Issue 20, 2007
Prompt Corner
A couple of times during this issue's fortnight of openings I've had to think afresh about what it is that reviewers are expected to write, and which criteria to employ. The first occasion came during the interval of Life After Scandal, when a colleague buttonholed me for a rant about what he saw as the inherent fraud of the verbatim theatrical form. Strictly speaking, it's a breach of protocol for me to name the colleague in question, but a perusal of the reviews should leave you in lithe doubt (hint: look for descriptions such as "spurious... blather... vacuous gimmickry"). Simon (oh, damn!) seemed to be angered that verbatim theatre simultaneously does and doesn't edit: that it pretends to neutrality whilst necessarily trimming its material according to the editors particular aims. As a journalist who continues on a daily basis to write news and general features as well as reviews, it really shouldn't strike him as either a surprise or a peculiar structural failing that this happens even with reportage.
I also felt uncomfortable that the axe he was grinding seemed to be about the entire genre rather than the individual play. Of course, there are types and flavours of all kinds of work that each of us gets on with awkwardly, but part of the reviewer's job is to try to get past that and write to a readership that may not share our particular foibles.
Speaking out
Or is it? Simon had what amounted to a strong belief that verbatim was by its nature working against producing good, stimulating, truthful theatre. He was, as far as he was concerned, trying to advance the cause of theatre in general by speaking out against a deleterious influence on it. What's wrong with that? (OK, he's wrong in his view, but apart from that...) We can see other reviewers pursuing agendas, say, against strong language or alleged atheism, or in favour of more social realism; I've written in the past about a reviewer arguing that a particular play should not have been staged because he felt it glorified an evil political system; twice in the past month I've found myself getting extraordinarily angry in reviews I've written for the Financial Times, about instances when it has seemed to me that productions have, as it were, commandeered dead people to endorse their particular positions for commercial or artistic cachet (On each occasion, the worst of my tirade has been cut before publication; the first was Bad Gifts last issue, the other is coming up in Issue 21.)
Certainly, we must remember that tastes differ, but there will always be times when we're just so fired up that we have to let it out. And it can also make for better, or at least more entertaining, reading when we so palpably have something to say and care so passionately about saying it. When I get into conversations with taxi drivers and tell them what I do, I usually call myself "a professional opinionated gif'. There are times when that's a valuable way to be.
Responsibility
Conversely, I'm currently engaged in an exchange on one blog site where I'm being accused of rank hypocrisy for giving The Masque Of The Red Death a warm review when I admit on that site that there were things I didn't get out of the show. "And that [I wrote there] was precisely because I did obey the company's exhortation to explore for myself. When I heard noise coming from one direction, I quite often went in the other to see what might be hidden, and on virtually every occasion, for me, the answer was nothing. (The first three doors I tried during the evening were all toilets – who knew BAC had so many?) Fair enough, that was partly my decision and partly bad luck. But when you exhort people to allow for a plurality of opinion and experience, it cuts both ways. It is perfectly possible to come out of The Masque Of The Red Death and say with all justification that you encountered nothing substantial, and virtually nothing even recognisable, in terms of intellectual or emotional content." I continued that I wrote the review I did "because I'm prepared to trust that such content is there."
To some, this makes me a hypocrite who wrote a rave review (well, judge for yourself) in order to be part of a critical consensus (if such a consensus exists – again, you be the judge). I thought I was exercising the kind of responsibility so often enjoined upon us to report when our individual response to a production is at odds with the majority. In this case, it was a matter not just of response, but of actual material encountered or not So: damned if we do, damned if we don't. Nobody said it was going to be a bed of roses. (It certainly isn't in some of that older West End seating.)
Pratting
My review of Gilgamesh didn't make it to print in the FT, which is frankly no great loss to anyone. It was true to an undistinguished production. For every delightful moment, such as the opening line "A long time ago, when the world was boring..." or the Sumerian version of the Great Flood story being rendered as a ragged gospel number to the tune of "Oh Happy Day", there was another moment to wince at and a whole stretch that excited nothing much at all. I understand the company's arguments for adopting the kind of play-based aesthetic they have, but I'm unconvinced that at root it's much more than a pretext for a lot of pratting about.
