RING ROUND THE MOON

RING ROUND THE MOON

Writtle Cards in the Village Hall

27.06.14

“The season is immaterial.” A Wilde guess at the literary influence on Fry's English version of this French farce from the 50s. Oscar's hand in the crumbling butler [a splendid Boot Baines] and the caustic Aunt [Margaret Rutherford, once, now Liz Curley in her antique bath-chair – shades of Aunt Sedilia, Lady Dundown - “I can walk, it's just I'm so rich I don't need to...”

Anouilh's “charade with music” is given a rich revival by Writtle Cards. Daniel Curley's production, set in the Roaring Twenties, boasts gorgeous frock and a catchy score [pace Poulenc]: ragtime, tango and a classy Anything Goes finale.

Some stylish performances, too, not least Curly himself as Messerschmann, the tycoon who sees the light and shreds his fortune. An elegant Diana from Michele Moody, a charming young butterfly [Isabelle, Brigitte Bardot's role] from Laura Bradley, with Angie Gee as her gushing mother. Twin brothers Hugo and Frederic are played with relish by Neil Smith – a challenging role, assumed with assured versatility. Not everyone is as secure with their words, but there is a standout character turn from Paulette Harris as Capulet the companion – a constantly delightful, physically resourceful performance.

Fireworks, a catfight, sophisticated wit and broad comedy – a recipe for a fine evening of boulevard theatre.

and for Sardines

Not scene-stealing, exactly, but some splendidly eye-catching work from the supporting actors in this lovely revival of Jean Anouilh's social comedy.

In Daniel Curley's stylish production, we begin and end with the imposing presence of Joshua, the crumbling butler, splendidly embodied by Boot Baines, who has the manservant's fruity tones to a tee. He's taken a tape measure to the chairs in the orangerie, proprieties must be observed, but his efforts are thwarted by the invasion of jazz music and bright young things, the château’s weekend guests.

Music and movement play a key role in this piece: the ending, before Baines is left alone with his thoughts and his chairs, is a wonderful full-cast production number, a karaoke Anything Goes. Another musical highlight was the piano duet, mime and memories, from those other eye-catching characters, Paulette Harris's faded companion and Angie Gee's pushy, garrulous mother. I was only sorry that there was no outing for that catchy little number from 1931, performed by Al Bowlly amongst others, There's A Ring Around The Moon …

As a director, one cannot guarantee that everyone in the cast will be able to convince as a French socialite between the wars. What you can do, and Curley does triumphantly well here, is overlay the action with stylish touches, inspired ideas. The dancing servants, the Jealousy tango, the frozen groups of onlookers.

The costumes, too [Jan Irving] are superb, worth the seven quid ticket price alone. Isabelle, the innocent lower-middle-class dancer [protégée of Geoff Hadley's hapless lepidopterist] who's at the heart of the intrigue, played with an easy charm and palpable presence by Laura Bradley, is dressed on her first entrance in plain dove grey, with a simple rope of pearls: a stunning effect, but easily topped by the designer gown she's given to wear for her part in the web of deception …

The eligible identical twins are confidently done by Neil Smith, switching from devilish rake to lost dog with a change of boutonnière and wire-rimmed specs. He manages to give us two distinct characterizations, though I suspect more can be achieved with sleight of hand, lighting and body doubles. Good work too from Michele Moody as his fiancée, Liz Curley as the formidable aunt, bathchair-bound until the song-and-dance finale, and Louise Burtenshaw as Lady India, secretly in love with Patrice [Alex Houlton]. And of course Mr Curley himself, making the most of the melancholy millionaire who has a wonderful scene turning his back on Mammon and heading off to Krakow.

Despite a numbingly long first half – originally a three-acter, this – Writtle, and producer Nick Caton, are to be congratulated on a deliciously entertaining piece of period froth.

JULIUS CAESAR

JULIUS CAESAR

Shakespeare's Globe

23.06.2014

A first look at Dominic Dromgoole's new Caesar. You won't find a rowdier production – the Lupercalia is in full swing here, with street entertainers noisily working the piazza, and the citizenry in full cry in the yard.

All credit to the company – which includes some familiar Globe faces – for changing the mood from raucous to rapt in an instant.

This is what used to be called “original practices”, with costumes which the first audience on Bankside [1599] would recognise. Plenty of Roman touches, though, especially in the armies. The “pulpit” perhaps the one idea that looks wrong, though I can see why you wouldn't want to do all that from the balcony in front of the musicians' gallery. [Claire van Kampen's music is intriguingly exotic.]

Resourceful doubling from the cast; Will Mannering on fine form as Metellus Cimber and the unfortunate Cinna the Poet, George Irving [spoiler alert] has a slyly significant second coming, and plays a mafia boss of a Caesar, whose bloody demise [the effect enhanced by a rain-dampened forestage] provides plenty of gore for the eager hands of the young conspirators. Tom McKay as Brutus, Joe Jameson as Octavius, and Luke Thompson as Mark Anthony – excellent at rage, less successful in subtlety.

A lively, energetic look at the sharp end of political power.

THINGS TO COME - BRENTWOOD ARTS FESTIVAL

Brentwood Arts Festival 2014

An impressively ambitious programme of events in Brentwood this July to celebrate the arts and commemorate outbreak of the First World War.

Orchestral performances, art exhibitions, plays, yarn-bombing and much more is promised. Organised by the Brentwood Arts Council, the eight-day festivities run from July 5 to 12, bringing together a host of artistic groups from across the borough.

At Ingatestone Hall, there's A Midsummer Night's Dream in the open air and the Stondon Singers, who bring William Byrd back to his Catholic roots.

In the wonderful space of Brentwood Cathedral, we have Elgar And The Great War to open the Festival on July 5, and Karl Jenkins'  The Armed Man, A Mass for Peace, to close it on July 12. 

More information, and online booking, on the Festival website

http://brentwoodartsfestival.org.uk/

and you can find them on twitter, too

https://twitter.com/BwdArtsFestival

THINGS TO COME - MARILYN MONROE

The Unremarkable Death Of Marilyn Monroe

Friday 27 June 8.00pm

Cramphorn Theatre

Dyad Productions, the company that brought to the Cramphorn Studio stage Female Gothic, I, Elizabeth, The Diaries of Adam and Eve and Austen’s Women returns with The Remarkable Death of Marilyn Monroe on Friday 27 June.

August 2nd, 1962… Monroe as we’ve never seen her before: alone in her bedroom in a dressing gown and underwear; no glitz, no glamour, no masks. Overdosed on pills, the woman behind the icon unravels her remarkable life and travels back through the memories of her closest relationships. Repeatedly stalked by a mysterious caller, the Hollywood icon tells all (Joe DiMaggio, Clark Gable, Arthur Miller, her mother – it’s all here), revealing a biting intelligence and an imperfect body, and leads us in real time to the very moment of her death.

Previous works, Austen’s Women and I, Elizabeth were five-star successes at Edinburgh and Adelaide in 2009/2010 and 2010/2011, with The Diaries of Adam and Eve and Female Gothic garnering five-star reviews at Edinburgh 2011 and 2012, respectively. 

The Unremarkable Death of Marilyn Monroe is written and directed by Elton Townend Jones (writer/performer: The Diaries of Adam and Eve, script editor: Female Gothic, writer: Cutting the Cord for Flying Eye), performed by Lizzie Wort (Animal Farm – Guy Masterson/TTI; The Magician’s Daughter – RSC/Little Angel Theatre) and produced by Rebecca Vaughan (writer/performer: Austen’s Women, I, Elizabeth, Female Gothic, performer: The Diaries of Adam and Eve).

Peter Lawford, Bobby Kennedy, Clarke Gable, Liz Taylor, Lawrence Olivier, Joan Crawford, plus several other actors from Hollywood’s supposed golden era get cited with varying degrees of warmth & coolness. Marilyn’s commentary on the behind the scenes goings on is delivered with equal measure of sharp humour and misery. Marilyn’s marriages to Arthur Miller, Joe DiMaggio, Jim Dougherty, their very different set-ups and her role within them play a crucial part in this unique entertainment.

Tickets are £14.50 and concessions £13.00. To book tickets visit www.chelmsford.gov.uk/theatres or call the Box Office on 01245 606505. 

PATIENCE

PATIENCE

Charles Court Opera at the King's Head Theatre

19.06.2014

for Remote Goat

Through the crowded Victorian bar at the King's Head – World Cup misery on the big screens – to another, secret bar out the back . Dartboard on the wall, Adnam's on tap, totally lifelike [all credit to production designer Simon Bejer]. Only the adverts for ghoulish cocktails and poetry readings give a hint of pleasures to come, as Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience is dusted off and updated, tweaked and tactfully trimmed.

John Savournin's brilliantly bold concept takes Castle Bunthorne and rebadges it as The Castle, the village local where the eponymous Patience is the barmaid. The lovesick – sorry, melancholic – maidens are impeccably dressed a la Goth, as they sit on bar stools, knock back the spirits, and sigh and pine for the attentions of fleshly poet Reginald Bunthorne.

Sullivan's score is respectfully treated in the reduction for David Eaton's grand piano [no pub upright for him], and the singing, viscerally vivid in this intimate space, is superb throughout. The “Old Old Love” sestet just one example of melodic delight, with the manly tenor of David Menezes' Duke soaring above the rest.

David Phipps-Davis is wonderful value as a florid, self-absorbed poet – black rose, purple eye-shadow, nicely contrasted with the Greek God picturesque perfection of Henry Manning's Idyllic rival. Joanna Marie Skillett [Cinders last Christmas] is a lively, Nordic Patience. And contralto Amy J Payne [another panto survivor] is a huge hit with the audience as Lady Jane. No cello, alas, but a beautifully done “ageing” Aria, nobly resisting the crisps behind the bar.

Hilarious team-work, and perfect patter, from the Dragoons, Michael Kerry's Major and especially Giles Davies's spiffing Colonel Calverley.

Cheeky concessions to the 21^st century include Grosvenor's transformation into a “TK Maxx young man”, with melancholics Helen Evora and Andrea Tweedale becoming thoroughly modern maidens to match. Nothing too incongruous, and all in the spirit of Gilbert, who would, had he lived long enough, have very happily rhymed Sartre with Sinatra.