(4 / 5)
There is a moment in Skylight, David Hare’s award-winning 1995 play, where businessman Tom talks about religion and spirituality. He declares his admiration for the former due to its rules and expectations of behaviour. He dismisses the latter as wishee-washee and unreasonable. This observation tells us a lot about his character. It is the reason, he declares, why he and his late-wife Alice were incompatible. This declaration is made to Kyra, a schoolteacher with whom he had an affair some years ago. The play centres on a visit by Tom to her flat some years later.
In Tamara Harvey’s 2017 revival, part of Theatr Clwyd’s opening season, this flat is a fully-functioning abode. Jeany Spark, bringing a quiet strength to the role of Kyra, is tasked with running a bath, making tea, washing up, and cooking Spaghetti Bolognese. It is no small feat, but judging by the smell, the latter is a resounding success. Yet this realism isn’t just for show. It serves to bring Hare’s brilliantly sharp satire to life, adding an extra layer of verisimilitude that makes for an engrossing two-and-a-bit hours. Harvey’s production doesn’t overshadow the script; rather, it enhances it, particularly through the set design. The flat is supported and surrounded by giant breeze blocks, representing a simple yet effective image which blends seamlessly into the background. There is ambient lighting throughout, with simple fades into day and night. The layout of the flat ensures that the important action takes place centre stage whilst not compromising on its realist look.
Spark and Villiers strike up a commendable partnership. They capture the punchy and witty nature of Hare’s script even if they don’t seem to hit the emotional heights one might expect. Instead, both play their characters with a good measure of self-control. They are like two players in a verbal tennis match, each hitting a weighty serve of political conviction and personal revelation but never quite achieving that emotionally-satisfying ace. But what you lose in emotion, you gain in the clarity of Hare’s script. They deliver their lines so cleanly and clearly that you are under no illusion as to their beliefs and values. And this extends not only to religion, but to politics, business and human interaction too.
It was a real joy to witness this production. It is surprising that Skylight has not been performed more since its initial run. Harvey is to be commended for bringing it back to our attention. Its relevance within the modern political landscape should not be underestimated.
https://www.theatrclwyd.com/en/whats-on/skylight/
Category Archives: Theatre
REVIEW: ‘SINNERS CLUB’ BY GEMMA TREHARNE-FOOSE
“A clever and interesting production fronted by an incredible musical talent…”
(3 / 5)
Fresh from the magic and wonder of ‘Wonderman’ at the Tramshed in 2016, ‘Rock and Roll Theatre’ production company Gagglebabble are back: this time at The Other Room, a pub theatre making a mark in Cardiff as an edgy hub of experimental, cutting edge theatre.
Partnering with Theatr Clwyd, a company keen to push the boundaries with their productions, this ‘gin-soaked blood and guts’ production kicks off The Other Room’s ‘Outliers’ season.
Exploring the dark underbelly of human nature, the production aims to tell the story of Ruth Ellis the last woman in the UK (originally from Rhyl) to be hanged.
Lead actor, singer, musician and composer (phew!) Lucy Rivers is the first writer in residence for Theatr Clwyd and she, along with band ‘The Bad Mothers’ have created an interactive stop-start ‘live recording session’ experience.
From the start the scene is set, the audience are ushered into the tiny smoky space, resembling a living room-come-recording studio. We witness the preparation for the session, the banter between the band and the studio manager’s voice directing the session.
The space is deliberately compact; audience members will feel at times they are eyeball to eyeball with the singer. It feels intensely personal and almost uncomfortably intrusive and this potency and crossing of the boundaries is actively encouraged and played with throughout the piece.
Audience members help deliver lines, help Rivers with costume changes and even help her take off her boots. Later, another audience member is given a musical instrument to play and the band pass around a bowl of turkish delight after Rivers has a bit of a wobble and the ‘recording session’ takes a break.
A very loose chronology unfolds of the life of Ruth Ellis. But where her story and the story of other women untangle themselves didn’t really become clear to me. At times I wasn’t sure whose story was whose and details of the different stories clashed or contradicted themselves. Was this Ruth’s story or someone else’s? I never claimed to be the quickest off the mark and my brain may have been fried by 9 hours of office time beforehand but…I struggled a bit.
There was one passing line in reference to Ruth Ellis being from Rhyl, but the production focuses on human relationships in the main. I would have enjoyed a bit more detail / exploration of Ruth’s identity as a Welsh woman and her ‘trial by press’, though there are extracts and snippets of pictures/clips here and there in the audio visuals and soundtrack. Her experience could have been anywhere but it could have been interesting to pick up on these elements, too.
Between the compelling and beautifully crafted musical score, Katy Morison’s lighting, the costume changes, the sound effects, asides and audience jokes, the mini in-between scenes, the projections and the video, it might be difficult for some audience members to follow in places.
The play does very successfully embody the spirit of a true recording session – at times you feel as though you are in an actual drama or at a jazz club, but I can’t hand on heart say I felt like I truly appreciated or understood the true character or true story of Ruth Ellis.
I think what the production does manage to do well is to use Ruth Ellis as a posterchild/an example of the wronged woman, the rebel, the slut, the non-conformer, the loose woman. She embodies the fear, distrust and objectification of women. Women like Ruth Ellis are interesting not only because of the crimes they have committed but because they have deviated so very far from the gender-specific norms and usual trajectory of the ‘wife and mother’ that is part of the status quo even now.
We all have wickedness and weaknesses within us, this was a theme throughout Sinners Club. These themes are wonderfully weaved into the songs, supported and lifted by The Bad Mothers, who help add richness and depth to the experiences in the play with their moody riffs and melodies.
How well Sinners Club translates the ‘voice’ or experience of Ruth Ellis, I can’t truly say, but one thing that was the absolute driving force of this production was the sheer un self-conscious magnetism and watchability of Lucy Rivers, who commands the attention of everyone in the room at all times.
This was not quite the play to watch after a long day at work or if you have any sort of aversion to strobe lighting (I had to close my eyes tightly as my eyes couldn’t take it!), BUT this really is a clever and interesting production fronted by an incredible musical talent.
For most people this will not feel like the type of lazy ‘switch off and smile’ theatre you might have grown comfortable with – this is theatre that challenges you and forces you to question what it is you’re watching, to ask questions of it and yourself. This is something Gagglebabble are really good at producing and based on what I have seen so far – the ‘gig-theatre’ approach is never dull or routine. It is basically a theatre version of a bag of Revels.
This was an amazing start to The Other Room’s ‘Outliers’ Spring 2017 season and now that this tiny theatre with a big presence has won ‘Best Theatre of the Year’ at the 2016 Stage Awards and a clutch of other prizes at the Welsh Theatre Awards, I really can’t wait to see what comes next. Expect more great things from these guys…
Type of show: Theatre
Title: Sinners Club
Venue: The Other Room, Porters (Cardiff)
Dates: 7th – 24th February (PN 9th Feb)
Writer/Composer: Lucy Rivers
Directed by: Titas Halder
Singer: Lucy Rivers
Band: The Bad Mothers
Lighting Designer: Katy Morison
Sound Designer: Sam Jones
Video and Projection: Nic Finch
Running time: 1hr 45min (approx)
Produced by: Gagglebabble / Theatr Clwyd / The Other Room
Review Escaped Alone The Royal Court by Hannah Goslin
You can listen to Hannah’s review below, the written review is below that.
(4 / 5)
As I have previously stated, Caryl Churchill is easily one of my favourite playwrights. After seeing ‘Pigs and Dogs’ a few months earlier, to hear that this production of ‘Escaped Alone’ is only 50 minutes long is not surprising. While not all her plays are so short in time in comparison to a lot of productions on the theatre circuit at the moment, there is something really clever and interesting that she is able to condense so much emotion, thought provocation and comedy in a small amount of time, with the ability to make a serious point about current times.
Escaped Alone sees 4 older women sat in a garden, talking about whatever comes to mind. In 50 minutes we hear their darkest fears and confessions, with each character being established easy, quickly and well, not only with the writing but by the performer’s abilities. We have times of conversation which borderlines Harold Pinter’s coined writing of short sentences, interruption and pause, soliloquies of the characters and what they are really thinking and feeling away from the conversation, and our newest member of the gang who had happened to stumble on this group, breaking away from the scene entirely to give us a description or perhaps prediction of how man and his obsessions and excess have impacted our World; apocalyptic in ideals, it is strangely darkly comical but also slightly frightening.
Some will recognise and feel star struck by the cast – Linda Bassett, our newbie to the group, is well known for her role in the current show Call The Midwife; Deborah Findley, the lady with an irrational fear of cats, from many roles, notably the recent The Lady in the Van and a return to The Royal Court stage from The Children back in December 2016; Kika Markham, our lady with a fear of going outside, also well versed in UK television such as Mr Selfridge and Call the Midwife; And finally our funny lady of manslaughter, June Watson, another regular to The Royal Court and of whom joined Findley in The Lady in the Van. These regulars to our TV, Film and Theatre scenes of course know their theatre, know their skills and simply comparing them from this production to former roles can see that with age, certainly comes experience. They are able to complement one another, bring a sense of naturalism and realism to the piece, so that when we have cut aways and taken from the scene to monologues, it breaks the ease and breaks this natural barrier – we are then not just listening to 4 women chatting over a cup of tea.
Again, The Royal Court never ceases to amaze. With each production, they are able to take such natural and seemly relatable texts and turn it on its head. A simple garden scene, is then punctured by bright lighting and dark and deep dialogue. It really becomes an experience, and in the context of Escaped Alone, creates uncertainty (that we welcome) as to whether parts are comical, serious, or a farce.
Churchill and The Royal Court gel together better than tea and biscuits.
Review Pink Mist Sherman Theatre
(4 / 5)
Pink Mist, Owen Sheer’s highly acclaimed verse-drama, follows three cocksure Bristolian teens as they venture out of their mundane lives and into military, service and manhood. It is a story passed from generation to generation. What is duty and honour?
There is a reading below of Laurens review to listen to.
When discussing a piece of theatre – in those post-show discussions, with friends, when you are so casually trying to assert your immensely dominate intellectualism and philosophical nature over them – there always seems to be that continuous occurrence of certain words within your vocabulary, or maybe that repetition just shows my own intellect… but, to me, Pink Mist is simply beautiful. Beautiful, bold, and stunning. Heartrending, really.
