Issue 16 / 17 - 2003
Prompt Corner 
August is usually a light month for London first nights, with editorial attention diverted towards Edinburgh. True to this, the Fringe content of this issue is small, but a more serious crop of London openings than usual has given some critics the excuse to cut down their Scottish travel, and sent others up and down the A1 like rally drivers.
Katie Mitchell's Lyttelton revival of Three Sisters gets the lead reviews in a Chekhov-heavy time. She is a director who can create wonderful atmospheres and bring her actors to new richness of character exploration, which makes her a natural for Chekhov, and sure enough she gets plenty of bravos here. I'm afraid I must dissent from the chorus, since I found the evening long, dark and dull, exemplified in Eve Best's washed-out Masha and Paule Constable's ungenerous lighting, which gave us two acts in near-blackout. And what's this - the meticulously naturalistic Ms Mitchell going in for gimmicks? Slow-motion interludes at 'significant' moments? A music box to add to the spinning top? Cod Swan Lake? At least we were offered a new look at one or two of the characters, with Lucy Whybrow presenting an unusually sympathetic Natasha and excellent work from the likes of Angus Wright in the smaller roles. The other Chekhov in this issue, Stephen Pimlott's Chichester Seagull, is certainly clear in its intentions - why not treat a play about theatre people as an opportunity for some very theatrical send-up? Its rewards are there in a lot of laughs (there were precious few in Three Sisters). Its punishment is a serious coarseness in Phyllis Nagy's jokey version, reaching an unforgivable nadir in Trigorin's abrupt on-stage despatch of Nina's virginity. A good cast play along with Stephen Pimlott's conceits, many of which come off, and Sheila Gish's Arkadina dominates the evening as she should, but it's all rather lightweight.
The conservative in me is forever demanding fidelity to the text, but Timothy Walker's deadly accurate, uncut Edward II at the Globe had me crying out for cuts, gimmicks, anything to alleviate its three and a half worthy hours of Marlowe. Liam Brennan and his companions are to be congratulated on resisting the temptation to camp it up, but great tracts of the play are so tediously wordy as to make the questionably Shakespearean Edward III seen last year look pretty impressive. How much more rewarding to visit another all-male Elizabethan play, Edward Hall's utterly delightful Propeller version of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Misplaced trust in Time Out meant that I arrived half an hour late, but was quickly caught up by its infectious, inventive charms. Nor are they merely surface - there is an obvious enjoyment in the actors' clear treatment of the text: the Oberon-Titania scenes that are often cut are here given the full treatment, and the unusual doubling pays off in a sense of constant surprise.
Two new plays from across the water brought some fine acting, but both featured playwrights blatantly showing off their skills rather than letting them work less obtrusively. The performances of Mos Def and Jeffrey Wright in Top Dog/Underdog (not Tapdog, Toby, that's the dance piece) are remarkable, all the more for their very different origins: DJ Def is every bit as convincing as Broadway-trained Wright. But Suzan-Lori Parks' play itself is thin and schematic, with some terrific riffs but no real orchestration - and a sadly predictable ending. It's more difficult to predict the ending of Stephen Belber's Tape, since he provides several, tumbling one after the other like a series of what-if acting exercises, quite a let-down after the play's careful, well developed build-up of a complex head-v-heart male relationship. The printed text confuses matters even more in a series of epilogues for the three characters (omitted, thankfully) from the Soho production) which obscure the play's issues further.
The two short plays about Kings Cross in the Courtyard showed very different kinds of promise. Louise Monaghan's Dawn, in a rather perfunctory staging, developed from standard slice-of-low-life into a well thought, well felt examination of lost young lives. Debbie Jones's prizewinning Transfigured, on the other hand, took off into realms of anarchic fantasy seldom explored by English stage writers and brought instant pleasure.
