Theatre Review- Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story

Title: Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story

Writer: Stephen Dolginoff

Director: Guy Retallack

Performers: Ellis Dackombe, Harry Downes, and Kris Rawlinson

Seen at: C Too Edinburgh

Review: Nathan Leopold stands before a parole board for the fifth time, having been in prison for 33 years for murdering a fourteen year old boy. The parole board wants to know: why? Flashbacks detail the story of how Leopold and his lover Richard Loeb, progress from petty crime to murder, and where they went from there.

The musical is based upon the true story, with some changes to details. It is very effectively the story of Leopold and Loeb; nobody else appears on stage, not even their victim, Bobby Franklin. The parole board are disembodied voices.   The characterisation is more simple than what I have inferred from a little research after watching the play; rather than both men participating in the crime equally, this Loeb is the ringmaster, continually manipulating Leopold and suggesting a victim and method, and Leopold is a lovestruck accomplice, who will do anything to keep Loeb in in his life.  Sometimes the writing is odd -  Leopold comes out with simple statements that seem out of place considering the more elevated language in other parts, and the high intelligence of his real-life counterpart- but overall it creates characters that are interesting, and compelling to watch.

The writing of the book and lyrics is nothing compared to the writing of the music, which is incredibly  rich and complex, and reminds me of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. Kris Rawlinson on the piano creates the perfect atmosphere, heavy and intense, in both the songs and scene transitions.

The two other performers, Ellis Dackombe playing Loeb and Harry Downes playing Leopold,  both make an incredibly strong professional debut. If I had to choose, I’d say Dackombe was stronger, just because I still have the chills remembering his performance of “Roadster”, already creepy considering it sounds like a seduction and we know what  is going to follow it, and made even more disturbing by Dacombe's delivery. However, Downes'

performance is also captivating, especially his pleading in “Thrill Me” and the way he performs Leopold’s revelation at the end. Together, they have great chemistry, both physically and vocally, and they clearly reflect dynamics of the relationship.

Just as the music and the focus on the characters is stripped back, the staging is equally minimalist. All black furniture, a few props on shelves, and very effective lighting work to create a variety of scenes, such as a burning warehouse, a police interrogation, and a car sitting in the dark on night of the murder. The venue is relatively small; the five rows means everyone is close, heightening the intimacy.

This show is definitely one to see if you want to see a show about manipulation and motivation, with three brilliant performers and an atmosphere that is thrilling and intense.  

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Links: Website | Twitter

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Theatre review - I Know You by Sam Moore

Title: I Know You

Writer: Sam Moore

Directors: Rosie Richards, Georgia Reddington

Performed by: Magpie Productions

Seen at: the Burton Taylor Studio

Cast: Sammy Breen, Benjamin Ashton, Joshua Cathcart

Review: Two men stand on a street corner. One remarks that the other looks nice. The other replies that that’s not what he’s looking for. They return home and sleep together. Afterwards, they discuss other men and how similar they actually are and how well one knows the other.

This new writing by Sam Moore is described by directors Rosie Richards and Georgia Reddington as Pinter-esque, postmodern, and about “stigma, repression, mental health, and intimacy.”   We see characters  who have sex with and share lives with each other, but in other ways are detached. As an audience, we may watch characters having sex and panic attacks and we listen to them tell some of the most private stories about their lives, but we don’t ever learn their real names. 

There were apprehensions from the cast about taking on roles so different to what they are used to, with backgrounds in musical theatre, and a lack of experience playing older characters. However, Sammy Breen (Kid),  Benjamin Ashton (John), and Joshua Cathcart (Pumpkin) all embody the characters – the youngish sex worker who’s seen it all, the reserved, shy older man, the ex who comes back and tries to care as best as he can – really well. Learning about the characters is intriguing, and information is   A week of characterisation workshops, the freedom to adapt and develop the script on their own and with Moore, the ability to put in as much of their own personality as they wished, and the challenge to not put too much of themselves into the play, have worked well to bring these characters to life. And how they did that in the full performance. Especially Breen in the breakdown scenes, and in the scenes when both John and Pumpkin are absent. It’s also in the smaller parts, like the transition scenes, as the way the characters look at each other tells you a lot about the relationship between them at the time.  

The writing is clever. In the scenes I saw for the preview, the words "I know you" were said, questioned, and disbelieved many times, with different contexts and meanings each time, and tracks the ways the characters reflect on themselves and each other. But will we ever really know them? Non-verbal language and implications, even from the first few seconds of the play, are also vital to the communication of and between characters. There’s a fair bit of humour, sometimes dirty, sometimes based on jokes, sometimes physical, always feeling appropriate to the situation. It’s an open-ended play, which isn’t really to my taste, but it does as the directors intended in showing how life goes on no matter what, and also shows again, how little we might know someone.  The different experiences of depression were frank, nuanced, and hard hitting in places.

Cathcart calls the play “voyeuristic”; I would totally agree. It sometimes felt too  intimate to watch, especially when it was just me in the audience. This is not because of the sexual content, but because we see the characters in their everyday lives, including at their most vulnerable. The set represents both the street corner and the bedroom, emphasising both the public and private in the play, and transitions are very well executed. The lighting is mostly realistic, apart from some marine club lighting  in some parts, which worked well, especially when it just faded to the naturalistic white light at the end, as real life just carries on. The depiction of mental illness, both the characters experiencing it but even more so the reaction from outsiders, is realistic.  Overall, the cast and crew have developed a piece of theatre that feels incredibly close and genuine. 

Another version of this review might appear in the Cherwell,

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Theatre Review- Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, performed by Poltergeist Theatre

Title: Much Ado About Nothing 

Writer: William Shakespeare

Director: Jack Bradfield 

Performed by: Poltergeist Theatre

Seen at: The Michael Pilch Studio

Review: Shakespeare’s tale of two schemes concerning lovers – one to get a couple together, one to tear another couple apart- could conceivably happen anywhere. Jack Bradfield sets the action in a house party at the turn of the millennium, when anything might happen.

Poltergeist Theatre’s production introduces new perspectives to the characters. I liked how Hero and Claudio, who are traditionally the couple who conform to society’s gendered expectations, are the ones whose genders are played with, keeping the genders and pronouns they have in the text, whilst being played by actors and wearing clothes coded to another gender. The editing of the play blends this all together, as Claudio’s rant at the alter focuses more on the infidelity he believes Hero to be guilty of, and is less directly misogynistic, which might have felt weird coming from someone in a skirt. In addition, I enjoyed the addition of a redemption arc for Margaret when she realises her complicity in the shaming of Hero.

The cast was very strong. Alice Moore’s Beatrice was sharp and had a wide range of comic facial expressions, and Adam Goodbody’s Benedick was the least cocky I have ever seen him, even vulnerable in his love at times, and together, they make a touching couple. Benedick’s other important relationship, his friendship with Claudio. Is also well played, from their camaraderie at the beginning to seeing the conflict of issuing or receiving the challenge to the duel. Georgia Figgis plays Claudio in many states-excited in love, drunk, angry, upset- and the sadness she brings makes you feel sympathy for him, at least until he very convincingly rages again. Another standout for me was Lillian Bornstein’s Don Pedro, who looked utterly heartbroken after Beatrice refuses his marriage proposal.
Design wise, it’s tied together well. Both Georgia Bevan’s costumes and Adam Marshall’s lighting revolve around winter greens and rich purples, set against the white snow and plainer bases to the costumes. The transitions between scenes often resemble fast-forwarding in a video, keeping with the video theme in a stylised and polished way. Many a time a character is seen with drugs, a glass, or a bottle, which seems to motivate some of the more extreme reactions. The music, an original soundtrack by Alice Boyd, is melancholy, and the haunting rendition of Sign No More is particularly beautiful.
One thing emphasised in the marketing was the use of live-streaming and television. The major use of the live feed is when policemen Dogberry and Verges, perform to a handheld video camera, which shows on screen. This is an inventive way of allowing their actors, Imo Allan and Marcus Knight-Adams, to double as villains Conrad and Borachio, but the scene where the constables capture the criminals, repeatedly passing the camera between them, did seem a little clumsy. The television is also used in other parts of the play, to be played with, or for comic effect or for exposition. Its use would be greatly improved by ensuring that the audience could always see what was happening on screen- either by having a second screen that the actors didn’t interact with, and was only there for the audience, or simply by having the actors moving around instead of sitting or standing still in front of it.

The other thing that was conveyed in the marketing was the edgy perspective they would take on the play- the “death” of Hero and Benedick’s challenge to Claudio are emphasised. I was expecting a darker tone than what I normally expect from a Much Ado-but this production went beyond my expectations. Yes, there are moments of pure comedy, such as the scene when Benedick is tricked into believing Beatrice loves him, and the unexpected audience participation, but it’s a lot darker than something often played as a rom-com is. The editing of the script focusses on the sad, angry, and tense moments, and even the very last line -drawing attention to the Prince’s failure to find a wife- leaves you with a sombre mood.

If you’re going hoping for a cheery, fun, or romantic night, this is play not for you. However, if you’re going for Shakespeare performed very differently, or something to play with your mood, or a uniquely brilliant interpretation of a classic, Poltergeist’s Much Ado is one to watch.

Links:  Company Website | Facebook event for show

Another edition of this review may appear on the website of the Cherwell

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Theatre Review- Macbeth, performed by Act Three Theatre

Title: Macbeth

Writer: William Shakespeare

Performed by: Act Three Theatre

Major cast: Josh Beecham, Ned Walkely, Simon Morgan

Seen at: Paradise in the Vault, Edinburgh Fringe
Summary: An exciting new take on William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Using the original language but set in a young offenders’ prison, it is bold, fast-paced, and performed entirely with a cast of three.

Review: The story of Macbeth is performed by three actors and set in a modern young offender's prison. I wanted to see this show because Macbeth, multiroling, and a vastly different setting to its original-what more could I ask for?

We open with Macbeth holding a titlecard/ID card, presumably having a mugshot taken, then an opening physical sequence with some impressive stage fighting to set the scene. Then the play develops in its new setting, where guards are witches and kingship is represented by a dressing gown and a paper crown.

The setting works well for the most part, prison hierarchies being a good new setting for kingdoms, and the costumes suited the production, but I did wonder where is Malcolm going when he announces leaves for England, if he's meant to be locked up.

The cast are all really good. My favourite thing about it though was the doubling, because, while necessary with three characters, makes some good links between the characters- Simon Morgan playing both Duncan and Banquo, the two direct victims of Macbeth's ambition, Ned Wakely playing both Lady Macbeth and Banquo's murderer (I know they kept Macbeth's line "Be innocent of the knowledge", but it just got me thinking of how cool it might have been if they'd kept the implication that she killed Banquo), and also Josh Beecham saying the Doctor's words in the sleepwalking scene, while still (I think) being Macbeth, adding a different, kind of caring, spin on him.

I don't know if it was intentional, but the lighting in the "Is this a dagger I see" scene and the banquet scene made the actors' eyes look black, demonic, which went well with those scenes.

The editing of the script is amazing. I think we ended slightly before the advertised hour, but the major plot points were all conveyed. Also, so much love for the delivery of "Birnam" just before the attack on Macbeth. The twist and wordplay and cleverness of getting around the prophecy was just...yes.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a fast, intense version of Macbeth.

Links: Company

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Theatre Review: This Much by John Fitzpatrick, performed by Moving Dust

I am aware that my timeliness is terrible. I saw this show eight months ago, I wrote this review eight months ago, I found it again tonight.  
I saw it at Edinburgh, and it's now playing at Soho Theatre as part of the Pride festival. 

Title: This Much (or A Act of Violence Towards The Institution of Marriage)
Writer: John Fitzpatrick
Director: Kate Sagovsky
Performed by: Moving Dust
Cast: Lewis Hart, Simon Carroll-Jones, and James Parris
Seen at: Zoo City





Review:Gar is in a long term relationship with Antony, and they're thinking about marriage , but meets Albert on an app. This leads to a romantic drama exploring the meaning and importance of marriage.
I saw this in the programme. I loved the title and the picture and thought maybe if I have time. I then saw this being promoted on the Royal Mile- three men in wedding dresses standing on plinths- and thought, yes, I have to see this. I didn't really know about the play though.
The drama progresses well. Something's always happening, there's twists, tension and anger is mixed with lighter moments, and aside from the ending which seemed a little abrupt, it flows well.
The actors work together well, and the deepness of relationships came through physically in interacting with each other.
The direction and scene setting was brilliant. They use lightweight boxes which are stacked in various ways to create different scenes, and which hold the smaller props. I think everything there was used at least once, with varying degrees of creativity. The scene changes happen in full view, accompanied by disco music and carried out with the emotion present in the scene. I loved watching them as it added unspoken aspects to the personalities.
There's only three or four lines of seating on three sides of the stage so it's a very intimate show. It's made more so by full nudity, (unexpected for me, expected for anyone who takes note of online warnings) but the close setting was good for really feeling the emotions coming off the play. And for those, wow. It cycles through a full range of feelings and situations you find in a relationship- the excitement of meeting someone new, the ease of living together, the hurt of a betrayal, what happens next- and the closeness of the venue means you see all the effects the events have on the characters, even the really subtle ones.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a very exposed realistic play.
Links: twitter | company | Soho Theatre tickets

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Theatre Review- Richard III and Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, performed by The Handlebards

Review written with input from two of my friends who saw it with me, Lottie and Amy. Their opinion is reflected here too. 


