until the 27th of January at the National Theatre’s Lyttelton.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 1 hour 25 minutes straight through.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Mark Sepple.</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8781475196023418414.post-39896860749811613992024-01-16T22:17:00.063+00:002024-01-17T18:05:14.974+00:00Theatre review: Kim's Convenience<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKqAGr5Pb1hh-emxnCf7yGxE-Kw8NFubQ7qJx5s1XH_4ARpQ261z2L2RCi-eM8lOFwMaVgtYRspHtjts7VqY_iFoWwjt90dZhHt0USKmMVwSeqwn94AJvOPRzbDN_6Drq6rsAfN9kQfRYRFnP_EvGxu-LxmTYV4h7zsdsGob6PoPFzK-MQz3PYW7h-feP8/s1600/KimsConveniencePark2024.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKqAGr5Pb1hh-emxnCf7yGxE-Kw8NFubQ7qJx5s1XH_4ARpQ261z2L2RCi-eM8lOFwMaVgtYRspHtjts7VqY_iFoWwjt90dZhHt0USKmMVwSeqwn94AJvOPRzbDN_6Drq6rsAfN9kQfRYRFnP_EvGxu-LxmTYV4h7zsdsGob6PoPFzK-MQz3PYW7h-feP8/s1600/KimsConveniencePark2024.jpg" /></a></div>The Park's main house kicks off the year with what looks like a surefire hit: Not only was tonight's performance pretty packed, but from the enthusiasm of the audience it didn't seem like anyone needed their arm twisted (in a dubious use of an obscure Korean martial art) to shop at <i>Kim's Convenience</i>. Ins Choi's 2011 play about a Korean-Canadian corner shop (a detailed design by Mona Camille) in Toronto gets its UK premiere after the success of its TV sitcom adaptation, with the playwright - who originated the role of prodigal son Jung - now returning to play his father. Appa (Choi) and Umma (Namju Go) moved from South Korea to Canada in hopes of a better life for their children; Appa's limited English meant he couldn't continue to work as a teacher, but he found his niche as a shopkeeper with an unfailing nose for shoplifters. Umma runs the shop with him, but her involvement with the church means she has more of a life outside it.<div><br /></div><div><span><a name='more'></a></span>The story's main thrust follows Appa's frayed relationship with his children: The eldest, Jung (Brian Law, bravely taking on not only the role the playwright wrote for himself, but the one that'll have the audience physically comparing him to Simu Liu*) was a teenage tearaway who, after one too many confrontations with his father, robbed the takings and ran away 15 years earlier.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1u3bB7dAAi1X51y7oGF-qyMpaK9Lt8XVI2D0NYJjlDFKV80SX9Ot7SgCAOTy-66jvh5z3UXS4F9pIQ5us0wjAFyReqjLE_KBladVEMnXvz01R1m0h_f5BHnEZ4m5ACRFa847m2AdsKCbRm-YVwbIEbpr4VCh_4GYR5ih0ug_jxPhx4gsCr2EHi0Gx3cY/s940/KimsConveniencePark2024BrianLawNamjuGo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="940" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1u3bB7dAAi1X51y7oGF-qyMpaK9Lt8XVI2D0NYJjlDFKV80SX9Ot7SgCAOTy-66jvh5z3UXS4F9pIQ5us0wjAFyReqjLE_KBladVEMnXvz01R1m0h_f5BHnEZ4m5ACRFa847m2AdsKCbRm-YVwbIEbpr4VCh_4GYR5ih0ug_jxPhx4gsCr2EHi0Gx3cY/s320/KimsConveniencePark2024BrianLawNamjuGo.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Janet (Jennifer Kim) just about scrapes a living as a wedding photographer, but still lives with her parents above the shop. She also has a combative relationship with Appa, who on the one hand has high hopes for her which her career choice hasn’t lived up to, on the other believes that as she’s 30 and unmarried she should consider taking over the shop from him. Janet does in fact get a chance at a new relationship in the course of the play, as a policeman answering a nuisance call turns out to be Alex (Miles Mitchell, also playing all the customers,) a teenage crush who never noticed her back then but clicks with her now.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg5TE1rwpCyhbptNSNt2wyvA_RxZi7LUFSPRvcTIfXGOE3RCFwfvJB8r03eO1wKw1ppCyrNMOP5ZziQcbrzDFWk_p9bVoLiAajb6AnarG8DaGSMoG8wLnqona6yokgu5bHjozgLQbeL4j0s2l5ZHk4GeQjKhjjK1ph9dWkUZkU9syHKSZLqlNOCIjDMbrf/s1240/KimsConveniencePark2024cast.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="1240" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg5TE1rwpCyhbptNSNt2wyvA_RxZi7LUFSPRvcTIfXGOE3RCFwfvJB8r03eO1wKw1ppCyrNMOP5ZziQcbrzDFWk_p9bVoLiAajb6AnarG8DaGSMoG8wLnqona6yokgu5bHjozgLQbeL4j0s2l5ZHk4GeQjKhjjK1ph9dWkUZkU9syHKSZLqlNOCIjDMbrf/s320/KimsConveniencePark2024cast.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>This version of <i>Kim’s Convenience</i> is a bit darker than its adaptation, both in terms of character and humour: Appa’s frustrations and anger with his children have a suggestion of a violent edge to them here, and his power to spot shoplifters teeters a bit too closely to racial profiling to comfortably get laughs. While the play is essentially a celebration of immigrant parents and the sacrifices they made for their families, it’s also hard not to take Janet’s side in her frustration at her father never having thanked her for anything she did to help. The running gag about Appa misusing martial arts on family and customers gets a nicely moving payoff in this story.