Bernard Kops has revised his Playing Sinatra to take account of Old Blue Eyes' departure, but one wonders why he bothered. It still comes across like minor Orton - unpleasant, occasionally funny and of no great substance. Yet the performances of David McAlister, Jenny Stoller and Miles Richardson on Jenny Mirabelle's carefully atmospheric set were so beautifully realised, so well tuned that they almost made the play seem worthwhile. Much the same goes for Rough Crossing at the newly decorated, almost luxurious Gatehouse: it's not the (very competent) performances or the (very neat) set that are the problem, but Tom Stoppard's bumpy revision of Molnar's play, which can't quite decide to be a musical.
The treat of the issue was the Festival
Hall revival of On Your Toes. It's not easy to create
a feelgood musical in the cavernous Hall, but there is much
to enjoy in Paul Kerryson's faithful production, including
a whole series of performances that take care not to go over
the top. Paul Farnsworth makes sure that the costumes give
the necessary glamour that makeshift sets can't offer. I
believe this version is closer to the original than the Tim
Flavin/Natalia Makarova one of a couple of decades back,
which may explain why it drags a bit
- there's a slight shortage of top-class Rodgers and Hart
numbers. But the ballet sequences are great; and the emergence
of Adam Cooper not just as dancer but actor, choreographer
and - biggest surprise - admirable vocalist is a great pointer
for the future. Clever producers will be looking for more
vehicles for Mr Cooper and his equally talented dancer/actor/singer
wife, Sarah Wildor.
Ian Herbert
At the Back
Autumn's nearly here - that's when the Globe launches its last new production for the current season, and that's when I'm once again off to explore German-speaking theatre for a couple of months. I never thought it possible that an all-female Taming of the Shrew could work as well as Phyllida Lloyd's production, in which ironic wit and inventiveness link 21st century female humour with timeless knockabout comedy. Janet McTeer's Petruchio is a revelation, masterfully balancing an empathetic approach to the role itself and juggling parody and farce to mock Petruchio's boastfully blokish habits. A tall, slim figure in high boots, with floating hair and a self-assured and sexy smile - it's as if Petruchio had become a pop singer, to gain whose attention females can't resist trying everything (even the obedience game). She-he relieves himself against a pillar, with all the necessary body language. That is what makes this taming procedure such good fun: there's enough Shakespearean routine next to hints of commedia dell'arte, surrounded by material from today's female stand-ups, who tackle not only male topics, but also female foibles with harsh humour. Knockabout comes along with a fluffy dog impersonation and a rough scene in which Kate tries to steal the dog's bone. Commedia has its place in Linda Bassett's brilliantly earthy servant Grumio and excellent Amanda Harris's quick-witted Tranio, who is the perfect contrast to his androgyne, innocent master Lucentio (Meredith MacNeill). Kathryn Hunter as Kate serves up a range of opposites. She's a small, fragile figure, whose cleverness is first disguised by a kind of childish stubbornness and a scorpion's sting, but then shines out in Kate's submissive-nonsubmissive speech, which turns Petruchio's macho world upside down and brings him close to tears when he realises who in fact is wearing the trousers. At the very end, Kate and Petruchio shout at each other in hot Italian - a row fuelled by love: a scene reminding me of Federico Fellini, Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren, who celebrated in their films this kind of love-hate, submission-domination game - and now it's at the Globe.
Just an aside - as TR isn't recording opera - about what else there was to discover at the Globe on one single day in August: Monteverdi's Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria. The Globe makes an ideal, highly atmospheric venue for opera accompanied by period instruments. Tim Carroll directs each role with a refreshing clearness and minimalism making three hours seem short. The young singer-students of the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme at Aldeburgh delivered a very good ensemble work, fully understanding what they were singing and acting. I hope Mark Rylance will be daring again: opera at the Globe in 2004 - with more than just a one-off performance.