Title: "Richard III" and "Much Ado About Nothing"

Writer: William Shakespeare

Director: Emma Sampson  (Richard III), Nicola Samer (Much Ado)

Performed by: The Handlebards

Major cast: Liam Mansfield, Matt Maltby, Paul Hillar, and Stanton Plummer-Cambridge

Seen at: The Museum of the Order of St. John

Review: In Richard III, Richard, Duke of Gloucester murders his way to the throne and doesn't stop once he's there. In Much Ado About Nothing, plots to set up and break up pairs of lovers happen with varying degrees of success. The Handlebards, four actors who cycle with set, props and scenery to wherever they're going, are taking these shows on a tour.

I was incredibly looking forwards to seeing these. The comedy of the Handlebards that I'd seen before, plus one of my favourite shows (Much Ado) plus one of the plays I knew had many murders (Richard III) all combined to make me think I must see these shows somehow.
Both shows are imbued with the Handlebard style-brightly colour coding the actors, easy to remove and/or alter accessories, inventive ways of holding props to symbolise characters on stage when a scene needs more than four people on stage, audience participation, and epic levels of multiroling, energy, and enthusiasm.
The four actors are all new to being part of the Handlebards, and work together well. Liam and Paul play lovers in both plays (Richard and Anne and Benedick and Beatrice) and in both play off each other well, especially in Much Ado when both believe the other to be in love with them. All four of them have an extensive range of physical movement and  voices and facial expressions that differentiate the characters, which is necessary when most of them are learning about 20 characters each.
The set is a backdrop and some popup tents. It's simple for practicality and when it does what it's meant to, it goes well with both plays (especially when it's being worn by Gainsby and Benedick).
The music was good.  In Richard III, Richard's theme music is overdone in part one of the play (the same music and choreography each time means it loses its effect), or maybe it seems that way  due to the fact the theme was the only music in part one; part two had much more musical accompaniment (and occasional musical feature) so the recurrences seemed more integrated. It is especially performed well on a mop bass with jazz-style singing. Much Ado About Nothing has a lot more music, which is used throughout for scene transitions, comedy, and where the script calls for singing. They all sing and play their instruments well.
On to each performance specifically. I only knew that Richard III was about a lot of murder to become king; and  I was very pleased with how easy it was to follow. I think the multiroling helped with this a lot. With most Histories, I often see most the cast being men who are all named after parts of England and who all look the same and are very easy to mix up. but here, the huge differences between characterisation made it easy to tell what's happening. Despite all the murder, it's played pretty much as a full-scale comedy- timing, music, Richard's movements, the insistance that Richmond was French, the murder weapons.... oh and the ghosts. That was a most wonderful scene involving lots of bedclothes and wooooooing and the opposite of what you'd expect the souls of the dead haunting their murderer. The whole audience was laughing throughout this scene, and the whole play. It was a brilliant atmosphere and a great night.
Much Ado about Nothing was sadly not as good as I was hoping. It may be because we all studied it and loved it and know it, that it was easy for us to notice little slips and where they cut or shortened some of our favourite bits, such as Beatrice's "double heart for his single one" line, and Benedick's   listing of what he wants in a woman, which relates to his longer speech after his tricking scene. I am also used to seeing this performed at pretty much breakneck speed (like at their Richard III speed), and this felt comparatively slow in parts.  I think what they had in mind would have been brilliant, but the fact that  some things just didn't go as planned, such as scene changes and parts of the set starting to fall down, got in their way. They really did do their best at whatever the circumstances threw at them-Beatrice's temporary deafness being a highlight of their improv. In addition, the Watch scenes were good, I loved Stanton's ballet-dancing Claudio, Matt made an absolutely adorable Hero, and Liam's face of complete what the heck after being told to kill Claudio was a wonderful interpretation.I think as they perform more, they'll get used to what they want to do and they'll get quicker, and I'd like to see Much Ado later on in the run if I can.
All this said, this is a great company. They're learning not only two plays, but multiple roles within the plays, plus cycling to wherever they need to go. Also, we did see them on the first public performances. The overall style of their acting, the huge comedy/comedic potential, the running gags both within plays and across plays, and the sheer amount of energy and connection they have with each other and the audience make the well worth coming to see.

Overall:  A high strength 4.5 tea to Richard III and a solid strength 3 tea to Much Ado About Nothing averages out to Strength 4 tea to a set of shows that you should catch if you can.

Links: Company Website 

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Theatre Review-A Midsummer Night's Dream, performed by the Arcola Queer Collective

Title: A Midsummer Night's Dream

Writer: William Shakespeare and Patrick Cash and company

Director: Nick Connaughton

Performed by: Arcola Queer Directive

Cast:  Sheena Anyanwu, Diego Benzoni, Miss Cairo, Daniel Correia, Anthony Cranfield, Vickie Dillon, Rudi Douglas, Camilla Harding, James Hartley, Stuart Honey, Damien Hughes, Krishna Istha, Rubyyy Jones, Damien Kileen, Bex Large, Phil Rhys Thomas.

Seen at: Arcola Theatre

Review: Hermia and Lysander are a happy couple, much to the protests of Hermia's homophobic mother Egeus. Helena is a young man in love with Demetrius, who pushes him away. The couples all get mixed up at a nightclub, La Forêt, when the owner Oberon uses Puck to matchmake. Meanwhile, Oberon's relationship to his wife Titania is breaking down over the care of an abducted Irish musician, while the backstage team of La Forêt prepare for their turn in the spotlight. Through Shakespearean verse and contemporary additions, A Midsummer Night's Dream is a tale of love, relationships, and how that all works out.

I was very excited for this. Midsummer is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, and the fact that they were making it to include queer characters and modernised made me even more interested.
I'm glad I knew it had added monologues before going in. I wouldn't have hated it if I hadn't, I would just have been puzzled to start with. The monologues are good additions, and I'll come to them later.
We're introduced to the last night of La Forêt. Introducing Puck as the in house drug dealer sets the tone. Then for the rest of the play, which happens mostly as Shakespeare intended, with some flashback scenes and speeches added in. 

I like most of the new characterisations. The Mechanicals have a weird love triangle/pining thing going on (Flute loves Quince, Snug makes physical moves on Quince, I'm not sure whether Quince reciprocates either of them. It's not really explored, or maybe I didn't notice it ) but they do produce a good play by the end of it. Theseus and Hippolyta were...bizarre. Were they high? Their comments are amusing ("Hermia can go to a convent or die" "That's a bit much." And "I will kiss the wall's hole" "Shakespeare is a pervert") but I'm not sure where their characters were going.
Other characters get better development. Puck is a cabaret, Doctor Frankenfurter like figure, introduced by a monologue of how he ran away then got into this culture. Hermia talks about her relationship with her mother. Helena's speech about porn and falling for Demetrius is funny and makes you love him. Bottom comes out of character and delivers a passionate speech, including poetry, about their identity and society, which I thought was a brilliant performance. 

There are four characters that this production of Midsummer changed my views on. First, Demetrius, who from the Shakespeare is normally one of my lesser favourites due to him being a bit of an asshole. Here, his speech about HIV gives him a reason for pushing Helena away, despite his feelings for him, and does not make him seem heartless.I also liked it because Oberon, listening to this speech, now has a more valid reason to work to get Helena and Demetrius together and finally yay bisexual visibility. Then there's Oberon and Titania, who are again a warring couple, but there's a confrontation scene at the start of the second half between them that is distinctly modern and pulls up the issues in their lives as they discuss the family and identity they left behind and how to go forwards. We see more flaws in both their characters than from the Shakespeare, and added new levels of manipulativeness, and I liked the new take on the relationship. Finally, there's the kidnapped boy they're fighting over-Irish here, as opposed to Indian, and given a chance to talk about his new life and chemsex, as opposed to being namedropped and maybe brought on with the fairies. He also provides really good keyboard and singing. 

The staging of this is good. They stay mostly on the main stage but sometimes use the upper level, where the Irish Boy and keyboard is stationed, and an aisle, for the flashbacks.I also enjoyed the little bits of audience interaction which made it more inclusive, but not so much to intrude on the main action.

They make full use of innuendo in the Pyramus and Thisbe scene, and the Titania and Bottom seduction scene, providing adult physical comedy that differs to the comedy I'm used to seeing from Midsummer (and the comedy that others are used to too-the performance I was at saw a group of old people leave for the interval and not come back).

The comedy is less present in the lover's fight scene, when Lysander and Demetrius are both artifically in love with Helena, while Hermia looks on. I think it might be because it takes the bad situation for Hermia (having both her suitors completely change tack and court her best friend Hermia) and makes it worse because there's something a little more heartwrenching as her girlfriend Lysander (who I think might have been a lesbian?) starts wooing a gay boy, and the friendship and romance falls apart. 

I think the strength of this performance is that they take the issues surrounding courtship and marriage that are present in the Shakespeare, and look at the issues surrounding courtship and marriage today, particularly within the queer community.

Overall:  Strength 4.5 tea to a play that easily weaves together Shakespearean and modern stories to create a play that is both funny and serious, but entirely powerful.

Links:  Company and play| Theatre

Arcola Queer Collective is currently performing Le Petit Prince, between 8 -13 February. More information here.

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Theatre Review: Willy's Bitches

 I'm sorry for taking so long to get this up! 

Title: Willy’s Bitches

Written By:Shannon Thurstone

Performed by: Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Director: Philip Howard

Music: Tamara Saringer 

Seen at: Assembly Checkpoint, Edinburgh Fringe

Review: Willy’s Bitches is a cabaret show featuring various women of Shakespeare. A variety of characters are used, selected from tragedies, comedies, and histories, and they take you on a journey of classical dialogue and modern music.

 So, there’s a joke in my family that anything I read/watch is gay, feminist, murderous, or Shakespeare. I was looking through the giant list of shows at Edinburgh and I came across this, which promised to be three of these things...I had to go and see it!

My favourites were Rachel Graham as a cold, distant, creepy Lady Macbeth, and Hannah Kerbes and Samantha Taylor Burnes as Beatrice and Kate, drinking and singing a bawdy song. Jenny Douglas was a really strong Julia, who is played with a lot more madness than a)I would have read from Two Gentleman of Verona and b) than Brigid Shine’s sweet and vulnerable Ophelia. Melanie Morton and Shannon Thurston make a great comic pair as Helena and Hermia fighting, while Queen Mary (Ash Henning) was powerful and terrifying.  I’m also in love with how they  performed Lavinia’s part, with eerie harmonising as she emerges following her mutilation, then Lauren Meyer sings a powerful song about rape culture.

The music is really good- I wish they’d released a soundtrack. The harmonies introducing Lavinia sounded brilliant, and every actress had a voice that fit their song. There’s a small band on stage, which provides the men for the women to interplay with, which I liked seeing (Lady Macbeth scaring I think it was the clarinettist, while the guitarist takes the part of York). The music varies between styles, which fit the plays being referenced.

The staging was simple, some chairs and a table, which got moved around as and when needed. By costume, we saw each of the plays being set in very different settings, mixing the canon time period with modern with 50s fashion, and I liked the mixture of aesthetics.

I wasn’t expecting it to be in this format (being listed as a musical, I was expecting all the women to interplay with each other a lot more than they did, and it would have been nice if they had) but the transitions from play to play worked, even if it did just end seemingly randomly following Margaret’s section. I’d have also liked a bit more of the speech to come through, and to get to know a bit more of the women’s stories from what I saw on stage, rather than filling in gaps with research afterwards.

Overall: Strength 4 tea to a strong new take on Shakespeare

 Links: Company

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Theatre Review: Secret Shakespeare by William Shakespeare and The Handlebards

So, my Edinburgh Fringe theatre reviews are ready to be posted! They’ll come as often as I can, but I have a lot of school work to do, plus I’m doing work exp

erience at a law firm and ugh travelling is tiring. They’ll come though. And book reviews will resume shortly, and maybe some other things. Thanks for sticking around!   

Title:  Secret Shakespeare (A Shakespeare play, but I can't say which one)

Writer: William Shakespeare

Director: James Farrell & Emma Sampson

Performed by: The Handlebards

Major cast:  Calum Hughes Mcintosh,  Callum Brodie, Tom Dixon, Paul Moss

Seen at:  ...somewhere pretty.

Review: The Handlebards are four actors who have been cycling up from London to Edinburgh, carrying their costumes and props, and stopping every so often to perform a show. Secret Shakespeare is where the audience joins them to meet up in the city centre, get given bikes, ride out about 5 miles-ish, and then enjoy the show. I'm not allowed to tell you much about the play in specifics, due to the secret thing, but I'll say what I can.
The ride was easy, even for someone who hasn't ridden for years, and led by professionals. We cycled through parts of the city I probably would never have seen if I'd spent all my time in the centre, so that was nice.
The location was beautiful. Beautiful behind the audience, beautiful behind the stage, it was a great place to be. It's an open air show, with tents providing the wings and gazebos for the audience to sit under. Oh, and the rain wasn't too bad!
When they said what play they were doing, I was very happy. I hadn't seen it before, but I was familiar with the storyline.
I love the puppetry. It's first used to illustrate the exposition speech, which was very useful because it is a confusing set up. It's later used to represent characters in some scenes where there's meant to be more than four characters on stage. Other ways of getting around the "only four actors" thing includes holding out key identifying costume pieces, audience participation, and plates.
The multiroling is superb. All four actors have to switch costumes and characters very very quickly, sometimes speaking back to themselves. Costume, voice, and movement changes make clearly defined characters. I really enjoyed the characterisation, especially of the women.
I did find it going a bit too fast in places, and I'm not sure if it's because of the Handlebards format or the writing. Probably both. Despite this, I really enjoyed the show.

