Caryl Churchill is one of my favourite playwrights and family and friends were raving about this after seeing it in Chichester so I was thrilled that it transferred to London.
When I watch one of Churhill's plays I feel like she is saying something important and complicated. She doesn't just tell us a story to illustrate a point, she explores a theme, condenses and distils it and presents it to us whole.
Feminism and female roles in society were given this treatment in Top Girls. I felt heart broken after watching it. Surely there is a way to be beautiful and successful, live in London and be a socialist? Can a woman be successful without sacrificing everything else? It is disturbing to recognise yourself in two characters who are in direct conflict with each other but that's what I felt when watching Marlene and Joyce argue.
The play condemns the impact Thatcherism had on feminism in the 1980s. Like Japanese knotweed it poisoned the feminist movement rebranding it as misguided hippy nonsense. I can still feel the impact of this today, particularly in the workplace. Women replaced women's rights with the rights of the individual and the toughest, like Marlene, fought their way upwards in masculine shoulder pads sacrificing family life, relationships on the way. When they reach the top they look down crowing that if they can do it, anyone can. And those that can't are stupid and lazy. Joyce points out to Marlene that her daughter Angie, who Joyce has raised for her, is stupid and lazy "What about her?" But as Marlene coldly points out to her work colleagues when Angie turns up at her workplace "She's not going to make it."
This post isn't really a review of the production but I'd like to say that it is excellent and brilliant and you should go. Suranne Jones in particular is a vastly underrated actor because she was so funny on Coronation street but she is a chameleon and played Marlene brilliantly.
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Monday, 15 August 2011
33- Macbeth, directed by MaryClare O'Neill, Hiraeth, Upstairs at The Gatehouse
This was a gutsy production from a promising new company.
Set in the tenth century I expected a simple traditional production of Macbeth. Muddy medieval costumes, sad Scottish singing and red stained glass window reflections projected on the floor made the production very atmospheric. However there were many unusual innovations in this production which I really appreciated.
When Zoé Ford first came on stage I immediately thought she was great but too young for the part. Then Macbeth (Kazeem Tosin Amore) entered and the chemistry between them was palpable. They were a very natural couple, her younger and cajoling, him indulgent. Then after the murder when Macbeth started to unravel and Lady Macbeth tried to calm him down he struck her across the face. The violence in the relationship made for an unusual spin on the play which I really enjoyed, this was the first production I’ve ever seen where I felt sorry for Lady Macbeth. In the sleepwalking scene she hit herself around the face and cowered away on ‘no more of that my lord.’ She was a Frankenstein Lady Macbeth, creator of a monster she couldn’t control.
Kazeen Tosin Amore was magnetic as Macbeth, his unease while others were on stage and sudden movements to anger made his speeches riveting. As he was losing his mind in the scene with Banquo's ghost, the clever use of faceless masks made us all feel like we were with him in this cloud of madness and confusion. I also particularly enjoyed his speech about the ghostly dagger, represented as a sharp beam of light which fell across his face giving him a ghoulish appearance.
Gemma Barrett, Christina Lazaro and Julia Faulkner were just the witches you hope you will see when you go to Macbeth. Drooling mad women working seamlessly as a trio, repeating lines and murmuring chants as if crazily muttering to themselves. They were both disturbing and comic, gruesome and sympathetic. The scene where they conjure visions of the future to a blind Macbeth was particularly well done, with Barrett going into a gory labour and madly lamenting as the bundle she bears is handed to Macbeth who unravels it to reveal a cluster of twigs. This strong image continued to resonate in the next scene in which Barrett gave a very moving performance as a spirited Lady Macduff, struggling against her murderers as they smash her baby’s head open in front of her. Her howls of despair were brilliantly haunting.
I would have liked to see a bit more anguish like this from Macduff and the others after Duncan’s murder but earlier in the play the men were very much the soldiers and retained their stiff upper lips. Dan Mullins was a compelling Macduff, I liked the way he clearly disliked and suspected Macbeth right from the beginning, and his reaction on hearing about the murder of his family was very moving.
