ALADDIN

ALADDIN

Pantoloons at the Braintree Arts Theatre

18.01.14

“Let's go home now, Olivia ...”

Well it was 4.45, and Olivia and her friends had several toddlers in tow.

What with a late start and the raffle, this panto ran close to three hours, a long time for tinies, even in the comparative comfort of Braintree Arts Theatre.

But young and old who stayed to the end enjoyed an old-fashioned community pantomime from this passionate company who've just celebrated thirty years on the boards.

For this, their fourth Aladdin, they've gone back to the original story, though there are of course topical quips, anachronisms and a stereotypical Scotsman, his impenetrable accent moderated by an ingenious Jock-ometer.

This character is beautifully played by Phil Osborn, founder member of the group, who's also written and directed the show, and painted the colourful set [a lovely giant clothes horse with fluorescent washing].

His script is studded with witty touches: the baddie, masquerading as Uncle Erasmus, is Graham Abanazer, with his wife Barbara, the Genies are streetwise, the Emperor [Liam Lawless] is named Penn Kwin.

Dan Winnington is an imposing ice-cream-loving evil genius [“Wicked Abanazer to you”] - his finest hour comes with the punning prop lamps; his terms of endearment for Mrs Abanazer [Jo Speed], though varied and inventive, need selling harder. Michelle Jesse is in the Ring, the East-Endery geezer Genie of the Lamp is Graeme Aldred.

Not one but two double acts – policemen Wiff and Waff [Nycckie Lowden and Emily Smith] and the likeable Hansel-and-Gretelish Hanky and Panky of Sue Stedman and Hana Younger.

Craig Douglas makes a cheeky, laddish Widow Twanky, gloriously bejazzled in purple – his Wishee Washee is Nic Hammond.

The two young lovers are fetchingly played by Rebecca Tyler and Clare Ryan. Clare manages to be both sexily elegant and a convincingly sulky, slothful teen – an ideal Principal Boy. Their Can't Buy Me Love duet, and their shared sandwich, a highlight of the show.

Loads of good musical ideas, from the bright opening chorus to the final Walk Down. The Marketplace number is excellent, although, as often, the unmiked chorus struggle to be heard over The Pitz [the three-piece band under MD Matthew Speed]. Some smart choreography, too [Emma Loring], especially the dancing finger lights.

Plenty of pyrotechnics, kiddie karaoke, hisses, boos and aahs, ice cream and cupcakes at half-time. But maybe a little too generous with the dialogue and the songs – most professional pantos are much shorter nowadays ...

INSPECTOR NORSE

INSPECTOR NORSE

LipService at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester

16.01.14

Ah yes, Scandinavia. Northern Lights, Abba, Nordic Walking, Ikea, and, currently, Nordic Noir murder mysteries.

They're all here in LipService's gloriously silly “self-assembly Swedish Crime Thriller”, performed by comedy duo Sue Ryding and Maggie Fox. Just one of their dozen or more loosely literary spoofs.

Audience participation - “meaningful engagement” - is an integral part of what they do. For Desperate to be Doris local community choirs will do the backing vocals for Doris Day's greatest hits. And for Inspector Norse, we made Blue Peterish sparklers for Walpurgisnacht, made all the noises for the fireworks and attached leaves to the tree on the set.

More dedicated supporters had been hard at work knitting props and scenery for the show, including moggies, mugs, a coffee pot, and, yes, the coffee too. Not to mention road kill, body parts for the autopsy and the Aurora Borealis.

The set also boasts a lovely [remaindered] pop-up book for the scene changes, and giant knitting needles.

Against this backdrop, an unlikely story involving pop sensations Fabba, Inspector Larsson in her rustic Nordic knitwear, a toyboy in a hot tub and a pair of feckless moose, off their faces on rotten apples.

More than once I was reminded of the Goon Show, especially when crispbread did the sound effects for footsteps in the snow, a beaker of water for the voice on the phone.

A strangely innocent, constantly enjoyable show, with plenty of laughs and the odd groan. It's coming to the Civic, Chelmsford on April 3 – if you've never seen LipService – firm favourites in fringe venues all over the UK – then do yourself a favour and sample this hilarious nonsense from the frozen North.

THE DUCHESS OF MALFI

THE DUCHESS OF MALFI

Shakespeare's Globe in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

09.01.14

Over the past twenty years, scholars, practitioners and audiences have been exploring Shakespearean staging in the Globe restored to Bankside.

Now, at last, we can begin to do the same for the pieces that were written to be performed indoors.

Not on the Globe site, back then, but at Blackfriars over the river. But this intimate space has always been a part of the New Globe Walk site, and now, as the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, it's been sumptuously fitted out for its opening season.

John Webster's dark, violent Duchess of Malfi was originally performed both “privately” at Blackfriars, and “publicly” on Bankside. In many ways it is an ideal choice to start the season.

And it is a thrillingly unique experience.

