Wagner Without the Va-Va-Vroom
Der Fliegende Holländer
by Richard Wagner
Rose Opera at the Normansfield Theatre, Teddington until 24th October
Review by Suzanne Frost
Wagner by a fringe opera company? Ambitious would be the first word to come to mind. Wagner is known for a lot of “wumms”, as we would say in Germany, which might be broadly translated into va-va-vroom. It has to be loud. Rich. Epic. As much as he was a romantic – and there is inevitably a moment in every Wagner opera of such sweeping aching beauty it could make you cry – it won’t be a proper Wagnerian experience without those moments of such intense dramatic sound, it takes over your whole body and vibrates in your belly and just feels … epic.
So you wonder, once you enter the tiny bijoux Normansfield Theatre in Teddington, how? How they are going to produce The Flying Dutchman, a work that apart from a whole lot of va-va-vroom also demands a lot of lights, mood and theatricality. Wagner, who, if he had had the means back then, would have probably worked in movies rather than the theatre, famously dreamed up the most outrageous special effects in his stage directions that directors now have to find feasible solutions for. Shakespeare’s famous “exit pursuit by bear” has nothing on Wagner, who basically envisioned spectacles of such magnitude even the likes of Steven Spielberg or Roland Emmerich would need a lot of CGI for.
Read more…Foul Melancholy Ennobled
The Duchess of Malfi
by John Webster
Richmond Shakespeare Society at the Mary Wallace Theatre until 30th October
Review by Celia Bard
Prior to attending this production of The Duchess of Malfi, I learnt that the audience was to be transported to the 21st century and that we were about to watch the machinations of a powerful celebrity family. The revised performing version would be shorter in length and the cast would be reduced from fifteen to seven with some doubling up. I must admit to feeling a level of curiosity as to how Webster’s Jacobean revenge drama would play out. With this loss of text I wonder whether I would I recognise the characters? Would the Duchess’ brother, the Cardinal be as corrosive a force? Would that Iago-like character, Bosola, be as chameleon a figure as represented in the text, and how would Webster’s text come across to a 21st century audience? What would the set look like and of course costumes? Some two hours and forty minutes later, I was able to answer many of these questions.
Read more…Dogged Horror
Birdwatching
by Miranda Barrett
Anarchy Division at The Space Theatre, Isle of Dogs, London until 24th October
Part of the London Horror Festival
Review by Heather Moulson
Halloween is truly in sight, getting us just in the right mood for the London Horror Festival.
The Space, with its gothic splendour in the heart of Millwall, down on the Isle of Dogs is an ideal setting. Formerly St Paul’s Church, its high ceilings, and grand windows, surrounded by a charming cobbled courtyard is fitting for this unique festival, one that I previously enjoyed in 2019 at the Pleasance Theatre in Islington; another atmospheric and inspiring theatre.
I wanted to be receptive and supportive, as I think the horror genre is so much more difficult to convey onstage as opposed to film. The tension and build-up is given such limited freedom, which rests heavily on the player’s shoulders. However, integrity and strong writing make up for this.
Set in the depth of winter and of isolation, three people set out to make a horror film.
Read more…Drawn out
Van Gogh
Synaestheatre, OSO Arts Centre, Barnes, until 24 October
Review by Matthew Grierson
If you go to see the Starry Night, the Bedroom in Arles or one of the Sunflowers, I suspect that even now there would be quite a crowd in front of you, vying to view Van Gogh’s best-known works. If you go to see Jonny Danciger’s Van Gogh, this experience is recreated by having the works projected on to the backdrop and then bundling musicians, singers, conductor and actor in front. At least, I think we were supposed to see the paintings: from my (disad)vantage point in the stalls, the sightlines were even less clear, so they may simply have been screensavers from the 1990s.
The show works from Vincent’s letters, which are variously set to music, declaimed by Louis Pieris, or screened on the glass-fronted chalkboards that half-mask the musicians. There may also be a moment when Pieris is directly scrawling correspondence on the boards, but the chalk is illegible. At other times, he jives spikily to discordant, post-punk guitar, presumably to convey the painter’s mental troubles. He ends the show with his head in bandages, per the self-portrait, that are drawn out to bind him into the screens.
Read more…When Are We Going to Learn About Acting?
Circle Mirror Transformation
by Annie Baker
OHADS at the Jane Ross Theatre, Hampton until 23rd October
Review by Celia Bard
Whether or not you are familiar with creative drama classes and their improvisation exercises, “silly” games and acting techniques, this is a play that will delight all who value subtle performances in which frozen smiles and long pauses will keep you spell-bound.