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz3sicER2q1TcbskvRz6w_ieU4fTzh3yqFs_M7O8vfVF0QN4MP3wnIX8JWoX9b_qYSadD6fodAw8YdAUPFj3iVuw2PyMjDVYoLyFEXEyYh0G5gsAFHLqwjK39gZeNEjVhOrYvEhbgbqaq3DpCt6q0_xrkWYqG7l6ir5EUMuH5QnO08u7dRHeeYHYxrP1AZ/s1080/KimsConveniencePark2024InsChoi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz3sicER2q1TcbskvRz6w_ieU4fTzh3yqFs_M7O8vfVF0QN4MP3wnIX8JWoX9b_qYSadD6fodAw8YdAUPFj3iVuw2PyMjDVYoLyFEXEyYh0G5gsAFHLqwjK39gZeNEjVhOrYvEhbgbqaq3DpCt6q0_xrkWYqG7l6ir5EUMuH5QnO08u7dRHeeYHYxrP1AZ/s320/KimsConveniencePark2024InsChoi.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Umma also feels underwritten; Go is great at the scenes where she communicates everything clearly to the audience despite her conversations with her husband being entirely in Korean without surtitles, but in contrast to her TV counterpart (who I love for subverting sitcom wife tropes to the extent that she does) the character has little to do other than secretly meet up with Jung. Even then, the emotional core of that story thread is in his eventual meeting with his father.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8XhuFA81b5_QjOGpF6qlpPRPNrZR84z-P-z5SzGzEdYg8_HsZzoBQVi88wCIV_xYxzS1sehsQ5IKFBhJTo42SeeVPiR4Fginzvzg7ZjOY2y8L0VMiff4LnH58XKYxPmj1OkXhbtOqrpjyl0rKvumCGY5-kKAf8dX2AGbsX35IbTD0QWiR-2Hbp_lwkdM/s940/KimsConveniencePark2024NamjuGoBrianLaw.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="940" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8XhuFA81b5_QjOGpF6qlpPRPNrZR84z-P-z5SzGzEdYg8_HsZzoBQVi88wCIV_xYxzS1sehsQ5IKFBhJTo42SeeVPiR4Fginzvzg7ZjOY2y8L0VMiff4LnH58XKYxPmj1OkXhbtOqrpjyl0rKvumCGY5-kKAf8dX2AGbsX35IbTD0QWiR-2Hbp_lwkdM/s320/KimsConveniencePark2024NamjuGoBrianLaw.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>On the other hand, what the show does well it does <b>very </b>well, not just in the light but slightly spiky comedy exchanges, but also in the genuine warm-heartedness which Esther Jun’s production really captures. As it turns out I couldn’t have been in a better combination for reviewing the show if I’d planned it that way, because while I loved the TV show and have watched every episode (it’s one of the shows I’ve got somewhere in the back of my head as potential comfort-rewatching in the future,) I went with my friend Jan who hadn’t even heard of it until seeing the blurb for this show. As a newcomer he seemed to enjoy it as much as I did, and with much the same caveats, and he might be adding the TV version to his viewing list himself.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6Y15wd_je16x_G6w2SdudWh8zlsfYz9V5GYwalgiUePZ8MgTVNC0sRniuT8BNP0cgyY7n0tzOU4cH03HArPETG2fu6_nD_nz4lzxqWEeyRnZHLGA6tn0QOZ1zNOk-NlVnHZLFJ5-sqoefVUGdlb2stZ9VKul4Z0az8zGgOqbIC3I0wC-zU6AxDr3TWzP/s940/KimsConveniencePark2024NamjuGoInsChoi.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="940" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6Y15wd_je16x_G6w2SdudWh8zlsfYz9V5GYwalgiUePZ8MgTVNC0sRniuT8BNP0cgyY7n0tzOU4cH03HArPETG2fu6_nD_nz4lzxqWEeyRnZHLGA6tn0QOZ1zNOk-NlVnHZLFJ5-sqoefVUGdlb2stZ9VKul4Z0az8zGgOqbIC3I0wC-zU6AxDr3TWzP/s320/KimsConveniencePark2024NamjuGoInsChoi.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><i>Kim’s Convenience</i> is a short play, some of whose elements feel a bit rough around the edges and unfinished – the threat of a WalMart opening across the road is the major peril at the start of the story, and has been forgotten by the end – but with a distinctive comic touch and a lot of areas ripe for expansion. And where it differs from most other plays whose promising elements you’d like to see explored more over those that don’t quite work, is that that’s exactly what has already happened. The sitcom is clearly where Choi’s eccentric, combative but loving family most comfortably found their voices, but this original appearance from them has a lot to offer as well.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><i><a href="https://parktheatre.co.uk/whats-on/kims-convenience">Kim's Convenience</a></i> by Ins Choi is booking until the 10th of February at Park Theatre 200.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Running time: 1 hour 25 minutes straight through.</div><div><br /></div><div>Photo credit: Mark Douet.</div><div><br /></div><div>*turns out Jung's shirt doesn't keep falling off in the original play, guess that was something that got added after Liu's casting for some reason</div>nick730http://www.blogger.com/profile/17790671846484940609noreply@blogger.com0