In my review of the Chichester Macbeth reprinted in Issue 11, I wrote that "when [Patrick Stewart] even slips up on verb agreement, it suggests that he is not listening to himself', at least on the press night. I was shocked to find on its transfer to the Gielgud that he is still saying "Good things of day begin to droop and drowse,/ Whiles night's black agents to their preys doth rouse." Granted, English verb conjugation at the time was slightly more inflected than it is now, but it's hardly obscure that "doth" is singular and "agents" plural. I've never seen a text that rendered the line as "...doth rouse". This may look like a pedantic point, but I can't help but see deeper implications. In fact, I find it hard not to conclude that a man lauded as one of our outstanding current classical actors either regularly doesn't listen to himself or doesn't even know how the language works.
Ian Shuttleworth | ian@theatrerecord.com
At the Back
Can You Hear Me In Europe?
Oh, the joys of travel!My fortunate position as one of the few theatre writers in Britain who get space like this to talk about what's going on outside the country means that at this time of year I get invited to some very interesting festivals, but this is not always the case. I've just been to opposite ends of Europe for events which don't really need description from me, but there's a page spare in this issue so here goes.
Bunker mentality
The BITEF Festival in Belgrade is one of the oldest and most distinguished in Europe. In its early years it was practically the only place where Eastern and Western theatre people could get together, and the clever selections of Joan Cirilov, still in charge of the festival after over 40 years, meant that the East was introduced to Julian Beck, Peter Brook and Robert Wilson, the West to Jerzy Grotowski, Robert Sturua, Anatoli Vassiliev...
BITEF has weathered the political storms which now see Belgrade as capital of Serbia rather than Tito's Yugoslavia. Belgrade has weathered them, too, and since my last visit two years ago the city seems to be breathing more easily, ready to look outwards again and lose the bunker mentality that has nurtured a fierce and dangerous nationalism. It boasts some of the most palatially modem civic theatres in Europe, too - this time I revisited the Belgrade Drama Theatre, the Yugoslav Drama Theatre and Atelier 212 and marvelled once again at their marble, plush and gold leaf. This year's selections were the usual rich mix of dramatic theatre, performance and dance, from which the international jury chose Romeo Castellucci's #04 Brussels, the fourth part of a twelve-part series of works entitled Tragedia Endogonidia. I gave up on Castellucci after his disabled Julius Caesar and defecatory Hamlet told me pretty clearly that this ugly mockery was not my kind of theatre, but the Castellucci family has apparently gone from strength to strength, and from festival to festival, collecting prizes like this one. Similarly, the local journal Politika gave its best director award to Jurgen Gösch for his Düsseldorf production of Macbeth, which I suspect would not have been to my squeamish, conservative taste. Try the jury's citation: "Without a poetic or any other aura, the evil in Jürgen G6sch's Macbeth spoke strongly and powerfully, with its dirty, stinky and bloody language." Yeah, well.
But I was not in Belgrade for the official BITEF programme, in which I had only time to see another Italian company, that of Emma Dante, in one of their hits, mPalermo, which without full access to the text came over as a naïve and energetic but hardly world-shattering account of life in a bustling Sicilian town. At one point the cast took off all their clothes, upstage in a discreetly dim light, then put them back on again. Were they making a statement, or just cooling down after their exertions? Heaven knows.
Falling-down comedy
No, I was there for a showcase of Serbian theatre, a sort of local fringe for BITEF. The concept was interesting, in that it offered single examples from five very different genres. I missed the contemporary opera, on the life of the local scientific hero Tesla; enjoyed a full-length modern ballet, La Capinera, and My Private Biopolitics, which was billed as a one-man dance performance but turned out to be a gently malicious stand-up (even falling-down) comedy built around the world of dance competitions; but had no luck with the example of new writing, Maja Pelevic's Me Or Somebody Else. Loosely based around the Austrian story of a young girl who spent several years with her kidnapper, Pelevic's play is really three stories, one about the kidnapper-hostage relationship, one about the parents left behind,and one about the media frenzy created by the event. Unfortunately, none of them is very well thought out, and in this clumsy production (from Novi Sad) none of them interacts well with the others. Pelevic has been a Royal Court summer school student, and it shows - try her Orange Peel at http://www.pozorje.org.yu/scenaeng/no20-3.htm for all you need to know (and probably more) about seduction techniques, oral and anal sex, and cellulite.
