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Theatre

Review Rose, Home Theatre by Elizabeth Lambrakis

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)
 
This is a one woman show performed by the great South African actress Janet Suzman. Lasting just over 2 hours it is a tour de force, telling the compelling and poignant story of an elderly Jewish woman looking back over her long life. It spans much of the 20th century, from a hand to mouth childhood in a Ukrainian village up to a comparatively affluent retirement divided between Florida and Israel. Encompassing Stalinist oppression, the Warsaw ghetto under the Nazis, escape to Palestine on board the infamous SS ‘Exodus’, and then resettlement in America, she tells of her family, lovers, husbands, children and grandchildren. It is a story punctuated by loss and grief, as well as love and redemption.
If the aim of theatre is to educate then this play certainly achieves that, as we learn so much listening to this character’s story. But that’s not to say that this is a dry didactic piece. It is entertaining too, drawing us in with the wonderfully engaging power of the story. Written by the award-winning American playwright Martin Sherman the writing is never dull, often moving and sometimes amusing, a narrative that carries the audience along on the colourful and eventful journey through Rose’s life.
As for Janet Suzman’s performance it is an impressive feat for any actor, never mind someone of her age, to perform a monologue of this length and power with such apparent ease and charisma. We were quite simply blown away by it, and it won a richly deserved standing ovation.

A mention should also be made of the director Richard Beecham, as well as the design, lighting and sound team (Simon Kenny, Chris Davey and Adrienne Quartly), whose various contributions combined to make this into a memorable piece of theatre.

Rose


 

Museums & heritage

Review Dinosaur Babies, National Museum Cardiff by Eloise Stingemore

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out of 5 stars (5 / 5)
 
The National Museum of Cardiff has launched a new exhibition, Dinosaur Babies (27 May – 5 November 2017) as part of Wales’ Year of Legends celebrations, which allows visitors of all ages the opportunity to experience the world of dinosaur family life through their eggs, nests and embryos.
There are three real dinosaur embryos on display within eggs as well as replica dinosaur eggs and nests collected from all over the World, from major plant and meat-eating dinosaur groups. Many of which were discovered in China, are on loan from America and have never been publicly displayed in the UK before. The exhibition also features a ‘Big Dig Pit’ to let kids become palaeontologists as well as a play area with toy dinosaurs, cuddly dinosaurs, dinosaur books, jigsaws on the wall etc. There’s also a dressing up section!

The museum curators clear achieved their goal of creating an exhibition that is not only child friendly but is suitable for all ages given the staggering range of activities and the wealth of information available to visitors. From fake eggs that the children can touch, to moving dinosaurs they can interact with, and picture and video displays. Whereas the breath-taking skeletons are brought to life through the wonderful illustrations of Luis V. Rey whose use of a rainbow pallet helps us to imagine the creatures we are walking amongst throughout the exhibition. You could easily spend up to 2 hour here exploring your inner palaeontologist.
Without a doubt Dinosaur Babies will enthral and educate visitors of all ages, there is something for everyone and will certainly come in handy for those studying dinosaurs in school! Also given that it’s not a huge place, children have the opportunity to run wild like their newfound dinosaur friends!
The Dinosaur Babies exhibition is open from 10am – 4.45pm with last entry at 4pm. Tickets can be purchased at the Museum or via ticketlineUK.com (£7 adults, £5 concessions, £3 children, £17/£13 families). Children 3 years and under can enter for free.
https://museum.wales/cardiff/whatson/9487/Dinosaur-Babies/
 
 
 

Film & TV

Review Baywatch by Eloise Stingemore

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)
 
Based on the hit TV show of the Nineties, Baywatch became a worldwide phenomenon, serving up sun, semi-naked beauties and very silly storylines. The big screen adaptation starring Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron is simply two hours of pure entertainment.
Everything about Baywatch the movie is big, brash and bombastic. The action sequences are huge, the soundtrack is awesome, and the people are ludicrously good looking. There is no escaping from the fact that at times the whole move particularly the storyline itself is not only completely ludicrous but also highly unoriginal. Basically Johnson character Mitch find packets of drugs on the beach and throw in a missing city official and unexplained yacht fire, its clear that there’s a larger criminal scheme in play. However, it is the caustic interplay between Mitch and Matt played by Efron who has to earn his place within this beautiful body of red clad lifeguards a much-needed spark of tension.
Praise has to be given to screenwriters Damian Shannon and Mark Swift as Baywatch keeps the spirit of the original TV series, which ran from 1989 to 2001, largely intact in it’s porting over many of the original characters. Take the character Mitch being portrayed by Johnson, originated by David Hasselhoff, is the superhero-like, fearless leader of these do-gooder lifeguards. Whereas Kelly Rohrbach character CJ is the classic Baywatch bombshell we would expect, as is Summer played by Alexander Daddario, although the film sells her somewhat as the girl next door. Ilfenesh Hadera character, Stephanie, is simply depicted as being nothing more than Mitch’s right-hand woman. Whereas Zac Efron character Matt Brody with his cocky and brash attitude simply throws the group’s professional camaraderie into the loop, as he needs to learn a thing or two about being a team player.