The intimate auditorium still has the aroma of new wood around it. To modern eyes it seems dark, almost gloomy, though light glints off gold leaf. The beeswax candles in the six chandeliers are lit as the drama begins; they are raised and lowered to suit the scene. Our actors also have portable candle-holders, lighting faces fitfully, focussing our attention. No green running-man emergency lights here; the opening of Act Four, with the Duchess confined to her prison, is in pitch black – very effective.

Those same modern eyes will miss finding the mind's construction in the face.

David Dawson's riveting Ferdinand is outstanding – superbly adept at using his voice and his body language to engage with the audience without seeming to strive for any effect. Rather as Mark Rylance has done in the main house next door. An intelligent, eloquent performance.

His duchess is the excellent Gemma Arterton – a wonderful Rosaline for the Globe a few years ago. She too enthrals the galleries – artfully seducing her steward [Alex Waldmann], calmly meeting her violent end.

Globe stalwart James Garnon is the other evil brother, and there's a psychologically complex, rounded performance from Sean Gilder as the cynical henchman Bosola.

Webster weaves a bloody tale of murder, corruption and revenge. But, this being the Globe, and Dominic Dromgoole, there is plenty of [mostly blackish] humour.

Excellent music, too, from the shadows of the gallery – Claire van Kampen the composer, with Tom Foster leading his band of four from the keyboard.

After the eerie jig, this first ever paying audience in the SWP went wild for the brave players who learned new techniques to bring an old masterpiece to candlelit life in this brand new space. It will be the first of many revelations, I'm sure, as the Globe embarks on its third decade.

THE LIGHT PRINCESS

THE LIGHT PRINCESS

National Theatre at the Lyttleton

08.01.14

The nearest the National will get to a panto, I guess. A fairytale with magic and music, beautifully staged by Marianne Elliott.

It tells the story of two warring nations, separated by a wilderness. In each, a motherless heir to the throne. Stage left, in Sealand, solemn Prince Digby, stage right, in the kingdom of Lagobel, Althea, the Princess of the title, She is doubly light, both frivolous and weightless, afflicted both by levity and levitation, unable to weep for her mother's death,

Theatrical traditions are honoured. There is a lovely picturebook front cloth map, boards for the floor, boxes-cum-balconies either side, The prologue, shared between Althea's friend Piper and Digby's brother Llewellyn, is sumptuously illustrated in ombres chinoises back-projection.

Not all the design is as impressive; the lake at the end of Act One, where the lovers seem to drown in billows of white silk, is gorgeous. The Act Two lake, with its garish lilies and fornicating frogs, seems straight out of Disney.

There is puppetry, now a traditional too – scary monsters and soaring birds, including the beautiful Zephyrus, Digby's faithful hawk. Most memorable is the floating [not flying, she insists] which contrasts Althea's lightness with Digby's gravity. Rosalie Craig, supported by a team of acrobats as well as wires, gives an amazing performance, singing as she floats and gyrates above the stage.

Outstanding amongst the rest is Clive Rowe's King Darius, singing superbly [a fine duet with Amy Booth-Steel's Piper].

The story is a fable, muddied a little by modern concerns – Althea is both drugged and force-fed in an attempt to cure her lightness, and her happy-ever-after includes a degree in Marine Biology. The show, despite rewrites, is still far too long, especially for a young audience.

But the weakest element by far, sadly, must be the words and music of Tori Amos. The score demands much of the actors – on a par with Les Mis for its sub-operatic idiom and open-note crescendos. Alas, there is not one memorable, or even enjoyable, tune. All the numbers end up sounding much the same, and the words, when they are audible, are banal to the point of bathos. “H2O” repeatedly used for water …

It's heresy to say so, but having brought together some of the National's finest creatives to stage the show, it's a shame they couldn't get someone who understands the genre to pen the piece.

CHARITY NEW YEAR CONCERT

CHARITY NEW YEAR CONCERT

Essex Young People's Orchestra in Chelmsford Cathedral

01.01.14

Home in the city of Chelmsford this New Year holiday, I took the opportunity of going to the Chelmer Bridge Rotary Club's Concert, raising money this year for the Broomfield Hospital Burns Unit.

The impressive forces of the Essex Young People's Orchestra, leader Anna Penn, tackled a generous programme: the meat was in the first half, with early Nielsen – the Symphonic Rhapsody, played with stirring orchestral sweep and some fine detail in the woodwind – and Schubert's Unfinished – confident work from the lower strings, and a pleasingly determined impetus in the second movement, encouraged by Matthew Andrews' eloquent baton.

After the interval, the lollipops – seasonal favourites kicking off with Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel Overture - “junior Wagner”, as Andrews playfully described it – and including a thrilling Montagues and Capulets from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, featuring excellent work from brass and percussion, and, in the most successful performance of the evening, the tender Berceuse and the raw, passionate Finale from Stravinsky's Firebird. A beautifully controlled performance.

Just like Barenboim in Vienna just hours earlier, they sent their audience home happy with those traditional New Year encores, the Blue Danube and the Radetsky March. An opportunity for the audience to clap along to Strauss, and for the youngsters to show off in a final up-to-speed reprise.