Power, Passion and Punch
Macbeth
by Giuseppe Verdi, libretto by Francesco Maria Piave after William Shakespeare
West Green House Opera at the Green Theatre, Hartley Wintney, until 20th July
Review by Mark Aspen
Here’s something that packs some punch: Shakespeare, Verdi and a concentrated distillation of a dark psychological melodrama.
Shakespeare was a hero of literature for Verdi who always kept a copy of Rusconi’s Italian translation of Shakespeare’s complete works by his bedside. When he wrote Macbeth, Verdi was a 34 years old rising star. Yet he was an elderly man before he wrote another opera based on the Bard’s works, Ortello in 1887 (aged 74) and Falstaff, a rare dip into comedy for the octogenarian Verdi, in 1893. Sadly his ambition to write Re Lear never materialised. It is almost as if the intensity of Macbeth burnt out his creative urge for Shakespeare. Nevertheless, his youthful 1847 version was to be revisited up to the definitive Paris version of 1865, now presented by West Green House Opera. Macbeth buzzed around inside his head for two decades and Verdi often described it as his favourite of his operas.
It is the intensity of director Richard Studer’s production that makes it stand out. In Verdi’s Macbeth there is no romantic tenor lead, no soprano heroine, as one might expect in an opera. In fact there are no heroes at all. The two leading characters are real people who suffer for their over-vaunting ambitions, progressively tremulous, triumphant, terrified and ultimately torn apart by their guilt as they are sucked into a spiral of evil of their own making.
Read more…Some Are Loving
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by William Shakespeare
Richmond Shakespeare Society at the Fountain Gardens, York House, Twickenham until 19th July
Review by Ralph Stanhope
This year’s Richmond Shakespeare Society’s summer open-air production was A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and a somewhat unusual one in that it was set in the 1970’s, although there seemed no specific reason why. So we take that as given.
Nevertheless, in general, the pace was very good; particularly in the wonderful scene where the four lovers, having suffered the mistakes of Puck leading to a terrific physical quarrel which, although at times became over-strident, was exceptionally well done. Scenes moved immediately into scenes; the action never faltered, and the cast deserved their obvious attention to this important part of any production.
Read more…Romeo and Juliet, but Not by the Bard
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
by Vincenzo Bellini, libretto by Felice Romani
West Green House Opera at the Theatre on the Lake, Hartley Wintney, 18th July
Review by Patrick Shorrock
This musically fine performance of a splendid but neglected opera left me wondering why Bellini’s take on the Romeo and Juliet story is not better known and not more frequently performed. It can’t simply have been the ravishing lakeside setting. (That said, West Green Opera is a well kept secret that deserves to be far better known as an alternative to Glyndebourne, Grange, or Garsington.)
Bellini’s music is downright ravishing and gives that instant operatic sugar hit of emotional intensity combined with unforgettable melody that only the best works provide. As well as oodles of splendid arias and duets for the lovers, we get a marvellously catchy cabaletta from minor character Tebaldo (the Tybalt character) that would adorn any collection of the top tenor hits, a superbly melancholy solo for clarinet, and some excellent ensembles. Musically, it is the equal of Norma but without any of that “how do we handle the Callas widows?” baggage. It certainly left me wanting more Bellini on the operatic menu.
Read more…Warm Comedy, Warmer Weather
Ladies Down Under
by Amanda Whittington
BCP at the OSO Arts Centre, Barnes until 20th July
Review by Andrew Lawston
Amanda Whittington’s play Ladies’ Day appeared to have a happy ending, as four friends from a fish-packing factory in Hull visited Ascot and won half a million pounds in a six race accumulator bet. But what comes after the happy ending?
This sequel, Ladies Down Under, is in part an exploration of how different people might deal with a dramatic change in their fortunes, as well as a further celebration of female friendship. This time, the four friends, still flush from their big win, decide to go on the trip of a lifetime to Australia. The OSO in Barnes is the location for this globe-trotting adventure.
Read more…Ancient and Modern
Poor Clare
by Chiara Atik
The Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond
Review by Harry Zimmerman
The Orange Tree’s latest production is Poor Clare, written by Chiara Atik, a show which has come to the UK after winning a slew of awards in the US.
The play tells the story of Clare, a wealthy young noblewoman in medieval Assisi who wants for nothing in life. Her plan for the future is simply to marry a rich nobleman and continue living her lavish lifestyle. However, her perspective on life begins to change when she meets Francis, a former soldier and son of a wealthy silk merchant, who has renounced wealth, privilege and power to live a simple life of piety and service.
