THE DOG IN THE MANGER

CTW at the Old Court

28.07.10

Lope de Vega's classic El perro del Hortelano, cleverly Englished by David Johnston, was an Iberian blockbuster to end the season for Chelmsford Theatre Workshop. Sangria and Spanish guitar in the foyer, and a great play in the airless auditorium.

Vega was Shakespeare's contemporary, [this play dates from 1613, the year after The Tempest] and the similarities go way beyond the staging – two side doors, a wide door centre stage, arras windows and a broad arena. So we had a child long lost at sea, soliloquies and various adventures on the bumpy course of true love. And some tender, poetical moments amongst the gags and the grotesque characters.

Christine Davidson's talented cast included an agile and wily gracioso from Barry Taylor, Kat Tokely as the Countess who “desires a man beneath her”, Ruth Cramphorn as her Marcela, and Dean Hempstead as the hapless secretary with whose affections she toys.

Memorable turns, too, from Ivor Jeavons as the doddery dupe Ludovico, and Jeremy Battersby and Mark Preston as two unsuitable suitors.

Jim Hutchon was at the first night for the Chelmsford Weekly News:

Christine Davidson’s very classy production of this translated Spanish farce is an absolute gem, with intrigue, betrayal and a truly comic narrative full of twists and turns. It follows the fortunes of a 17^thCentury Princess Diana – as wilful as her 20^thCentury counterpart – who fancies her secretary and won’t let him free to marry his love.

Kat Tokely is the princess, and shows an extraordinary versatility in switching moods fleetingly between love, anger and haughtiness. Her secretary, Dean Hempstead, who has a quiet sense of comic timing, is equally adept at carelessly switching his affections between Marcela (Ruth Cramphorn as a confused and hurt lady-in-waiting) and the princess, who he sees as the ultimate prize.

Two of Diana’s other suitors, the super arrogant OTT Ricardo with the outrageous cod pieces (Jeremy Battersby) and the ever-funny and sad Federico (Mark Preston) were a pairing made in heaven. Key comic plaudits must go to Barry Taylor as Tristan, whom I have rarely seen in more spectacular form, ranging from the impecunious servant, to bloodthirsty assassin, to Greek trader with the improbable name of Stavros Kebabs. There are too many other excellent small cameos to mention, but the whole talented and disciplined cast never put a foot wrong.

The costumes in this feast for the eyes were immaculately produced by Tony Brett, with painstaking attention to accurate detail – even down to the most lowly of servants.

If you don’t go to see anything else this year, don’t miss this one, it is an evening to remember. It is on from 28^th - 31^st July. Box Office 01245 606505.

DANTON'S DEATH

National Theatre at the Olivier

24.07.10

Christopher Oram's design puts us in a vaguely public space, tall, austere, classical, but just a facade, as we see from the stout wooden supports behind.

Brenton's abbreviation means no interval, and no mob either, just the power of words as classical revolutionaries are pitted against the romantic guillotine in the “blood-soaked Eden” of the Terror, the statue of Freedom not yet cast.

His text is rich, well served by Toby Stephens' dictatorial Danton and Elliot Levey's diminutive, menacing, incorruptible Robespierre. Alec Newman's ranting St Just memorable, too.

I liked the way the action froze and then jumped from the public to the domestic and back again; the final scene, with the severed heads hitting the basket at an industrial rate, is rightly celebrated, but it would be mere guignol without the merciless dissection of radicalism leading up to it.

THE TEMPEST

The Lord Chamberlain's Men at Hylands House
15.07.10

They stole their name, and their playtexts, from Shakespeare's own troupe, but they tap into a much older tradition: the travelling players who would set up a trestle stage and perform wherever they could count on an audience.

This autumnal piece began with “Neptune's Raging Fury” and other songs of the sea, shifting straight into a busy storm, nicely suggested by three ropes and a handbell.

Not much by way of staging; a scrap of playhouse, with an alcove, a balcony and a trapdoor. Not much subtlety vocally, either, in the struggle to make the words carry over “another storm brewing”.

But the rough magick of Prospero's Island survived, thanks to the manic Ariel of Craig Gordon – no “harmless fairy” he, never still, controlling the mortals with his dark charms, his concertina and his ethereal singing. Similarly garbed, Kristian Philips made a strong Caliban. Their bearded but youthful Prospero was Matt Bannister, who bade a grumpy farewell to his powers.

The comedy was excellent, especially from William Reay's drunken Geordie Butler, with much fun with the gaberdine and the fripperies.

This no-frills, seven-man, two-hour Tempest was directed for The Chamberlain's Men by Andrew Normington.

I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE

Brentwood Operatic Society at the Brentwood Theatre

14.07.10

“It's Seinfeld set to music”, raved the New York Times. This cult off-Broadway show is a revue, really, loosely linked sketches with songs, done in a simple chamber style. More so in the original, which has just four actors.

The theme is the thorny jungle of relationships. From first date through marriage to weary resignation. Brentwood fielded a dozen of its best singer/actors for this enjoyable show, and most of the numbers hit home - I especially enjoyed the speed-dating Justin Cartledge and Lisa Hall, the desperate parents Graham Greenaway and Jan Elliot, Gary Ball regressing into baby babble, Ruth Downie making an all-too-honest dating video, and Michael Toft settling for Stephanie Norman in the catchy I Can Live With That, with echoes of Making Whoopee.

There's no shortage of wit and wisdom, Single Man Drought and the sexless Marriage Tango spring to mind, but Sondheim it ain't, lyrically or musically; Scared Straight and Wedding Vows made a plodding climax to Act One, and I found myself longing for Not Getting Married from Company.

ILYYPNC was directed for BOS by Martyn Harrison, with Margaret Kiel overseeing the move onto the Brentwood stage. Adrian Ure, leading a hard-working trio from the piano, was Musical Director.

Michael Gray

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WILLIAM BYRD MEMORIAL CONCERT

The Stondon Singers at Stondon Massey

06.07.10

For their annual homage to William Byrd, in his own parish church, the Stondon Singers chose three of his sacred works, including a lustrous, polished Plorans Ploravit, and three muscular madrigals.
The instrumental group Burntwood Musique – who turned out to be a recorder consort – chose dances that Byrd wrote for his friend and fellow Catholic, William Petre, his Pavan and Galliard. These lively pieces punctuated the main work of the evening, Monteverdi's Missa in Illo Tempore, complete with its substantial Credo. It began with a bright, positive Kyrie, and included a beautifully textured Benedictus.

The sound was glorious, a balanced, harmonious whole. Though I did wonder how his music would have sounded four hundred years ago within these same walls ...

The Stondon Singers, directed by Christopher Tinker, ended with more recent music: James McMillan, and the American William Hawley, whose simple Reverie 'My River Runs to Thee' – setting words by Emily Dickinson – was a hugely effective choice for this tranquil rural setting. Then El Grillo by Josquin des Prez, and a more contemporary Spanish text, the Argentinian Tango El Ultimo Café.