The Borrowers was everywhere this Christmas, bemusing as the last I heard of it was when I read the books and watched the BBC series as a child. Daisy says it's because people our age who enjoyed the old BBC series have grown up and had children of their own and want them to enjoy The Borrowers too. Surely some mistake as I am FAR TOO YOUNG for anything I liked as a child to have come full circle. *Resolutely ignores 1980s revival*.
I liked the new adaptation on the TV this Christmas, but for me there was a lot more magic to be found in this theatre production. For one thing, they kept the story set in the 1950s which made it much more nostalgic, and for another it was live theatre which is always that bit more magical than the TV.
I wanted to see The Borrowers because it struck me as a great challenge to produce on stage, what with half the characters being a few inches tall. This production tackled this brilliantly, with tiny puppets and oversized props. One of the most magical moments came as we saw on one size of the stage the fully sized human boy passing dolls furniture into a small hole in the floorboards which simultaneously in another area of the stage Pod, Arietty and Homily received from above fully sized versions and arranged them in their home.
Other favourite moments included the wasp who appeared much larger than the Borrowers and darted around the stage in a very waspish manner by wearing those bouncy leg stilt things like paralympic runners wear (no-one in my office can agree on what these are called). Lunging at them with a large curly sting he held in one hand he was both fearsome and comical, the ideal children's theatre monster.
I also loved the giant boot the borrowers hid inside, the set really was incredibly impressive.
There were a couple of oddities about this production, one being that the gardener, played by an excellently hammy older actor, was constantly referred to as a young boy by the other characters. We were not sure whether this was a combination of creative casting and lazy script editing or a joke that none of the audience seemed to get.
The other strange thing was the half songs the characters occasionally started but didn't finish. When Arietty started singing at the beginning I thought 'great, it's a musical' but then after a few lines she stopped and continued acting as if the song hadn't happened. This happened a couple of times and left me a bit bemused.
Despite these occasional moments of strangeness this was a triumph of clever stage craft and a charming and Christmassy family show. I hope other companies are brave enough to take on The Borrowers for future Christmas productions.
Wednesday 28 December 2011
50 - The Collaborators, National Theatre
This is transferring from the Cottesloe to the Olivier (the larger theatre in The National) and is well worth a trip to see. Go on, go and see a new play. It's by John Hodge (screenwriter of Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, The Beach).
I was surprised by how funny and surreal this play was, considering the content (in Moscow, 1938, writer Mikhail Bulgakov (Alex Jennings) is commissioned to write a play about Stalin to commemorate his 60th birthday).
The play is also more subtle than I expected. Yes, it has something to say about art controlled by the state. But it's also a skilful portrait of an artist who gets lost in his work.
It is worth seeing this just for the amazing darkly comic performance of Simon Russell Beale as Stalin. Initially affable and light hearted he offers to write scenes of Bulgakov's play for him, but in exchange Bulgakov should take over some of his own work; signing papers and making decisions. Things spiral into a nightmare as Bulgakov unwittingly agrees and inspires Stalin to commit more and more terrible atrocities on the people of Russia.
Go and see this, particularly if you enjoyed Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at the beginning of 2010 which was on a similar topic and was stunningly brilliant. And, of course, the White Guard in July 2010 which I missed because I am an idiot.
I was surprised by how funny and surreal this play was, considering the content (in Moscow, 1938, writer Mikhail Bulgakov (Alex Jennings) is commissioned to write a play about Stalin to commemorate his 60th birthday).
The play is also more subtle than I expected. Yes, it has something to say about art controlled by the state. But it's also a skilful portrait of an artist who gets lost in his work.
It is worth seeing this just for the amazing darkly comic performance of Simon Russell Beale as Stalin. Initially affable and light hearted he offers to write scenes of Bulgakov's play for him, but in exchange Bulgakov should take over some of his own work; signing papers and making decisions. Things spiral into a nightmare as Bulgakov unwittingly agrees and inspires Stalin to commit more and more terrible atrocities on the people of Russia.