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to an inventive take on an old play, and a great evening out.

Links:  Company

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Theatre Review- Luck of the Draw

Title: Luck of the Draw

Writer: Michael Smith

Director: Matthew Dye

Performed by: Renegade Theatre Company and VF

Cast: Neil Brown, Claire Deards, Tom Hurst, Niven Willett, Grace J. Willis, Hayley White, and Zac Abbott 

Seen at: Duke Street Theatre

Review:  Six friends, getting ready for a night out, with Papa John's pizza, waiting for the lottery results, and plenty of alcohol. It's funny, it's dirty, it's crazy. But then there's an accident which throws suspicion into the group, and by the end, the night has gone horribly wrong.

I wanted to see this because I love the  Renegade Theatre crew, and this was being advertised as a black comedy, which is definitely my cup of tea.

The humour was just as good as I'd hoped. Yes, you can think badly of me at laughing at various parts of it, because, as I said on the night, the majority of jokes are centered around things that cause people to go to hell (the effect of sexual favours for animals on a career in TV, potential necrophilia, what appeared to be multiple stabbings whilst everybody panics (I'm not sure about that one, I was laughing too much)) but at the time, in context, with the characters and the delivery, it was perfect.  I also enjoyed the running gags- it's a menorah is probably one of Tom's greatest lines. 

The writing, despite the mild bigotry that came in-character from some, is excellent. It's sharp and funny. Relationships and characters are established really quickly. The cliffhanger before the interval is huge, and act 2 went in millions of directions, expected and unexpected, bringing in things you thought were throwaway lines but turn out to be very important indeed.  I didn't really enjoy Neil's philosophising in act 2, though, but the poignancy of the phone call was a poignant breather before...everything else. 

The cast was brilliant. Everybody was completely in character, and they complemented and interacted with  eachother like a real group of friends would. The improvisation especially was on point (I only saw one show, but I heard an usher saying he noticed some parts improvised. The Star Wars lines between Grace and Tom! Perfect!)

The set and tech is very different to Spring Awakening. It's just a mess. There's nothing else to call it. Reflecting Niven's personality totally, made with little details like a Katy Perry poster and a full book/dvd case where you sat close enough to be able to see some titles.   I love how completely versatile Duke Street Theatre is, and how well they transformed the space for Luck of the Draw.  

Overall: Strength 4.5, just a 4* to a fast, funny, filthy show that I wish I'd seen multiple times. 

Links: Company

*If I hadn't had other theatre reviews with ratings, this would have probably been a 5. However, the last two shows I reviewed with a 5 were on a level that transcended every single expectation and left me breathless in awe, so that's my standard of strength 5 theatre shows.  The problems of having a numerical rating system that you can't extend upwards!

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Theatre Review- Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare, performed by Smooth Faced Gents

Title: Titus Andronicus

Writer:  William Shakespeare

Director:  Yaz Al-Shaater

Performed by: Smooth Faced Gentlemen

Cast:  Ariane Barnes, Olivia Bromley, Anita-Joy Uwajeh, Ely Condron, Lia Burge, Ashlea Kaye, Helen Coles, Emma Nixon

Seen at:  Greenwich Theatre

Review: Following a bloody war with the Goths, Romans return home with prisoners but without an emporer. Titus Andronicus is appointed, but he refuses. Saturninus is appointed emperor, and he says he wants to marry Titus’ daughter, Lavinia. Lavinia and her lover/Saturninus’ brother object, so Saturninus takes Tamora, the queen of the defeated Goths, as his empress. Throw in her two sons, her lover, and her desire for revenge (fair enough, considering within the first five minutes of the play, her eldest son is cut up, despite her pleadings), and you have Shakespeare’s bloodiest play... here performed with an all-female cast and a lot of red paint.

I was very excited to see this. I read Titus a few years ago, and wondered how it could be done on stage what with...everything. I saw a cinema screening of the RSC production where they did it very realistically, which was pretty good. And then I saw this.

Everybody has the same costume as a base-black trouser, white shirt, and braces. Coats and props are used to differentiate major characters from eachother, but  even without these, you can tell when people are playing different characters.

 This was cast perfectly! Ariane Barnes is a strong Titus, being the right mix of funny  in some places and and emotional in others.  Anita-Joy Uwajeh plays Aaron with a distinctive style that I couldn’t pin down but which one of my friends said was mythical and magical. Elly Condron is Lavinia, who makes you form an emotional connection with her depsite her losing her tounge about a third of the way through ,and having what seems like quite a few of her lines cut. Olivia Bromley’s Tamora is coldhearted, but you can feel the power coming off her.  Everybody was very talented and embodied their character(s) wholly, changing styles as they changed character, especially considering Helen Coles and Ashlea Kaye’s characters were completely morally opposites (Chiron and Lucius for Coles and Marcus and Demetrius for Kaye). And on a less serious note, Lia Burge’s  Saturninus telling Emma Nixon’s Bassianus  “Sir, you are being very short with us!” was wonderful.

They kept the tone right. From my reading of Titus, I enjoyed the humour (and it does come thick and fast, with Shakespeare taking the sass levels high), to contrast with the horrors that the play contains. It comes through in this play, but as I said, it allows suitable tenderness in the scenes with the Titus family, completely in contrast to Aaron’s casual attitude to demanding a hand in return for the exchange for sons, the moments when Titus suggests names of Lavinia’s attackers, and the background Goths passing round Aaron’s child and their different attitudes to him while serious things happen in the front.

I am completely in love with this staging. There’s white screens, behind which the characters change (sometimes), and  paintpots at the front. The strictly held colour scheme of black, white, and red, with silver and brown accents, and the replacement of knives and swords with paintbrushes and rollers made it look a bit surreal, which allowed them to do all kinds of gory things on stage. It was a brave decision to do Lavinia’s mutilation on stage, but they made it work so horrifyingly well. Accompanying music was provided by the actors singing, and they did it very well, holding their lines while also effecting scene changes and such, although it did seem a little random, only happening at some scenes and not others. 

It’s very fast. I think they cut about an hour’s worth of lines, which is a shame, especially when Lavinia and Bassianus had brilliant lines before they lost the ability to speak, but it was still easy to follow and enjoy, and we kept some very good monologues.

There could be  political/feminist discussions over having an all-female cast, especially considering there's only three canonically female characters, and the really terrible fate of one of them. I'm not going to discuss that, because regardless of their gender, all eight actors conveyed the characters and made them real. 

