Short Review: The Changeling (Young Vic, February 18th 2012)

The Changeling is one of my favourite plays. This is a modern version that plays up the surrealism in the play.  One of the highlights was the wedding scene, which was brilliantly played.  Food became sexy, but it also became the blood. The play is about sex and madness and this production drew on these themes.  it was never clear who was really mad, who was pretending to be made and indeed what madness was.

One of my thoughts was that he layout of the theatre was a little strange. I was lucky to have got a good seat on the front row of the circle, but this was hit and miss.  I think several people had blind spots.

The Changeling returns to the Young Vic in Autumn

http://www.youngvic.org/whats-on/the-changeling

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Written on the Heart (The Swan Theatre)

Written on the Heart is a fantastic glimpse at an interesting period of history. There are some really engaging performances particularly from Oliver Ford Davies as Lancelot Andrews and Stephen Boxer as William Tyndale. The play explores the creation of the King James Bible and focuses on a group set up to compile it. Alongside wrangles over wording, the politics of the project are dramatised. Some of the most interesting parts are the references back to previous translations. There are some really engaging moments when characters debate over words and phrasing. At one point there’s a debate about whether ‘Thy faith has saved me rather than they faith has healed thee,’ is correct.

Written on the Heart presents a clear sense of moving forward. There’s a wider society at view, but at the same time, the play presents Andrews’ story and there is a focus how he tries to confront his past. The use of flashbacks work really well and there is a sense of a structure in the play that takes you through the events. My one criticism was that I found the play a little too long, but I learnt a lot, and enjoyed the exploration of detail which the play drew attention to. It felt very satisfying to have to listen carefully and that language was a major feature of the production.

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Short Review: The Winter's Tale (Propeller, Sheffield Lyceum, 4th February 2012)

Thinking back to this production, I have a memory of sand, snow, models, and a rather sinister Mamillius (Ben Allen), who doubles as Perdita in the second half.

What I find fascinating about Propeller’s work is that I am always aware that this is men playing women’s parts.  There is never an attempt to pretend to look like women, but at times the effect is to give a fresh perspective on the issues.  In casting the most masculine man in the company, it brings a very different perspective on Paulina (Vince Leigh).  Propeller has a habit of being brilliant at portraying characters and then being able to give the sense of being anonymous.  In this production, the company were able to turn themselves into sheep with great effect.

My colleague, Saffron, has written about this production here:

http://saffronatstudy.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/boys-will-be-girls-propellers-the-winters-tale/

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Heart of Robin Hood (Royal Shakespeare Theatre, 6th January 2012)

The Heart of Robin Hood took a different twist on the traditional story, but this approach isn’t new and so having a strong Marian and wayward Robin was not a surprise. There were some good things.  For example, I really liked the way the actors presented animals using musical instruments.  The problem I had with the production overall was that I just felt that  because they could, they did. It felt that because actors could slide down from the back of the stage, enter from any part of the audience,  drop down traps, or descend down from the flies, then in this production they did it.  It felt like everything was piled on and the spectacle was a little over done.  I found that very early on in the evening,  the novelty of it all just wore off and actually a production that played on surprise ended  up revealing all its surprises at the beginning, and there was little left for the finale.

Marion was very much a modern girl, introduced to us in her night-clothes and Robin Hood a bit of a selfish thug to start with.   Heart of Robin Hood was a Christmas show and it was a pantomime.  It was energetic and funny, and it was also gruesome at times.

Martin Hutson’s Prince John was the highlight for me. He didn’t have the conventional villain looks, but he managed to portray such badness, it was chilling at times.

It was nice to catch the last night of the Christmas lights on a mild January night in Stratford, and enjoy a night at the theatre, but I am looking forward to seeing some more Shakespeare again.

Blogs

There Ought to be Clowns

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Comedy of Errors (National Theatre, 31st December 2011)

The Olivier stage is a large space and this production uses the space extremely well. The large towering buildings move around to represent different parts of the city, and even become the shipwreck where the twins were separated.  There is a sense of the commercial business taking place in the city as well as the darker aspects of life there, such as the prostitutes and the hustlers.  Though on the surface things seem fine, underneath there is a more sinister side as the potential execution of a man hovers over the events.

I thought that Lenny Henry (Antipholus of Syracuse) was spot on with the verse speaking.  He used a Nigerian accent and this worked well and also added to the comedy because his twin did not have the same accent.  A points we got some of Henry’s stock voices (and faces), but I didn’t feel they intruded. Playing alongside Henry, Chris Jarman is extremely good as Antipholus of Ephesus.   It was great to see him in something else after playing the Prince of Morocco in the recent RSC Merchant of Venice. There are also two great performances from Claudie Blakey as Adriana and Michelle Terry as her sister, who manage to negotiate extremely high heels as they try to make sense of the strange behaviour of the men around them.

The production left me wondering why anyone doesn’t catch on to the fact that the twins from Syracuse have arrived in town, especially as the father explained the circumstances at the start of the play.  The play is about confusion and mistaken identity and this leads to the slapstick humour, which is wonderfully highlighted when the twins from Syracuse arrive and cause mayhem in the town square, ending in a traditional pie in the face.  The band link scenes extremely well as they sing pop songs in a foreign language .

I thought this production was extremely entertaining and I am looking forward to seeing how it looks on NT Live.

Reviews and Previews

The Comedy of Errors, National Theatre (Olivier), London – FT.com

The Comedy of Errors, National Theatre – review | Theatre

Blogs

There Ought to be Clowns

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