The play’s setting is in a small town in New England and the location is a community centre for a six-week drama class for adults. The people who sign up for the class are Schulz, recently divorced; Lauren, an enthusiastic high school junior who wants to become an actress; Teresa, a former actress, emotional and theatrical; James, Marty’s husband and Marty, the drama teacher who leads the class, taking the students through a series of acting and drama exercise in which they reveal much about their lives.
Read more…More Than You Can Chew
The Shark is Broken
by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon
Sonia Friedman Productions at the Ambassadors Theatre, London until 15th January 2022
Review by Heather Moulson
Being desperate to see The Shark is Broken for nearly two years, due to a sell-out in Edinburgh, followed by the lockdown, I couldn’t get to the Ambassadors Theatre quick enough.
Greeted by a clever set, extraordinary lighting and amazing tableaux, I knew it was worth the wait. What followed was ninety minutes of impressive pacing, revelations, and acrimonious yet warm exchanges. The script, acutely written by Ian Shaw, has text taken from his father Robert Shaw’s diaries about the making of the iconic film, Jaws. With this consistent and thoughtfully studied script, it captured a significant piece of film history.
Read more…From Gloom To Boom, Bursting With Vitality
Tonight Belongs to Us
TOPS Musical Theatre Company at the Hampton Hill Theatre until 16th October
Review by Patrick Adams
TOPS hit the ground running with its musical extravaganza Tonight Belongs To Us at the Hampton Hill Theatre. They burst out of the gloom and doom of Covid with a production pulsating with vitality and energy saying, ‘look at us, we are back and we’re great’. And they were.
The setting was minimal, but effective. The excellent five-piece ensemble with Musical Director, John Davies, was upstage, but as if in an orchestra pit, next to steps leading to a large platform enabling some variation of height for the performers.
Imagine you are at a performance and come to the showstopper number for that particular show. This is then followed by a showstopper from another production, followed by yet another showstopper, and yet another. This was TOPS recipe for a splendid musical evening.
Read more…Job’s Worth
Bull and Contractions
by Mike Bartlett
The Questors (Double Bill) at the Judi Dench Playhouse, Ealing until 16th October
Review by Nick Swyft
Tonight Questors put on a double bill of hour-long plays by controversial modern playwright Mike Bartlett, about two very different forms of workplace bullying. In both, the setting is a high pressure sales environment, where making the numbers underpins everything, and job security is scant to non-existent.
The first play, Contractions, is a two-hander, featuring Alison Griffin as an anonymous manager, and Anne Marie Ryan as Kate, a new recruit into her team. It takes the form of a series of mini appraisals in which it becomes clear that the manager has issues of her own, zeroing in on Kate’s personal relationships with her team. These interviews become increasingly intrusive, and at first the questions asked were very funny, partly because the audience could see how outrageous they were.
Read more…Treasure Trove
Secret Life of Humans
by David Byrne
Progress Company at Progress Theatre, Reading until 16th October
Review by Nick Swyft
What would one expect to find in the secret locked room of one of the world’s leading intellectuals? What could Jacob Bronowski (call me ‘Bruno’, everyone does!), writer of The Ascent of Man, possibly have to hide from the world? A corpse, or some plundered work of art, or even his porn stash? No. The answer was far worse.
The plot of Secret Life of Humans revolves around Bronowski’s grandson Jamie (Katie Moreton), meeting Ava (Lara Collins), on a chance Tinder date. Ava has spent her life studying Bronowski, and becomes drawn to the boy when she finds out who he is. They end up going to the family home, where she learns of this secret room. Jamie doesn’t seem particularly interested in talking about his grandfather, more in getting into bed with Ava. She, however, is about to lose her job and career, and needs the sexual distraction he provides. The secret they discover distresses Jamie, since he always believed his grandfather was a good man. For Ava, however, it provides her with what she needs to salvage her career. Katie Moreton’s ‘breeches role’ portrayal of the male character Jamie is noteworthy, as her portrayal of a testosterone-riddled lad is very convincing.
Read more…Scrumping For Gravity
Great Ideas, By Geniuses
Privates at OSO Arts Centre, Barnes until 10th October
Review by Andrew Lawston
In the opening moments of Great Ideas by Geniuses by Privates, a small torch projects the show’s title on to the inside of a small tent, using two transparent slides. The second one is back to front, and is hurriedly reversed.
From the moment the tent revolves to reveal all three performers cramped inside, it’s clear that we’re in for an enjoyable evening of spirited physical comedy. While the performers all begin the show dressed in primary-coloured jumpsuits, they are quickly shedding costumes and knocking themselves unconscious left, right and centre.
Read more…
Mark Aspen 