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a slick, brilliantly acted performance. Can’t wait to catch the Smooth Faced Gents  (possibly again in Titus, definitely again in Othello) up in Edinburgh!

Links:  Company website | Theatre website

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Theatre Review: Spring Awakening by Sater and Sheik, performed by Renegade

You know I said at the start of the year that I wanted to do more theatre, and I’d do it with Renegade.... well, I was going to, but then I got a job (which makes my compulsive book buying financially viable!!) but then it meant I couldn’t be in this. I’m glad I got to see it though!

Title:  Spring Awakening

Writer: Stephen Sater and Duncan Sheik, based on work by Frank Wedekind

Director:  Alex Howarth

Performed by: Renegade Theatre Company

Major cast: Tom Noyes, Niven Willett, Alex Brain, Joe Oliver Eason, Mhairi Fairholm, Joe Carter, Hayley White

Seen at: Duke Street Theatre

Other info: I reviewed  Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind, the play that this musical is based on, here.

Review-contains mild spoilers for the twists Renegade put:  Late 1800s Germany.  Schoolboys and girls discover sexuality. It really does not go well. Among other things, Wedla Bergmann does not understand how babies are made, Moritz Stiefl is tormented by erotic dreams, and Melchior Gabor, having read about sex, now believes in nothing. Spring Awakening: A New Musical follows a set of turbulent coming-of-ages, with everyone’s internal monologues making up the songs.

I know Renegade from being ensemble in their last show, Lucky Stiff. As a company, they're wonderful to work with, and I know the production team has changed from Lucky, but I was hopeful that the effort and the uniqueness of  ideas and things put in for Lucky would also be seen here, a show which I already loved.

When you get there, the tone is immediately set by red lighting, the children sitting in pairs with candles in between them, the adults looking on strictly, and church music in the background. The stage is square, there's two rows of seats on each side, and two sides have further seating behind. There's staging areas behind and among the seats too, for a really intimate, immersive experience.

I think my favourite performer was Niven Willett, who poratrays.  Moritz's lost, confused character through every bit of his  body and face and movements. Then there was Alex Brain, who plays Wedla's innocence really well and has a beautiful voice. Tom Noyes plays the self-assured Melchior, well, getting most of the really high notes of Left Behind. Then  there’s the two Joes (Eason and Carter), Hanschen and Ernst. Eason's ease of beingand casualness  as Hanschen... brilliant, in both My Junk and the seduction scene (with a brilliant use of strawberries), And then Hayley White, Martha, whose crying at the funeral nearly got me goin. And then Tanita Gold, Dominique Hamilton, and Zac Abbott who doubled as all the adults, each taking on very different personas as they played different people.

To be honest, all the cast was brilliant, both as their own characters, and as an ensemble. Director Alex Howarth made really good use of  all the cast, who, if they weren't in the scene, were probably hovering on the edges, watching and reacting. The group dances were sharp and on point, and so was the singing.

The music was a bit different to the version I'm used to from the soundtrack. They use acoustic guitars instead of electrics, and the backing in places is more gentle and allows for the vocal harmonies to come out a lot more. I loved Melchior's backing in Whispering, traditionally Wedla's solo. Also, love to the actors playing guitars and accordions on stage as part of the show. The only thing I didn't like was the oddly upbeat string music in the scene change just before Wedla dies in agony. Considering most of the themes had been played pretty straight, the one subversion felt really out of place.

The setting and lighting was really good. They use not just normal stage lighting, but also candles and torches and handheld lights to draw attention to things. The permanent set was ladders at each corner of the  stage, plus the levels afforded by the seating, and chairs suspended from the ceiling.   Movable ladders and chairs were also used really well, and so was the piano, being brought in for the haystack scene. The scene changes were really quick, being fully incorporated into the action most of the time, and leaving no time for applause in between each song.

The more adult themes are handled well. The abuse and the suicide were stylised, and Wedla's death was played wonderfully. The haystack scene was surprisingly consensual. There's a lot of violence played really roughly, making the anger in those scenes seem real.

The little touches really made it. The boys in the classroom writing the Aeneid at speeds fitting for their characters. The fact that Martha, who had said she was in love with Moritz, was the one who cried most at his funeral. Moritz's scarf. The whole metaphor of ballet shoes vs. combat boots, showing Wedla as ultimately still a child when she dies. The Those You've Known scene, when it seems that Ilse died as well (and then she's playing pirates with Moritz and it's heartbreakingly beautiful).

There's many powerful moments in the show, which Renegade did wonderfully, but I really have to highlight The Dark I Know Well. It's one of my favourite songs, and I'm so happy with how it was done here. You see, the versions I've watched online have been haunting, tragic, profound. The one I saw here was fucking terrifying. The actors on all sides acting out punches and defences. The looks of menace on everyone's faces. The boys crowding in around Martha and Ilse, as they try and hold on to each other in desperation. The lighting showing Martha and Ilse’s faces, but everyone else as less actors, more shadow. Everything about that scene...I'm sorry, I could go on forever about how brilliant that was. 

Overall:  Strength 5 tea to a powerful, intense show that got the Renegade Treatment and was definitely made better for it. So much love goes to all the cast and crew.

Links: Company  

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Theatre Reviews: I Need a Doctor and Shakespeare's Avengers Assembleth

Title: I Need a Doctor: The Whosical

Director: Benjamin Occhipinti

Major cast: James Wilson-Taylor and Jessica Spray

Seen at: Pleasance, Edinburgh Fringe

Review: Jamie and Jess are two Whovians who want to perform a Doctor Who themed musical. Who have recieved a Cease and Desist notice from Stephen Moffat. Oh well-changes can be made so copyright infringement can be avoided, right? With this in mind, Jamie and Jess take on the roles of a companion, A Doctor, and multiple villians, and journey through time and space in the TARD- Phone Box. I wasn't sure if I was going to see this, but then I got told they make fun of Moffat and I was sold.

Its a very clever parody. Yes, they do  make fun of Moffat, using fairy godmother Amy Wand, who continually advises Jess to obey the Doctor and stay where she is. Like companions of a better time, Jess ignores her and goes and has adventurers.

Both performers, and the pianist, are very good at what they do. The multiroling that Jamie does is brilliant, especially when portraying A Doctor and Da Master simultaneously.

Jokes come continually, a mix of Who-related, musical related, generally awesome lines, and one thing that was set up from the start just to include

which just made the whole show better.

 [if you can't see it, that’s the BARROWMAN gif]

The original songs are catchy, and funny. I also likes how they included changed bits from other musicals like The Ballad of Sweeney Todd (the Exterminators), Confrontation (from Les Mis, A Doctor and Da Master), and Music of the Night Phantom of the Opera  [edited] (from Phantom, Da Master and Jess, leading to "sing for me, angel....bloody hell!")

