AMADEUS

AMADEUS

National Theatre at the Olivier
05.11.2016

Back in the Olivier to see the eagerly awaited revival of Peter Shaffer's classic Amadeus.

Only a couple of rows from the front of the circle, where I still remember sitting entranced in 1979 as I watched Schofield create the role of Salieri, ironically bringing notoriety to a composer who feared, rightly, that his memory would be eclipsed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Michael Longhurst's production is very different, of course. One of its great strengths is the 20-strong South Bank Sinfonia, embedded in the action. They set up at the beginning, and at the end, coats on, instruments in cases, they take a call with the actors. The venticelli are literally winds, carrying their instruments as they bring gossip and comment on the action.

Their modern dress is not the only anachronism – Salieri's sweetmeats look like donuts, and Mozart sports stylish DMs.

He's played by Adam Gillen as a strident, charmless child, accentuating the gulf his rival sees between the sublime and the disgusting prodigy. The “dreadful girl”, his Constanze, is given the full TOWIE treatment by Karia Crome.

Gillen's caricatured shoutiness is occasionally contagious, with screeching and yelling where cold crispness might be more effective.

Antonio Salieri, seeking advancement and fame, bargaining with his God, scheming to thwart the upstart Mozart, is powerfully played by Lucian Msamati. He has a strong rapport with the audience, his ghosts of the future.

The Olivier stage, bustling with life at the court, on the streets, in library and salon, is excellently used, with hangings, two levels, a cloth for the Prater and a pit for the players, who are imaginatively used – a walking glockenspiel especially effective. The music is often played straight, but there are twists, too: hooked-on bass-heavy serenade for the party, smooth jazz for a seduction.

Among the many impressive moments, amusing stagings of Seraglio and Zauberflote, and a stunning climax in which Salieri is crushed by the force of the Kyrie, and he clutches vainly at the Mozart manuscripts on the floor around him.

production photograph: Marc Brenner

PARTNERS IN CRIME

PARTNERS IN CRIME
A Queen's Hornchurch production and Eleanor Lloyd production in association with The Watermill Theatre 
at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch

31.10.2016

for The Reviews Hub

Watch in amazement as civilization is saved by just eight actors with a few tricks up their sleeves.
Sarah Punshon and Johann Hari have based their show on an early Agatha Christie, The Secret Adversary, published in 1922, the first outing for the sleuthing duo Tommy and Tuppence. Their adaptation, still with its original title, premièred last year at the Watermill in Berkshire, and enjoyed a modest tour thereafter.
Now, with a new title and a new director, John Nicholson, it comes to the Queen's, a perfect fit for their house style and their actor/musicians. The plot – beastly Bolsheviks, secret agents, mysterious mastermind – could be Buchan, and the playful feel of the tongue-in-cheek treatment will remind many of the West End Thirty-nine Steps.
The company catches the 1920s era precisely. Naomi Sheldon is a bright young Tuppence, more than a match for the baddies, unfairly overlooked for a job in the Ministry, the reward offered to Richard Holt's stiff-upper-lip Tommy on the final page. Isla Carter is the soi-disant Annette, Phillip Batley the stereotype American searching for his long-lost cousin Jane, a survivor of the Lusitania. Rita, the Vamp from Valparaiso, belting out a snatch of Helen Kane's hit I Want To Be Bad, is played with great relish by Rebecca Bainbridge, who's also the bewhiskered Bolshevik conspirator Kramenin. Nigel Lister is the man from the ministry, suave, sophisticated, keeping his secret till the last moment.  Survivor from the Watermill, Morgan Philpott plays Mr Whittington, many other parts (a monocled announcer, then seconds later the Home Secretary), plus a mean banjo – his rendition of See Him In Your Dreams (referring to that master of disguise “Mr Brown”) is one of many musical highlights.
Alex Silverman's excellent score uses popular song and incidental music, silent movie style, for the fights and the chases.  And Mr Battley's bassoon for suspense. Inga Davis-Rutter at the stage left upright is joined by instrumentalists from the cast, and everyone joins in the white tie and tails opening number: Look For The Silver Lining, Jerome Kern's hit of 1920.
Tom Rogers' set is crucial to the mood and the mechanics of the piece. A gloomy backstage décor with, centre stage, a huge keyhole. Ruched silk curtains rise to reveal various simple settings, swiftly and stylishly changed. Lots of illusion – an economics lecture done with magic tricks – and countless ingenious devices. The exposition is done over the subtly hilarious washing up, the General Strike with ombres chinoises, the Lusitania with a magic lantern. And, best of all, Tommy assumes a disguise on the hoof by stunning sleight of hand. Doors, traps, ladders, trolleys are all used with dazzling skill at a breath-taking pace.
True, the plot is convoluted – we're given a recap at the top of Act Two – but the story is not really the point here. What Hornchurch are giving us, gift-wrapped and delectable, is a reminder of a time of austerity, social unrest and political uncertainty, and two hours of escapist fun as we scan the skies for a silver lining of our own.
production photograph: Mark Sepple

STUNNING THE PUNTERS

STUNNING THE PUNTERS

George Dillon at the Cramphorn Theatre

03.10.16

George Dillon, master of the dramatic monologue, brought his trilogy to the Cramphorn this week.