Baywatch is ridiculously entertaining especially each time Mitch gives calls Matt the name of another boy band, however, it is Johnson delivery that cracks like a whip ensure the joke stays fresh. It may not stand the test of time well, as long as your not expecting to see the next best picture winner it is a perfectly acceptable junk food film. You may feel guilty watching it, let alone never thought that in a million years you say the words “I’m going to see Baywatch the movie”, quite simply it is unfiltered escapism.
 

Film & TV, Music, Musical, Theatre

Review Sister Act – Venue Cymru by Karis Clarke

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)
Click on the link below to listen to an audio review of this production by Karis Clarke.

 
This was my first outing to Venue Cymru and I wasn’t disappointed. Set on the stunning North Wales coastline the venue was alive with activity.  The atmosphere was light and expectation high as several audience members dashed around in habits!
Sister Act is the musical comedy based on the movie starring Whoopi Goldberg, and, unless you were living in a convent yourself back in 1992,  it is highly unlikely you don’t have some knowledge of the film. (It’s popularity has ensured a regular repeats on TV at least once a year since circa 1995).
The stage version, unlike the film is set in the diva disco era of the 70’s and features original music from  ALAN MENKEN,  and the general feel of the show has  Mowtown vibe that is more than fitting to the outstanding vocal talents of  the lead.
Alexandra Burke in a scene from Sister Act
But it’s not all about the star in this show.  Deloris Van Cartier is a fantastic character full of witty one liners, side ways glances and comical physicality that Alexander Burke pulls off admirably. However the ensemble made the show for me. The combined talents of the supporting cast were superior. Acting, singing dancing and playing a variety of musical instruments on set allowed for a fluidity which you can sometimes loose with  larger productions. However this cast owned the stage, literally, they knew every inch.  Their management of the stage movement is a credit to Revel Horwood’s direction.  The scene changes were flawless and were choreographed to perfection.
https://youtu.be/xqcEcIvEVCI
Credit should also be given to the set design, the main stay an impressive church interior yet with the cleaver use of lighting and props  it easily faded into the background and made the transition between church,  nightclub, street, police station and back to church with very little effort.
The musicality was, as one of the songs repeats, ‘Fab -U- Lous  Baby,’ unfortunately this was also a slight disappointment for me as none of the songs from the movie were featured. So although the end of the play saw the majority of the full house clapping and on their feet I am sure if “I will follow him” had been played the roof would have lifted. However the original score was witty, befitting and more than enjoyable.  It’s easy to see how Alan Menken has Oscars under his belt.
https://soundcloud.com/norwichtheatreroyal/alexandra-burke-performs-fabulous-baby
Stand out moments of the show were any time the “gangsters” featured. (They stole the show a little bit from the nuns).  …..Joe Vetch (playing Eddie the sweaty police officer who saves the day) singing “I could be that guy ……Sister Mary Robert played by Alice Stokoe, who had a stunning voice singing a very Disney esq type song called “The Life I Never Had”…….. and the scene when the Sisters stand together for Deloris.
All in all there was nothing not to like, the show delivered everything thing it promised. One particular moment I found touching was on the final bow Alexandra Burke broke the fourth wall and you saw her thank the audience.  She genuinely seemed to appreciate the standing ovation they received and this shone through as she skipped off stage laughing with co cast not as Deloris but as herself and within those few seconds, in my eyes I saw  true star quality.
So unless you have lead in your feet and no soul in your heart I defy you not to enjoy this 4 stars production. Unfortunately for North Wales the runs ends on May 27th but you can still catch performances around the UK up until the 3rd September check www.sisteractuktour.co.uk for more details.
Starring ALEXANDRA BURKE and Directed and choreographed by Strictly CRAIG REVEL HORWOOD, Set and Costume MATTHEW WRIGHT (based on TheTouchtone Motion Picture “Sister Act”)

Film & TV

Review Snatched by Jonathan Evans

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out of 5 stars (2 / 5)
 
