(4 / 5)
Very regimental, emotionless and demanding, walking into Evros : The Crossing River, we are split into different seating through the tunnel in direct fashion. This production has many layers to it, with our entrance only being of one, highlighting the narrative.
Evros is a production that looks at and gets in depth with the Syrian refugee crisis. Taking several stories, we see the sheer terror, the difficulties and the tragedy that many families have and do endure, while contrasting this with normal events of happiness, family, and love. It is an emotional play, tugging at your emotions but also opening your eyes to the sheer truth.
https://youtu.be/Qava8NEI65M
The performers from Seemia Theatre have happily (and what a rarity) gone back to basics – we have character swapping with identity being confirmed by small changes of costuming, translating into their character development. The performers do well to change ages, relationships through physicalisation and change in voice.
Back to basics, they also use basic lighting, a simple wash with a spotlight change – nothing fancy and distracting, this production is purely about content and physicality. And there is no recorded music – the performers take it in turns and also join together with instruments and their voices which resounds across the tunnel creating the ultimate atmospheric feeling.
It’s also refreshing to see a narrative combined with physical theatre – encompassing the feeling of running, of loss, of exhaustion with repeated, almost light-motif’s of movement to enhance the deterioration of these lives.
The narrative itself is split; we see characters go from normal happy lives, to tragedy; creating the basics we need to affiliate with them as people living normal lives, to then question and try to understand how such awful events can change that simple dynamic quickly.
The performers are at all times in character – from the moment you walk in to when you leave. This becomes a safe space where we experience these stories but feel contained and in a way, involved.
Evros : The Crossing River is steeped in emotion, creating the most intense atmosphere and leaving you feeling a sense of sorrow unlike any other.
Hannah Goslin
Category Archives: Theatre
Review The Greatest Showman by Jonathan Evans
The Greatest Showman comes in loud and proud to be a movie musical. I relishes in it’s ability to sing and dance and show colour before you. I wonder how it will fair with the not clear advertising that seemingly wants to hide the fact that it’s musical.
It’s opening song says that you yourself want to be entertained with a musical and showmanship and it will provide. If you are not in for the ride now you should leave the theater because then it’s not for you. We are then taken back in time to a young boy named P.T. Barnum, he is the son of a poor tailor, they serve some sort of rich man who has a daughter (guess what happens). Time passes and as they grow up and marry two children join them. While working as a clerk at a shipping company everyone looses their job because all the ships were sank. So he is out of a job but also reflects that this is not the life he promises his wife and seeks out wonder. He opens a museum of oddities, but mannequins and stuffed animals don’t do good business. So he seeks out real life oddities, little people, giants, women with beards etc.
Hugh Jackman is by no means a closeted musical lover. He has spoken about it in interviews, hosted the Oscars with opening musical numbers and stared in other musicals and worn it on his sleeve very proudly. You can tell that he is so happy to be here as a character that gets to sing and dance to entertain you, he is of course no slouch in the singing and dancing department (he greatly excels at it in-fact).
To gain respect Barnum recruits Philip Carlyle (Zac Efron) a highbrow theater producer. He is talked into by being reminded that this career he is on gives him no joy and is sold on the promise of excitement in what he does (also a few shots). While working there a spark develops between him and the trapeze artist Anne Wheeler (Zendaya). They are an attractive movie couple and have both acting and dancing chemistry together. I want to highlight Zendaya’s performance because she very strongly conveys the characters repressed mentality to the public with very little screen-time she’s given, possibly due to limited run-time and a lot of focus given to Barnum. But knowing that she is completely different from how she was in Spider-Man: Homecoming truly highlights her as a talent to watch-out for.
This is Michael Gracey’s directorial debut however he has been in the business since 1997. He has been a visual effects artist, which he probably channeled into his vision of this bouncing, high speed world. I believe this man has a strong future in this business.