Pink Mist is alight. Flickering then scorching, but that’s just good theatre, really. It is Sheers, however, that kindles the human psych through his poetry. I say poetry, not poetic language, not verse-drama, or monologue, because Sheers is massively contributing to the changing face of contemporary poetry. In a recent interview with Owen Sheers, he claimed that young people bring an electricity and an energy that cannot be compared, as audience members. It’s true. The school-trippers were out in mass, and they jumped, and they cried, and one girl gave the most, devotedly, dramatic gasp, I’ve ever heard! I’ve never seen an audience so willing to stand on their feet, other than in a school hall for their grandchildren. Teenagers really feel when given an outlet to do so. Young people really invest in stories, they’re less restrained and emotionally analytical, and they’re waiting for their own to begin. In Pink Mist that Sheers gives an extraordinary level of investment and empathy to the voices of these young people.
https://youtu.be/MFOiT6e__h8
George Mann’s movement is captivating, compassionate and spirited. Technical aspects stimulated a sensory bombardment and affirmation. Both give scope to the artistic possibilities which the piece, furthermore, inspires. The piece, somewhat, enigmatic and abstract proves to challenge the given understanding, the status quo and the audience’s perception. And that’s why, I think, young people can fly with the piece. We’re spoon fed too much in today’s media. We’re capable of discovery because it is demanded by art – it is, and we are, more than the memorising and compressing of facts into some soul-devouring mock essay question that serves, actually, very little purpose to our society, to be honest with you.
Dan Krikler exudes charisma, Alex Stedman’s warmth, as an actor, is exemplary, and Peter Edwards’s Taff stands as perhaps the most endearing of all. However, the women of this piece, Rebecca Hamilton, Rebecca Kilick, and Zara Ramm, are exceptionally wholehearted; commanding a platform as pronounced as that of the boys’. The cast are one unity, a compact driving force. Yet, they’re either in isolation, or serving the microcosm which could deny a, certain, compulsive empathy. Perhaps it is through a dynamic distancing that provides an intensity, otherwise unattainable. So, I didn’t leave the theatre distraught, that night, like some very emotional valley girls (which was, actually, really funny), but I left upset; with a contentment in the knowledge that Pink Mist is a societal tragedy.
Pink Mist Tour
National Tour
31 Jan – 1 Apr 2017
Presented by Nick Williams Productions
31 Jan-1 Feb, Aberystwth Arts Centre
2-4 Feb, Sherman Theatre, Cardiff
7-9 Feb, New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich
14-18 Feb, Oxford Playhouse
23-25 Feb, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
7-11 Mar, Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne
14 Mar, Pontio, Bangor
17-18 Mar, Taliesin Arts Centre, Swansea
20-21 Mar, Theatre Royal Winchester
23-25 Mar, Birmingham Rep
28 Mar-1 Apr, West Yorkshire Playhouse
Review : La Cage Aux Folles, New Theatre By James Briggs
(5 / 5)
Cardiff’s New Theatre was packed to the rafters with a dazzling array of glitter and sequins last night for the first performance of La Cage aux Folles. The musical adaptation of French playwright Jean Poiret’s script is largely recognised as one of the greatest modern musicals. The stage production, directed by Martin Connor, is a throwback to the old glamour and glitz associated with the French Riviera but also has a very key message in the story.
One of the leading characters, Georges, is played by the US TV and Broadway actor Adrian Zmed who greets the audience with a heartfelt welcome to La Cage. There was something a little different about this cabaret, however, in the form of all the main performers in the cast being men dressed as women.
‘La Cage’ is a drag cabaret club in the heart of Saint Tropez, run by Georges and his very flamboyant husband Albin who is played by West End actor and former Eastenders star John Partridge. As the audience are waiting for Albin’s arrival on stage we are first greeted by the appearance of his on-stage alter ego Zaza. John Partridge creates an impressive character as he struts across the stage in a robe and a pair of high heels. He wins over the audience from the beginning and really gives the part his all.
The story unfolds when Georges and Albin’s son, Jean- Michele, (Georges’ from a previous relationship) arrives to tell his father that he is engaged to Anne, the daughter of a French politician who is well-known for his conservative views. Jean- Michele played by Dougie Carter drops a few bombshells on his dad. Including that of breaking the news to Albin that he can’t be there when the parents come over for dinner at their home.
Albin is horrified when he hears the news and his disappointment leads to a spine tingling performance from John Partridge of the musical’s most iconic number ‘I Am What I am’. Georges and Albin soon make up and it’s easy to like the two contrasting co-stars who have a brilliant on-stage chemistry with each other which could be compared to that of Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi in the ITV series Vicious. The arrival of Dindon, the French politician, and his apparently conservative wife raised the bar once again on the entertainment as Albin comes up with a hilarious plan to meet the in-laws to be.
John Partridge’s performance as Albin and Zaza is absolutely superb and while the audience cheered and got to its feet for the entire cast, the largest applause and cheers were saved for him. During the performance John Partridge fell down some of the stairs on stage but being the true professional he is, kept in character and even made a joke about it. He carried on with the rest of the show and came on for the second act. Following the show John Partridge had to go to A&E and I really have to applaud him for being so professional and continuing with the show despite being in pain.
All of the cast were amazing and really very talented especially during the tap dancing scenes in which the male dancers very skillfully danced in high heels and gowns. A special mention must also go to Samson Ajewole who played Jacob and was exceptionally funny. He delivered a very strong performance and was one of the stars of the evening. As too was Marti Webb who played Jacqueline and created a very likeable character for the audience.
The stage sets used during the show were simply divine. All of the scenes in the show were very well thought out and the sets changed seamlessly. My personal favourite set design of the show was that of the stage at La Cage. The show saw a theatre stage constructed within a stage which is shown in the picture below and worked really well as it gave the audience the perspective of watching a whole different theatre on stage.
La Cage Aux Folles is a brilliant and moving, feel-good production that will be guaranteed to leave you smiling as you walk out the theatre doors and taking a whole new look on life. I urge everyone who get’s the chance to see the show to go as you will not regret it!