Watching a movie like Snatched isn’t the hardest thing in the world. There are groaners to sit through but then there are others where you get to laugh, so in the end you come out of it unscathed. But how to handle that as a reviewer and need to let people know if it’s worth their time?
Emily (Amy Shumer) is bragging to a costumer that her career will lead her places and her successful boyfriend’s in a band and they’ll be going on a vacation. This is of course not very acceptable and is then fired, what does she care with her boyfriend? Unfortunately when she goes to meet him he breaks-up with her, she’s is boyfriend and job less. So her life sucks now, it’s not helped by the fact that the person that takes the greatest interest in her life is her mother Linda (Goldie Hawn) a woman that has no real life so obsesses over her children and snuggles in her home, never leaving. The vacation is non-refundable and being that none of Emily’s friends wanna go with her it’s a mother and daughter trip.
While staying at the hotel there’s plenty of tension between mother and daughter, they just don’t click, but she meets a man at the bar and he genuinely seems interested in her. He takes her out of the hotel area and experience the culture, the next day Emily insists to her mother that she come along on a drive he has planned. During the drive a van slams into them, they then wake up in  a dingy prison with people telling them what do and where to go. Now they have to get out of their situation alive.

The comedy is mainly focused on the incompetence of this duo being placed in an environment completely beyond their control or some cringe moments. They are a mixed bag, some jokes genuinely do land while others are far too forced and fall really hard. Take one moment where Emily is stumbling drunk back to her hotel lobby after a night-out with the guy she met at the bar, the big punchline is pretty-much as low-bar as it can get. There is though another time when they meet someone to help them navigate their situation and what they do with this character is funny. As a whole though it has more hits than misses.
The weakest moments are when Shumer tries to be the high-point of the scene. These aren’t generous moments and she’s trying way too hard to be ridiculous, she’s not afraid to look foolish but in her efforts that all she does, look foolish.
The most consistently funny character is the brother Jeffery (Ike Barinholtz) and his interactions with a middle management Morgan (Bashir Salahuddin). They have a dynamic that is is snappy and instantly satisfying. So much so that a movie based around these two would probably have been better.
What we have is a movie paring two funny women together and at times gives them material which will get a laugh out of you. Other times it goes too far and becomes obvious and you just have to sit there until the scenes over. This wont go down as an endearing comedies, nor the high-point of Jonathan Levine’s career. But it is not dreadful either.

Film & TV

Review Smurfs: The Lost Village by Jonathan Evans

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)
 
Smurfs: The Lost Village is an adventure story told so simply and with so much enthusiasm that it will definitely satisfy the younglins and more than likely break down the defences of adults.
The story opens on a recap of what Smurfs village is and the origins of Smurfette (Demi Lovato). Smurf Village is a little village where the houses are Toadstools and little blue creatures live called Smurfs, they are named after their defining characteristic i.e. Grumpy, Nosey, Baker. Smurfs can also be used as a source of raw magic if digested which is why they are hunted by the evil wizard Gargamel (Rainn Wilson), one day he created Smurfette to bring him the Smurfs, but the goodness of Papa Smurf (Mandy Patinkin) turned her good and now she lives among the others. Only weird thing though, all the other Smurfs are male. For reasons Smurfette isn’t able to find her one characteristic and is always an outsider (not just because she’s the only female). One day her and her friends Hefty (Joe Manganiello), Clumsy (Jack McBrayer) and Brainy (Danny Pudi) are wondering around and then come across another Smurf they don’t know, Gargamel also learns of this other source of Smurfs, so now the race is on for who can get there first.

The animation is loaded with energy, having the characters jump and bounce all around the screen. The character designs are an elegant translation of the old Hannah-Barbera cartoon, with minimal, but bold and expressive lines. All the Smurfs essentially look the same but they use the technique of adding something so that they instantly become recognisable i.e. glasses or a specific expression i.e. sly, grumpy and body language so that you know who’s onscreen and talking at any time.
The colour pallet is also immensely appealing. Using bright, luscious various colours to create a glowing screen. They also use blacks for more threatening moments and add contrast. Usually movies that seek to adapt a kids cartoon for a movie either make it dark in an attempt to make it appealing to older audiences, or over-saturate it with colour. This movie knows that the subject matter is by no means dark but that black, when used wisely can bring out the colour even more.

Along with all of this are some pretty neat, creative visuals. Flowers and insects that are both cute but have the right level of being threatening and the environments are sharply realised with many different textures simultaneous rendered to create a fully realised world.
One of the great strengths of the movie is a simple one to have and yet so many animated movies lack it and that is no modern-day references. Putting in modern references to any kind of social media or slang just dates the movie terribly and is nearly always forced. This movie has none of that and wont be dated because of it.
This is an adventure movie that tells it story well and with more than the necessary effort and skill gone into it. It would be something I would be more than happy to put on for my children and wouldn’t mind sitting with them for the viewing too.