Robert Sproat's piece gives the show its title: a darts player in a pub on “a rough old estate”, red braces, DMs, Milwall supporter, thinks philosophically back on racist graffiti and the lads who sprayed it. Totally convincing physically, slightly less so vocally and mentally.

The evening opens with a Berkoff piece, Master of Cafe Society. H, an out-of-work actor envies those with jobs, as “hunger calibrates the day with purpose”. Excellent supporting characters, especially his crumpled parents, and a touching insight to the spiritual anguish of an embittered, empty man.

The longest piece last: Dostoevsky's Dream of a Ridiculous Man. Much more ambitious, with lighting, props and sound used to support the testament of a would-be suicide who's seen a world without sin or science, but inadvertently corrupts this other Eden, a paradise lost. The changes of mood, and style, are navigated with consummate skill. I found his impassioned belief in a better world, and his guilt and uncertainty, strangely moving.

This work was first seen in Edinburgh back in 1990, and returned there this year. A real theatrical tour-de-force – 90 minutes without a break – which should be required viewing for anyone who appreciates the actor's art. Tragic, then, that in Chelmsford the performer and the theatre staff outnumbered the punters ...

THE UNVARNISHED TRUTH

THE UNVARNISHED TRUTH

CTW at the Old Court Theatre

02.10.16

Improbable even by the standards of farce, Royce Ryton's black comedy, first seen in 1978, provides plenty of laughter as the bodies pile up.

It all starts with the hapless playwright – presumably the role Ryton wrote for himself – killing his wife during a marital tiff worthy of Martha and George.

He's played at the Old Court by Jack Shepherd, excellent in his initial hysterics – the phone call to the deaf old locum – and later in his bemused muddling of evidence and plotlines. Two polished farceurs are embroiled in concealing evidence and fabricating alibis: John Mabey as Bert from the nick, wrestling with bodies and an orange beanbag, timing double takes and laugh lines with comic aplomb. And Bruce Thomson, physically very inventive as the literary agent, veering between panic and hauteur.

They are the monsters of Cosy Nook, joined later by Terry Cramphorn's corruptible Inspector, matching the youngsters for comic flair.

The women are all victims, though each has a little character work before conking out. Naomi Phillips as the wife, Annabel, Caroline 'Blom' Brown as the mother-in-law with the directoire knickers, Bev Benham as the eccentric landlady – a little too laid-back for a fascist, perhaps – and Sally Ransom making the most of her equally eccentric friend.

The set evokes the 70s in their eye-watering excess, the costumes are painfully period too. Director Caroline Froy – aided and abetted by Helen Quigley and Laura Hill – achieves a fast-paced, adroitly acted show, with the set pieces deftly delivered.

The audience were most amused, and so was I, despite the uneven nature of the writing and the occasional holes in the plot. A strange piece, a kind of Orton-lite, but still worth a revival forty years on.

RENT

RENT

BOSSY at the Brentwood Theatre

01.10.16

Jonathan Larson's 90s hit - “musical theatre for the MTV generation” - makes heavy demands on any company bold enough to stage it. The “School Edition” we see at Brentwood makes few concessions to the age or experience of the performers: a few music cues trimmed, the text purged of bad language and the more obvious drugs references, that's all.

BOSSY give it a powerful, brutally honest staging, with some impressive performances and excellent support from the unseen band in a variety of musical styles.

The female leads are doubled. On opening night, a brilliant Mimi from Lydia Abbotts, sassy, vulnerable and impeccably sung. Drama queen Maureen done with suitably extrovert style by Ellie Rickenbach – her OTT “performance” very well sustained. Ivy League lesbian Joanne a hard character to master, but Jodie Tarrant brings a likeable directness to the role.

Mark, who narrates the story, is played by Joe Folley. A compelling performance, with huge presence and one of the best voices in a strong cast. Dan Pugh is his room-mate Roger, a believable struggling musician, he gives a confident, captivating account of the role. Benny, the landlord who sells out then sees the light, is intelligently portrayed by Michael Percival. Rob Hill's Angel is subtly and tenderly played; his duet with Collins very moving. This gay, anarchist professor of philosophy is a huge challenge. Sam Loader's finest moment comes with his funeral tribute to his lover, clutching the coat and fighting the tears.

Excellent support from the whole company; the voicemails, for instance, with a scene-stealing cameo from Tomi Bello as Alexi Darling.

The staging is imaginative and effective; only occasionally is the mood broken by darkness, silence and messy movement. The levels are well used, with colder, harder lighting for the upper stage.

The storyline, despite life-affirming dialogue and a clunky happy ending, is grim and gritty. The music is not memorable, only Seasons of Love, the simply staged anthem that opens Act Two, sticks in the mind.

So all credit to director Gaynor Wilson and MD Andy Prideaux, for giving their young cast a chance to tackle this iconic milestone in the history of the American musical.