There were some strange decisions in this production which I didn’t think quite worked. Banquo’s son Fleance was cut completely. This meant the aftermath of Banquo’s murder, which usually feels like a failure for Macbeth felt more like a triumph because he had seemingly managed to stop Banquo’s line and defeat the prophecy about Banqo’s sons inheriting the throne. Not having any mention of Banquo’s children also meant the authority of the witches suddenly felt a bit shaky.
Another part of the play I thought was a bit strange was the blocking in the battle scene. Macduff was sitting down on some steps as he wondered where Macbeth was and when Macbeth entered he left his sword in its sheath even while Macduff ran at him to attack him. I was so bemused by this strange behaviour on the battlefield it distracted me a bit from the action.
The play was cut to end on Macbeth’s death, which I found much more poignant than ending with the drab final lines about being crowned at scone. Overall a very accomplished and varied production. I shall look out for future productions from Hiraeth.
Set in the tenth century I expected a simple traditional production of Macbeth. Muddy medieval costumes, sad Scottish singing and red stained glass window reflections projected on the floor made the production very atmospheric. However there were many unusual innovations in this production which I really appreciated.
When Zoé Ford first came on stage I immediately thought she was great but too young for the part. Then Macbeth (Kazeem Tosin Amore) entered and the chemistry between them was palpable. They were a very natural couple, her younger and cajoling, him indulgent. Then after the murder when Macbeth started to unravel and Lady Macbeth tried to calm him down he struck her across the face. The violence in the relationship made for an unusual spin on the play which I really enjoyed, this was the first production I’ve ever seen where I felt sorry for Lady Macbeth. In the sleepwalking scene she hit herself around the face and cowered away on ‘no more of that my lord.’ She was a Frankenstein Lady Macbeth, creator of a monster she couldn’t control.
Kazeen Tosin Amore was magnetic as Macbeth, his unease while others were on stage and sudden movements to anger made his speeches riveting. As he was losing his mind in the scene with Banquo's ghost, the clever use of faceless masks made us all feel like we were with him in this cloud of madness and confusion. I also particularly enjoyed his speech about the ghostly dagger, represented as a sharp beam of light which fell across his face giving him a ghoulish appearance.
Gemma Barrett, Christina Lazaro and Julia Faulkner were just the witches you hope you will see when you go to Macbeth. Drooling mad women working seamlessly as a trio, repeating lines and murmuring chants as if crazily muttering to themselves. They were both disturbing and comic, gruesome and sympathetic. The scene where they conjure visions of the future to a blind Macbeth was particularly well done, with Barrett going into a gory labour and madly lamenting as the bundle she bears is handed to Macbeth who unravels it to reveal a cluster of twigs. This strong image continued to resonate in the next scene in which Barrett gave a very moving performance as a spirited Lady Macduff, struggling against her murderers as they smash her baby’s head open in front of her. Her howls of despair were brilliantly haunting.
I would have liked to see a bit more anguish like this from Macduff and the others after Duncan’s murder but earlier in the play the men were very much the soldiers and retained their stiff upper lips. Dan Mullins was a compelling Macduff, I liked the way he clearly disliked and suspected Macbeth right from the beginning, and his reaction on hearing about the murder of his family was very moving.
There were some strange decisions in this production which I didn’t think quite worked. Banquo’s son Fleance was cut completely. This meant the aftermath of Banquo’s murder, which usually feels like a failure for Macbeth felt more like a triumph because he had seemingly managed to stop Banquo’s line and defeat the prophecy about Banqo’s sons inheriting the throne. Not having any mention of Banquo’s children also meant the authority of the witches suddenly felt a bit shaky.
