THE TINDERBOX

THE TINDERBOX
at the Charing Cross Theatre

15.12.2015

for The Reviews Hub




Above our heads, trains rumble to the southern suburbs. And on the compact Charing Cross stage, beyond the footlights, giant untitled tomes, which double inventively as doors and windows, with more books, pop-up this time, for the tree-tops.
Mandy Holliday's take on The Tinderbox is some distance removed from Hans Christian Andersen, though we do have the three dogs, and the cast, in narrator mode, sport seasonal Scandi pullis. 
Chief delight of the 70-minute production is the use of music – all carefully listed in the glossy programme, which also has the complete story for bedtimes yet to come. Against full orchestral backing tracks, the cast – some excellent voices here – sing new words in an unashamedly operatic style. A Valkyrie Mabel, Mozart's Horn Concerto, a Strauss trio, and, for the young lovers, a wonderful vocal pas-de-deux from The Sleeping Beauty. As they step forward to the footlights, there's a moment of pure Victorian romance, easily recognizable by the theatre-goers who first sought entertainment under the arches in the 1850s.
This production – directed by Abbi Pickard Price, with choreography by Lily Hone – is full of fun, with plenty of pantomime-style interaction: He's behind you !  Oh no you're not … There's a cracked mirror, a magic apron, a chain of paper men for the chorus. The little tinder box itself is magically transported all over the stage, the attractions of the big city - “OPERA”, “BALLET”, “SHOPPING” - appear in lights on the spines of the books. And, more randomly, a yoyo and a rubber chicken.
Mandy Holliday herself plays the Old Witch, with her tiny cauldron, plus Harry the Hound and the Wicked Queen. Samuel J Weir is Brian the Brave, dashing hero, flirting with the audience and generously sharing his gold coins. His Princess is Bridget Costello, and the Gold Dog is Ceris Hine. Everyone works hard to people the story – though we never meet Prince Wobblebottom from the Kingdom of Chaos; there are charming puppets, too, a minimalist horse, a slender ballerina, and the dogs are cleverly imagined.
The transformation is brilliantly if simply done; elsewhere the magic is spread a little thin. But young theatre-goers – too tiny perhaps for a full-blown panto – will appreciate the shouting and the silliness, whilst for the mums, grand-parents and au pairs, there's some lovely singing to proper classical tunes, and a vague memory of a fairy tale from childhood.

LONG STORY SHORT

LONG STORY SHORT

Squint at Charing Cross Theatre

18.09.2014

for The Public Reviews

How do we choose to consume the news ? This timely piece suggests some answers, raises many questions and keeps its audience intrigued for a tense 90 minutes.

“We theatricalise the state of our mediatised lives ...” There are moments near the beginning, when News Editor Neil is getting a Twitter roasting, when it looks as though the tone might be as clunky and didactic as that unfairly decontextualised soundbite from author/director Andrew Whyment. #literally. But dramatic instincts kick in, and the intriguing structure of the story carries the “debate-sparker” effortlessly to its gripping conclusion.

It's a play for the now generation, most likely to set its news agenda by what is trending. Whyment, and his company Squint, working with young playwrights and a young cast in “topical, contemporary ensemble-driven theatre”.

The visual style is familiar. Is Curious Incident a sub-genre now, like French Farce ? In the narrow perspective of the Charing Cross, a harshly-lit rectangular acting area is surrounded on three sides by seats for the actors, with a rack of costumes just visible. Roadie cases stand in for much of the furniture. Physical set-pieces include planes, trains and the tube; there's a newsroom ballet, another with suitcases, even pretty much a production number with umbrellas [“Bad Moon Rising”].

Difficult to discuss the plot development without giving away too many twists. #spoilers. It involves three soldiers, missing in Helmand, an unnamed “Royal Prince”, a clearly named Australian media mogul arriving in the UK to bid for the News of the World, a scoop born on Twitter, a fictional tv newsroom and an audacious show-and-tell revenge. Central to all this is Jamie, the squaddie's naïve but canny younger brother, brilliantly played by Cole Edwards. Far from being condemned to the regulation fifteen minutes of Facebook fame, he turns out to be the future, too …

There is clever cutting between the two plot-lines: a nice five minutes of confusion on the airport concourse where Sam Jenkins-Shaw, playing two characters decades apart, is hassled by Jamie and unwittingly takes Rupert's luggage. And the young story-teller heading on BOAC to Fleet Street tells a nervous Mary about a plane-crash as the transparent fish-tank NSC studio goes into meltdown. Our credulity is tested from time to time – the sister of another soldier has no access to news for three days [no broadband] – but the frozen moment of live television is a triumph of meaningful theatricality.

Palpable energy from the ensemble of eight as the plot unravels, priorities are changed, damage is controlled. Tom Gordon is Neil, most hated man in Britain, and Kevin Phelan compelling as “Red”, arriving in 60s Britain with a mission to change the way the news is delivered.

Long Story Short makes no judgements about the changes the years between have brought. Should we be grateful or fearful that the news is consumer-driven, that the fast always beats the slow, that the preferred medium of the future is the blogosphere, seemingly unaware of the difference between reality tv and real events ? A democracy of dunces ? #public interest

this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews