THE BIBLE

the complete KJV at Shakespeare's Globe

17.04.09

The Word is God, according to Shakespeare's Globe, who have themed their 2011 season [loosely] around the 400^th birthday of the King James Bible.

In fact, there was a foretaste last year, with the smash hit Anne Boleyn [a new play from Howard Brenton], which is returning for a longer run this year.

And to kick things off officially, an ambitious recital of the whole sacred text, using a company of twenty actors [an eclectic band, including some Globe 'stars'] and a system known as Recorded Delivery, which enables the performers to recite with an iPhone instead of clutching a book.

Palm Sunday saw a good house, even at 10 in the morning, for Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy; the marathon reaches Revelation on the evening of Easter Monday.

Directed by Jacqueline Somerville, it proved an absorbing, often moving insight into words both familiar and unfamiliar – the brisk pace, and the variety of voices and approaches to the text shone new light onto the words of King James's committee of translators.

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW

Cut to the Chase at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch

19 April 2011

till April 30

for The Public Reviews

Back in the Saddle Again ! The old Gene Autry number heralds this rollicking re-working of Shakespeare. It's from Cut to the Chase, Hornchurch's blissfully talented resident repertory company of actor musicians.

But this is not really a musical in the sense that their 'Anything Goes' Twelfth Night was – the characters in the Shrew don't burst into song; instead, the old cowboy canon made famous by Autry and Roy Rogers – Silver Haired Daddy, Wedding Bells, Band of Gold - is used to comment on the action, and to give us in the audience a breather from the bard in broad American brogue. An evocative walking bass, a pair of coconut shells, and here they are, in eyepatch, false beard and Davey Crockett raccoon hat, with another fond memory of those days when men were men and women were grateful.

And that's an excellent reason for transplanting Padua to the Wild West. No-one expects these cowboys to espouse women's rights, so Kate's awkward submission is placed in a safe, familiar context.

It's enormous fun, too, of course, in Bob Carlton's inspired adaptation. We start in a local fleapit, with forthcoming attractions plus Pearl and Dean. Stock characters populate the little Texas town, with its Main Street lovingly recreated in Norman Coates's design. Biondello is a lazy Mexican, hilariously done by Greg Last, Jared Ashe's Gremio is the undertaker, Simon Jessop's Baptista is the bartender. Tom Jude's Tranio was a joy – back on the fiddle again – with an accent you could cut with a knife.

Queen's favourite Natasha Moore has two improbable roles: Hortensio's merry Widow [a burlesque dancer in this version] and a redskin Indian boy Grumio.

Elliot Harper, in a barnstorming and really quite Shakespearean performance, even in his pink combinations, makes the most of Petruchio, the loner who rides into town and tames Claire Storey's Calamity Kate; her demure sister Bianca was anything but bland in Sarah Scowen's attractive characterization.

The two hours fly by, with loads of inventive moments, from the arrival of the stage coach to the ride off into the sunset. I liked the nod to Blazing Saddles, the drunken bridegroom, the teepee honeymoon, the saloon bar crowd spilling out onto the verandah to watch the wooing.

“Willy the Kid” looking on from his Wanted poster on the jailhouse wall, is surely used by now to later hands “improving” his early comedy. There've been sequels, an opera, countless films both silent and musical, television from Heston to Cleese, and of course Kiss Me Kate. But this Spaghetti Western re-vamp is a witty, worthy addition to the list, and a pretty painless way into the world of Shakespeare. “Being a winner, God give you good night !”


photo by Nobby Clark

this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews

WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND

Chelmsford Young Generation at the Cramphorn Theatre

14.04.11

The simple spirituality of Whistle Down The Wind seems closer to the Middle Ages than to our cynical, secular times. CYGAMS' moving production caught the era nicely, with attention to set-dressing detail, and some near-perfect performances.

Chiefly from the children, the “disciples” who trustingly accept a fugitive as their Saviour. Kathryn Peacock as Cathy, Monique Crisell as her sister Nan and Jack Toland as their cheeky little brother, all convinced us that they were raised in 50s Lancashire, and found a focused emotional energy that made their strange story unbelievably poignant. All the village children were well, and individually, characterized – a special mention to Jackson Buckler's wacky David Edwards.

The youngsters playing the grown-ups had a harder task, perhaps. I liked Sophie Walker's unworldly Miss Lodge, Alex Hilton's unchristian vicar and Sam Toland's bluff Dad. The enigmatic Man, who has the near impossible job of suggesting both Murderer and Messiah, was Luke Higgins, whose haunted, hurt look was just right – he shared the role with Bart Lambert.

The music, by Richard Taylor, makes huge demands on the young singers, but significantly enhances the mood of mystery and suspense. Excellently sung here by principals and chorus, with the score reduced to a couple of keyboards.

The ingenious set, though hard to shift, successfully suggested the spartan farm, and the ending – empty tomb rather than ignominious arrest – was effectively managed. I admired the clever programme design, too.

Whistle Down The Wind was directed by Ray Jeffery, with Bryan Cass the Musical Director.

Photograph by Christopher Yorke-Edwards

HAMLET

Brentwood Shakespeare Company at the Brentwood Theatre

15.04.11

A clearly delivered, tightly plotted Hamlet from Brentwood Shakespeare, with Lionel Bishop's almost aggressively brooding Prince at its centre. The clouds still hung over him; only his livelier mania after the interval brought relief from resentful sorrow. But it was a beautifully spoken, thoughtful interpretation – like Alan Ablewhite's prolix Polonius, he made effective use of asides to draw us into the intrigue.

A strong cast brought a wealth of experience to their roles. Sydney Hill's Claudius could easily have walked in from one of Wolfit's tours: a rich, old-school interpretation. By contrast, Beth Smith's earnest blue-stocking Ophelia was moving in her madness, all mud and feathers. The Gravediggers, who survived the cuts better than most, were brilliantly done by Ablewhite [again] and the inimitable Brian Terry. Rosencrantz worked surprisingly well as a woman, thanks to Hayley Joanne Bacon's feisty performance. And Alec Clements' apprentice Osric was very promising.

The staging was confident and dramatically meaningful from the first revelation of the red hangings to the final 'resurrection'. I was less sure about the colour-coded “timeless” costumes – to me they smacked of 1950s science fiction.

But Glenda Abbott's polished, fast-paced production successfully brought Shakespeare's finest tragedy to vivid life, pleasing both Bardolators and beginners.

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE

Mercury Theatre Company at the Mercury Theatre Colchester

16.04.11
until April 30

for The Public Reviews

The Mercury continue their exploration of the Miller canon with this powerful 1950s drama set in the poor immigrant community huddled round the “gullet of New York”.

Men of Sicilian stock struggle to survive; illegal immigrants are lodged in already crowded apartments. They live in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, and its verses are illuminated as part of Michael Vale's inspired set design. From the perspective of the bridge, their world is insignificant, but the playwright, and his lawyer Chorus, take us into their world, with its links to an ancient past, and its grubby tragedies.

We see the stage stripped back to black. Black girders, black chainlink fencing, and a string of domestic interiors – chintz, leatherette, lampshades with tassels. Neighbours go about their lives, their interest occasionally stirred by an argument, a song; they finally emerge when the cops drag the cousins away.

Roger Delves-Broughton was our guide; modest, not without humour, he waits for the tragedy to unfold, powerless to intervene.

Eddie Carbone, longshoreman, who never expected a destiny, was played with palpable intensity by Tim Treslove. He is a possessive guardian to his wife's niece – their quiet lives are troubled by the arrival of the boys from Sicily: macho, hard-working Marco [Lucian Dodero], and Rodolpho, blond, musical, and “not right” in Eddie's eyes. A touching performance by Pete Ashmore, as he wooed the young Catherine, given a truthful, moving characterization by Ella Vale. Gina Isaac was Eddie's wife, down-trodden and frustrated.

Ten actors peopled the apartments and the streets, in a defiantly perfectionist move which is typical of the Mercury's production values.

Janice Dunn's impeccable production successfully evoked the passionate, fast-talking world of these immigrants with their roots in the Mediterranean. The atmospheres, the tensions were almost unbearable at times, and she made the most of the set-pieces like the dancing, the boxing, the messy arrest, the show of strength that ends Act One.

The ending, when it comes, is as powerful as anything in Shakespeare, and leaves us pondering the timeless emotions, the human frailty that cost Carbone his life.


photograph by Robert Day

this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews