Monthly Round-Up: March 2012

Late again. Can only blame the fact that I've been in something of a writing frenzy (of the fictional kind) this last month and completely forgot I hadn't rounded-up March. Whups.


2 - Travelling Light - National Theatre, Lyttleton (19/21/21) *** 
3 - Midsummer Night's Dream - The Globe (20/22/22) *** 
4 - Bound - Southwark Playhouse (21/23/23) ***** 
6 - The King's Speech - Richmond Theatre (22/24/24) ** 
7 - Patience - Union Theatre (24/26/26) *** 
 9 - Floyd Collins - Southwark Playhouse (25/27/27) **** 
11 - Read Not Dead: Bonduca - The [Under]Globe (25/28/28) **** 
14 - The Awkward Squad - Arts Theatre (26/29/29) *** 
17 - Saturday Shorts - Royal Court (26/30/30) *** 
17 - Masterclass - Vaudeville Theatre (27/31/31) **** 
17 - Master and Margarita - Barbican (28/32/32) ***** 
22 - Julius Caesar - LAMDA at Wilton's Music Hall (29/33/33) *** 
24 - The Duchess of Malfi - The Old Vic (30/34/34) *** 
25 - Read Not Dead: The Spanish Tragedy - The [Under]Globe (30/35/35) *** 
26 - Shivered - Southwark Playhouse (31/36/36) **** 

Bound at the Southwark Playhouse, came highly recommended and still managed to exceed my expectations in every way. It's a stunning play, capturing both the intimate claustrophobia of a trawler ship and the deep bonds of friendship between the men - a friendship that manages to be both personal and inclusive for the audience, crammed full of laughter (as well as tears). It reminded me of Journey's End, sharing something of the same feel and, as much as I adored this small cast, like the earlier play, I could picture myself returning again and again to see different actors in the roles. Along with the strong script and wonderful cast, the play used simple energetic staging, wonderful moments of darkness and vivid light, and a beautiful selection of sea- shanties echoing through the Southwark arches to haunting effect. And though the ending may be a little predictable it is no less heartbreaking for it. In my opinion it was nigh on perfect.

My other five star show, Complicites' Master and Margarita, wasn't perfect but somehow four stars didn't seem to acknowledge the overwhelming inventiveness and breadth of its ambition. Though it was too long (particularly in the uncomfortable heat of the Barbican gallery), it was compelling from start to finish, the linked stories building powerfully and satisfyingly. And what our distance from the stage meant we missed in the vast cast's performances, was more than made up for by being able to see the careful, energetic choreography and the clever use of projections to create everything from swirling birds eye views of the city to the outlines of rooms (and in most cases probably worked better from above).

Not far behind both of these for me was Shivered at the Southwark Playhouse, a new play by Philip Ridley who has rapidly become one of my favourite playwrights. I'm already beginning to fear the time ahead when there is not a new (to me) Ridley on every month to keep me going. Shivered, so far, might be my third favourite of the three I've seen so far - but that doesn't make it any less a favourite. Perhaps more tied to reality and marginally less lyrical (if not less beautiful) than some of his other work it still clearly bears Ridley's finger prints - a deepness of emotion, the duality of humanities capacity for horror and love and a strong sense of family. And it still mostly left me feeling like my heart was bleeding, in a good way. I was also impressed by the cleverness of the interlocking stories and time shifts and thought the production handled the scope of the story masterfully. Crammed full of cleverly handled and difficult to forget scenes, though it was small moments like Joseph Drake transforming from brothers Alec to Ryan by putting on his glasses that really stayed with me. And on top of all that I got to stroke Andrew Hawley (who is indeed soft as a baby's bottom).

It was a strong month all round for the Southwark Playhouse, with Floyd Collins also impressing. A moving, intimate musical following an unusual real-life plot and filled with beautiful, charming songs. Lots of excellent performances, with Robyn North as Nellie particularly impressing, though it was Ryan Sampson as the journalist Skeets who emerged as my favourite (after his performance in The Kitchen Sink, he had a head start). They also made fantastic use of both the arches and a relatively simple stage made of girders and ladders to create a sense of the caves for the audience. Unfortunately the arches, whilst fitting the musical wonderfully visually, had less of a positive impact on the sound and the echoing, alongside the very talented but far too large band, meant that the vocals were far too often swallowed or drowned out making many of the lyrics unintelligible - at least for my far from perfect hearing.

