Much like most of my London reviews, my horizon is slowly being expanded to the different theatres this City has. Trafalgar Studios has been known recently to house actors such as James Mcavoy and Jane Horrocks in small and intimate shows. The studios itself contains two spaces, which contain two different shows at a time; something unusual for the West End. There is a sense of the Western Studio at the WMC in this theatre, which is homely and versatile.
Golem intrigued me initially by its’ marketing. It’s weird and wonderful designs seemed out of the ordinary and with a transfer from the Young Vic, there must be something worth seeing in this show with a name that splits parties on its’ pronunciation.
Golem (‘Go-lem’) is a story about an almost alternative world to ours where the acceleration of media, advertisement and gimmicks quickly take over our lives and control us, when in reality we think that we are the ones in control. This is represented in a clay monster-like creature that is used as a servant to suddenly switch the juxtaposition when influenced by the surrounding society, ultimately subliminally telling us how to live life.
What firstly struck me about this production was the artistic aspect. Walking in, the screen already contained a slightly uneasy collection of drawings of families and persons, accompanied by an eerie soundtrack. When the show began, this changed to this alternative reality world, with a drum set and piano on stage played by two performers, dressed in whichever character they needed to be. There was a reminiscent of alter-reality films such as Hugo, Repo Men and In Time crossed with written fiction such as 1984. However, the artistic aspect and some writing had a sense of Tim Burton, with bright bold colours in costumes and set, darkened make up and strange outfits and hair and the inclusion of contemporary references and comedy.
This continued through to the fantastic set – the performers interacted with cues on the screens which interacted with them when needed. This was extraordinary to watch as we delved into a 2D- 3D world where this alternative world petered on animation and real life. Their placement within the set was so exact that there is a skill to identify in being able to bring across such strong characters and interesting storyline while finding the exact point on stage.
The performers themselves were not only some of the most talented I have witnessed, but managed to bring hilarity and comedy to the narrative but still contain this element in serious scenes. Each had an unusual voice, expressions, body language and stance which was held consistently. Turning of heads and interaction with each other was synchronised, again, reminding much of Tim Burton’s animations. This continued through the use of some character’s doubling up – their talents continuing to shine through how easily they adapted to create new characters while still having the overall common stances of slight hunches and strange sideways facial expressions.
This production is really hard to review – not due to any negativity but more to the abundance of positivity. As a performer, my tastes in what I like to perform in are very selective. While I love scripted pieces, Shakespeare, the more common and likeable, there is a certain feeling of excitement and butterflies in the weird and wonderful; the taboo subjects and those contesting a point. Golem is exactly all of this. Long has it been that a production took my breath away as much as this, and inspired me so much. It’s slowly becoming apparent in my search for shows to watch and review, for entertainment and for interest, that the West End is becoming more open to such theatre and perhaps performances such as Golem are exactly what audiences need to take a leap on.
I only wish that I could really do this production justice. It’s everything you want and everything you need.
All posts by Hannah Goslin
Review The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, The Gielgud Theatre by Hannah Goslin
The Curious incident has become a well-known story not only on the theatre circuit but back to its’ origin of reading circles. As a kid I read the book and fell in love with it, perhaps not understanding some content until today.
The Story of Christopher – a boy with autism whose family has been hit with different upsetting events, and how his life changes with the death of a local pet dog, we see his life from school, to family, to how he copes with the outside world.
It is astonishing that the National Theatre were brave enough to take on such a story – autism being a prevalent disability in our society, the risk of taking on this story in a gentle and respectful way was not only courageous of them but so right to do, to show the difficulty that people with this disability undertake on a daily basis.
The set itself designed by Bunny Christie was beautiful. Reminiscent of The Nether that I saw the other week, there was a sense of futuristic and interchangeable worlds with the use of a grid like box created by projections. The scenes changed, the technology used throughout seemed simple but were so mesmerising, and the performers were evidently well talented to take this within their stride. Simple props were used but used well to create a sense of chaos up to the end of the first half and the second half using larger stage changes for more impact compared to the minimalist scenes.