La Cage Aux Folles is currently on a UK tour so make sure you visit the New Theatre website in the link below and book your tickets before its too late.
http://www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk/what’s-on/la-cage-aux-folles/
A First Trip to the Theatre, Room on the Broom, New Theatre Cardiff by Kate Richards
The Julia Donaldson books are firm favourites at bedtime for my 3 year old son Daniel, so I was excited to hear about the stage version of Room on the Broom a year or so ago. A couple of my ‘mum’ friends took their daughters to see the show when they were just 2 years old, but I didn’t think my little boy was quite ready at that stage. This year however (and after taking him to an amateur dramatic pantomime at Christmas which he loved) I decided it was time for his first foray into professional theatre.
All photographs © Helen Warner
I had very little idea of what to expect, and confess to being slightly confused when the performance seemed to start somewhat ‘organically’ with all the house lights still on and the action on stage bearing little resemblance to the start of the book. After a few minutes the house lights were dimmed slowly and it became slightly easier to concentrate on the performance and get my little one to focus on the stage instead of all the other interesting sights and sounds of the auditorium on your first ever visit to a theatre. I am assuming that this slightly inauspicious start is as a result of years of experience at gently easing little ones into the performance, so actually I was grateful that my little one hardly noticed the encroaching darkness, even if we couldn’t hear the dialogue to begin with.
The simple set was very atmospheric, and the portrayal of the witch reminded me of Miranda Hart’s TV character – bumbling and clumsy but funny and loveable at the same time – perfect for little ones. To be honest I can’t really get to the bottom of whether or not my little boy understood that actress in stripes was playing the cat, especially given that the other animals were puppets, but he didn’t question who she was. He was transfixed for the first 20 minutes or so, but I have to admit that sitting where we were in the Circle, there were lots of distractions from an inevitably noisier than average audience, and so it was sometimes difficult to follow the additional dialogue on top of the story he already knows. This didn’t help in holding his attention, but fortunately the interspersed songs and regular introduction of a new character helped him re-focus.
I have two observations about all the additional dialogue: from a production point of view, it is necessary for a number reasons – firstly the story itself is too short for a production without some additions, secondly I have no doubt it added to the appeal for slightly older children and kept the adults amused, making the theatre production appeal to a wider age range than the book in all probability. However, for very young children I think it was perhaps harder to follow, and potentially detracted from the story itself a little, since at times even I wanted them to get on with the next bit of the story, and my 3 year old definitely lost concentration in the middle.
The puppets were fantastic – the dog was particularly effective, with his shaggy coat emphasising the frenetic movement and constant tail wagging of a dog that is as ‘keen as can be’, but I am reliably informed by my son that ‘the frog was the best’, with his wide grin and long stretchy legs. For those parents with concerns about littles ones being scared – I would reassure you that despite the slightly fearsome roar before he came into view, the dragon turned out to be far less intimidating than my son imagined, and he soon climbed off my knee and back into his own chair, listening to the dragon’s catchy tune about wanting ‘witch with chips’ because he tired of eating ‘kids on sticks’…I still find myself singing this some days later. My son was a bit more worried by the ‘mud monster’, but since the actors were careful to ensure that the friendly puppet characters could be seen under the brown cover, I think this just proved that he’d totally bought into the story and characters on stage.
When the production ended I was slightly surprised that my son’s instant feedback was ‘that was good Mummy’, purely because he had lost concentration for a while during the performance, and I had worried that he was getting bored, but he’d refocussed on the stage when the dragon came on, and most certainly enjoyed his first theatre experience.
If a parent was to ask my advice about taking their child to see this production, I’d say this; don’t be in a hurry to take your child before they are able to concentrate for a reasonable length of time, the stage production would probably appeal to older children than the book does, so there is plenty of time. Book your seats carefully – the closer to the front, the fewer distractions there are likely to be from other children and the general hubbub of the audience, but then again if you have concerns that they may be scared – distance from the stage can be reassuring – judge it according to your own child. There is something in it for everyone; the little ad libs and references to current events were amusing for the grown-ups, and I overheard plenty of parents and older children around me make reference to having seen it before, so they clearly felt it worth coming back to year on year. I for one, will certainly be looking at availability for the Gruffalo later in the year after seeing this.
The Gruffalo (based on the book by the same author as Room on the Broom) is on at the New Theatre, Cardiff from Thursday 31 August – Sunday 3 September 2017. Tickets from £9.50.
An Interview with Owen Sheers
Owen Sheers is one of the leading contemporary writers, in Britain, today, a Professor in Creativity at Swansea University, and my immediate go-to subject of conversation when I don’t want to do any work in English lessons. Sheers was the first writer in residence at the Welsh Rugby Union – the first of any national rugby union team – which resulted in the publication of ‘Calon’ his non-fiction work on the Welsh team. His professional positions have included being Writer in Residence at The Wordsworth Trust and a 2007/08 Dorothy and Lewis B, Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library. So, with works varying from poetry, to novels and drama, said accolades, and praise for ‘contemporary literature’s renaissance man’ is hardly surprising. But, for me it is Sheer’s stage adaption of his original verse drama, ‘Pink Mist’, commissioned for Radio 4, that currently has me enthused! After speaking with Owen Sheers I ran to tell my friends how amazing he is and how beautiful his ‘phone voice’ is. I’m a groupie.
Originally, as you wrote primarily as a poet, do you feel like you come to all your work as a poet?
