Souls, Struggles, and Spin
Clorinda Agonistes
by Shobana Jeyasingh, music by Claudio Monteverdi and Kareem Roustom
Shobana Jeyasingh Dance and Sadler’s Wells at The Grange Festival, The Grange, Northington until 14th July, then on tour until 16th November
World Premiere. Part of Baroque Counterpoint
Review by Mark Aspen
Crusade is a word that must nowadays be used with great circumspection. Cultures have now become less polarised, but in 1591 when the Italian epic poet Torquato Tasso wrote his Gerusalemme liberata, he took an entirely different approach. A poem about the Siege of Jerusalem in 1099 and the First Crusade, it is highly romanticised and weaves in an imaginative mythology. The spin is doctored towards the European standpoint.
Choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh’s new work Clorinda Agonistes focusses in on one character of Tasso’s twenty canto poem, the Muslim maiden warrior Clorinda. It contrasts and compares the Clorinda of 1099 with women, Clorindas, in the Middle East in 2022. At a time when cultures are (trying to become) more integrated, this could be a polemic on religious identity or on feminism. It is neither. It is a balanced, inspired and powerfully gripping account and one that asks more questions than it answers.
Read more…We’re All Doomed; Or Are We?
A Plague on All Your Houses
by Marcia Kelson
Angels Wings, Bitesize Festival at the Riverside Studios, Hammersmith until 16th July
Review by Nick Swyft
In the same way that if you start reading a medical handbook, you find out that you have everything in the book, apart from the Preface, I came away from this play feeling quite ill, which probably meant that the play worked. (I’m better now, thanks for asking!)
Now part of the July-long BiteSize Festival, A Plague on All Your Houses is written by Marcia Kelson, who was longlisted for the Papatango prize in 2016 and 2017. She also won the Best Newcomer award at the Brighton Fringe in 2021.
Using various scenes throughout history, we learnt some interesting facts, which were cleverly woven together to show that however people reacted in, say, 1500 BC that we react in the same way today. For example a couple stranded on a cruise ship off Sicily in 2020 at the start of the Covid outbreak had to remain on board, as did the crews of the plague ships who tried to land there in 1347, on pain of death: a sobering thought. Some facts were just interesting in their own right. For example, despite living through a plague-ridden era equally affecting the theatres of the time, Shakespeare never used it as a plot device in any of his plays! (Although the word “plague” is referred to 105 times.)
Read more…
Spring Forth
The Four Seasons
by Jenna Lee, music by Max Richter adapted from Antonio Vivaldi
and Don Quixote, Grand Pas de Deux
by Marius Petitpa, music by Ludwig Minkus
New English Ballet Theatre at The Grange Festival, The Grange, Northington until 14th July
Part of Baroque Counterpoint
Review by Mark Aspen
The Grange, in its idyllic setting in a pastoral bowl in the Hampshire countryside, is reflective place to be in these days leading up to what is largely expected to be the hottest period in recorded history for these islands. On press night, black ties are being shed for silk cravats. Looking out across parkland, lakes and woods, however, nature seems still at peace beneath the shimmering air.
Will it look like this in three months’ time, in six months? Did it look like this three months ago? Of course not. And as the temperature rises, we give thanks for the seasons.
In 1717 Antonio Vivaldi could have been looking out on the countryside in Lombardy or the Veneto and equally thanking God for the seasons. He was clearly inspired to write his best-known work, the group of four violin concerti known as Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons and maybe he also wrote the accompanying four sonnets which follow the music in poetry.
Read more…Song to Sing
The Yeomen of the Guard
by Arthur Sullivan libretto by W.S. Gilbert
The Grange Festival, The Grange, Northington until 8th July
Review by Mark Aspen
Is there something Shakespearean about WS Gilbert’s libretto in The Yeomen of the Guard? There are changed identities, an improbable disguise, wooing by subterfuge, a philosophical fool and an ending involving three marriage proposals.
Is there something Wagnerian about Arthur Sullivan’s music in The Yeomen of the Guard? There are touches of grand opera rivalling Verdi, of symphonic style Mendelsohn-like passages, of the classical style of Mozart.
Yes to both these questions, but Sullivan also has folk song, shanties, dance music and musical acrobatics. All work seamlessly and congruently together. Gilbert has his trademark wit, patter songs, and satire (lightly touched.)
The Yeomen of the Guard pulls all these together with homogeneity. Nothing jars. It’s all very civilised, and very English. Yet, although it may be fun, there hovering under the surface is the dark shadow of reality. Hence, it is perhaps the most subtle of the G&S canon, and is widely regarded as their best collaboration.
The Grange Festival production respects, and indeed enhances, this subtlety without losing the joy of the genre, avoiding caricature without losing its sense of self-parody.
Read more…Cat Walk on the Wild Side
Wildcat’s Last Waltz
by Kelly Hunter and Joshua Welch
Joshua Welch Company, Bitesize Festival at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith until 10th July
Review by Gill Martin
A potty-mouthed widow might look prissy in pink but her opening line of ‘I hate fucking dusting’ sums up her anarchic approach to life.
She also hates her bingo-playing mother-in-law to the same degree as she adores her late husband Geoffrey.
Joshua Welch stars and brings Wildcat’s Last Waltz to Hammersmith’s Riverside Studio’s Bitesize Festival with director Kelly Hunter.