It wouldn’t be much of a musical if the songs weren’t up to scratch. Most of them are big, upbeat showy numbers designed to impress. There are variations, with ones of different genres and slower and/or more intimate ones. They are catchy and have visuals that compliment them nicely, but they don’t really push the characters and story forward very much, they are just minor moves in the plot or a character saying what we already know about them.
This movie is so happy to be doing what it does. The director absolutely got high on their own supply and got actors that are just as happy to be dancing and singing for us. There are shortcomings, in the passing and compared other top movie musicals, like La La Land, it falls short of perfection. But the movie’s smiles and enthusiasm melts away all those criticisms and made me and will probably leave you smiling.
Jonathan Evans
Review Dublin Carol, Sherman Theatre, Cardiff by Roger Barrington
(4 / 5)
Recently crowned Regional Theatre of the Year, Sherman Theatre maintains its recent run of excellent productions with Conor McPherson’s play Dublin Carol.
So highly regarded after Conor McPherson’s smash 1997 play The Weir, the Royal Court Theatre in London, (known as The Writers’ Theatre), reopened with Dublin Carol after a lengthy closure due to redevelopment. First performed in February 2000, it later opened Off-Broadway almost three years later to the day, and both productions received widespread critical acclaim.
The play is set in three parts, all occurring on Christmas Eve. The design layout is prescribed in the playtext. An office, (which happens to be in North Dublin, where all Mcpherson’s famous early monologue plays are set), is rather shabbily decorated with Christmas decorations that have seen better years. These decorations have been rather casually put up, reflecting upon the character of the man who inhabits this space in its lack of effort. Religious icons such as a crucifix and the presence of an advent calendar, with only a few dates left to be opened are prevalent as is a fairly nondescript one foot high artificial Christmas Tree. A small electric fire is found centre stage with a long flex loosely lying to a power point some distance away. A small kitchen area, filing cabinets and desk indicate that this is an office rather than someone’s abode, and the text soon reveals that it belongs to an undertaker.
This play is a three-hander with the protagonist John appearing throughout. The first and third parts are played with a young man Mark and the middle featuring John’s estranged daughter Mary.
Comparisons are easy to make to Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, also set on Christmas Eve. You can relate Mary to the Ghost of Christmas Past, as the dialogue between her and her father reveal the severe familial problems that have occurred in the past. Mark, who is also performing undertaking duties on a temporary basis to aid his uncle Noel, (Christmas), who is laid up in hospital. Mark is in a relationship with an air stewardess and in part three you find that this is suffering from considerable strain with the young man wishing to break loose. Mark can be looked upon as the Ghost of Christmas Future, because John offers advice on the course of action to be taken by his young colleague.
However, McPherson isn’t a Dickensian disciple, and for that matter, neither is he a satirist. Unlike Scrooge who undergoes a transformation from miser to philanthropist, you are not going to see such a change in John over the course of a single day.
For John is an alcoholic, and one who finds an excuse for every miserable act he has committed in his life to date, influenced by drink. Conor McPherson, also, has suffered from a closer encounter with the “demon drink” than is too good for his health. However, it would be wrong to consider this play is about alcoholism, although it takes central stage. Also, it would be incorrect to surmise that Dublin Carol is autobiographical. In fact, a major health breakdown caused by his excessive drinking was suffered by the playwright after his his next play, Port Authority, (2001). It is on record that subconsciously in the playwright’s mind, Dublin Carol may have premeditated the events of the following year.
The play, also has a character named Carol in it. She was John’s girlfriend when he was married, but was rejected due to her providing her liver with carte blanche authority to do what he liked. There were no conditions to their relations and ultimately John rejected her because he needs some sense of structure in his life, which Noel, the owner of the undertaking business, who has taken him on, despite knowing about his problems with alcohol. John is a natural successor to the masculine self-pitying, ready to apportion blame on everyone except themselves, anti-heroes of McPherson’s earlier monologic characters.
John is played by Simon Wolfe with a ferocious intensity that seamlessly changes from high good humour to savage anger.
The two supporting actors, Welsh actress Siwan Morris as Mary and Julian Moore-Cook as Mark maintain highly creditable Dublin accents, alien to their natural speaking voice, and manage not to get swept away by Simon Wolf’s powerful study of John.
Robustly directed by Sherman debutante Matthew Xia, the design by Lily Arnold is assured and at times beautiful. In a memorable final scene, an illuminated wreath-like motto descends from above, “Endure to the End and be Saved” from the Gospel of St. Matthew. This provides the key to the open ending. Will John receive redemption in the end? The Advent Calendar, which ends on Christmas Day with the revealing of Jesus, also is about redemption.
In the end depending on your take on John, you will either care whether he does or not receive redemption.
Suitable for 14+ due to pervasive language throughout.
See Director Matthew Xia’s introduction to the play on Youtube below
Dublin Carol runs until 17 February at the Sherman Studio at 7.30 pm. Duration 80 minutes – no interval.
For tickets:-
http://www.shermantheatre.co.uk/performance/theatre/dublin-carol/
End
Roger Barrington
Review Madonna or Whore? The Vault Festival by Hannah Goslin
Practically living at the Vault Festival, I decided last minute to book into another show – Madonna or Whore? With 4 and 5 star reviews, I was eager to see what looked like from the posters a different and comedic production.
Madonna or Whore takes a look at misogyny through time, highlighted by Freud’s ‘Madonna or Whore’ theory, and emphasised by (very good) karaoke Madonna songs.
Now that all may sound like a random concoction but it isn’t. Holly Morgan and her fiancé Tom Moores bring together not only each of their own essence to the production, bouncing off one another as naturally as you can imagine they do in person . Whilst also looking at history, they bring in their personal experiences. With the current #MeToo movement, this production is relevant, shocking but also so true and close to our own lives and experiences.
Now, as really this is some deep stuff to be watching, Morgan and Moores turn it on its head; part stand up, part farce, part comedy duo, they are turned into comical overturns helped by home made props and audience participation.
It is for sure that a review cannot do it justice.
Madonna or Whore? is nothing short of brilliant – topical and very important, Morgan and Moores are just hilarious, clever and totally bonkers. This really is the type of work that should be seen by everyone not only for its importance but for its sheer hilarity and clever approach.
(5 / 5)
Review Red Bastard : Lie With Me, The Vault Festival by Hannah Goslin
(5 / 5)
Bouffon : A theatre concept that is unique, niche and rarely seen in contemporary theatre. Red Bastard could easily be said to be the father of this style.
As a student studying performing arts 5 years ago, I was introduced to Red Bastard and fell in love with not only him but Bouffon – a type of theatre where a character who is misshaped and says the things no one should ever say, it is shocking, hilarious and fantastic. Not for those who are too PC!
Lie With Me is Red Bastard’s second show. This time he takes on love, and asks the questions we are all scared to ask and think about – What counts as cheating? What even is love? And pointing out that we all LIE.
Red Bastard uses 3 alter egos – Red Bastard is the devlish and mysterious figure who gets off on our lies, our infidelities, our animal instinct. Eric is the performer – he almost does not agree, he is apologetic and horrified by Red Bastard. And finally a man with no name, who just wants love and to be loved – he’s respectful, giving and rounds up the show with a wonderful soulful ending.
Red Bastard moves across our stage, like a little round devil ; licking his fingers as he enjoys our lies like a delicious cake, miming making sandwich’s, cutting deserts, and filling his evil belly with it. You cannot help but laugh at this but admire his precision in his movements; his known movement of walking and rubbing his misshapen body as he speaks to us is almost like a star struck moment to us fans.
It is unclear how planned and how much improv he uses – he interacts with us but seems to be ahead of us all. This shows true skill as a performer that we know he cannot possibly predict all the infinite options that can come from the audience, but he is so precise and perfect that he takes it in his stride and reacts perfectly every time.