Overall Strength 4 tea to a really fun show that every Whovian and every fan of musicals (that catches most of you guys, right?) must see.

Links: Company

Title: Shakespeare’s Avengers Assembleth

Performed by: Drake's Drummers Theatre Company

Seen at: Greenside Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe

Review: Queen Elizabeth is about to be crowned, making England Protestant. Knowing that The Pope will try and keep England Catholic she commissions William Shakespeare to write a play with his greatest heroes,  warning of Catholicism. The Vatican's High Inquisitor is not happy about this, and he in turn summons Shakespeare's greatest villains. This results in a cobbled together play starring Cardinal Dave, William Shakespeare, and his greatest characters (and Brutus).

I was very excited about seeing this play. I knew it wasn't going to be Marvel's characters in Shakespearean (though that would have been awesome too), and was excited to see how they'd all interact.

There were lots of running gags that always made me laugh, such as Hamlet  always talking to Banquo, Ophelia's offstage actions, Brutus being very stabby and the High Inquisitor's grasp on his religion.

Interpretation of characters was a mix of brilliant and...interesting. I loved the characterisation of Brutus, Macbeth, and Juliet.

The plot wasn't great, and the play within a play was impossible to follow. I think that might have been intentional though, judging by the jokes about it within the script. This play should be judged more on its jokes; the oneliners, physical things, and ones that take a bit more time  to set up.

The cast multiroled and played off each other really well. The lighting and stage were kept very simple, and I think as well as a riff off Shakespeare, it's also a comedy about very amateur productions and how they get produced (that is, badly organised, lots of arguements, and lots of laughs, which is highly highly accurate). 

Overall Strength  4 tea to a fun story and spin on Shakespeare's characters.

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Theatre review- Travesti

Title: Travesti

Director: Rebecca Hill

Performed by: Unbound Productions

Major cast: John Askew, Dominic Attenborough, Aled Bidder, Hugo Bolton, Stanley Elridge, James Lawrence

Seen at: Pleasance, Edinburgh Fringe

Review: Six men tell women's stories about things such as makeup, pressure, sex, and assault.

The set of six revolving mirrors is very effectively used throughout, as ironing boards, kitchens, display boards, and hanging spaces for the suits the actors wear at the start.

For a cast that all works very well together, I found it a shame that they put some actors out of action at various points in, the play, and they don't return until the end.

At times, they used songs to transition to the next topic. Props to Francesca Fenech, musical director, for putting in some really nice harmonies. Also, the actors have very good voices.

In parts, there's two or more stories being told at once. I have mixed reactions to this; it works at times when two contrasting opinions on one topic are being related, but sometimes it seems like they're talking over each other and interrupting in midsentence just for the sake of it  which made both stories disrupted and harder to follow.

They talk about a good range of topics, and it's interesting to see lots of perspectives on things.

Each individual actor is very good at using movement to emphasise the point that is being made. This is especially clear at the points when they strip, the way they do so and their expressions showing how the person being objectified at that point feels.

The concept of Travesti is a very good one, and does make you think about the differences between expectations and perceptions of genders in society; for example, people were laughing when the men were grinding and singing Do What You Want With My Body, while if it were women doing it then it wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary. It's a very good play to see starkly the way different genders are treated in society, in situations ranging in seriousness.

Overall: Strength 4 tea to a thought provoking, well performed piece that everyone should watch.

Links: Company

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Theatre Review-Lysistrata by Christopher Adams and Aristophanes

So, I went to the Edinburgh Fringe festival. It was brilliant-most shows. I’m only going to review the shows I really enjoyed though-I don’t really see much point in spending time writing a 250 word review saying “this was okish.” So over the next week, here’s my pick of shows.

Title: Lysistrata

Writer: Christopher Adams and Aristophanes

Director: Christopher Adams

Performed by: DEM Productions

Major cast: Lousia Holloway, Charlotte Mulliner, River Hawkins and Robert Willoughby

Seen at: C Nova

Review: It starts with Lysistrata's birthday party and her friends have bought her a stripper. But prices are rising, they can't pay and so he leaves. Lysistrata, angry with the austerity measures and work exploitation and the state of Greece in general, convinces her friends to withold sex  until the men of Greece sort out the situation.

I've read Lysistrata by Aristophanes and I thought this was a very clever adaptation. I love the relavence of the Greek  financial crisis and the use of social media as a rallying call to women.  The transitions between rhymed verse and normal speaking is quite jarring  and the tone set up at the beginning means the verse sounds really out of place.

It starts off a faithful modern adaptation, as much as you can do with four actors, distilling choruses down to single people and using sound effectively to create crowds. Then about the 2/3 mark I think (I’m not entirely sure) it gets very different, a lot darker, and by the end I'm thinking two things: this was meant to be a comedy and the writer seriously thinks Greece is screwed. I left thinking “woah. Not expecting that.” and I think it worked in this version [possible spoiler-highlight to see] as the war on austerity would obviously take time to fix and not be sorted by a sex strike in one night, as opposed to a war being fought by men who could easily stop. [end spoiler]

All four actors are very good. Louisa Hollway is Lysistrata throughout, doing well as a drunk angry woman who wants change, but also good at showing a more vulnerable side. The other three actors multirole, often crossdressing, creating very different characters through voices and movement.

The logistics could have been better. I sat in the centre of the third row, but a few scenes were on the ground, an unraised stage, so only the front row could really see, and the actors didn't have microphones so it was really hard to hear them when music was playing, meant to be in the background but drowning the actors out.

Overall: Strength 4 tea to a strong modernisation and adaptation.

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Theatre Review- Avenue Q

Title: Avenue Q

Writer: Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx and Jeff Whitty

Director: Cressida Carré

Performed by: Sell A Door

Major cast:  Tom Steedon, Lucie-Mae Sumner, Stephen Arden, Richard Morse,Jacqueline Tate ,  Ellena Vincent, Jessica Parker,

Seen at: Wycombe Swan

Other Info: They're still touring! Try and catch them if you can. More info here.

Review: Princeton has just completed a BA in English. He now doesn’t know what to do with his life. Moving into Avenue Q and meeting a range of colourful characters, puppets such as Kate, Rod, Nicky and Trekkie, and humans like Christmas Eve and Brian. Oh, and Gary Coleman. Avenue Q follow them all as they all wait for their dreams to come true. 

I wanted to see this because...hello, Avenue Q! It’s a brilliant coming of age show, with a few songs for which it's well known but some others that are also really good, and I was looking forwards to a night of comedy and music and adorableness.

The show started with a cute little animation to the short opening theme. The screens occasionally came on between scenes or during songs, providing extra comedy.