In his hilarious depiction of an ageing Fitness Queen who could give Joe Wicks a run for his money (although she’s more of the Green Goddess generation) Welch sports a Mrs Merton style grey permed wig, rouge pink make-up to match pink striped skirt and cardie.
She longs for another 52 years of wedded bliss with a husband who showed his devotion by scratching the dry skin off her feet with a Stanley knife. No greater love …
Read more…Cut to the Chase
Moral Panic
by Stuart Warwick
Blue Dog Theatre, Bitesize Festival at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith until 10th July
Review by Gill Martin
You only have to look at the titles of the offerings at the Bitesize Festival playing at Hammersmith’s Riverside Studios to know you are in for a smorgasbord of treats.
I am the Bomb; Bad Sex; Boris Live; Boorish Trumpson; The Man who lives under the Bed; A Plague on All your Houses; Impromptu Shakespeare – they should give you a flavour.
Comedy, drag, dance, music, dark drama and audience participation are all on the menu. The invite runs: Come for an hour, an evening, a week. Leave inspired.
Read more…Break Down Recovery
As Real as Anything
by Andrew Cartmel
Thursday Theatre at the Hen and Chickens, Highbury until 9th July
Review by Heather Moulson
Things looked promising as we came in to a set dominated by a sofa, surrounded by vibrant art on the walls, and an inevitable drinks table, reminiscent of Abigail’s Party, an emphasis that this was someone’s home, and a backdrop for tension. The home in As Real as Anything is that of theatrical professionals, Duncan and Gwen. The setting also gave a promising entrance by the highly watchable Alasdair Shanks’ Duncan, a floundering theatre director bickering with his wife, Gwen, a producer … and also on shaky ground. Gwen was played by Rosie Edwards, who despite giving a skilled performance, seemed too young for the role. However, this did not hold back her strong stage presence
We were joined by weekend guests, Jake and Rosie, a playwright and actor respectively. This couple of characters were also on shaky ground. All four stars were dimming and desperation was passed round like canapés. Denim-clad Jake, played by Jamie Hutchins, went all out to be an enfant terrible working-class writer, while his spouse, played by Kelsey Short, was the actor desperate to recapture former stardom. However while this was beautifully done, it bordered on hardness.
Read more…Liquid Limber Light
Silent Lines
by Richard Maliphant, music by Dave Price after Georges Bizet
Russell Maliphant Dance Company at Richmond Theatre until 5th July
Review by Suzanne Frost
My one time boss, a brilliant and successful CEO and mother of two, used to say you always bring your whole person to work. Of course your performance in your job is impacted by whatever is going on in your life at that moment, and being a critic is no different. How you react to a performance has much to do with profane things such as how you got here, how comfortable your seat is, how busy your mind. I arrived at the Richmond Theatre in this particular instance barely two minutes before curtain-up, having handed over my newborn to my husband in the hallway in a mad dash handover, running to catch the train while my phone beeped frantically with breaking news alerts of the crumbling government. I have no time to read programme notes so enter the Maliphant universe with a blank open mind.
Read more…Pride and Perfect Performance
Pride and Prejudice
adapted by Janet Munsil from the novel by Jane Austen
Richmond Shakespeare Society at Fountain Gardens, York House, Twickenham until 9th July
Review by Viola Selby
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Pride and Prejudice is one of the most well-known and beloved stories of all time, whether your preference is for the BBC’s adaptation with Colin Firth’s infamous wet scene or for the Hollywood adaptation with Keira Knightly as the lead role of Elizabeth B or for one of the many theatre adaptations, there is a version for everyone.
However, Janet Munsil’s adaptation brings a whole new freshness of character and a quick-paced quality to this popular tale, whilst somehow making you feel you are going through the chapters of the book in detail. From the very beginning our senses are delighted through the exceptionally colourful and period perfect costumes designed by John Gilbert, Miriam King, Junis Olmscheid and their team. Each character is differentiated with a particular colour that in itself creates a mesmerising rainbow on the stage, complementing the delightfully British stately homes expertly created by the stage designer Junis Olmscheid, and skilfully enhanced by Paul Nicholson’s lighting design, who manage to create sets that mirror the grandeur of places such as York House with a few simple set pieces and floral bouquets. My particular favourite must be Pemberley, where portraits are ‘hung’ of the actors in character, a real unique touch to this unique play.
Read more…Over the Moon
Who Killed the Football Manager?
by Chris Martin
Edmundians at Cheray Hall, Whitton until 2nd July
Review by Heather Moulson
Just let me say that I was floored. I really thought I knew who had done it! That’s as much of the plot that I will give away.
In a cabaret style setting, we sat round at tables with anticipation, surrounded by enticing photographs of the suspects. My personal favourites were Trudy Goodnight and Terry Towling – especially his Kevin Keegan perm.
This inter-active murder mystery set in 1974 in a Headmistress’ study at an ailing boarding school, began promisingly with an authentic set, including the much-missed blackboard. Here we were introduced to Bob Slayer, played convincingly by Dave Young, as a bitter former football star; then Steve Swift, a hungry writer and Eileen Armstrong-Payne the desperate headmistress, admirably portrayed by Stephen Wink and Theresa McCulloch respectively. There was desperation all round with these three characters and plenty of motives.
Read more…
Mark Aspen 