Tag: regional theatre

not a book, theatre

Not a Book: As You Like It

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I had three theatre trips this week – one of which I disliked (and which ended last night) and two of which I loved. This is one of the loved but I only saw this last night, so I’m not sure my thoughts on it are at their most coherant yet. However as it only has a week left of its run I thought I ought to write about it straightaway – although tickets are at a something of a premium and next weekend is already completely sold out – so if you want to go you’ll have to get your ducks in a row RightNowThisInstant.

This is the RSC’s new production of As You Like It, with an all-male cast led by Jonathan Groff making his RSC debut as Rosalind. In case you’re not across the plot – this is one of Shakepeare’s comedies and I’m going to use the RSC’s own summary because it’s so neat and concise:

Rosalind is banished from the court of Duke Frederick – but not before she and young Orlando fall for each other. Seeking out her exiled father in the Forest of Arden with her devoted cousin, Celia, Rosalind disguises herself as a young man, Ganymede.

In fear of his own life, Orlando also escapes to the forest and soon runs into Ganymede, who pledges to cure his lovesickness. But in order to do so, Orlando has to woo her… or rather, he has to woo ‘him’. Then the games commence.

I am always a comedy over tragedy person – and like my all-time favourite Twelfth Night, this has characters in disguise. And in fact it goes even further than that does, especially when you have an all male cast because by late in the second act you have a man playing a woman, dressed as a man pretending to be a woman. If that sounds confusing, it’s not, because when you’re watching it onstage it’s wonderfully, gloriously clear.

In fact, I don’t really have any complaints to make about this at all, it was quite simply one of the best nights of theatre I have had in a very long time. It was very funny, the performances were brilliant and I cannot explain how brilliant the design and costume of it was. My photo of the top is of the opening set that is used for the Court of Duke Frederick – and the contrast from that to the Forest of Arden is truly astonishing. I did take a photo, but I’m not posting it because it’s a spoiler and it really doesn’t do the thing justice.

I always worry that I’m not going to be able to follow Shakespeare if I haven’t read up first* and I read the play text this week to make sure I was across what was happening, but honestly I didn’t need to – it was so easy to understand and so clear what was happening. This is Daniel Evans’ first Shakespeare productions since he started as RSC co-artistic director and he has made the Forest of Arden’s residents Welsh, with beautiful close harmony singing on top of everything else that is so clever.

I booked this because my sister and I wanted to see Jonathan Groff, and he was brilliant – but truly the whole production was. Gary Wilmot – who I have only ever see in panto or musicals – is making his RSC debut as Dukes Frederick and Senior but truly I don’t think there was a weak link anywhere in the cast – or indeed the whole production. Truly a magical, magical night in the theatre.

Have a great Sunday.

*I think this is a legacy of seeing a couple of Shakespeares as a teenager where I struggled

not a book, theatre

Not a Book: Thespians

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It is an absolutely scorching bank holiday so far – even hotter than it was earlier this month when we were in Colchester. As I said yesterday Colchester was the capital of Roman Britain – and we were there to see a musical about the other great european classical civilisation: the Greeks, brought to you by Mischief Theatre aka the people behind the …Goes Wrong series.

The Plot: It’s 500 and something BC and Greece is being ravaged by drought. The Tyrant who rules the country decrees that every island must send a group to Athens to compete in a prayer competition to bring the rain. The penalty for not going is death. The penalty for not winning is death. And that’s how the five residents of Ikaria (that’s the whole population of the island) come to invent acting.

Now I should say that we saw this on the first preview, so this isn’t really a proper review because that wouldn’t be fair and I’m expecting a few things will have changed since we saw it. But that said it was in pretty good shape. The joke rate isn’t as high as in a Mischief play but you don’t really expect ever other line to be a joke in a musical – and it’s hard to do jokes in lyrics too – but it’s got lots of puns and dad jokes and a lot of pastiches of other musicals, theatre in jokes and stereotypes. I thought it could use a little tightening and that they hadn’t quite nailed the sound balance, but those are fairly typical issues for early preview shows.

The cast were amazing – every one is turning in a good performance – and some of them are great – but they really work well as a company. It feels a bit harsh to pick anyone out in particular because it is very much a group – but if you really, really twisted my arm I would say that it was Rhys Taylor as The Tyrant and Allie Dart and Matt Cavendish’s double act as Bard and Rhapsodes.

I generally like what Mischief are selling (so to speak) so it’s hard for me to judge whether this will work for people who aren’t Mischief fans. This isn’t relying on things going wrong/choregraphed chaos and farce the way that the Goes Wrong shows do and of course it’s a musical. In some ways it reminded me of a (very superior) pantomime – and I mean that as a compliment. It’s all got a nod and a wink to the fact that there’s an audience watching and that there are rules and conventions of theatre that the characters are “inventing” but we are all aware of. I’m not sure it’s a “first grown up show” the way that I think The Play that Goes Wrong is, but it wouldn’t be a bad shout for an early theatre trip for an upper primary school age child – as well as being a good time for the grown ups too who will understand the in jokes.

Now the eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that this had its last performance in Colchester last night – but it is a tour – it moves to Bath this week coming and then Swindon, Guildford, Cheltenham, Cardiff, back to Guildford and then finishes up in Manchester for two weeks in July. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it have short West End run, but it’s hard to see where it would go – it’s not a big-big show and all the theatres that are the sort of size that I would think they would want are taken at the moment. But never say never.

Have a great Sunday

not a book, theatre

Not a Book: The Battle

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A bit of regional theatre for you this week, because for Valentine’s Day we headed to Birmingham to see a new play and it was a lot of fun with a dose of nostalgia attached.

The Battle is a play about the period in 1995 which could possibly be called Peak Britpop, where Oasis and Blur fought it out for the top spot in the singles charts. Britpop was a much larger movement than just these two bands, but the rivalry between them was fierce and really defined the era – Blur, southern and arty and Oasis, Mancunian and unfiltered. Some people will ahve it that you were either one side or the other, but there were plenty who liked both. Matthew Dunster, a former music industry A&R man, has written his first play imagining what was going on behind the scenes of the key moments that people might remember about the feud.

Anyway, this isn’t really a review, because we saw it a few days ahead of press night, and judging from the reviews a few things that we didn’t love may have changed, but is a recommendation because we had such a great time and laughed so hard so much of the time. There are some really good one liners here and some fabulous performances. The names in the cast are Matthew Horne (of Gavin and Stacey fame) as the boss of Blur’s record label, who is excellent whenever you see him but you sort of want more of him, and Louisa Lytton (Eastenders and the Bill) as Noel Gallagher’s girlfriend Meg Matthews, but I thought George Usher as Liam Gallagher (who is making his professional debut in the role) was the standout.

I’m trying not to think about the fact that the 90s are as long ago now as the 60s were back then. Because that is impossible and makes me feel a bit sick. When we saw it, the audience was wearing a lot of Oasis and Blur merch – and a report I saw on the TV earlier this week said that the bars at the theatre had reported near record sales so hopefully it’s doing well with the people who remember it when but I’m hoping it will also find an audience among people who don’t remember the original battle. And that’s because the 1990s seem to be back in fashion at the moment and going through a discovery moment for people who weren’t there at the time, which as someone who does remember particularly the second half of the decade is slightly traumatic.

Anyway, this is on at Birmingham Rep until the 7th March and then moves to Manchester Opera House for a week from 17 March. If you’re near enough by, I think it’s worth a trip.

Have a great Sunday everyone.