All the cast were really good. Lucie-Mae Sumner's Kate voice was annoying to start with, because it's quite squeaky in places, but her Lucy was really good. Tom was good as both Princeton and Rod. I would have liked to see more of Ellena Vincent/Gary. Jacqueline Tate and Richard Morse's Christmas Eve and Brian were both cute and funny and paired well together. My favourites were Stephen Arden and Jessica Parker, who are Nicky, Trekkie and the Bad Idea Bears. They worked together really well, Parker's facial expressions as... well, everyone, were really good, and I loved the range of voices that Arden did (normal for Nicky, growly for Trekkie, and quite high for the Bad Idea Bears).  All the actors put a lot of energy in, the very skilled puppeteers made the puppets come to life, and this really showed.

The music was very good. The arrangements were a little different to the one on the recording (of a different cast), which I liked, though it's a shame they only got licensed shorter versions of Schadenfreude and The Money Song. Trekkie's song was very good, with an added pause after Kate's “Normal people don't sit at home” line  which worked really well for comedy. You Can Be As Loud As The Hell You Want (When You're Making Love) was really well staged, showing off the whole cast  (and the puppets' inventive sex).  I also really liked the way they did My Girlfriend Who Lives in Canada, Fantasies Come True, Schadenfreude, and The More You Ruv Someone. 

I liked the staging, and the use of lights in windows to show where on the street each scene was taking place in.  The book is very good (someone else must have thought so too because it won an award for it). It touches on lots of themes, like acceptance,  friendship, relationships, in a way that is funny about 90% of the time, emotional the other 10%, and brilliant throughout. 

Overall: Strength 5 tea to a wonderful show with a very strong cast that made for an excellent night out.

Links: Company | Writer | Theatre

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Theatre Review- The Collected by Dominic Bray

This will be on at the Oxford Firestation on Thursday 6 March. You should totally go and see it.

Title: The Collected

Writer: Dominic Bray

Performed by: Timeless Theatre Productions
Directed by: Hannah Phillips

Major cast:Rebecca Bujeda, Alex Hudson, Declan Kitchener, David Cox

Seen at: Bucks New Uni

Warnings: abuse

Review: Lily, after growing up with an abusive father, lives with neighbours Tom and his aunt Maggie. Tom and Lily's friendship grows, as does Tom's love for Lily. But then everything goes wrong. War breaks out and young men are called to the front line. There, Tom becomes best friends with Eddie. Meanwhile, Lily leaves for London and trains as a nurse. Later, Eddie is injured and is sent back to Lily’s hospital. Love and life tangle as death watches over them all.

I went because one of my friends is a cast member (Eddie) and it was advertised as something inspired my Marcus Zusak (I loved The Book Thief with all my heart) so of course I had to go.

The first act is mostly character and relationship exposition, with comedy, and a little seriousness. It was nice to watch, and but felt a little dragged out in some places. The second act was where the major conflict happens, and this was really intriguing to watch as relationships change with simple actions.

Maggie, the nurses, and Eddie provide comedic relief in the first act, with words, actions, and, in Eddies case, getting Tommy to make out passionately with his helmet. In the second act, we see completely different sides to them, which I liked.

I really like the fact that Death is ALWAYS  on stage, in the shadows, observing, and narrating as scenes change. I also find it interesting that he always has a drink with him. He does however have a tendency to spoil things, which takes away from the emotional impact of certain things happening.

The girl who plays Lily is a really good actress-emotion pours off her, and you really feel for Lily. I also liked Tom and Eddie, and Maggie. Tom, I feel bad for in the way his character developed after the war takes its toll on him.  The ending isn’t particularly happy, and is satisfying when it does end (towards the end, there’s Death interrupting to make little speeches more and more which made me think that it was going to end when the story wasn’t done yet, but luckily that didn’t happen.

Overall: Strength 4 tea to a small production that pulls you in from the start and doesn't let you go.

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Theatre Review-Coriolanus at the Donmar Warehouse

This was going to go up later in the week, but as it's Hiddleston's birthday, I thought it appropriate to do it today!

Title: Coriolanus

Writer: William Shakespeare

Directed by: Josie Rourke

Major cast: Tom Hiddleston, Hadley Fraser,

Seen at: the cinema, NT Live screening. Performed at the Donmar Warehouse.

Warnings: graphic gore

Review:Caius Martius  has been fighting with Coriolus. Returning to Rome, he is placed in as a senator  and given the name Coriolanus. However, with his rude attitude, and the fact that he was made more for war and not politics, this doesn't go well and leads to his exil e and downfall. 

I didn't know much about the  play. I hadn't heard of it before, and I'm glad it's being done (rarely done plays being done make me happy). I went to see it because a friend of mine really likes Tom Hidldeston and we went to go with her.

We went to a livescreen version (National Theatre, I love you for doing these things) and had a short feature with the presenter woman who is always there, which was a little annoying because I think we all just wanted to see the play.   We were kind of surprised at the audience- in a giant cinema screen, there were possibly ten teenagers total?  Mostly older people.  Also one of our English teachers. 

It starts off dramatically, with a boy, Martius' son, coming along and painting a box in red paint on the stage. For most of the first act, the whole cast are on stage, either acting, or simply sitting at the back.  This did have the effect of being a little distracting- in the words of another friend, Tomato,  “I kept getting distracted by Hadley Fraser's face”.

The scene changes were amazing. They weren't much-just movements of chairs, perfectly timed and choreographs, to dramatic music, but that was enough for this very minimalistic staging  propswise. In terms of what they did to the stage-that's a bit less minimalistic.  They made paper things come out everywhere. They made a shower scene happen. For Coriolanus. For Tom Hiddleston. I'm sure most people appreciated that.

 Tom Hiddleston and Hadley Fraser both play their parts very well. Hiddlestone puts a lot into the way he carries himself in the performance, which I liked. Birgitte Hjort Sorense, who played Virgilia, Martius' wife, was quiet and I liked the way that she was all, with her facial expression and attitude, “seriously?” when Deborah Findley aka Virgilia aka his mother and Mark Gatiss aka Menenius a family friend, was all “Yeah! He's coming back with loads of wounds! He's a man now!”

For the care put into creating the giant wounds across Coriolanus' body, even they're only seen in one short scene, props to the makeup department.  And whoever had to go find/make/supply all the fake blood.

Around the middle of the play, I didn't understand Coriolanus. He goes back to Aufidus-the guy he very nearly killed and offers to let Aufidius kill him- and then he  gets welcomed like an old  friend and I don't understand why Aufidus would be “you nearly killed me a few acts ago” and lets him lead a new assault on Rome.

The ending was really unexpected, and really well carried out. This made the bows mildly amusing- small cast of 14 (I think), all looking immaculate, bar Hiddleston and Fraser, faces totally covered in blood.

Overall: Strength 4 tea to a powerful staging of a play I wish I'd known about before.

  Links: | NT Live|   Theatre

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