Another part of the play I thought was a bit strange was the blocking in the battle scene. Macduff was sitting down on some steps as he wondered where Macbeth was and when Macbeth entered he left his sword in its sheath even while Macduff ran at him to attack him. I was so bemused by this strange behaviour on the battlefield it distracted me a bit from the action.
The play was cut to end on Macbeth’s death, which I found much more poignant than ending with the drab final lines about being crowned at scone. Overall a very accomplished and varied production. I shall look out for future productions from Hiraeth.
Monday, 8 August 2011
32 - Emperor and Galilean at the National
This play filled me with awe. It is awesome.
Ibsen tells the epic tale of emperor Julian, who struggles with his Christian faith and decides to overthrow his uncle as Emperor and return Rome to paganism.
Although an epic, this tragic Faustian tale is focussed on the internal struggle and destruction of one man. Andrew Scott gave a magnificently varied performance as Julian. A brilliantly rounded character he went from being a sad confused young man who we felt sorry for, to a mad tyrant blinding his friends and leading his soldiers to death. Watching him you recognise world leaders from the news, but you also recognise aspects of yourself. It was at times uncomfortable to watch but very realistic.
The use of projections of modern soldiers, helicopters and guns combined with the modern dress with hints at Roman armour gave the production a timeless quality. We could spot parallels with modern events but the play still felt like a classic tragedy.
A spectacular set with levels rising from the floor added to the grand scale of this production. I particularly liked an enormous gold ingot (representing the sun) hanging from the ceiling in Julian's palace which turned round for the next scene at the church to reveal the other side which was painted like a rock with a cross on it.
It is a brilliant play that makes you reconsider human relationships with each other and with their gods. And this is the UK première - a great Ibsen play and no-one has seen it before! I felt awe-struck and privileged to see it.
Ibsen tells the epic tale of emperor Julian, who struggles with his Christian faith and decides to overthrow his uncle as Emperor and return Rome to paganism.
Although an epic, this tragic Faustian tale is focussed on the internal struggle and destruction of one man. Andrew Scott gave a magnificently varied performance as Julian. A brilliantly rounded character he went from being a sad confused young man who we felt sorry for, to a mad tyrant blinding his friends and leading his soldiers to death. Watching him you recognise world leaders from the news, but you also recognise aspects of yourself. It was at times uncomfortable to watch but very realistic.
The use of projections of modern soldiers, helicopters and guns combined with the modern dress with hints at Roman armour gave the production a timeless quality. We could spot parallels with modern events but the play still felt like a classic tragedy.
A spectacular set with levels rising from the floor added to the grand scale of this production. I particularly liked an enormous gold ingot (representing the sun) hanging from the ceiling in Julian's palace which turned round for the next scene at the church to reveal the other side which was painted like a rock with a cross on it.
It is a brilliant play that makes you reconsider human relationships with each other and with their gods. And this is the UK première - a great Ibsen play and no-one has seen it before! I felt awe-struck and privileged to see it.
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
31 - Daisy pulls it off, Bench Theatre at The Spring
It was all jolly hockey sticks in this brilliant production of a silly play about young gels at school.
I have a real nostalgia for cheerful tales of boarding schools and midnight feasts. As a childhood Enid Blyton fan and a current Harry Potter enthusiast nothing cheers me up like a jolly story of treasure hunting in a boarding school.
Mark Wakeman really knows his stage comedy and the clever staging here was a case in point. He understands that we don't want to hang around waiting for the next laugh so scene changes were accomplished with the blink of an eye, hilarious grumpy cameos by the backstage crew served as book cases in the library and portraits in the great hall.
The character of Daisy Meredith, plucky scholarship girl who is good at literally everything, is hard to fall in love with. I'm sure I would have hated her at school - no-one should be good at lessons AND sport. Luckily Beth Evans played her with such warmth and the whole play was so tongue in cheek we were all rooting for her anyway. This was helped by the brilliantly evil Draco Malfoy-esque snob Sybil Burlington (Fern Bicheno) and crony Monica Smithers (Rosie Carter) who were great fun to hate.