The main actor playing Christopher, Graham Butler was beyond words. Being able to bring a realistic and not taboo-comical take on someone with a disability can be hard to do and was done so well and, as said previously, with a lot of respect. He was able to bring a tear to the eye of the audience with his character’s contrast to those around him, with how hard he finds situations and events. The struggles and viewpoint of the situation were shown well and really struck a chord. The fellow performers and their more naturalistic roles took this in their stride as well, some doubling up at times and creatively being able to interchange with these, at times letting us forget that they were the same person. As a collective, there was a sense that the intricate nature of the performance needed them to be synced and supportive of one another – the use of physical theatre was in abundance and at times the need to lift and support performers horizontally against walls, flipping effortlessly and smoothly over into different directions was beautiful and well executed; a feat only possible with such a strong cast.
An usual take on this production was the use of live animals. My knowledge of laws around this within the theatre world is naive and so shocked and confused me slightly. It was evident that, while still in character, the performers and stage hands were very careful and gentle with the animals during their very short period on stage. As an animal lover, this again struck a chord with me, helping the tears of emotion from the production flow more freely with happiness and with the beautiful and gentle interaction. The brave nature of using these in a live and continuous performance was also brave but knowing their take on the subject, it was known how well they were treated.
Curious Incident exceeded expectations. So perfectly executed, it is hard to come away without feeling any emotion and awe for the production. It is certainly a show that could be seen countless times without boredom ensuing and something that must be a bucket list tick for everyone.
Link to a short documentary on the set design of the production
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01jydtx
Review Women on The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown The Playhouse by Hannah Goslin
The critically acclaimed and possibly controversial in the West End sector, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown was a production I was very excited to see. Announced recently with an early closure, this news worried me in the contrast to the good comments I had heard about the production and so there was a slight anticipation to what I was about to embark on.
Women on the Verge is based on a Spanish film (Spanish: Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios) written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The musical is still based in Spain but with a range of English dialects, we see the story of several women and their lives due to the impact of significant men; 3 women sharing a cheating middle-aged man and two younger women over the dream man. While this sounds an extremely feminist and almost man-bashing in its’ narrative, this comical musical professes much for both genders and orientations, hitting on some stereotypes in a funny way.
Returning to my earlier comment of being slightly controversial on the West End, Women on the Verge dared to bring a new and unconventional musical to the difficult and notorious scene where Musicals consist rarely of productions that are not well-known and usually of whose music everyone already knows, ready to sing along to. As someone who is not hugely into musicals, but is finding slight entertainment in them recently due to the West End, this satirical and broad attempt at a West End musical was right up my street – the music catchy, with a Spanish twist which complimented my love of European and Mediterranean culture and dared to bring out a bit of atmosphere in such a small theatre.
The set itself was something new – minimal in content but very realistic, the scenes were interchangeable and cleverly done so – performers on stage handing each other items during the change, with the main actress (Tamsin Greig) at times looking confused, as if this World was some dream state for her in a split second. This was one of the many comical ‘leitmotifs’ that added substance to the performance. The use of neon and bright colours from the staging to the lights to items of costumes was simple yet very effective, giving a sense of Spain’s change at the time in the 80’s, still with influences of the 70’s and 60’s.
My main excitement was of the main actress, Greig. As a huge fan of this comedy goddess from Black Books, Green Wing and more recently Friday Night Dinner, I was eager to see how she transformed on the stage. And boy, was I not disappointed. Professing a beautiful and strong voice, it was unexpected and awe-inspiring to hear from someone who I have personally put down for just TV scripted humour. Yet she also did not disappoint on the latter. Her comedy aura was huge on stage and her sheer talent to bring the big yet the small little changes in voice, expression or even these in the background gave a sense of naturalism and genuine acting skills.
With such talent, it could be seen as difficult to stand to this on stage, but all the fellow performers managed to do so. Easily, they seemed to have escalated their manic character’s to compete with Greig’s and therefore, there seemed a bond and synchronicity on stage. For such a quick paced and hilarious performance, it is great to see how close and trusting they are as a company to help things run so smoothly.
Ending the show, Greig brought herself out of the character to speak to us, encouraging us to come again and invite others due to the closure. Her humbleness and honesty, as well as some personal humour in congratulating the men of the audience to undertake such a show and to all of us as a collective for embarking on something a little different to the usual West End, was warming and gave us more of a personal feeling to the performance than we already had, after easily relating to the content.