Theatre

Iphigenia in Splott, a conversation in text by Leslie R Herman Jones

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This response started as a real text convo between me in NYC and Joel (JF) in our home in Adamsdown, Cardiff. It inspired me to continue in this format. Instead of commenting that the language in the play was strong, and potentially offensive to some audiences, the response enters into the spirit of the drama and uses its vernacular. The other person in this scripted response is my daughter Tillie as TJ, who attended the performance with me. – LJ.
LJ: I saw Iphigenia in Splott in NYC on Wednesday night.
JF: What was it about?
LJ: A drunken slag on Clifton St….
JF: Anyone I know?
LJ: Her world; her straight-talking shit-faced attitude.
JF: Was it set in the Clifton pharmacy getting her methadone fix?
LJ: I said a drunk not a druggie.
JF: Oh….
LJ: Her hopes, fears, delusions… how the world impacts on her and she impacts on the world…
JF: What’s her name?
LJ: Iphigenia. Effie for short.
JF: How did it go down?
LJ: New York is a pretty gritty city, you know…
JF: You would know, born and bred there.
LJ: Yes I would. So, I think they got it. Apart from a smattering of laughs in the right places (but not all the right places), Sophie Melville’s Effie silenced the house throughout with her intimidating, in-your-face performance of this real toughie from Splott, Cardiff.  New Yorkers understandably missed a few laughs for  which you’d really have to be there to fully appreciate. As well, some of the micro-cultural and geo-specific references may have gotten lost in translation, but overall the impact was powerful.
JF: And you knows your Caadiff, too, innit love?
LJ: Living in the ‘Diff for 35 years and off Clifton Street for ten of them ? I’ve got the T-shirt, love,… with the distinct privilege of calling The Clifton my local…
JF: We’ve seen a bit down the Clifton…
LJ: I’ve definitely avoided the likes of Effie down Clifton Street, the wounded urban warrior, bruised and battered but still standing; spitting and swearing, daring you and scaring you just by staring at you…..
JF: Yep….
LJ: Melville’s impressive performance as Effie clearly kept the audience gripped — holding on tight while she soared (Bar scene) and sank (Birthing scene) and dragged us ducking and diving through the gutter of her frenzied and high-risk out of control life.
JF: Woa! Who wrote the play?
LJ: Gary Owen.
JF: Fair play. Sounds like she did justice to the part.
LJ: She did, though she may have missed some of the nuances of the authentic Splott voice and persona that are thoroughly embedded in Owen’s script, falling just short of the highest highs and the lowest lows possible with such a tragic figure.
JF: Who directed it?
LJ: Sherman Theatre’s, Artistic Director, Rachel O’Riordan. And quite strategically. The simple set (Hayley Grindle) served this small stage. A few chairs scattered randomly, and a light fixture of fluorescent strip lights, some falling off (Lighting Designer, Rachel Mortimer) reflected a cheap and nasty flat above a shop on Clifton Street.
JF: Grunge chic…
LJ: Charting Effie’s movements across the stage was great sport — if you’re into sports and sporting analogies.
JF: Sure, I could be…
LJ: O’Riorden’s tactical staging cleverly anticipated the high points of the story by directing Effie to, say, shift a chair a number of beats beforehand, then having her double back to start a scene in order to arrive at that chair at just the right point, to score!
JF: lol
LJ: And with a pivot or a dart or a scramble across around and through the Cardiff landscape, satisfying-for-natives references to Cardiff landmarks throughout the script, O’Riordan’s use of this minimalistic set, with zero props, demanded that Melville command the space and permitted the beautifully steely script to tell the story.
JF:Sounds like you enjoyed it.
LJ: TJ cried. It was rather sad, but I didn’t cry.
JF:Why didn’t you?
LJ: I suppose it was all a bit too real. Its was so close to real life, it hurt more physically than emotionally. I ached for a while afterwards.
JF: Come back, Cardiff misses you.
LJ: I’ll be back in August.