Francis gradually introduces Clare to a new way of looking at the world and sets her on a new and very different path in life to the consternation and bewilderment of her rich, privileged family.
Read more…Sunday Roast
Table Manners
by Alan Ayckbourn
Questors Productions at the Juli Dench Playhouse, Ealing, until 19th July
Review by Andrew Lawston
In the grip of yet another heatwave, the Questors Student Group 77 are taking us back to 1973, for a chaotic Alan Ayckbourn weekend of dysfunctional family fun with Table Manners.
Annie is looking after her bedridden mother, and is in need of a break. She asks her brother Reg and sister-in-law Sarah to take care of her for a few days so that she can abscond with her sister Ruth’s husband Norman for an illicit weekend away in East Grinstead. Plans go awry when Norman shows up to collect Annie, as does her other potential boyfriend, the well-intentioned local vet Tom. When the short-sighted Ruth also arrives, the stage is set for farcical fun.
Read more…My Name Is, Er, Bond?
Bonding
by Cyril Blake
Seabright Live at Wilton’s Music Hall,Wapping until 11th July, then on tour until 26th August
Review by Eleanor Marsh
An eclectic audience, in an almost full house, were in attendance at Wilton’s to see a play about James Bond. They knew their stuff, all had their favourite Bonds and cheered lustily for them when asked and the set pieces of Martini glass gag and gun barrel sequence got them cheering. They were in for a good night.
The premise of this one man play is an autobiographical study of parent-children relationships, male bonding and what masculinity means, all seen through the eyes of a James Bond fan and his dad, with a little help from 007 himself. The play comes full circle and there was a palpable moment of “oh, of course” from the audience in the final few minutes. It’s a good device to use jackets symbolising each Bond actor and era to add interest and clarity to the piece. It is also a nice touch that the actor’s impression of each icon is performed very knowingly tongue in cheek.
Read more…Stirred, Not Shaken
Bonding: The Myth, The Legend and The Legacy of Bond
by Cyril Blake
Seabright Live at the Corn Exchange, Newbury until 8th July, then on tour until 26th August
Review by Sam Martin
Newbury’s Corn Exchange was transformed into a time-travelling, nostalgia-drenched homage to the world’s most famous spy this summer, as Cyril Blake brought his one-man show Bonding: The Myth, The Legend and The Legacy of Bond to the stage. Written and performed by Blake, and deftly directed by Matthew Parker, this production is far more than a tribute to Bond’s shaken-not-stirred bravado. It’s a touching and unexpectedly vulnerable look at family, identity, grief, and the myths we inherit, and sometimes outgrow.
The show follows Steven Lewis, a man whose life has been inextricably ‘bonded’ to the Bond franchise, thanks to a deep-rooted connection with his father. Through an inventive mix of storytelling, impersonation, comedy, and candid reflection, Blake skilfully explores how our favourite fictional worlds become entwined with real-life memories. From childhood games to adult grief, Bonding maps out a personal history that mirrors the changing face of Bond across the decades.
Read more…Backstroke
Airswimming
by Charlotte Jones
Teddington Theatre Club at the Coward Studio, Hampton Hill Theatre until 12th July
Review by Steve Mackrell
A strange title, said someone in the foyer before the show. Possibly. But it transpired to be an apt choice for this gem of a play where “airswimming” refers to buoyancy and keeping one’s head above water in times of desperation; in this case, a story of two women trying to keep sane after being wrongly incarcerated in a mental asylum.
Read more…Volcanic
Les Indes galantes
by Jean-Philippe Rameau, libretto by Louis Fuzelier
The Grange Festival at The Grange Northington, Alresford until 2nd July, then on international tour until 4th December
Review by Mark Aspen
With temperatures soaring towards the highest ever in Hampshire, it seemed almost redundant for Rameau to take us on a musical journey to hotter climes, but this proved to be a most remarkable voyage of discovery.
Incredibly, although Les Indes galantes, written in 1735, is one of the most recorded of Rameau’s works, this is its first fully staged production of the whole opera ever presented in the United Kingdom. It is, however, an opéra-ballet, a form that has certain complexities that, nearly three centuries later need addressing with ingenuity. These include intricate techniques, unfamiliar today, that make heavy demands on the singers; a tightly interwoven musical score set for large orchestration; and the fully integrated expression of dance within the action. These hurdles are brilliantly overcome by the unlikely combination of ensembles; the baroque orchestra Cappella Mediterranea, using period instruments, and the baroque choir, Chœur de chambre de Namur; with the contemporary dance company Structure Rualité, based on hip-hop and street-dance styles.
Read more…
Mark Aspen 