Men or Women, this show caters for all, whether it is the relatable narrative, the comical scenes or the unusual take on a musical, this is a show that would be a shame to miss. So much so, I am considering seeing it just one more time, just as a treat!
Review Frankie Boyle, Leicester Square Theatre by Hannah Goslin
Frankie Boyle
Leicester Square Theatre
29/04/15
Controversial and often unlikable Frankie Boyle, known for his taboo subjects and risqué jokes took the main stage at Leicester Square Theatre. Known for sell out shows in larger venues, this small and intimate theatre was an unusual setting for the intense comic.
Beginning with a warm up act, the Canadian comedian was loud and hilarious. He brought on subjects that were important and topical but risked making crude and comical comments on these. His performance was an interesting style; he often walked the stage and used a shouting to pause technique, giving us time to laugh and take in the often valid point he had made. There was not a lot of audience interaction, mostly until the end which seemed a shame in such a small venue, however not all comics take that route and this did not change the atmosphere.
Finally, we listen to Boyle himself. In casual clothing, this gig is known to be a trial and error run of new material. Beginning with some of his already existing material, we were brought into and warmed up within his sense of humour. Not for the faint hearted, jokes petered on subjects that would not be welcomed in usual society, and this sense of taboo made the comedy even funnier. The humour that Boyle exhumes caters for a specific audience, however his popularity is evident by the constant hysterics in the room showed that British Society has a more risqué mind than we are professed to have by the media and stereotypes.
Boyle’s new work features comedy for a show that is soon to air. The privilege of hearing these and the intimacy with his judgement of whether the joke would be good enough or not or even be dumbed down enough was interesting to watch, making each person feel a part of his decision-making process.
Leicester Square theatre is well-known for giving space for comics, new and well-known to perform new material. While tickets sell quickly, it is well worth keeping an eye on these for such an intimate and relaxed evening, something that is unusual in entertainment scenes.
Review I Need a Doctor – The Whosical by Hannah Goslin
In the quaint basement of the Leicester Square Theatre, a minimal set with popular dance songs relating to Doctor Who (the worldwide Sci Fi show by the BBC) or in relation to the name, played as we entered – a box like structure the centre piece, covered in a black sheet.
This comedic yet purposefully amateur staged production brings the story of two die-hard Doctor Who fans, attempting to put on a short musical summing up 50 years of the story. Due to copyright and their failure at getting the BBC and key figures involved, they are thrown into a turmoil, but with a sense that the show must go on. This leads to ropey costumes, doubling up of characters and ultimately chaos.
With the intimate nature of this small space, the addition to the rejection of the celebrities added a form of comedy – the thought of them saying yes being less likely in such a scenario. It also brought a sense of connection with the audience, however there was a lack of interaction with the audience that could have been utilised very easily.
The story itself referred to many key concepts and repetitions in the show as well as references to West End and popular musicals – this was cleverly done in musical form with the accompaniment of a keyboard player using all the standard synthesised music on a keyboard, adding to the amateur feel that they had tried to express, and through moments of scripted descriptions of audience opinions of the show – for example, stating that they have arrived on another planet that for once does not look similar to a part of Cardiff – The show well-known to be filmed in this location.
These moments provided side-splitting comedic moments along with the changes of names of characters, locations and props in order to avoid the copyright law. Their way of tripping over these sudden changes, again, were very funny and continuously surprising with their intelligent substitutes.
With only two cast members (three if counting the keyboard player) their relationship on stage gave them the ability to bounce of each other and convincingly at times to fool us into believing that there were problems and real arguments over the chaotic changes.
Overall, this small and definitely hilarious show is something to watch. More suited to recent fans, there was a lack of more references to pre-2005 classical Doctor Who and so may lose older fans. However, those who enjoy the entire 50 years, theatre in general and/or musical theatre specifically will find something that will hold their attention and give them a fun experience.
Review These Trees are Made of Blood Theatre Bench Southwark Playhouse
My first time at the Southwark Playhouse, I was pleasantly surprised by the kitsch, unusual look of the place yet it’s homely feel. By spending time in this atmosphere, entering the performance space was a complete change of juxtaposition.
We entered a small and quaint little mismatched cabaret club. Music bellowed from the live band on stage and we were invited to sit around and in-between the action, such as one would at a club such as this.