Iphigenia in Splott played at 59E59, NYC as part of their Brits Off Broadway season, from 9 May to 4 June.
http://www.59e59.org/moreinfo.php?showid=283
 

Theatre

Review The Importance of Being Earnest, Theatr Clwyd by Elizabeth Lambrakis

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)
 
This play is an old favourite that you may well have seen before, either on stage or on screen. So that raises certain expectations – if it’s going to be a classic production then it needs to do a lot more than just tick the boxes. Richard Fitch’s production at Theatr Clwyd certainly does just that. Yes it has the lavish period sets, and yes it has the authentically recreated Victorian costumes, but it also has a whole lot more to offer.
From the moment that Algy (James Backway) bounds onto the stage the audience is bowled along by the infectious energy of this company of 8 talented actors. No opportunity for comedy is lost as Algy and his more conventional friend Jack (Matt Jessup) engage in a verbal sparring match that only escalates when the imperious Lady Bracknell arrives with wonderfully quivering feathers in her array of impressive hats (Hilary Maclean), accompanied by her deceptively dutiful daughter Gwendolen (Emma Denly). Many of the lines are so familiar that we are almost waiting for them to be delivered, but that doesn’t make them any less funny.
And then suddenly the scenery is swept away before our eyes, and we are transported from a stuffy London townhouse to a flower-filled country garden under a blue summer’s sky. The use of a soaring Strauss waltz to accompany this scene change is inspired, and the fast pace continues as we are introduced to winsome young Cecily (Robyn Cara), her eccentric governess Miss Prism (Melanie Walters) and the pompous Reverend Chasuble (Darren Lawrence). The plot thickens with the unexpected arrivals of Algy, Jack and Gwendolen in quick succession. However the highlight of Act 2 is the vitriolic exchange of pleasantries between Cecily and Gwendolen as they mistakenly believe themselves to be engaged to the same man. A special mention should also go to Nick Harris playing contrasting butlers Lane and Merryman for creating some truly hilarious comic moments.
Before we know it the two sets of young lovers are indoors again as the last Act unfolds. Soon the mystery of Jack’s foundling origins is explained when Lady Bracknell pitches up and Miss Prism’s guilty secret is finally revealed. A happy ending is on the cards for almost everyone, with not just two but three happy couples on stage, as well as Algy and Jack turning out to be long lost brothers.
This production is a joy, richly deserving a 4 star rating, and definitely a feather in the cap of upcoming director Richard Fitch and Theatr Clwyd.
 
 
 
 

Theatre

Review Running Wild, Theatre Royal Plymouth by Hannah Goslin

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Image result for running wild tour
out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

Let’s start with a bold but true statement – Michael Morpurgo is one of our country’s literary geniuses. From World hits such as War Horse, from book to stage and film, Running Wild seemingly is following suit with such success and ingenious theatrical approach.

Running Wild sees the modern day tale of a young girl, on a trip with her mother to Indonesia after the death of her father, who finds herself lost in the jungle after a natural disaster and help of a beach elephant; along the way meeting new animal friends and facing terrifying situations. This tale sees the growth of her and her developing relationship with her family, both those alive and passed away as well as making bold and blunt points about human destruction of nature.

The narrative itself is well formed, in a way relatable in the sense of love and loss and pulls at your heartstrings constantly – whether this is with relation to her passing father or the bond she makes with her new animal friends. A tale that, like War Horse, has taken a lot of perfecting and trust in theatrical ability from actors to puppeteers, stage and lighting technicians to designers – the collaboration from all involved syncs this production well and seems perfect for the stage – as if Morpurgo wrote it for theatre.

Like War Horse, which coined the large puppeteering techniques used, the animals are to size and travel the stage in a very lifelike manner – the puppeteers making sounds and at times many controlling different parts of an animal, made this all seem very lifelike and by getting lost in this, you forget that the puppeteers are even there. As someone who has been up close to a real elephant, the detail and natural/lifelike nature of the animal was on point and extremely real. Obvious time and investment in the research and performance is abundant and really makes the difference for the experience.

To agree with the modern day story, Running Wild is modernised and at times takes on a ambiguous and alternative lighting, staging which creates another difference in the two productions – Running Wild is not just a carbon copy of War Horse and its techniques, but its own incredible production. The set itself gathers understanding and sense – a stage covered in random objects then compliments the natural disaster and the destruction from this that occurs. The puppeteers bringing out rectangular harsh lighting to represent the unusual environment while the girl and elephant run through the jungle and a big favourite of mine, moveable trees with fruit represented by shower luffas to add to the nature vs human element.

And finally the performers – from actors to puppeteers. Some puppeteers doubled up as actors, and some took on several characters and puppetry. To invest the performers in all elements adds to the great understanding they have with the storyline and at no point was concentration, energy or enthusiasm lost in either/all performances.

Running Wild is by far a triumph. Following in War Horse’s footsteps in some theatrical elements, there is, however, no competition; both performances are perfected and in their own right, theatrical perfection. Running Wild not only makes you well up in happiness and sadness, create shock and fear, comfort and protect you, and make severe points of modern human impressions on nature, but it manages to get you lost in the jungle with all your new animals friends.


 

https://openairtheatre.com/production/running-wild