Red Bastard is a hero of mine and he did not disappoint. A well researched performance, he has no qualms, fears or want to not offend, to not tell us what we are thinking, and makes us come away contemplating what life really is, whilst our stomachs hurt from laughing so much.
Hannah Goslin
Review Hamilton by Jonathan Evans
(5 / 5)
Hamilton is a phenomenon. Lin Manauel Miranda’s show about the rise and fall of the founding farther Alexander Hamilton who would be immortalised by having his face on the ten dollar bill is one of the biggest shows to musical theatre in a long time. It’s fan-base has grown and grown and it has conquered America and is now taking on the rest of the world.
The London show at the Victoria Palace Theatre has grabbed and magnificently run with the baton of standard that this show has gathered. From the words on the page, the set, to the performances themselves they bring this show to life with grace and fury.
The opening number sets up almost everything we need to know. From our heroes backstory to where he is when the story stars and even his end.
https://youtu.be/E8_ARd4oKiI
The stage has the floor and rafters so that actors can ascend and descend to signify gain and loss of power. The unique aspect of it is the revolving mechanic of the floor of the stage. It is both technically impressing but also essential to the language of the play.
The rotation gives a greater geography to the limited space of the stage, now the actors can continually walk. Also it happens during more key moments so it becomes an expression of Hamilton’s life moments, when he meets someone new or a choice is to be made his world has shifted. It again serves as having Hamilton as the centre while the character and events revolve around him also the ticking of a clock that waits for no one. Along with the unique element they also use the lighting to paint the mood of the scene and represent when a character is isolated. The actors navigate the space expertly with almost nothing out of sync.
As we all know the founding fathers were all white men and married white women. For historical accuracy this cannot be disputed. However this is a contemporary piece of art so it is not so much interested in being historically accurate but more in spiritually representative of America. The casting for the Hamilton cast is very diverse, having almost everyone of every ethnicity represented on stage. If someone who is curious what Alexander Hamilton really looked like then they have only look it up.
An elements of the performance that there is an argument for being cut (but people would be hounding for blood if it was.) This is the segments with King George, they are the point of view from his perspective as he learns about Americas quest and gaining of independence. Really they don’t need to be there, yet they are so loved and funny they must. His lack of choreography is also immensely amusing, because he is dressed to the ninth all he can really do is stand there but it works by making him seem more uptight.He manages to work in some shoulder movements and he works the crowd greatly. His musical style is more like that of British rock which adds another level of diversity to the show.
The songs carry the narrative and theme. No speaking breaks, all songs, non-stop. The backing musicians play extremely well. The songs themselves area all immensely catchy and will have you repeating a few of them when you leave the theatre. Some of the top favourite are My Shot, Helpless, You’ll Be Back, Burn and others but count on you leaving with a favourite (mine’s Non-Stop).
The play as a whole is divided into two acts. The first is establishing Hamilton himself as well as a few of the others that will play big roles in this story, also about Americas fight for independence. The second act is about dealing with independence and the conflicts they have to deal with become more personal and internal.
The acting from the players is very good. There are many characters in this story and in the second act the actors switch roles to the new characters that are introduced. There is just so much to say about them that it would take up too much of the review, so I’ll just summarise by saying their performance, from the expressions, to the singing is indeed top notch.
The main feats of dancing and choreography come from the background extras. The main players in the scene don’t really bust out many impressive moves, but then again they have many lyrics to remember and sing and if they were doing something more physically taxing then they’d most likely be out of breathe and that wouldn’t be any good. They do indeed do some dancing and hand movements to stop them from becoming dull planks which keeps us looking at them.
Hamilton is the story of the American dream as well as other things and told with modern sensibilities. It is incorrect in a few historical details as others have pointed out, but this is a work of art not an accurate historical account of events. It tells it’s story succinctly through it’s chosen medium of rap with very efficient and fast lyrics being sung and the visuals on-stage from the dancing to the lighting do so many things to draw your eye that you’ll be engaged for the full three hours and then complain that it was over too soon.
Jonathan Evans
Review Incognito, Theatre Through The Telescope, USW by Kevin Johnson
Inspired by the true story of the ‘theft’ of Einstein’s brain by an American pathologist, Incognito weaves together three stories, set in the past and present, involving the workings of the brain it’s effects on people, and the connections it makes, both internally and externally.
Written by Nick Payne, directed by Paul Conway and performed by a cast of ten BA students from the University of South Wales, we veer from the pathologist to a modern neuropsychologist, and a patient with memory problems.
Set in an enclosed space, the actors manage to create an impressive show, with fully fleshed out characters, taking us from London to New Jersey to Kansas. The scenes range from a medical exam of a man with brain damage, to a first date, to a diner, leading us to questions of memory, identity and what makes us who we are.
Henry, the patient, suffers short-term memory loss, yet always remembers his love for Margaret through the years. Evelyn wonders if she’s Einstein’s daughter. Thomas wants to make a scientific breakthrough. Martha wants to start afresh with Patricia. All of them, one way or the other, defined by the workings of the human brain.
All the actors get their chance to shine in a fine ensemble piece. Laura Maggs gives us a sympathetic Margaret who sabotages her own efforts to connect with Patricia, a charming Gabrielle Dunn.
James Lawrence’s Henry is heartbreaking, managing to keep the repetition of ‘Hello my love’ constantly fresh. Kieran McCutcheon keeps Thomas from becoming a cliche mad scientist while clearly showing his desperation, and Charlotte Dolan as his wife Elouise is a fine foil to him.
Hannah Moreno makes Evelyn layered and complex, Lucy Gooding’s Margaret evokes love’s gain and loss, and Shaunie Williams Welsh waitress is earthy and warm. Liam Edmunds is delightfully seedy as the reporter.
Tom Dyer, playing five roles, goes from drama to comedy with ease, and finds the humour in the simplest of lines.
If this young cast is typical of students coming through, then I look forward with great keenness to seeing such quality in the future.
To find out more about BA Theatre and Drama at USW, click here.
Kevin Johnson
Review Mnemonic, Complicité: Theatre Through The Telescope by Kevin Johnson
Part of the Theatre Through The Telescope season, a collection of plays sharing the theme of science, this is a work created by the Complicité theatre company.
It’s central premise is memory, it’s fallibility, how we shape it, how it shapes us, and how it connects us to past generations.
Moving from separated lovers in London to a mummified 5,000 year old corpse in Austria, via travellers, tourists and workers, making observations along the way. How today’s citizen was yesterday’s immigrant, and possibly tomorrow’s refugee?
One line resonated most with me, that ‘the biggest discovery of our present is the immensity of our past’. Using a simple leaf and a blindfold, the cast shows us how all our pasts are irretrievably connected, that it’s a mathematical certainty that we are family, not a theory. Yet violence is also our legacy.
In the end, all we have, like the mummy, are scraps and fragments
The cast of ten excitingly bring to life a vast selection of eclectic characters, some recurring, some not, but all moving the narrative along at a fast pace. That they do all this while at the same time acting as stagehands, setting up props for scenes and re-setting them, is pretty damned impressive.
These are the theatre makers of tomorrow, and based on this example, tomorrow is in good hands.
Kevin Johnson
Review Becoming Shades, Chivaree Circus, Vault Festival by Hannah Goslin
(5 / 5)
In the deep dark underground of The Vaults in London, Vault Festival obtains every corner. Lightened by UV and Neon, packed full of people, in rooms that seemingly appear from nowhere – what a perfect place to stage an apocalyptic underworld full of circus extraordinaire.
Becoming Shades is mostly entirely run by women – but these women are fierce. They occupy this expanse of an Underworld, making us stare and gasp in awe at their circus techniques – but not all is what it seems. This is dark, real dark – a feeling of two acrobatics with a grudge; a girl pulled into the chaos and forced to perform; three henchmen and their comical relationships; all run by our ‘ring leader’ – a gas masked mystery, moving almost like an old person but still curious and inhuman-like.
https://vimeo.com/245702028
This promenade performance moves the audiences across the space – our henchmen guiding us with mime and fear – we’re never sure if they will hurt us or play with us. They move us with such ease – the lighting changing and acting as a beacon for where we must go.
The costumes and set are exactly what you would expect – reused material yet with a finesse of circus tradition; everything encompasses this watery, dark underground world.
There’s no ‘tud dah’ moments; no smiles; we know we cannot be hurt and we will leave eventually but there’s the 1% that makes you think you’ll be with this group of mischiefs forever.
The stunts are undeniably creative, surprising and inspiring; seeing each muscle in the performer’s bodies move in the light as their sheer strength and flexibility turns around a rope; silks; flaming hoops and so on. And then there are fire breathing, juggling, all to grab your attention and keep you guessing.
The cast themselves did a great job of constant character; the interval let us stay in the area and they loitered; looking sad and bewildered; listening to the live music which was very necessarily dark, indie and mood enhancing. Or they decided to play with us, invite us to be entertained instead of checking Twitter.
Beyond Shades evokes a little reminder of No Fit State Circus ; energetic, unusual but still with their own take and own identity. Just as No Fit, they are incredible and nothing short of sheer perfection, something like you have never seen before.
Hannah Goslin
Review A Clockwork Orange, Exeter Northcott by Hannah Goslin
(2 / 5)
Unless you have lived under a rock, everyone knows A Clockwork Orange, written by Anthony Burgess and hitting our screens in a feature film in 1971.
The story features violence, rape, theft and a utopian type existence where everyone fears the youth gangs swarming the streets and committing such atrocities. Eventually this becomes too much and ring leader, Alex, is imprisoned for two years until being chosen for an experiment meant to “cure” him.
Not only have I seen the film, but countless stage performances; this story lends itself to easily be customised – a directors heaven in producing their own take on the story.
This time around, the show has been taken on by Exeter University’s Theatre society. They make great headway with staging – with high level stage and props to use, they enable the time period to be stretched and changed, adding to this concept of a utopian world. The costuming is in addition to this; complimenting the time period the story comes from (70’s), again there is creativity with time periods and a huge sense of different empowerment with the use of army uniforms. This story is a fearful one, which we have come close to with societal atrocities spanning across our country, therefore not placing this anywhere specific in time or location makes this relateable to our fears for the future.
The performances themselves were ranging in quality. Thinking of a University Society, it’s understandable and expected that there would be a element of different levels of skill. However you cannot say that no one was not fully in their performance, and all in all showed great professionalism.
My issues with the performance was it felt as if there was a struggle to cut down content and the second half felt rather long. This is a common mistake when starting to bring page to stage and something that can only be enhanced but which most practitioners have fallen to once or twice.
There was an obvious need to try and shock us – rape scenes, nudity, false blood etc. Now I love performances that do this – devised performances that create a sense of surprise and in a taboo fashion is great but difficult with a well renowned story that is known for its taboo content. I only think that to keep the audience, the company should have taken the advice of less is certainly more.
Finally, the performers added a new element to this show – musical numbers. While I commend this bold move, it did not feel as if it worked – a more violent and sweary West Side Story comes to mind. Somehow this did not gel with the production but was a commendable move.
All in all this production of A Clockwork Orange was an interesting take on the original story – paying homage to the main themes of a possible future existence in our society, along with a nod to the original book and film’s time period, the company did well to produce something new yet still recognisable, throwing their all into their characters and doing this with no fear.
Hannah Goslin