The performance started before we even entered – the band already in full swing, cabaret acts performing in between the chairs and tables, the audience manoeuvring themselves throughout this world.
The narrative of this production was of the missing children in Argentina during the 1970’s and 80’s of which was the fault of the corrupt government but involving the viewpoint’s of both the corrupt and of the family’s that lost their loved ones.
For such a political and tough historical story, it was such an interesting take to create a cabaret club. The timeline of one mother and daughter and what the government had done to them was experienced through song, burlesque, magic and so on. Firstly, this being very comical, the realisation of the reality behind these songs and performances slowly became apparent and harder to find entertaining in the sense that normal cabaret aims to achieve.
By bringing events, both physically and vocally, we were forced to applaud these acts despite it feeling wrong to – the talk of murder, disappearance and rape; the heartache that the mother’s were feeling; the lies and the deceit of the government, all very hard topics to believe happened let alone congratulate as we would a poignant or entertaining piece of performance. This idea was perfect – to feel the shame and the sadness of this truth and to be forced as these victims possibly were was very cleverly executed.
The performers themselves threw every skill into this production. Not a moment was lost and an evidence of trust within this hard-hitting story was present. By ending it such a heartbreaking way, showing us images of those missing and speaking through song about the sorrow that women who march still to this day for their loved ones feel, not only were there tears in the audience, but the tears and pain in the actors faces who could be congratulated as astonishing acting. However, it is my belief that these moments were more small glimpses into the feelings of the performers themselves. Training says that moments like this can destroy what pretence has been created, but this only brought more to the performance in showing how dedicated and moved they were for the narrative, and much respect gained for all those involved in the entire performance.
What makes this performance even more special is the abundance of Welsh performers and creatives. Ranging from Cardiff, to Pontypool and Swansea, it’s a continued selection of evidence the sheer talent that this country produces – and bringing this to London – a huge ocean of theatre – to see it striving as well as it has, in such a perfect location, brings much pride to myself as the London Correspondent for Young Critics Wales knowing how talented Welsh artists can be.
Review The Nether, Duke of York by Hannah Goslin
Critically acclaimed, The Nether was a show I was very eager to watch. I did not immediately decide to find the story line out, as I feel this somewhat limits the surprise at times. However, seeing advertising media about this production, it was safe to assume that it was a futuristic or technological based world from the sci-fi aesthetic.
The story is about a progression that could be argued as possible in our own future, where the internet or ‘The Nether’ is predominant. Virtual reality is very much a common realistic event. Here we see a detective, investigating the known ‘Papa’ who has created a world unlike before; with the ability to trigger the senses and make it all seem very real. The gruesome part of this is that this world lets users undertake paedophilic fantasies and yet, still be able to feel the act itself.
The set was phenomenal – a large screen took the background where video images, sound recording and so on was mixed in a collage. This rose after a computer graphic-ed outline of the virtual reality world was formed and then appeared on stage in a higher imbedded area. Papa had made this world-old fashioned – Victorian styled yet there was always a sense of this being a different world and technology fuelled.
The narrative itself is a hard one to sit through. Yet, the theatricality of it is fantastic, giving a sense of fear and uneasiness with its’ content and how likely this future could be. The actors are all brilliant. Their skills and dominance of the stage is overwhelming and also admiring to their ability to take on such a story. There was the ability to be emotional and to hit us with this, but also naturalism; the characters could have been as real as the person walking by you in the street, which, for a production about virtual reality and a future world, it would seem strange to be so natural in.
Overall, I enjoyed this taboo busting production. In the middle of a section of theatre land where you would expect to see mostly musicals and popular plays, something that really contrasts to this is a breath of fresh air. You come away in awe but also with a sense that you should not have enjoyed it due to the content, but you cannot help but admire the guts to put on such a hard hitting production. And surely, this is an area of theatre that should be more prominent in the West End.
Review Made In Dagenham Adelphi Theatre by Hannah Goslin
Many in London are talking about Made in Dagenham. Set close to London in Essex, it’s only a short tube journey to find the real town yourself. But was bringing it to the West End the best idea?