Go and see this, particularly if you enjoyed Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at the beginning of 2010 which was on a similar topic and was stunningly brilliant. And, of course, the White Guard in July 2010 which I missed because I am an idiot.
49 - The Crucible, Chichester players
I have never seen a production by The Chichester Players and was really impressed, not just by the excellent production but also by the ticket sales! It was a reasonably long run and when we went, on the last night, New Park was full to bursting.
It's quite possible word had spread through the run about how good this production was. The acting was really first rate, and the director, Richard Brookes, knew what he was doing, framing even difficult scenes with loads of people on stage at once really beautifully.
All three of us, even my sister who claimed before the play that she "didn't like the crucible" were absolutely riveted. When we emerged from the theatre someone on front of house mentioned that it was a long performance and we were genuinely amazed to find we had been watching this for three hours.
If I had a criticism of this production it would be that I personally did not need to see the projection of the Miller interview at the beginning and found that a bit unnecessary, as if the Players felt that I as an audience member needed to have the parallels in the text pointed out to me. I think they could have best used that footage on their website or Facebook page to promote the production in the run up, and for people to check out after seeing the play to drive traffic to their site. However, I don't know if that was just me, other people might have found it useful to have the play put into context for them. I'd be interested to hear what other audience members thought.
We had a really enjoyable evening seeing this play, it was better than some professional productions I have seen at Chichester Festival Theatre in the past, as well as being much better value! I'll definitely look out for future Chichester Players productions.
It's quite possible word had spread through the run about how good this production was. The acting was really first rate, and the director, Richard Brookes, knew what he was doing, framing even difficult scenes with loads of people on stage at once really beautifully.
All three of us, even my sister who claimed before the play that she "didn't like the crucible" were absolutely riveted. When we emerged from the theatre someone on front of house mentioned that it was a long performance and we were genuinely amazed to find we had been watching this for three hours.
If I had a criticism of this production it would be that I personally did not need to see the projection of the Miller interview at the beginning and found that a bit unnecessary, as if the Players felt that I as an audience member needed to have the parallels in the text pointed out to me. I think they could have best used that footage on their website or Facebook page to promote the production in the run up, and for people to check out after seeing the play to drive traffic to their site. However, I don't know if that was just me, other people might have found it useful to have the play put into context for them. I'd be interested to hear what other audience members thought.
We had a really enjoyable evening seeing this play, it was better than some professional productions I have seen at Chichester Festival Theatre in the past, as well as being much better value! I'll definitely look out for future Chichester Players productions.
Saturday 10 December 2011
48- Steel Magnolias, Bench Theatre at The Spring in Havant
More brilliant theatre from the ridiculously talented female actors of The Bench! We laughed and cried at this brilliant subtle production. The cast were all simply marvellous, it was great to see Alice Corrigan and Jo Gardner working together again, a duo just as magnetic as they were earlier in the year in Daisy Pulls it Off.
Because I have a complete inability to do any accent I am always really impressed when non-professional actors do a great job on tricky accents. The Southern American accents in this production were mostly spot on and couldn't have been easy to maintain with such highly charged emotional acting.
My siblings and I were really proud of my mum Sue Dawes who played M'lynne. The range of emotions she had to portray was pretty astounding; from hopeful happiness on her daughter's wedding day to anger, concern culminating in an explosion of grief in the final scene. I think my mum is brilliant.
This was a highly charged emotiona play, nicely directed. Well done to the director, cast and team. Special mention to whoever was responsible for such a great range of different hair styles and costumes too!
Because I have a complete inability to do any accent I am always really impressed when non-professional actors do a great job on tricky accents. The Southern American accents in this production were mostly spot on and couldn't have been easy to maintain with such highly charged emotional acting.
My siblings and I were really proud of my mum Sue Dawes who played M'lynne. The range of emotions she had to portray was pretty astounding; from hopeful happiness on her daughter's wedding day to anger, concern culminating in an explosion of grief in the final scene. I think my mum is brilliant.
This was a highly charged emotiona play, nicely directed. Well done to the director, cast and team. Special mention to whoever was responsible for such a great range of different hair styles and costumes too!
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