I used to say that ‘I feel like a poet writing in other forms’; I think sometimes that’s still true. So, with something like ‘Pink Mist’ it’s very much, it’s a poet’s play, and actually, in some ways, it feels like my closest relationship with poetry that I’ve had for a long time, because it’s verse drama. It relies very much on rhythm and rhyme and metaphor, but, I suppose, in the model of the dramatic monologue, the retrospect of the dramatic monologue. With ‘Pink Mist’ I very much feel like a poet writing for the theatre. I think what changed me recently was my last novel, ‘I Saw a Man’, where I realised that novels are such wonderful, but difficult beasts, that, actually, you have to feel like a novelist writing a novel, and I wanted ‘I Saw a Man’ to be a different kind work of fiction for me. I think my previous fiction, ‘Resistance’, ‘The Dust Diaries’, you could possibly describe them as being, I guess, a poet’s novels. But I wanted that ‘I Saw a Man’ to feel like a novelist’s novel, and I hope that the story, the book, and the way that the book is structured actually plays with the ideal of the novel, so it was really important to take that fuller step into fiction. So, maybe it’s starting to change for me, and actually funny enough I’ve just finished a second draft of a new play where I wanted to experiment with exactly that – I wanted to write a play as a playwright. Unlike my previous theatrical works which tend to have lots of soliloquys and monologues and a certain lyrical tone, this new play that I’ve just finished is very much dialogue driven and plot-driven, and it’s more like what you would define as a conventional play. I think I am in an interesting period of experimenting stepping more fully out of a poet’s shoes.
How was adapting a verse drama to the stage?
The fact that it was commissioned for radio first, I think, was very significant as with radio you are writing for the ear. And so, it felt instinctive to me to do, to write something that was lyrical but that was also to be very much oral story-telling, and that painted the pictures in a listener’s mind as that was all they got, the voice. But, also, because it’s a play where I’m trying to harness and be at conflict with the voices of others then that also can lean towards drama as it allowed me to invent characters, to invent language but all of it grounded in these thirty interviews that I did, to inform the piece. It sounds paradoxical but when the artifice is turned up – in a verse drama – I think, actually, in some ways, it becomes more accessible, it feels more relating to those original voices. Really the challenge to put it onto stage wasn’t mine, but the directors’. How do you take a play for voices and dramatise it? And that’s where, and I’m not just saying this, I think that the directors John Retallack and George Mann have done an extraordinary job, cause, I mean, it could have easily have been a mess! They’ve not only done it so sensitively but they’ve found a physical language and a dramatic language which feels completely inherited from that style of poetry – which is poetry, but which is grown from everyday speech. The movement in the piece is extraordinary; I could watch it all day long. Every single move you can see how it relates back to an everyday action. To be honest, the challenge, it lay very much with the director and the cast, and I suppose that’s how you can feel very lucky in theatre, when writing, cause you kind of hand over this thing which is blessing and a curse!
How much do you value the accessibility of your work, particularly with young people? And, do you think that poetry needs to be more accessible, or that people need to rise to poetry?
I think it’s both, I mean, I don’t think poetry should be more accessible because I think that you shouldn’t have, to have, the word ‘should’ in literature. A writer can do what they want. Then your job is to do it well, whatever your choices are. But, I think that what we think of as being accessible is sometimes not right and not true. ‘Pink Mist’ is a fine example, actually. All the way through to get it published as a book, to get it put on the stage has been a struggle because the conventional, cultural gatekeepers were quite resistant to the idea of a verse drama. They thought it would be alienating, it would be obscure, and where ‘Pink Mist’ found it’s the first audience was in schools and with university students, and I think with people who didn’t have any pre-conceptions about ‘Oh, verse drama, that sounds a bit strange’, they just responded to it. I think, for them, what was interesting was that they weren’t thinking of T.S Eliot, but they were thinking much more of Kate Tempest, and rap and spoken-word poetry. So, what I say is that I don’t think that we should go into things thinking ‘Is it successful, is it not?’ cause sometimes we’ll be surprised, you know. Something that verse drama does is that it is accessible, not necessarily on a level of meaning, but on a level of rhythm, on this subterranean level of communication. Is it important? It’s all in my work, I’ve always tried to broaden the reach in terms of audience, and broaden the depth. Going back to plays like ‘The Two Worlds of Charlie F’, my year with the Welsh Rugby Union, a lot of that wasabout both attracting the audiences, but showing both existing audiences that ‘actually, you know what, all of us can get this.’ There’s no magic trick. If it’s good stuff then people are, hopefully, emotionally moved and they’re made to think, whatever their background. That’s what is so important about this tour, for me, is that when ‘Pink Mist’ happened at Bristol Old Vic that was great but I really wanted it to get out – well I certainly wanted it to come to Wales, obviously being Welsh. I wanted it to get out to regional towns and cities where, in terms of young men and women, they are choosing to join the army, sometimes as a last option, sometimes because it’s offering things that everyday life isn’t; that can be anything from belonging to just the regular pay packet. It’s in these regional cities where people are really experiencing that the most, and so I was really keen, for ‘Pink Mist’, to travel to these places where, hopefully, the story will resonate as still something very current. So, yes, the answer is young people, with this play, are very important to me, but they’re also important to the play. When I’ve sat in theatres and there’s a younger audience you feel the energy of the play change, cause it’s a play about seventeen and eighteen year olds, and if you’ve got lots of them in the audience it’s just electric. It’s great.
Would you consider writing work specifically targeted at young people, in the future?
