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…
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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…
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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

Future Me (York Theatre Royal, 12th March 2009)

Future Me really unnerved me. I was really unnerved because I really liked the main character when I left, but deplored what he had done and his crime. I felt I had had some insights into the other characters and what their motivations were. The problem with this for me was that the main character was a paedophile who is sentenced to a term in prison after he is found guilty of raping a twelve year old girl. His horrific offence comes to light when an email is sent from his computer to everyone in his computer address book containing an image which is considered sick and depraved.

Theatre which makes us think and consider the issues raised long after we have left the building is very powerful. Studio theatre at York Theatre Royal is doing a lot of work like this and it should be applauded for taking risks alongside the commercial successes such as the pantomime and Railway Children.

The play made us think that evil isn’t so obvious and can be lurking around us.

Reviews and Previews

Review: Future Me, The Studio, York Theatre Roy…
From Coronation Street to paedophilia Stage …
Future Me – York Theatre Royal – 12/03/09 – Art…
Preview: Future Me, The Studio, York Theatre Ro…

Reviews and Previews

Future Me – York Theatre Royal – 12/03/09 – Art…
Preview: Future Me, The Studio, York Theatre Ro…
Review: Future Me, The Studio, York Theatre Roy…

Julie RabyLeave a comment

Boeing Boeing (York Theatre Royal, 24th February 2009)

I remember seeing Boeing Boeing when I was a teenager and finding it really funny. I seemed to remember its fast pace and the how timing was really important to the comedy. When I saw it again at York Theatre Royal, I realised how out of date the comedy was. I suddenly felt uncomfortable at the sexism, and with the stereotypes. It was well acted, the set was marvellous and the colours vibrant, but for me, it was not theatre for the 21st century.

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Oresteia (York Theatre Royal, 12th February 2009)

This is a young cast, so we don’t see the difference in ages between characters in physical appearance, but in a production which draws attention to itself as theatre. This production has echoes of the company’s earlier production, A Clockwork Orange with its audience interaction and a leftover bowler hat from A Clockwork Orange appears now and again. This is the story of Oresteia abandoned by his mother and seeking revenge. It is not as violent as A Clockwork Orange, but as this is a play about murder in the family, it is just as savage.

On entering the theatre the audience is greeted by cast members, white faced as if the are the walking dead. The Fates are dressed in black with top hats, dark round framed sun glasses looking like Victorian funeral directors. They bring out their pocket watches as if the clock is ticking on audience and characters. When Clytemnestra is about to die, poisened by her own son, the Fates stand behind oberving their watches ready to cut a thread. It is a production that works really well in the studio space and a really engaging use of metatheatre. Masks are used in interesting ways, particulary to represent the massess and Cassandra represented by a puppet, the different voices giving a real sense of her madness and prophersying powers. Actors change easily between the roles.

The production moves on at a pace and there is no interval.

Previews and Reviews

The Oresteia, The Studio, York Theatre Royal (F…
The Oresteia, The Studio, York Theatre Royal, until February 14 (From York Press)
Review: The Oresteia, Belt Up Theatre, The Studio, York Theatre Royal until February 14 (From York
Preview: The Oresteia, The Studio, York Theatre…

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