WASTE

WASTE
Nation Theatre at the Lyttleton

10.11.2015


“I'm angry . . .just angry at the waste of a good man. Look at the work undone . .. think of it! Who is to do it! Oh . . the waste . . . !”


Thus Walter Kent [Hubert Burton], secretary to Henry Trebell, as the curtain falls on Harvey Granville Barker's Waste, famously banned by the Edwardians.
Roger Michell's revival at the National is respectful and admirably acted. But the scandal and the political intrigue feel, if not irrelevant, then a little remote, the pre-occupations of another age.
Charles Edwards gives a cool, composed Trebell. He is a career politician “in love” with his parliamentary bill, seeking, a little like Wolsey, to use church property for educational ends. Olivia Williams is excellent as Amy O'Connell, with whom he flirts under a massive moon, the only glimpse of the natural world the production affords. Their ill-fated liaison drives the personal and political tragedy. Much of the “action” however, consists of gentlemen talking, notably at the start of Act Two, gathered at a round table, the only relief a kind of musical chairs. Closest to the style Barker would recognise are Michael Elwyn as the pragmatic Prime Minister Horsham and Gerrard McArthur, sporting magnificent spats, as the Catholic grandee Cantilupe. Sylvestra Le Touzel, as Henry's sister Frances, and Lucy Robinson [pictured] as Julia Farrant, give some much needed depth of feeling to the piece.
Hildegard Bechtler's sparsely furnished set, off white walls, high gloss flooring and wooden chairs and tables, uses massive screens both horizontal and vertical as scene tabs, making the epic piece as satisfying visually as it is intellectually or emotionally.

production photograph: Johan Persson

A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED

A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED
Middle Ground Theatre Company 
at the Civic Theatre Chelmsford
03.11.2015
for The Reviews Hub

A typically solid touring production from Middle Ground, Agatha Christie's A Murder Is Announced, adapted for the West End back in the 70s by Leslie Darbon. 
It boasts a splendid set, designed by the show's director Michael Lunney – the 1950s powerfully evoked with everything, even the radiogram, in dark wood.
Little Paddocks is a large Victorian villa in Chipping Cleghorn, a sleepy village in “another world, where nothing happens”. Until a bizarre small ad in the local rag announces a murder …
Fortunately, Miss Jane Marple is on hand, taking the waters at a nearby spa. So she is able to help the local constabulary find their way through a tangle of plot twists, red herrings and double bluffs.
On the opening night of this leg of a lengthy tour, Judy Cornwell was unwell, so Cara Chase, who normally plays the nosy neighbour, stepped up into the tweedy two-piece to give us her “clever old busybody”. A nicely done Marple, sharp-witted but cool and collected. She heads a large cast, who, taking their cue from the furnishings perhaps, capture that lost world beguilingly.
Diane Fletcher is excellent as the doughty Letitia Blacklock – her dry wit and grande dame manners a constant delight. Her key scene with Chase is most effectively played.
An enjoyable Craddock from Tom Butcher – world-weary but drily droll. The large cast also boasts a comically hysterical migrant servant from Lydia Piechowiak, and a confused little old lady from Sarah Thomas. There's more to Edmund, the novelist son of Julie Bevan's Mrs Swettenham, than we get from Dean Smith's underpowered performance, but the two youngsters – dressed in a style that must have been old-fashioned even in the 50s – are persuasively done by Rachel Bright and Patrick Neyman. 
The staging is stylish without being showy. The black-out and the gunshots are excellently achieved. The prostrate form before and after the interval, too. Lynette Webster's original music is tunefully atmospheric, cleverly referencing the hymn-tune chosen for the funeral of the second victim.
It's a complicated plot, with the finger of suspicion pointed at most of those present. Dresden figurines, Devon violets, a financier's will, a rope of pearls, a Swiss clinic, a sealed door and the Delicious Death birthday cake all have their part to play.
It is not, and would not claim to be, great drama. “Mildly amusing” as one character says, after the manner of a Murder Mystery party. But in this assured revival it provides theatrical pleasures by no means confined to second-guessing Miss Marple.

THE SILVER SWORD

THE SILVER SWORD

Sell a Door at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich

04.11.2015

An ingenious adaptation of Ian Serrailler's much loved classic. Four refugee children make their perilous way across a Europe torn apart by war. The Balicki children are seeking their parents; they somewhat reluctantly agree to their friend Jan tagging along.

Migrant children fleeing conflict are sadly not unknown to today's young readers. There are many explicit parallels in Susie McKenna's stage version, including a heartfelt plea for us all to shoulder some of the responsibility for the welfare of these vulnerable victims of war.

But the human, often amusing, story does not feel like an appeal or a homily. It's given its structure by a rag-tag company of strolling players, actor/musicians who feel part of a tradition much older than Europe's political borders. “There's a place beside the fire for the teller of the tale,” they sing. And the tale they decide to tell is a story of hope, a risky adventure at the end of which “the luckiest girl in Europe” does indeed find the father and mother she lost in Warsaw.

Strong performances from a mostly young cast. Rachel Young is Ruth, struggling to keep her siblings together on the journey. And Tom Mackley is outstanding as Jan, a wayward, light-fingered liability on their quest.