The other dramatic offering was from Daska, Belgrade's oldest fringe troupe, who now have a space of their own. The Story Of Tea was an extremely elegant diversion, loosely based on Three Sisters, in which three beautifully dressed middle-aged actresses (I told you they were the oldest fringe group) were joined by a man and a couple of musicians (the best bit - flute, viola and a vocal range from countertenor to throat-singing bass) for a series of fine but barely connected sketches in which they presented their world view -something which should really be communicated only on a need-to know basis. Further off-festival, I also saw a joint Italian-Serbian production of Goldoni's The Servant Of Two Masters done as a gangland film noir. I'm still trying to work out why, but I can tell you that the chosen genre doesn't work well for commedia dell'Arte.
Spanish clowns
A week later I was in Huesca, not far from Zaragoza, in Aragon, to talk about theatre criticism as a side-show to the town's theatre fair. Spain has quite a lot of these markets, where producers and bookers gather to find shows for their theatres, or the network of well-appointed arts centres of which Spain can be proud.
The shows themselves were very much for local consumption, and it would be unfair to comment on them in any depth in a world context, although the troupes included visiting companies from as far away as Argentina and Bolivia, Belgium and France. The French contribution was a delightful quarter-hour of street theatre billed as the final of the world circus tennis championship, with Indian clubs for balls and two superbly temperamental finalists showing their skills. I also caught some fine modem dance from a Spanish company led by Thomas Noone, athletic and amusing with a strong sense of space and each others' bodies. There were the obligatory and as usual highly unfunny Spanish clowns, in this case a group called Los Ulen, who gave an account of their schooldays in plaid uniforms which they shed only to take on the roles of their teachers, who were either sadistic, subnormal or sex-obsessed. Spaniards seem to take a special delight in seeing bottoms smacked, and the school setting provided ample opportunities for this. Non-Spaniards will probably be as embarrassed as I was.
The only real theatre I saw was billed as Fuente Ovejuna, and when the curtain went up on Samarkanda Teatro at what appeared to be the end of a very amateur production of Lope's classic my heart sank. Then the production came alive, as the actors stepped out of role and into their own characters for a heated discussion about the play's relevance today. This to-and-fro between play and commentary continued (I believe ifs called metatheatre), with Lope getting proper attention in some fine "poor theatre" scenes from the play, if somewhat over-emphasising its rape-and-torture moments. The spectre of Uncle Bert Brecht haunted the production, with some dunking quotes from the old meister's mouth, but all in all it made for a lively evening.
Ian Herbert | ian@herbertknott.com
Contents / Reviews
London |
||||
BASIC TRAINING New solo play by Kahlil Ashanti |
Riverside |
3 Oct |
4 Nov |
1127 |
CAT'S-PAW Return of UK premiere production of play by William Mastrosimone |
King's Head |
27 Sep |
4 Nov |
1109 |
DEALER'S CHOICE Revival of play by Patrick Marber |
Menier Chocolate Factory |
3 Oct |
17 Nov |
1123 |
GILGAMESH New version of traditional tale (Uncle Semolina [& friends]) |
The Pit |
4 Oct |
13 Oct |
1130 |
I LOVE YOU BECAUSE New musical by Joshua Saltzman and Ryan Cunningham |
Landor |
26 Sep |
20 Oct |
1131 |
THE JUST Revival of play by Albert Camus (Secret Centre Th) |
White Bear |
4 Oct |
28 Oct |
1131 |
KIKIA TE POA New play by Matthew Saville (Shaky Isles Th) |