Tamsin Halford really stole the show as Daisy's poetic, scatty friend Trixie Martin. Her state of perpetual wide-eyed excitement was infectious and the way she ran on and off stage was especially funny, it really reminded me of how my own sister Daisy used to run around.
The whole cast was really brilliant but my other personal favourites were the dynamic duo of head girl Clare Beaumont (Alice Corrigan) and her friend Alice (Jo Gardner.) They took what could have been the duller parts of the play and made them the best with terrific over the top poses and speeches, they could have stepped straight out of a comic.
What made this the best fun to watch was the feeling that everyone on stage was enjoying themselves immensely. I hope Bench Theatre finds more plays in the future to showcase this amazing amount of young female talent. Such fun.
I have a real nostalgia for cheerful tales of boarding schools and midnight feasts. As a childhood Enid Blyton fan and a current Harry Potter enthusiast nothing cheers me up like a jolly story of treasure hunting in a boarding school.
Mark Wakeman really knows his stage comedy and the clever staging here was a case in point. He understands that we don't want to hang around waiting for the next laugh so scene changes were accomplished with the blink of an eye, hilarious grumpy cameos by the backstage crew served as book cases in the library and portraits in the great hall.
The character of Daisy Meredith, plucky scholarship girl who is good at literally everything, is hard to fall in love with. I'm sure I would have hated her at school - no-one should be good at lessons AND sport. Luckily Beth Evans played her with such warmth and the whole play was so tongue in cheek we were all rooting for her anyway. This was helped by the brilliantly evil Draco Malfoy-esque snob Sybil Burlington (Fern Bicheno) and crony Monica Smithers (Rosie Carter) who were great fun to hate.
Tamsin Halford really stole the show as Daisy's poetic, scatty friend Trixie Martin. Her state of perpetual wide-eyed excitement was infectious and the way she ran on and off stage was especially funny, it really reminded me of how my own sister Daisy used to run around.
The whole cast was really brilliant but my other personal favourites were the dynamic duo of head girl Clare Beaumont (Alice Corrigan) and her friend Alice (Jo Gardner.) They took what could have been the duller parts of the play and made them the best with terrific over the top poses and speeches, they could have stepped straight out of a comic.
What made this the best fun to watch was the feeling that everyone on stage was enjoying themselves immensely. I hope Bench Theatre finds more plays in the future to showcase this amazing amount of young female talent. Such fun.
Monday, 25 July 2011
30 - Doctor Faustus, The Globe
I have had an emotional connection to this play for a rather long time. For one thing, I remember a great school production when I was young, and a great English teacher teaching us the play at GCSE level. I later helped a friend who had missed a lot of college put on a stripped down version of the play so she could still get a great mark for the drama assessment she had missed. Then during the heady summer before heading off to university I was an extra in a fantastic professional production at Chichester Festival Theatre where I, naturally, fell in love with Sam West who played Faustus. It is irretrievably linked in my brain with happy times.
Doctor Faustus also connects with me on an academic level. It is the culmination of centuries of medieval mystery plays evolving from a celebration of religious dogma into a play written purely for entertainment by an alleged anarchist. Doctor Faustus isn't a mystery play of course, but when you watch it you can feel the mystery plays behind it, like looking at a child's face and seeing both his parents at the same time. I got my first 1st at university for a prompt book I wrote for a hypothetical planned production of Doctor Faustus, complete with little pop-up set design.
Just as well then that my sister Daisy, another Faustus fan, and I enjoyed this production immensely. I think if I saw a poor production of Doctor Faustus it would be like watching someone stamp on a kitten.
In this production at The Globe it was all about the comedy. Even the dramatic conjuring scene and the close in which Faustus is dragged to hell were funny, with Faustus failing to light candles with great comic timing. I was surprised by this as, particularly at a midnight showing, I expected more of a creepy atmosphere. At times I did think this detracted from the more powerful sections of the play, those bits we think were most likely written by Marlowe. Likes like "O soul, be changed into little water-drops, And fall into the ocean ne'er be found" tend to lose their power a bit when the demons entering to carry Faustus away are quite cartoonish and enter after the bow for a comical dance with bloodied puppet babies.
