between the acts

I saw Pilot Theatre’s Antigone at York Theatre Royal in the Summer.  This was Roy William’ss modern dress version, and Williams updated  by setting the play in an urban cityscape and exploring gang culture. Williams’ version worked really well.  In presenting the play in a modern setting, it explored some of the issues relevant for young people today. Issues around peer pressure and how alternative rule of law can be set up in society.

The production at the Barbican starred Juliet Bonoche in the title role, and was directed by Ivo van Hove. There was many things I liked about this production also presenting the action in a modern setting.  Firstly, I liked the way the Barbican stage was used.  The action was mainly played at the front of the stage using the whole width. I also liked the way that characters moved in and out of themselves to play the chorus.

In Ivo van Hove’s fabulous A View from the Bridge (at the Young Vic, and now in the west End), the sense of the ordinary American family living in an epic Greek drama really comes across.  In his Antigone, there was the sense of an epic Greek drama being transferred into a domestic tragedy.

It felt like the production stripped the emotion out.  Firstly, the company had microphones, which made the sound seem strange and hollow.  It reminded me a little bit of the Wooster Group’s Trojans in their RSC/Wooster Group 2012 Troilus and Cressida. There was also a stillness about Binoche’s performance that stripped away the emotion that had been so prevalent in the Pilot Theatre version.

There were some excellent performances including Kirsty Bushell as Ismende and it was great to see Toby Gordon as the Boy.

Further Details

http://www.barbican.org.uk/theatre/event-detail.asp?ID=16573

Cast
Antigone Juliette Binoche
Guard Obi Abili
Ismende/Chorus Kirsty Bushell
Haimon/Chorus Samuel Edward-Cook
Teiresias/Chorus Finbar Lynch
Kreon Patrick O’Kane
Eurydike/Chorus Kathryn Pogson
Body of Polyneikes/Boy Toby Gordon

For this season, the Hampstead upstairs has rearranged the space so the audience are sat round the stage.  The obvious effect of this is that the performances are close and intimate.

The set is the sitting room of the house that Stevie Smith lived in with her aunt in Palmer’s Green.  It’s the kind of set that I love. I find myself intrigued with because I become fascinated with the objects, wondering what they are, recognising some from relative’s houses, and wanting to open all the books.

This is a three hander between Zoe Wanamaker playing Stevie, Lynda Baron playing her ‘lion’ aunt and Chris Larkin, playing the man.

The play starts with Stevie Smith returning home to the house she shares with her aunt in Suburbia from her job in London.  It becomes clear that during her administrative job, Stevie Smith writes her novels and poetry. The play gives an insight into Smith’s life and the times in which she wrote.  Through the dialogue and excerpts from Smith’s poetry her life is revealed to us.

As much as I enjoyed this production, I felt that the play was a little too long, and could have benefitted from some cuts such as the repetition around Smith’s finance. However, I learnt a lot about Stevie Smith, and Zoe Wanamaker’s performance was excellent.

Further Information

http://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/whats-on/2015/stevie/