Pacific Playhouse |
5 Oct |
12 Oct |
1132 |
LIFE AFTER SCANDAL New verbatim play by Robin Soans |
Hampstead |
25 Sep |
20 Oct |
1093 |
LITTLE MADAM New play by James Graham |
Finborough |
4 Oct |
27 Oct |
1128 |
MACBETH Revival of play by Shakespeare (Chichester Festival Th) |
Gielgud |
26 Sep |
1 Dec |
1097 |
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH New adaptation from Edgar Allan Poe (Punchdrunk/BAC) |
BAC |
2 Oct |
12 Jan |
1115 |
MISCHIEF New piece devised by Theatre-Rites and Arthur Pita |
Peacock |
6 Oct |
7 Oct |
1132 |
MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS New play by Ron Hutchinson |
Tricycle |
1 Oct |
3 Nov |
1110 |
MOTHERLAND New piece by Eugene Skeef and Tunde Olatunji (Sampad / Tara Arts) |
Oval House |
2 Oct |
6 Oct |
1112 |
PARADE New musical by Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry |
Donmar Warehouse |
24 Sep |
24 Nov |
1088 |
PRESENT LAUGHTER Revival of play by Noel Coward (NT) |
Lyttelton |
2 Oct |
1 Jan |
1119 |
PURE GOLD New play by Michael Bhim (Talawa) |
Soho |
1 Oct |
20 Oct |
1113 |
RHINOCEROS Revival of play by Eugene lonesco in new version by Martin Crimp |
Royal Court |
27 Sep |
15 Dec |
1103 |
RICHARD III Revival of play by Shakespeare (Tangram TC) |
Southwark Playhouse |
27 Sep |
20 Oct |
1114 |
ROUGH CROSSINGS New adaptation by Caryl Phillips from book by Simon Schama |
Lyric Hammersmith |
28 Sep |
13 Oct |
1107 |
SOME KINDA' ARIZONA New play by John Bashford (Hare's Breadth) |
Warehouse Croydon |
23 Sep |
21 Oct |
1092 |
STONEWALL New play by Rikki Beadle-Blair |
Drill Hall |
5 Oct |
21 Oct |
1129 |
SUGAR SNAP New play by Alex Cooke (Little Fish TC) |
Union SE1 |
28 Sep |
13 Oct |
1106 |
THE TEMPEST Revival of play by Shakespeare (Tara Arts) |
Tara Studio |
25 Sep |
14 Oct |
1092 |
THERE'S ONLY ONE WAYNE MATTHEWS! New play by Roy Williams |
Polka |
2 Oct |
27 Oct |
1130 |
TOM WAITS FOR NO MAN Musical cabaret by Stewart D'Arrietta, with the songs of Tom Waits |
Riverside |
27 Sep |
28 Oct |
1109 |
Regions |
||||
AND DID THOSE FEET New play by Les Smith and Martin Thomasson |
Bolton, Octagon |
28 Sep |
20 Oct |
1138 |
Arches Live! Season of new work (for full details see pages) |
Glasgow, Arches |
20 Sep |
29 Sep |
1141 |
BENEATH YOU (SPIDER GIRLS ARE EVERYWHERE) New play by Kathy McKean (Birds Of Paradise) |
Glasgow, Tron / touring |
27 Oct |
29 Oct |
1143 |
THE CHANGELING Revival of play by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley (English Touring Th) |
Nottingham Playhouse / touring |
4 Oct |
13 Oct |
1140 |
DON QUIXOTE New adaptation by Pablo Ley and Colin Teevan from the book by Miguel de Cervantes |
Leeds, WYP Quarry |
26 Sep |
20 Oct |
1133 |
INTEMPERANCE New play by Lizzie Nunnery |
Lierpool Everyman |
26 Sep |
13 Oct |
1134 |
INVISIBLE BONFIRES New piece by Forkbeard Fantasy |
Bristol, Tobacco Factory / touring |
25 Sep |
6 Oct |
1132 |
MOLLY SWEENEY Return of revival of play by Brian Friel (NTS) |
Sanquhar Town Hall / touring |
29 Sep |
29 Sep |
1145 |
MR PUNTILA AND HIS MAN MATTI Revival of play by Bertolt Brecht in new version by Peter Amott |
Coventry, Belgrade |
25 Sep |
6 Oct |
1134 |
OUR FRIENDS IN THE NORTH Revival of play by Peter Flannery |
Newcastle, Northern Stage |
3 Oct |
20 Oct |
1139 |
PEER GYNT Revival of play by Henrik Ibsen in a new version by Cohn Teevan (Dundee Rep / NTS) |
Dundee Rep |
27 Sep |
13 Oct |
1144 |
THE PITMEN PAINTERS New play by Lee Hall |
Newcastle, Live |
26 Sep |
27 Oct |
1137 |
RUPTURE New play by Davey Anderson (Traverse / NTS) |
Edinburgh, Traverse |
25 Sep |
6 Oct |
1142 |
A SHEEP CALLED SKYE New adaptation by Nicola McCartney from novel by S R Harris (NTS) |
Sanquhar Town Hall 1 touring |
29 Sep |
29 Sep |
1145 |