Having the comedy bleed such a lot into the more serious scenes meant the play felt a lot more complete, rather than a disjointed bundle of slapstick scenes sandwiched between a powerfully tragic beginning and end. Paul Hilton played a very physical and comical Faustus rather than a lyrical and wordy one and this was a production that concentrated on the spectacle of the play over the language.
And the spectacle was truly magnificent. Ghostly aristocrats in white masks danced obscene dances, Mephistopheles and Faustus rode on giant skeletal dragons, books erupted into flame and Faustus was decapitated on stage, only for his removed head to start chatting away and leap back onto his body. Every minute there was something new and clever going on. Pearce Quigley's deadpan delivery for Robin was truly hilarious from the minute he emerged on stage and started urinating against a pillar.
It was half way through the production when I realised Mephistopheles was Arthur Darvill of Rory-from-Doctor-Who fame. He was really excellent, not super villain evil all the time but charismatic and tortured as Mephistopheles should be. Amongst all the energy and comedy it was Darvill who managed to retain the power of some of the real gut-wrenching lines of the play. I went from feeling a terrible sympathy for Mephistopheles "why this is Hell, nor am I out of it" to hating him for deceiving Faustus and leading him to his downfall "I do confess it Faustus and rejoice." Of course I have now developed a crush on Arthur Darvill which should make watching post-Tennant Doctor Who more interesting.
This might not have been the greatest production I have seen so far this year, but I think it is the one I have most totally fallen in love with. There is a hole in my heart where this production should be. I want to watch it again. I want it on DVD so I can watch it every night before I go to sleep. Is it a bit weird to be in love with a play and develop a life-long crush on any actor who performs brilliantly in it? Never mind, yard tickets at The Globe are a fiver people, go go go go go.
Doctor Faustus also connects with me on an academic level. It is the culmination of centuries of medieval mystery plays evolving from a celebration of religious dogma into a play written purely for entertainment by an alleged anarchist. Doctor Faustus isn't a mystery play of course, but when you watch it you can feel the mystery plays behind it, like looking at a child's face and seeing both his parents at the same time. I got my first 1st at university for a prompt book I wrote for a hypothetical planned production of Doctor Faustus, complete with little pop-up set design.
Just as well then that my sister Daisy, another Faustus fan, and I enjoyed this production immensely. I think if I saw a poor production of Doctor Faustus it would be like watching someone stamp on a kitten.
In this production at The Globe it was all about the comedy. Even the dramatic conjuring scene and the close in which Faustus is dragged to hell were funny, with Faustus failing to light candles with great comic timing. I was surprised by this as, particularly at a midnight showing, I expected more of a creepy atmosphere. At times I did think this detracted from the more powerful sections of the play, those bits we think were most likely written by Marlowe. Likes like "O soul, be changed into little water-drops, And fall into the ocean ne'er be found" tend to lose their power a bit when the demons entering to carry Faustus away are quite cartoonish and enter after the bow for a comical dance with bloodied puppet babies.
Having the comedy bleed such a lot into the more serious scenes meant the play felt a lot more complete, rather than a disjointed bundle of slapstick scenes sandwiched between a powerfully tragic beginning and end. Paul Hilton played a very physical and comical Faustus rather than a lyrical and wordy one and this was a production that concentrated on the spectacle of the play over the language.
And the spectacle was truly magnificent. Ghostly aristocrats in white masks danced obscene dances, Mephistopheles and Faustus rode on giant skeletal dragons, books erupted into flame and Faustus was decapitated on stage, only for his removed head to start chatting away and leap back onto his body. Every minute there was something new and clever going on. Pearce Quigley's deadpan delivery for Robin was truly hilarious from the minute he emerged on stage and started urinating against a pillar.