Well, I think the important thing to say is that I didn’t target ‘Pink Mist’ at young people and teenagers. The story of the play is one that concerns them, but I think that I am constantly wrong-footed when I go into schools! If I try and, you know, pitch something which is what I think that age group’s level is, they always prove me wrong. ‘Uh uh, it’s way higher mate, it’s way higher.’ So, I’ve learnt that young people and teenagers are perfectly capable of absorbing and responding to plays written for adults – partly because I think it’s when you’re a teenager that you’re feeling and thinking about a world in a particularly vivid way. I quite often think that you care in a way that, sometimes, older people stop doing, which is a shame. But, I suppose yes, I keep wanting to write material and write plays that teenagers and young people feel are equally for them as they are for anyone else. I have started working a piece which is about young boys that were trafficked from Afghanistan to Britain when they were ten or eleven, and now at the age of seventeen, eighteen they’re being faced with deportation; I suppose that is a young person’s story.
Do you have any words of wisdom for young people who want be to artists, who want to create and tell stories?
Yes, well I don’t know if it’s words of wisdom, exactly, but I’d say, firstly, immerse yourself in the art form that you want to excel at. So, if you want to be a playwright see lots of theatre, read lots of theatre. If you want to be a poet, read lots of poetry. You want to be a film maker? Watch films, not just as a passive viewer but as a film maker. Look, how are people doing this? Watch the current language of the day. I’m always amazed at how many people want to be writers, and you ask them what they’re reading and they’re not reading very much. You wouldn’t imagine a rugby player who never watched rugby. Secondly, if you’re sure this is what you want to do, it is for you. The arts still, in Britain, I hope, there should be no barriers to entry, and I think on the whole there isn’t – there are still ways that people can be supported to enter the arts. It’s a very old thing what I’m going to say, it’s nothing particularly wise, but you know, work bloody hard. I still get rejected! Sometimes it’s for the right reasons, and sometimes it’s because someone’s not seeing it – which is then your job to make them see it. Immerse yourself in your art form, work hard, do believe it’s for you and believe that you can do it. Nearly every piece of work I’ve done it has been started with people telling me no. So, you’ve got to be quite stubborn!
How important is it, for you, to be a ‘Welsh’ writer?
Well, it’s an important part of my life, but that’s for me, because I am Welsh, and we all have an attachment to the physical landscape and the cultural landscape that we’re brought up in. But, what I don’t like is Nationalism, or jingoism. And I don’t like any narrowing of the horizons, artistically, through nationalities. It might sound like I’m spitting hairs but I quite often describe myself as a writer from Wales, because that seems truer to me – I am both. In terms of my family, and where I live, I’m from Wales, and how I was formed, I am from Wales, but to say I’m a Welsh writer is… I don’t want to be defined by borders. We partly write so we can write about anything, and we want to write stuff that people respond to everywhere. In Wales, of course, you’ve also got to be aware of saying that you’re a Welsh writer, and when you’re not writing in Welsh, then you’re not entirely describing it truthfully. ‘So, yeah, a writer from Wales.’ W. H. Auden once said that ‘A poet should aspire to be like a good cheese – locally produced, but internationally renowned.’ It’s an odd quote but that’s kind of what I aspire to. I think in terms of influence of the work, yeah of course. A lot of some of my earlier favourite writers were Welsh – the early poets who told me to keep going, keeping trying, like Dannie Abse and Robert Minhinnick were all Welsh. It’s where I first met the arts and saw theatre, so it can’t help but have an influence; I think the Welsh landscape has always influenced me, even when I haven’t lived here.
Although I was left unsuccessful in getting anywhere near to an actual definition, Sheers insists that it is the title’s ambiguity that spirals dramatic intensity.
It should, hopefully, come at you in the play. It’s a title that is designed to slightly wrong-foot the audience. Every conflict produces its own vocabulary, its own lexicon, and ‘pink mist’ was a term that I heard several times from the young men, the young wounded soldiers that I was interviewing. It refers to an element of modern warfare, the asymmetry in warfare.
I think that once you know what it is, it changes from being something vague that sounds quite light to being something, really, very dark and sinister. But, it’s a title I had to fight for. When it was originally commissioned for Radio 4, right up to the control room, they didn’t want to use that title. And, at one point, probably, slightly over-dramatically, I literally down tooled, I stopped writing. ‘I’m not going to finish this play unless I’m allowed to call it ‘Pink Mist.’ So, then they relented and let me call it ‘Pink Mist.’
After informing Owen of the unfortunate conclusion many schools have had to come to –crippled (culturally and artistically) by the demand for high grades and league table success – regarding the expulsion of GCSE English Literature, for many students, this is what he had to say.
I think that’s terrible. The two go hand-in-hand. How are you going to develop English Language without the example of the rest of it in English Literature? Everyone can find a way into it (literature), and if a kid can’t find a way into it then that’s just bad teaching. As you can tell I feel pretty strongly about that, and I didn’t know that actually. In terms of studied – it’s a huge honour, because I’m aware that I met, I got to read poetry, like a lot of people, for the first time as part of studying, so, again, it’s a huge privilege. And, I’m quite humbled by it, actually. I think it’s very different being studied as to being read, and I would always rather be read. And, I would argue that that’s always the best form of study. It’s strange in the modern world because students can contact you, on Facebook, on Twitter, and via your website, and I’m still figuring out how best to deal with that. I think, if someone asked me a serious and a good question then I’ll always answer. But, actually, it should only be the work that they’re responding to, not me. I do try to still go into schools a lot, you know, I never had a writer come into school when I was there, and it’s great for the writers, and hopefully great for the schools as well. It’s a huge privilege being studied. I sometimes find myself apologising to students, ‘Ohh we have to study your book…’ ‘Well I’m sorry, sorry it’s me, but you’ve got to study someone!’
A review of ‘Pink Mist’ is still to come. Stay tuned my homies… (Mrs Harris)
All production shots of ‘Pink Mist’ were taken by Mark Douet.
Show Times of ‘Pink Mist’ at the Sherman Theatre include: Thursday – 7:30, Friday – 7:30, Saturday – 2:30/7:30
Pink Mist Tour
National Tour
31 Jan – 1 Apr 2017
Presented by Nick Williams Productions
31 Jan-1 Feb, Aberystwth Arts Centre
2-4 Feb, Sherman Theatre, Cardiff
7-9 Feb, New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich
14-18 Feb, Oxford Playhouse
23-25 Feb, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
7-11 Mar, Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne
14 Mar, Pontio, Bangor
17-18 Mar, Taliesin Arts Centre, Swansea
20-21 Mar, Theatre Royal Winchester
23-25 Mar, Birmingham Rep
28 Mar-1 Apr, West Yorkshire Playhouse
By Owen Sheers
Directed by John Retallack and George Mann
Designer Emma Cains
Lighting Designer Peter Harrison
Sound Designer Jon Nicholls
Cast
Peter Edwards
Rebecca Hamilton
Rebecca Killick
Dan Krikler
Zara Ramm
Alex Stedman
An Interview with Christopher J Orton.
Christopher J Orton
Director of Get the Chance Guy O’Donnell recently spoke to Newport born, writer, musician and West End star Christopher J Orton. Chris talked about training opportunities, his career to date, barriers in the arts and his new musical ‘My Land’s Shore.’
Hi Chris great to meet you, can you give our readers some background information on yourself please?
Hi Guy, great to meet you too. I was born and raised here in Wales. After finishing school I moved away for a while to study and work but now I’m back. When I left school I studied opera in Manchester and then musical theatre in London. After that I was working as a professional actor. I’m a musician too and a lot of the productions I have been involved in I have played violin, piano and guitar as well as acted and sung. I also do a lot of writing. I write plays, musicals, songs, novels. I have also set up a vocal group called The FlyBoys that I sing in and manage. We perform all over the world. I have semi-retired from acting now to concentrate on the various projects I have been putting off for years! I also, weirdly, invent and make board games.
The FlyBoys
You are from Newport and have worked on an amazing range of productions. Do you have any advice for any of our readers interested in following your career path?
My advice would be to get a thick skin. As thick as possible. And don’t become bitter. Anyone wanting to enter the competitive world of theatre will face more rejection than success. And it’s easy to become disheartened and embittered. You have to stay strong. And always have other things going on. Don’t sacrifice a social life for success and whenever you can, try to create your own work. Keep yourself motivated, learn an instrument or a new language, anything to help you achieve your goals.
When you are involved in a big West End musical what does your normal day usually entail?
It’s not particularly glamorous! After the excitement of rehearsals and opening night it starts to feel more like a job. Depending on where you live in London it can take a while to get into the centre of town so you are preparing to set off around 3pm. It’s easy to fall into the habit of getting up late because of the late finishes but if you can get out of that habit and get up early then the day is there to do whatever you wish with! I used to write music or paint or make my games. I have a reputation for not being able to relax and sit still so I’d be up to all-sorts! Once you are at the theatre you have a warm up with the rest of the cast and then the show. And then you’re running for the train so you can get home as quickly as possible!
Christopher playing Tom Jones
You have played the role of Tom Jones in Tom the musical I wonder if you can tell us some more about this production?
The production of TOM holds a very special place in my heart and my career. It was developed and produced by Theatr Na Nog, directed by the lovely Geinor Styles. It was an amazing piece of theatre. More a play with music than a musical though. The show concentrates on the early years of Tom Jones, before he was famous. It’s about the young Tom striving for success and how it affects his relationship with his wife, Linda. The music in the show was all played live by a very talented bunch of lads who were also amazing actors. It focused on his time with his band, The Senators. He used to cover numbers by Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis etc so it was incredibly exciting to perform live every night. It was like a rock concert! It was the hardest and best thing I have done in my performing career. It’s also the reason I don’t really act anymore…there aren’t any roles out there at the moment that excite me as much as that role did.
You are currently involved in a very exciting new musical called ‘My Land’s Shore’ can you please tell us more about his production?
My Land’s Shore is a musical I have written with Robert Gould. He has written the book and lyrics and I have written the music and lyrics. It’s fair to describe it as my life’s work. I started writing it 16 years ago. It tells the true story of Dic Penderyn and his involvement in the Merthyr riots of 1831. He became the first martyr for the Welsh working class and is a symbol of hope and rebellion against the establishment. It has been described as the Welsh Les Mis. At the moment it is in rehearsals for it’s world premiere in London. It is being produced by an off West End theatre company called All Star Productions. A lot of people have asked me why it isn’t being premiered in Wales. The sad answer is we tried for years to get funding and support in Wales but there just isn’t the support for a Welsh piece of theatre, about Wales, and written by two Welshmen!! Baffling! If anyone would like to come and see it in London it runs from Feb 7th – 26th at Ye Olde Rose & Crown Theatre Pub in Walthamstow. More information is available at www.mylandsshoremusical.com.
You have a great deal of experience in musical theatre. Do you think this performance form still resonates for audiences and why?
I think musical theatre will always resonate with people. Music is a fantastic way into people’s hearts and sometimes words just aren’t enough. More and more people are being drawn towards it every year. And every year it becomes more and more accessible as genres evolve.
Get the Chance works to support a diverse range of members of the public to access cultural provision Are you aware of any barriers to equality and diversity for either Welsh or Wales based artists?
I can only speak for myself and my own experience within this industry but I found a huge barrier was placed in front of us by the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. It is supposed to be a centre for the arts that caters for all audiences and nurtures new and emerging Welsh talent. Sadly, I have found it to be completely inaccessible and incredibly blinkered.
If you were able to fund an area of the arts in Wales what would this be and why?
I would fund new talent, whether it be writers, composers, performers, choreographers, whoever and whatever. I would listen to ideas and explore them. It’s a sad state of affairs when the people holding the purse aren’t necessarily creatively minded. Just think of everything we are missing because the same people are getting the same chances over and over again. It’s a very closed shop at the moment. I would fund the opening up of that closed shop!
Thanks for your time Chris and good luck with My Land’s Shore.
Review : Michael Flatley’s ‘Lord Of The Dance: Dangerous Games’ by James Briggs
(5 / 5)
This weekend Cardiff has had the luck of the Irish as Michael Flatley’s worldwide phenomenon ‘Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games’ has played in St David’s Hall. The tour is one of the biggest the UK has ever had and has currently been seen by 60 million people in 60 different countries on every continent. All of the stops are pulled out in this Irish Dancing Extravaganza with dancing that is simply mesmerising.
I have been looking forward to watching this show for a long time and being a tap dancer myself can appreciate the hard work and effort that goes into this form of dancing. I knew from the opening sequence alone we would be in for a good night. As the first half of the show begins the audience are greeted with a projected Michael Flatley and a giant clock alluding to the opening of the show.
The cast are very well cast and all of the characters within the show work well as a dance unit. The perfectly balanced ensemble of male and female dancers help to give depth to the story and in the dance sequences when they are all in a line and coordinated it really is something to admire. Their collective talent is unbelievable and there are moments where your jaw is in your lap watching their feet move almost as too fast to comprehend. The main lead Lord of the Dance was played by James Keegan and the Dark Lord was played by Zoltan Papp.
The show seemed to have a variety show feel to it with all of the acts being very diverse. They all managed to hold attention of the audience due to their frequent costume changes and the cleaver projections that portrayed Ireland as an Idyllic place filled with Unicorns and rainbows. The plot follows a little Spirit with a magic flute who battles against evil to save Ireland from being taken over by evil cyborgs. Along the way the Spirit meets different dancers as well as a Black Swan like love triangle that threatens to turn the head of Ireland’s saviour, the Lord of the Dance himself. The show culminates with a big fight for the title of Lord of the Dance.
You can’t help but have a big smile on your face when the full ensemble cast fill the width of the stage at St David’s Hall and with their legs kicking and tapping in perfect sync. The show’s best section and what will always be their most iconic is the ‘Lord of the Dance’, and the skill of the cast is amazing in which they gave four Encores at the end of the show of that very dance which was met with a standing ovation from the whole audience at St David’s Hall.
If you’re a fan of this type of dancing and the Irish music and culture this show is without a doubt the show for you to attend next. It provides a 5-star evening of entertainment with lots of ups and downs within the story. In my opinion this show is something everyone should experience once in their lifetime as it will enthral you.
For more information about the tour of the Lord of the Dance please visit the official website to see where the tour will be heading next. http://www.lordofthedance.com/
Review : Wish List, The Royal Court by Hannah Goslin
(4 / 5)
The Royal Court never ceases to amaze. Priding itself in great original writing, I keep expecting to come and not enjoy myself. Willing there to be something that I come away and not like, or be slightly unenthused with. But it never happens. And I am so glad it never happens.
Wish List a coproduction with Royal Court Theatre/Royal Exchange Theatre and written by Katherine Soper, (Winner of the 2015 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting) has a very inventive but minimal set. A conveyor belt that comes down from the ceiling and parts that are moveable around the stage, basing much of itself as a prop in the house which evidently is always on stage also, situated at the far end. A basic shower unit and kitchen, this is a basic home for a brother and sister duo that are far from simple.
Tamsin (played by Erin Doherty) and Dean (Joseph Quinn) are troubled siblings with a troubled past. Evident in his continual repetitive movements, the pair are struggling to meet ends with Dean’s incapability of working due to his OCD disability and Tamsin’s lack of time to work with helping him each day. Through the course of 1 hour and 40mins, we see them both grow together as people and as siblings, coping with one another’s issues and developments.
Our other characters are Luke (Shaquille Ali-Yebuah) and Tamsin’s new boss (Aleksandar Mikic) fit like a glove into the narrative. Each character has its own presence on stage and the performers do well to make them so different from one another.
Quinn has the uneasy job of making his ticks and repetitive gestures seem realistic; to show his uneasy sense around even his sister and problem with being touched. It is so naturalistic and probable that I felt myself wondering if he was even acting. But the real challenge lies on Doherty. She is not void of problems herself and is evidently an anxious, nervous, problematic person in herself while also being strong for her brother. She is so incredible with this that again, I struggled to not fall into the imaginative of the piece, which felt as if someone had taken away the window to this pair’s life.
Wish List from its set to the performers to the writing is nothing less than extraordinary and so perfect that one feels like an intruder into the private.