Tag: theatre

Posted on

Review: THIS ISLAND’S MINE

THIS ISLAND’S MINE at Kings Head Theatre until June 8th, details here

IN BRIEF Ambitious production of epic multi-strand drama whose breadth restricts its depth, but maximised by hard-working cast and direction.

First things first – it’s refreshing to see a play about gay people that includes both men and women. And how interesting that to find this mix we have to thank this play from 1988, now receiving a loving revival (its first ever) from Ardent Theatre and director/designer Philip Wilson.

There is a lot packed into its 105 mins running time (straight through). Teenage Luke runs away from his family to stay with his gay uncle Martin; a lesbian couple have trouble with their young son and jealousy; an actor and chef experience turbulence in their relationship. All face pressure of prejudice upon them involving sexuality/ race/ sex. Meanwhile, Martin’s old landlady reflects on her life and the prejudice she has seen, while caring for her elderly cat.

The play follows them all episodically as their stories intertwine and create a fast-paced narrative that uncovers many unexpected links. There is a lot within its pages- humour, tenderness, longing, sadness, awakenings, which contribute to a well-told story threaded through with humanity.

However, the play’s inclusivity in terms of characters and storylines comes at the cost of depth. This limits the audience’s connections with the characters, which is a pity as when the writing slows down and gives itself room to breathe, it is a delight to listen to Osment’s lyrical language, and as such these moments catch you by surprise and cause a reassessment of the play.

A lot of Osment’s script involves the characters breaking the fourth wall, explaining the narrative, locations, feelings and situations. This moving in and out of character, combined with the fact that the actors double -or mostly triple -up on roles played, mean that the play can feel very fragmented. This can create distance for an audience, however I must say that the audience I was with were concentrating from start to finish, which is a tribute to director Wilson’s carefully thought out approach and the energy of the cast.

What marks out this production is the clarity with which the director has presented the many strands of story in what could otherwise have felt like a very tangled text. The production is also ambitious technically, with an attractive, simple yet flexible set design which works well within the many confines of the Kings Head Theatre.  Rachel E Cleary’s sophisticated lighting design works stylishly, and the evocative soundscape by Dinah Mullen brings a welcome texture to the variety of environments created.

Pleasingly cyclic, the play ends as it starts, with teenage Luke on his home ground, just a little older, a bit wiser and a little more hopeful. THIS ISLAND’S MINE is an endearing tapestry of outsider stories, effectively woven by director Wilson and enacted by a tight ensemble cast that work hard (ditto the props and costume teams) to bring the multitude of characters to distinctive life. And as a reminder of how things have changed- or haven’t- this is a valuable wake-up call that we still have to fight those old battles every day.

THIS ISLAND’S MINE runs at the Kings’s Head Theatre, London, until June 8th. Details and tickets here

Posted on

Theatre FootNotes for May 2019 – a brief summary of other theatre events in my diary

DEATH OF A SALESMAN at The Young Vic

This was always going to be a big event, so my opinions are small beer to the attendant PR tsunami. I saw this show at the first preview, another reason not to formally criticise or rate before Press Night. However, just briefly, this was already in tip-top shape from the start. Elliott and Cromwell’s idea of making the Lomans African American (which has been done before) was interesting but perhaps not quite as ground-breaking as some might have expected. Having said that, the entire cast give studied, committed performances, the standout for me being Sharon D Clarke as Linda Loman, her grinding quiet hopefulness weighted by years of neglect and disappointment, given outlet through her religious/spiritual singing. The use of music was interesting but not again quite as revelatory as one might have been built up to expect from this director team. Running time was spot on first time, with the high standard of professionalism one has come to expect from this team. Impossible to give it less than four stars.

THE FIRM at Hampstead Downstairs

Roy Williams’ play has much to say that is significant and timely. A gang of villains – the Firm of the title – meet up again over a decade after their last job, and time has changed them all significantly. “We’re not the Firm anymore…more like the Infirm” quips one character bitterly in probably the best joke in the show. The various arguments and revelations as they wait for a fifth member who never appears, highlights the long-term damage done by absent fathers, broken families and the threat of gang culture which seems so smoothly to be replacing the family unit. All this is terribly important in our country today, and the themes that Williams explores are vital and engaging and he is no doubt sincere. However, the swaggering, homophobic, loud and violent men-children characters who populate this play make it hard, if not impossible, to care about these people. For me, frustrating. The play, which ran 90 minutes straight through, had a stylish “bar” set from designer Alex Marker.

DON’T LOOK AWAY at The Pleasance Downstairs

An obviously well-meaning and earnest play about an asylum seeker gets sidelined and ultimately, sunk, by too much plot, including domestic drama and unnecessary distractions in this 90 minute play from NOVAE Theatre, a new sister company to the brilliant Idle Motion. The gritty reality of the subject isn’t really aided by some inter-scene expressive movement work which tries to explore the tension between the characters but feels a bit out of place. The piece didn’t add up and left this viewer somewhat confused and dissatisfied with a very double-edged ending, although there was some good acting by Julia Barrie as the cleaning lady.

Venue Note This venue is not audience- (or actor-) friendly. Five minutes of the play were drowned out by a motorbike revving-competition immediately outside the un-soundproofed doors of the studio, the rest of the running time underscored by singing and shouting from the drinkers in the bar next door, which made it impossible to concentrate on the play. Top marks here to the actors for not being fazed by this unacceptable distraction, which was hugely disrespectful to the performers. If you ever see a show advertised in the Pleasance Downstairs Studio, please think twice before booking!

Posted on

Review: THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

IN BRIEF Fitzgerald’s regression story given sincere and intriguing folk interpretation by musically talented cast, but runs too long.

The story of the man who is born old and lives backwards, dying a baby has been told several times before, by different authors, but Fitzgerald’s has seen the most light of day. Taking the barest skeleton of the story, this production uproots the tale from its Baltimore setting and reimagines it as a kind of West Country folk tale, with Celtic-inspired music, which works pretty well albeit rather over- “atmosphere”-d for my taste (the dry ice sticks in your throat for hours!).

We enter to fog on an atmospherically lit harbourside. A decked platform serves as the performance space, with a piano and drum kit at the rear. The cast of five performers are all good singers as well as skilled musicians whose talents suit the string-emphasised score by Darren Clark.

The music has variety of tone – by turns rousing, lilting and passionate – generally very pleasing to the ear, but for me the numbers all started to blend into each other, and for me there were no themes I took away once out of the auditorium. I remembered to write down a note about the lovely song Time, which like others in the score, is punctuated and fractured by dialogue which was disappointing as it reduced the enjoyment of the undoubted skill of the songwriter.

Schonlatern’s deceptively simple staging (and lighting design) is thoughtful and inventive, the traps in the stage also used to clever ends. Puppetry was simple but reasonably effective, but I liked the idea of the puppets being made from discarded items which could have washed up on the coastline.

The first act is slowly paced, and goes on for at least 15 minutes too long; the second half, being shorter, is more effective in every way, with the death of the wife being undoubtedly a very moving piece of theatre, although the actual end of the show rather petered out for me.

The book is generally leisurely-paced, however the way that the narrative keeps hammering home tiny facts and micro-details about time and events for me eventually became annoying and ended up turning me off. To compare to another recent show, AMELIE used this narrative device also, but they just spotted it through the show, whereas this piece over-labours the points and becomes over-stylised.

It’s All Just A Matter of Time, as the cast (seemingly endlessly) hammer home to us. For me, the time went a little too slowly, but I was glad to have seem this imaginative reworking of a story made better by its new soil, given life by a dedicated cast, and an interesting and attractive score in a production invested with a lot of thought and care.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON runs at Southwark Playhouse’s Little Space until June 8th. Information and tickets here

Posted on

Review: AMḖLIE

AMELIE The Musical is touring the UK until October, details here

IN BRIEF Charming, successful stage musical reinvention of unique movie lovingly reboots audiences’ Joie de Vivre

Celebrating a hopeful yet sensitive female hero, who makes a positive difference to the world she inhabits, AMḖLIE has arrived right on time…. As you may know, AMḖLIE was first a quirky, beloved and wildly successful French film from 2001. Turning a French movie into a stage musical is trickier than defusing a bomb whilst wearing oven gloves, so all credit must go to the creative team that have brought this reworked UK tour of AMḖLIE so brilliantly to the stage.

The story: Isolated as a child by overprotective parents, Amélie creates her own fantasy world where facts are her colour and thoughts her friends. Moving to Paris in 1997, she works as a waitress, observing others and performing small acts of kindness which deliver emotional rewards. Amélie is benevolent but distanced. It is only when she sees a man, Nino, collecting discarded photo booth snaps that she feels the first pangs of love. Both Amélie and Nino have a deep interest in others whilst maintaining a distance – Nino through his second hand photos, Amélie through her telescope and anonymous acts of kindness. But Amélie comes to realise that while helping others is easy, the hardest thing is to help herself.

The key to this show is that it never loses sight of its humanity. This production never misses its footing, even in the pretty outrageous first act closer, Elton John’s (Caolan McCarthy) – funeral tribute “Goodbye Amélie” as our heroine watches Princess Diana’s funeral and imagines it her own. Along the way, tiny cast interactions remind us that a simple “Thank You”, when an ensemble member helps Améllie on to one of the higher platforms, has resonance in a quiet, non- showy or self-important way, epitomising the show’s approach.

Audrey Brisson and Danny Mac in AMELIE The Musical. Photo by Pamela Raith Photography

Both leads are perfectly cast, each with an expressive vocal elegance which is highly pleasurable. Audrey Brisson as Amélie works hard; she is rarely off-stage but is full of energy, furnishing her character with tiny bits of business, and a precision that brings this enigmatic character to life, with a powerful voice and clarity. Danny Mac as Nino is strong-voiced, passionate yet tender, his role increasing as the show develops; his big number “Thin Air” is sung with heart and style. I would have liked more from his character- but this is Amélie’s show.

With the iconic Paris Metro sign surmounting the double height Art Nouveau/Deco -inspired set, Madeleine Girling provides an interestingly detailed design, with Amélie’s “nest” far above the Paris bustle, accessed by flying.

The supporting company of performer/musicians work hard and effectively to create a busy stage environment, with much movement direction and use of props, detailed and always interesting. Singing, too, was of a very high standard, with the spotted harmony work a delight to the ear.

Just as this was a film unlike any other, so too the musical has cannily embraced this to make the stage show unique in its approach and style – to make it less of a plot and more of a mosaic of tiny scenes and actions which weave together to make an intriguing storyline flow.

The music and lyrics are similarly complex and delightful. There is an earthiness in the arrangements (brass-light but strongly percussive) that grounds the numbers and lends them believability. A recorded track brings an extra texture to the music which sweeps and washes around the action in a genuinely engaging manner.

Musically, what marks out this show as different is that it is without any major anthems or show-stoppers, creating a kind of a musical modesty suited to the story and the characters, and while that it is appropriate, the downside is that it leaves audiences lacking any takeaway songs. Ditto there was little of what one could call choreography, no dance routines as such, much more in the realm of movement direction, again complex and effective, always interesting to look at but not often what one could call dance. Lighting is also atmospheric and suitably cinematic at times. Sound balance is generally excellent, although on occasion I struggled to hear Amélie’s words over the ensemble, which was a pity as they were worth hearing.

As a modern day fairytale, this could so easily have gone wrong, fallen flat or become infected with Disneyfication, but the humanity, élan, crazy humour and occasional morbidity lend it that quintessential Frenchness which is so often attempted but so rarely achieved.

Puppetry is also well used, spotted effectively with the puppet young Amélie being particularly engaging and skilfully brought to life. On the odd occasion when the pace threatens to lag, along comes a bit of craziness – a singing goldfish, a globe-trotting gnome, animated figs(!) to lift the show and throw us off-balance in the most delightful way.

AMELIE The Musical. Photo by Pamela Raith Photography

There is so much to enjoy in this complex, bustling show that is full of life and joie de vivre, pulled together expertly by director Michael Fentiman who creates a veritable curiosity shop of a show that endlessly fascinates, thanks to a hard working cast of sixteen.

The long-awaited finale when our two lovers come face to face is teased to its absolute limit as they eventually kiss, very slowly and delicately – a gamble with an audience, doing so little for such a long moment, but here the tension was such and the concentration so intense in the theatre, that the consummation was enhanced by the dreamlike slowness of the encounter. The audience were totally rapt.

Leaving on a forward-looking ending, AMḖLIE takes audiences out of the theatre knowing that they have spent two and a half hours in a nicer and more hopeful world. I loved it – and, if you have a pulse, so will you.

AMḖLIE tours the UK until October. For tour information and tickets, use the link here