Twelfth Night (York Theatre Royal 29th April 2009 and 1st May 2009)

Twelfth Night is always a popular play and there are several productions this year. There has been the Donmar Warehouse production, which I wrote about in this blog and there is to be a RSC production in the autumn with Richard Wilson as Malvolio. The York Theatre Royal production is entertaining and thought provoking and well worth a visit.

The Theatre Royal production starts with screen and a film of the two twins underwater trying to cling on to each other and loosing each other. This is a reminder that the play is a reworking of The Comedy of Errors, when two sets of twins are shipwrecked and are unaware of the existence of their siblings. The difference with Twelfth Night is that the twins think that they have lost their family and are alone. Twelfth Night is like Hamlet in that it deals with death, but as I said when I talked about the Donmar production, the play changes its tone. It’s Juliet Forster’s focus on both the comedy and dark elements of the play that makes this production so good.

In this Theatre Royal production, I felt that Orsino (Sam Haeldine) is angry, as well as melancholy. It is clear that he finds Olivia’s (Jade Anouka) rejection frustrates him. He wants things to happen quickly. This is particularly evident in the way Orsino’s opening speech. In this production you can see why Viola (Danielle King) is attracted to him and as she half coyly observed him undressing in the ‘patience on a monument’ scene’. We can also see why Viola is attracted to Viola because Viola says the things that she thinks a woman should hear.

The production gets a really nice balance between the light and dark. The whole set is used for the overhearing scene and the drinking scene is really funny and we see a moment of cruelly to Malvolio (Dick Bradnum) that will happen later in the play. The set used subtle beige, ochre and golden yellows and represented both houses and the outside scenes. The play was set in a timeless place and really emphasised the idea of a dream-like quality, which from the production notes in the programme the creative team aimed to create. A semi constructed bird cage is contrasted with gym equipment to depict the masculine and feminine worlds of the houses. It is these contrasts and the overall aesthetic of the production which made watching it a delight.


Reviews and Previews

Twelfth Night York Theatre Royal (From The Nort…
The Stage / Reviews / Twelfth Night
The Stage / Reviews / Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night York Theatre Royal (From The Nort…
Preview: Twelfth Night (or What You Will), York…

Julie RabyLeave a comment

Waiting For Godot (Theatre Royal Newcastle, 23rd April 2009)

Many of my recent posts have commented on how much the performances have referenced theatre. I couldn’t discuss this production of Waiting for Godot without commenting on the metatheatre.

The set is a derelict theatre. We watch the action through two frames, one is the proscenium arch of the Theatre Royal and the other is the run down, tumbling brickwork of the a theatre no longer in use. It could have been bombed during the second world war or it had fallen into disrepair and out of fashion. There is a wonderful moment when Estragon (Mckellan) leaves his boots on stage at the end of the first half and they are present in front of the safety curtain for the whole interval. The tree on stage is barren and resembles the gallows, or the cross, and in the second half it sprouts leaves. Does this signal there is hope after all?

The production was a very funny production, though Beckett is funny of course. Stewart and McKellan work with the lines and there is clearly a rapport between the two characters. There is also a sadness as well. Estragon forgets things and he is starting to rely on Vladimir to remind him.

Waiting for Godot is about the relationship between two men, whose life is about waiting around for something to happen. There’s slapstick and elements of music hall. There’s also that sense of people getting old. The constant repetition of the word ‘nothing’ and the sight of two old men helping each other in the wilderness, really highlighted the echoes of Shakespeare’s King Lear in Beckett’s play. At the same time it is like Laurel and Hardy or Morecombe and Wise. There’s humour is sadness and we don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Reviews and Previews

Waiting For Godot holds open auditions The Of…
Waiting for Godot: Milton Keynes Theatre, Theat…
BBC NEWS Entertainment X-Men pair reunite f…
For Godot’s sake: McKellen and Stewart get smug…
Was Patrick Stewart right to berate a disruptiv…
The Stage / News / Simon Callow and Ronald Pick…
BBC Interview – Waiting for Godot
McKellen and Stewart to star in Waiting for God…
Playbill News: McKellen and Patrick Stewart…
David Smith on why Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for…
Callow and Pickup join Godot The Official Lon…
The Stage / News / Mathias to direct McKellen a…
Was Patrick Stewart right to berate a disruptiv…
Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart on Waiting…
Godot has arrived: The stars of Beckett’s maste…
McKellen to make Beckett debut at 70 News
Sir Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart on Waiting…

Julie RabyLeave a comment

The Tempest – again (Sheffield Lyceum, 23rd April 2009)

Having seen this Baxter Theatre/RSC production in Stratford (Courtyard Theatre), I was really keen to see it in a different playing space. The proscenium arch theatre in Sheffield did present a very different viewing experience, but none of exceitement I felt when I saw the production in February was lost.