Back to drama. After having enjoyed the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2003 (see our supplement in issue 18) I caught up with two London Fringe venues. At the Finborough Wild Pendulum and Concordance brought together a medley of playlets dealing with Suffragette themes, titled The Women's War - A Centenary Celebration. How difficult it was to pave the way for women's votes and rights deserves commemoration - especially as all this is taken for granted today. The frame for this evening is a kind of 'historic' meeting of the Actresses' Franchise League. Director Laura Dunton Clarke tries to catch the atmosphere and acting skills of that time, but doesn't succeed entirely in doing so. However, How the Vote Was Won (1909 - females turning into an occupying nightmare for their male relative, bending him into a supporter of their Suffragette aims) and A Chat With Mrs. Chicky (1912 - an elderly charwoman - lovely Jackie Everett - talks a bourgeois anti-suffragette into the ground - very funny, indeed) are highly enjoyable tableaux.
The Latchmere had a double bill. Roland Smith's monologue To Close and Kill is a disturbing confession by a British paratrooper. Talented and convincing Sean McGrath - once himself an infantryman in the Parachute Regiment - allows some insight into a man who chose to join the army. Smith's debut text is in fact based on several conversations with a close friend and shows enough tension to make this evening a worth while event. Bournemouth Ballads by Brian (a trio of comedians) finished the evening . all too literally. This piece of fringe comedy about an old couple spending a holiday for the umpteenth time by the seaside was so badly written and performed that I was cringing in my seat. This is nonsense one can do without on London's fringe.
Let me come back to a delightful, poetic spectacle:
Cirque Éloize's Nomade. This French-Canadian ensemble of circus
virtuosi wraps the versatile artistes' breathtaking skills (traditional
and modern acts) and comic turns (not the most hilarious) into a fairy
tale story built around love and a wedding feast. It amalgamates soothing
beauty (décor by Guillaume Lord with lighting by Martin Labrecque) with
earthy, seductive music from French chanson to tango to Gypsy tunes to
spheric moods (Lucie Cauchon) played by a core group of four excellent
musicians. Wherever the Nomades stop, go and lose yourself in
this highly recommended extravaganza.
Verena Winter
Contents / Reviews
London |
||||
AS YOU LIKE IT revival of the play by William Shakespeare (Oxford Shakespeare Co) |
Lincoln's Inn |
1 Aug |
31 Aug |
1024 |
THE BLOOD OF OTHERS |
Arcola |
12 Aug |
30 Aug |
1042 |
A COMEDY OF ARIAS conceived and written by Ian Bloomfield |
Kings Head |
30 Jul |
31 Aug |
1001 |
DANIEL play by P J Cobham (True Colours) |
Blue Elephant |
7 Aug |
16 Aug |
1043 |
DAWN play by Louise Monaghan |
Courtyard |
5 Aug |
28 Aug |
1090 |
EDWARD II revival of the play by Christopher Marlowe |
Shakespeares Globe |
31 Jul |
29 Sep |
994 |
GRANNY AND THE GORILLA Stuart Paterson play (Unicorn) |
Open Air |
1 Aug |
22 Aug |
1036 |
MARRY ME A LITTLE revival of Stephen Sondheim compilation by Craig Lucas |
Landor |
19 Aug |
6 Sep |
1014 |
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM revival of the play by William Shakespeare (Propeller) |
Comedy |
14 Aug |
1031 |
|
THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD revival of musical by Rupert Holmes from Dickens |
Bridewell |
6 Aug |
23 Aug |
1011 |
NOISES OFF return of Michael Frayn revival (RNT) |
Piccadilly |
5 Aug |
1010 |
|
NOMADE Cirque Eloize (BITE) |
Barbican |
31 Jul |
23 Aug |
1002 |
OLIVER TWIST David Cottis adaptation from Dickens (Instant Classics) |
Etcetera |
8 Aug |
24 Aug |
1034 |
ON YOUR TOES revival of musical by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart |
RFH |
7 Aug |
6 Sep |
1015 |
ONE IN THE STREET, THE OTHER IN BED two plays by Gil Vicente (Auto da India and Ines Pereira) |
Greenwich Playhouse |
20 Aug |
14 Sep |
1041 |
PLAYING SINATRA revision of Bernard Kops play |
New End |
4 Aug |
6 Sep |
1008 |
ROUGH CROSSING revival of the play by Tom Stoppard from Ferenc Molnar |
Upstairs/Gatehouse |
20 Aug |
20 Sep |
1043 |
ROUGH CUT play by Danusia Iwaszko |
Riverside |
20 Aug |
30 Aug |
1043 |
SAVAGE/LOVE and KILLER HEAD revival of two plays by Sam Shepard andJoseph Chaikin |
Old Red Lion |
12 Aug |
30 Aug |
1043 |
TAJ play by Hugh Allison |
Upstairs/Gatehouse |
5 Aug |
16 Aug |
1019 |
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW revival of the play by William Shakespeare |
Shakespeares Globe |
21 Aug |
28 Sep |
1037 |
TAP DOGS REBOOTED Dein Perry dance piece |
Sadler's Wells |
5 Aug |
23 Aug |
1012 |
TAPE play by Stephen Belber |
Soho |
1 Aug |
30 Aug |
1002 |
THREE SISTERS revival of the play by Anton Chekhov in Nicholas Wright version (NT) |
Lyttelton |
12 Aug |
18 Oct |
1025 |
TO CLOSE AND KILL/BOURNEMOUTH BALLADS plays by Roland Smith and Brian |
Latchmere |
7 Aug |
22 Aug |
1042 |
TOPDOG/UNDERDOG play by Suzan-Lori Parks (Public Theater, NY) |
Royal Court |
11 Aug |
30 Aug |
1020 |
TRANSFIGURED play by Debbie Jones |
Courtyard |
5 Aug |
28 Aug |
1090 |
THE WINTER'S TALE revival of the play by William Shakespeare (Oxford Shakespeare Co) |
Lincoln's Inn |
1 Aug |
31 Aug |
1024 |
THE WOMEN'S WAR revivals of plays by Cecily Hamilton (How the Vote Was Won), Christopher St John/Evelyn Glover (A Chat with Mrs Chicky) and Bernard Shaw (Press Cuttings) |
Finborough |
14 Aug |
6 Sep |
1035 |
Regions |
||||
AS YOU LIKE IT revival of the play by William Shakespeare (Peter Hall Co) |
T R Bath |
13 Aug |
30 Aug |
1052 |
BLITHE SPIRIT revival of the playby Noel Coward |
Theatre by the Lake, Keswick |
6 Jun |
1 Nov |
1051 |
BOUNCERS revival of the play by John Godber (Hull Truck) |
Richmond (tour) |
4 Aug |
9 Aug |
1059 |
CARMEN revival of the opera by Geroges Bizet with new libretto by Chris Monks |
New Vic, North Staffs |
1 Aug |
23 Aug |
1058 |
CYMBELINE revival of the play by William Shakespeare (RSC) |
Swan, Stratford Upon Avon |
6 Aug |
7 Nov |
1044 |
THE MYSTERIES 2003 adapted by Richard Hayhow and Mikel Murfi (Macnas) |
Coventry Cathedral |
7 Aug |
23 Aug |
1051 |
ORVIN - CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS musical by Alan Ayckbourn and Denis King (NYMT) |
Stephen Joseph, Scarborough |
8 Aug |
23 Aug |
1058 |
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY adapted by Trevor Baxter from the novella by Oscar Wilde |
King's, Glasgow (tour) |
25 Aug |
30 Aug |
1060 |
THE SEAGULL revival of the play by Anton Chekhov In a new version by Phyllis Nagy |
Chichester Festival |
7 Aug |
4 Oct |
1048 |
SWEET FANNY ADAMS IN EDEN play by Judith Adams (Stellar Quines) |
S P C Garden, Pitlochry |
1 Aug |
17 Aug |
1060 |