The story sees a group of women during the 1950’s working for the car manufacturer Ford. Some of their husbands, including the main character’s (played by Gemma Arterton) working side by side with them in the factory. This fictional tale comes from the film in 2010 and highlights the inequality of women in the work place and how a lack of equal pay shows the continued discrimination of women.
As someone who has not seen the film, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting; and yet I still am not sure. As a musical, there are catchy songs and liberating ones; as a feminist, the story appealed to me and I so wanted to like it. Moments I enjoyed were the mixture of comical to fiercely independent songs, highlighting the stupidity of the government and women’s empowerment. There were character’s that were exaggerated stereotypes or parodies of public figures and they gave a chuckle and a giggle at interludes in the storyline.
However, it seems this production couldn’t make its’ mind up. It either had to be comical, or hard-hitting but it failed to be able to do both. While I didn’t find myself bored, I still expected there to be more. The director took a nice approach in bringing characters into the audience with spotlights, but without any real interaction with the audience, not even eye contact, this seemed a little futile.
My disappointment finished at Arterton’s performance. As a great fan on hers in many films, I was excited to see her on stage, in the flesh. However, with her character being quite plain and the more serious of the group of women, she struggled to stand out. The performances of exaggerated characters unfortunately overshadowed her and her great talent.
Over all, this happy-ended revolution of women and what we continue to strive for is feel good and nice to walk away from. But it is only nice, and not as astounding as one was expecting.
Review Scottsboro Boys Garrick Theatre by Hanna Goslin
The tale of the Scottsboro Boys is a tough story to believe. Based on true events, this musical looks at the story of the falsely accused southern black young men of a rape on a train. The satirical play shows the injustice and the apartheid in southern America… something that seems strange for a musical, no?
Cleverly, the writers of this performance have hit on a range of events of this era (1930’s onwards) of this appalling discrimination. Setting the group of black performers to perform their story as a minstrel show, we begin to see how mistreated these humans were. There’s an element of comedy but more of a focus on the ridiculous nature of views of this time and with this in mind, these accomplished performers produce a stunning and hard-hitting performance.
Instead of using a range of cast to perform the parts of the ‘white folk’, a handful of the performers used small costume changes and prop additions to highlight the change, but mostly this is shown in their over-acted and almost parody of these characters. Somehow, to see these parodies would sound unfitting for such a tough story, but it fits correctly to humiliate the wrong opinions, the poor reflection of human nature and the insolence of these characters.
The Scottsboro Boys portrays a sad reality, with no happy ending. The musical numbers pull at the heart-strings and make you hate the white people who were wrong. And somehow, this seems a perfect way to bring this story to the forefront of the public. With a standing ovation and tears swept from the corners of many in the theatre, this performance is not only different but a daring addition to the West End.
Review The Play That Goes Wrong, Mischief Theatre at the Duchess Theatre By Hannah Goslin
In the spacious Duchess theatre, The Play that Goes Wrong is a production exploring more than what it says on the tin!
The narrative created by Mischief Theatre is of an amateur company putting on a murder mystery play, but unknown to them, everything goes wrong. This begins as the theatre’s ushers open the curtains, letting us audience into our seats where two frantic ‘crew’ members are looking for a run away performer – the dog.
Many events go wrong from parts of the set coming apart, missing actors and forgotten scripts, ending in a huge climax of mishaps. This particular performance felt accomplished; with a group of school kids in the theatre, actors managed to easily interact with us with the use of improvisation and while we knew this was a scripted play, there was a great sense of these actors’ abilities to digress from the script and still manage to show professionalism and skill.
These latter attributes also manifested themselves in how well rehearsed the play is in relation to the safety of quite dangerous stunts, performed by the actors. While able to mix with each other and the set without injury, they still manage this and perform with humour and still in their characters.
The Play that Goes wrong at no point goes wrong in achieving their goal. With elements reminiscent of productions I’ve seen by Forced Entertainment, while not trying to Brecht-ify the audience, we are felt included in the humour and clumsiness that is this mishap of a murder mystery.
Following this show, Mischief Theatre will be performing one-off shows at the Duchess with ‘Lights, Camera, Improvise’ where this talented company will perform with a hint of forum theatre, using audience suggestions to influence what they produce. By seeing how well they can improvise, I am especially excited to see more from this talented company.