It was half way through the production when I realised Mephistopheles was Arthur Darvill of Rory-from-Doctor-Who fame. He was really excellent, not super villain evil all the time but charismatic and tortured as Mephistopheles should be. Amongst all the energy and comedy it was Darvill who managed to retain the power of some of the real gut-wrenching lines of the play. I went from feeling a terrible sympathy for Mephistopheles "why this is Hell, nor am I out of it" to hating him for deceiving Faustus and leading him to his downfall "I do confess it Faustus and rejoice." Of course I have now developed a crush on Arthur Darvill which should make watching post-Tennant Doctor Who more interesting.
This might not have been the greatest production I have seen so far this year, but I think it is the one I have most totally fallen in love with. There is a hole in my heart where this production should be. I want to watch it again. I want it on DVD so I can watch it every night before I go to sleep. Is it a bit weird to be in love with a play and develop a life-long crush on any actor who performs brilliantly in it? Never mind, yard tickets at The Globe are a fiver people, go go go go go.
29 - Political Mother, Hofesh Shechter at Sadler's Wells
More contemporary dance! I loved this from the minute it started, with violists and cellists in spotlights playing a classical refrain, suddenly joined lit up on a level above them by electric guitarists and men playing the largest drums I have ever seen. The music was loud, like being at a rock concert and the atmosphere electric.
A series of scenes were presented with dancers presenting joyful and bleak communities by turns and a Stalin-esque dictator sometimes seen on the upper level with the electric guitarists shouting incomprehensible angry speeches into a microphone which added to the music to give a feeling of control.
The overall feel of the piece was that of a political epic, like watching Brecht but with rock music. It was stirring and fascinating.
The choreography was, even to my untrained eye, very impressive. I just can't understand how they know where and when to stand, rushing to different areas of the stage and all the time moving as an ensemble like a machine.
I would have liked to see some variation in the style of dance between the different scenes. Not because it became monotonous but because as they seemed to be showing different political regimes I would have thought that was an opportunity to show a variety of different styles or dance moves. Maybe that would have distracted from the overall build up and unity of the piece though.
There was a well-deserved standing ovation at the end of this first night at Sadlers Wells. Definitly one to see.
A series of scenes were presented with dancers presenting joyful and bleak communities by turns and a Stalin-esque dictator sometimes seen on the upper level with the electric guitarists shouting incomprehensible angry speeches into a microphone which added to the music to give a feeling of control.
The overall feel of the piece was that of a political epic, like watching Brecht but with rock music. It was stirring and fascinating.
The choreography was, even to my untrained eye, very impressive. I just can't understand how they know where and when to stand, rushing to different areas of the stage and all the time moving as an ensemble like a machine.
I would have liked to see some variation in the style of dance between the different scenes. Not because it became monotonous but because as they seemed to be showing different political regimes I would have thought that was an opportunity to show a variety of different styles or dance moves. Maybe that would have distracted from the overall build up and unity of the piece though.
There was a well-deserved standing ovation at the end of this first night at Sadlers Wells. Definitly one to see.
28 - Confusions, Charles Cryer
James and I directed this and I was really pleased with how it went. Clearly I can't write a review of my own play so here instead is someone else's:
Not sure what to make of 'competently directed' and would have thought he might mention our scene changer skits in between plays and other clever things we added to the script. However it is a positive review and mentions a few of the actors' names which is the important thing. On the whole I'd describe this as competently reviewed.
Here are some pictures, taken by Rafal Lacki http://photo.mackraph.co.uk:
Not sure what to make of 'competently directed' and would have thought he might mention our scene changer skits in between plays and other clever things we added to the script. However it is a positive review and mentions a few of the actors' names which is the important thing. On the whole I'd describe this as competently reviewed.
Here are some pictures, taken by Rafal Lacki http://photo.mackraph.co.uk:
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