In a proscenium arch theatre, the audience are separated from the performance. It is like watching a framed picture and as you are aware of rows of the backs of other members of the audience in front of you there isn’t that sense of being really close to the action, but feeling at a distance from the actors, dancers and musicians. In Sheffield the house lights are down, whereas in Stratford they were up so there was much more sense of being aware that the actors could see you and were responding to you.

At Sheffield, I was much more aware of the changing colours. The strong green and blue backgrounds contrasted with the very dark backgrounds when Caliban was on stage. I hadn’t really seen this in Stratford. In Stratford, I watched the performance from several different angles. In Sheffield all the action was in front of me. The action is much more contained on a proscenium arch stage. In Stratford the sea serpent and the mariners use the whole stage, which means they are surrounded by the audience. The Sycorax puppet enters from different parts of the theatre making it very magical.

I felt the production worked well in the different space, but it does highlight how the Courtyard stage draws the audience in and how close you are to the actors and action.

Reviews and Previews (Updated List).

The Tempest at the RSC Courtyard, Stratford – T…
The Tempest: How a legend of African theatre wa…
Antony Sher and John Kani to Star in RSC’s The …
BBC NEWS Programmes Andrew Marr Show Vide…
news.google.com
The Tempest whips up a storm Metro.co.uk
SA Tempest triumphs as it takes the UK by storm
The Tempest, Courtyard, Stratford
Othello, W…
Antony Sher on The Tempest, Stratford – Telegraph
Theatre review: The Tempest / Courtyard theatre…
Luke’s enjoying some Bard times (From Elmbridge…
The Tempest at Courtyard Theatre, Stratford – r…
The Weston Mercury – The Tempest at Bath
The Tempest, Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-up…
Capturing the magic – Sheffield Telegraph
The Tempest: Full of spectacle and zest, it wil…
The Tempest at Courtyard, Stratford – Times Online
RSC storming back to city after decade with Tem…
Tempest gets a blast of sunshine – Coventry Tel…
She(e)r passion – Mail & Guardian Online: The s…
Tonight – More Shaka than Shakespeare
Antony Sher on The Tempest, Stratford – Telegraph
Curtain goes up on region’s must-see shows – Yo…
The Tempest – Review (From Wimbledon Guardian)
Out of Africa, Shakespeare with the stars and a…
The Tempest, Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-…
Antony Sher on The Tempest, Stratford – Telegraph
The Times – Sir Antony Sher: Actor/writer/direc…
The Stage / Reviews / The Tempest
Theatre review: The Tempest / Courtyard, Stratf…
FT.com / UK – The Tempest
The Tempest: Why the RSC got it wrong – Feature…
The Tempest whips up a storm Metro.co.uk
Theatre Review (Stratford-on-Avon): The Tempest…
The Leamington Observer – Tempest to an African…
Tonight – Stepping out from under dad’s shadow
Kani’s Caliban bids for freedom (From Your Loca…
Review of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s The T…
The Stage / Reviews / The Tempest
A stormy Knight in Richmond (From Epsom Guardian)
The Tempest, Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-…
BBC NEWS Entertainment Arts & Culture She…
The Tempest : Whatsonstage Midlands

Julie RabyLeave a comment

When We Are Married (WYP 21st April 2009)

I think I was surprised. I had read other reviews and I didn’t think that I would enjoy this production, but I had a really good time. it just shows though how diverse the reviews can be. The Telegraph gives the production 5 stars, but Charles Hutchinson in the Yorkshire Evening Press found flaws and The Stage reviewer wasn’t that impressed either. I tended to side with Charles Spencer on this production. For me, the strength was that the production was clearly set in a period of time. When I went to see the play, I had in mind Boeing Boeing, which just doesn’t hold true for 2009. WYP’s When We Were Married didn’t pretend it was relevant to 2009 and so it became a very entertaining evening. The female characters seemed to be much more developed than those in Boeing Boeing and had comments and views on the situation they found themselves in. Even though the status quo was maintained at the end of the play, it felt that the characters has been through a transforming experience. So even though there was a traditional ending, I went away feeling things might be slightly different for the couples, even if it was only slightly different.

Reviews and Previews
When We Are Married; Antony and Cleopatra – tou…
Charles Hutchinson reviews When We Are Married …
When We Are Married; Antony and Cleopatra – tou…
The Stage / Reviews / When We Are Married
When We Are Married; Antony and Cleopatra – tou…
Les Dennis to star in play (From York Press)

Julie RabyLeave a comment