The many adult roles are doubled. Nathan Turner is excellent as the kindly Ivan, Jim and Joe, “the optimistic voice of the occupation”. Alexander Knox plays Adam, as well as Major Hargreaves, whose Coward-ly solo number is a delightful pastiche, leading into a trio of “plunder” quartets, in which he manages to join the ranks of the Andrews Sisters.

Princess of the Brazen Mountain is another lovely song, led by local favourite Julian Harries, who plays Joseph, the father, amongst other roles. The music, by Steven Edis, suggests the folk tradition of Poland, and flows naturally from the narrative.

Back projection of historical photographs reminds us of the real people displaced by the fighting. Music and lighting combine to give an epic, expressionistic air to key moments.

The improvisatory feel is enhanced by the objets trouvés animal puppets by Scott Brooker: Ludwig the rag rug dog, Bistro the chimp, Jimpy the kitchen utensil cockerel.

A moving production, using the rough magic of theatre and story-telling to bring a gripping yarn to new audiences, and to remind us all of the innocent victims of war. Not all of whom can share the happy ending Serrailler gives to Ruth, Edek, Jan and Bronia.

13 THE MUSICAL

13 THE MUSICAL

BOSSY at the Brentwood Theatre

07.11.15

The first musical on Broadway with an all-teen cast. And now in Brentwood, with the energetically talented BOSSY team as the kids of Dan Quayle Junior High.

Jason Robert Brown's show tells the unremarkable story of a Jewish boy approaching his Bar Mitzvah. His parents divorce; he leaves New York with his mother for Appleton Indiana, the lamest place in the world. But along the way the songs have a lot to say about the insecurities and the emotions of those teenage years.

Jonathan O'Neill is outstanding as the angsty Evan – permanently worried about being popular, confused by the pressures from those around him. He has an easy rapport with the audience, and delivers the numbers and the gags with precision and style.

Elsewhere, the singing is confident, but not always accurate, and some of the best lines are under-delivered.

Enjoyable work, though, from Dan Pugh as Archie, the boy on crutches [his duet with Evan a musical highlight], Maisie Threadgold-Smith as Patrice, shyly flirting with the new boy on the block, Francesca Green as object of desire Kendra and Lydia Abbotts as the treacherous Lucy.

Cool jock Brett is played by Adam Ellis; amongst his gang, Sam Johnson stands out as a lively, sparky Eddie.

Gaynor Wilson's production is strong on dance and movement; the setting is simple, with revolving towers suggesting the locker room, the library, the soda machine and the school bathroom, where the girls film the cat-fight on their cell-phones. The Tell Me trio is a strong concept, expressively staged; the movie theater scene and the Getting Ready number are effective too.

The trials and tribulations of the teenager are a universal theme. Jewishness less so – the chorus of rabbis for Being A Geek is interminably unfunny.

Andy Prideaux and his band provide stylish accompaniment for this enjoyable coming-of-age musical – an excellent choice for this enterprising group of youngsters.

ORPHEUS

ORPHEUS

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

30.10.2015

Rossi's Orfeo was one of the first operas to be staged in France. Like many other operatic versions, it explores the ancient myth of the musician who loves Eurydice and loses her in the Underworld.

But Orpheus's fatal backward glance is only one element in a complex plot which gives comic prominence to Eristeus, rival suitor to Eurydice. Before the tragedy of the final act there's much comic fun to be had from mortals and gods in Christopher Cowell's witty, sometimes earthy, new translation.

The intimate, candle-lit stage, despite its restrictions, sees some excellent movement and dance, as well as some stunning stage effects, all of them authentically low-tech. The wedding feast plunged into darkness, Venus flying down, the red thread spun by the Fates. Keith Warner is the inventive director.

Musically, the piece has been sidelined by Monteverdi, Gluck and others, but there is some gorgeous arioso work, as well as choruses and instrumentals – Christian Curnin and the Early Opera orchestra are up in the gallery as they were for last year's L'Ormindo. Music and drama fuse most successfully, perhaps, in Orpheus' lament, powerfully wordless at first. There's a gorgeous duet for the lovers at the end of Act One, too.

I was lucky enough to hear two Orpheuses [?Orphei]. Mary Bevan's rich tone particularly moving in the final act. For the early performances, a throat infection meant that the title role was entrusted to Siobhan Stagg, who gave an engaging performance that was remarkably polished both dramatically and vocally. The other castrato role – Aristeus – was excellently done by Caitlin Hulcup, seizing every opportunity the score and the translation offer. Both Hulcup and Bevan, in the gentle candle-light, could well pass for counterfeit counter-tenors. The boy Cupid, too, is brilliantly convincing in Keri Fuge's cheeky characterization. Louise Alder is a strong Eurydice, Sky Ingram a splendidly elegant Venus. Graeme Broadbent brings his rich bass and comedic flair to Pluto and the Satyr.

This early opera, originally twice the length, and conceived for a much bigger stage, fits well into the Jacobean jewel-case of the SWP. It is a considerable achievement to give 21^st century audiences a sense of what it might have been like to experience this experimental music drama back in 1647, and more importantly, of how gloriously enjoyable it might have been.