I also caught Ryan Sampson (or more accurately stalked him) at Saturday Shorts, part of the Royal Court's Young Writers festival, where three short plays by 13-15 year olds were read by Sampson and other favourites including Imogen Doel and Hugh Skinner. I love play readings, the scrappy work-in-progress nature of them feels a bit like being let into the inner sanctum of rehearsals. These were great fun, complete with ukulele accompaniment and the scripts were all impressive, and though occasionally a little melodramatic, they were all also inventive, quirky and very funny - with 'Calling At' by Jessica Kelly proving my favourite.

I took the opportunity in March to go to my first two Read Not Dead play readings at the Globe as well. Though here the plays are not works in progress, the volunteer actors and directors who put these together in the morning before performance with whatever props they can scrounge from The Globe and whatever effects their fevered imaginations can dream up - perfectly embody what I love so much about the rough and ready style of readings. On top of which they just seem to be having tremendous fun and fantastically don't ever shake the feel of kids let loose in a dressing up box, play fighting with wooden swords. Of the two I saw, Bonduca was my favourite, I love ancient British history and found myself genuinely loving the play, it would be great to see a full production one day (and it would perfectly suit the Globe... just saying). Though whilst The Spanish Tragedy hadn't lost any of the fun and had a fantastic moment involving a balloon, I found it less compelling, though I think this may be my general issues with Jacobean revenge tragedy.

I'd certainly also had difficulties connecting with The Duchess of Malfi at the Old Vic the night before - though I'm not sure whether that was down to the play, the production or just the distance the circle is from the stage. Overall I've found it difficult to judge how I feel about this because on one side you have a truly amazing performance by Eve Best with mostly able support, a beautiful set and some interesting scenes - but on the other as soon as Best's character leaves the stage I found myself uninterested in what was happening, the focus overall seemed to meander and I found the ending frustrating with little energy, menace or real horror and characterisation jettisoned in return for melodrama.

The King's Speech was another case of strong central performances not being able to save what was a mostly dissatisfying experience. Though there was certainly a kernel of a great play within the production (and presumably the film though I haven't seen it), it was sadly beleaguered by a mass of unnecessary, somewhat tedious material. The scenes with Charles Edwards and Jonathan Hyde (both excellent) were gripping, but for much of the rest I found myself torn between boredom and annoyance. Overly simple, scene snippets designed to provide 'history' added very little whilst slowing the storytelling. Plus, to me, it felt like they were giving Churchill retroactive, mostly inaccurate, importance. Personally I would have preferred the play to embrace less the 'history' of the piece and focus more sharply upon the personal impact on the individuals involved. I also had issues with how a lot of the minor characters were portrayed with everyone from Myrtle to David/Edward VIII and the Archbishop of Canterbury (who I cannot imagine speaking to members of the royal family as rudely as portrayed here) reduced in some ways to lisping pantomime villains. They lacked complexity of emotions and motives, which robbed the play of what could have provided fascinating interpersonal conflicts and an exploration of the conflict between personal and public desires. It's a shame as the bits I did like, I liked very very much. Similarly there were moments when I thought the set was fantastic but that impact was gradually lost because of the over-use of the revolve, some frankly bizarre moments when pieces of set arrived independently of the rest for no apparent reason and scenes where it infringed on the performance - for example, the confrontation at the party between Bertie and David should have been a dramatic and emotional high point but was ruined by the impression they were chasing each other around the stage. Definitely disappointing (and apparently aggravating given how much I've just written).

Masterclass, in contrast, was a production that despite generally excellent word of mouth, I went into with low expectations and was very gratefully blown away by it. It's hard to explain the intense power and appeal of the show, or exactly what happens within it - though really it boils down to Tyne Daly - who is mesmerising as Maria Callas. Seeing her square up against her co-stars was thrilling throughout and though the character was not exactly likable for much of the play - her absolute passion for opera made the character completely entrancing.

Another play that impressed partly, though not wholly, because of initial low expectations was The Awkward Squad at the Arts Theatre. I'd be hard pressed to describe why I expected so little, though it involved a lot of eye rolling, that I'm ashamed of in general. Whatever I was expecting, at its heart the play was about family, our obligations on both a social and personal level, and the future of both socialism and feminism. Which all makes it sound very heavy and serious, whilst in fact the play had a strong comedy core - I found it interesting, warm and genuinely funny - with a fantastic cast (including my perennial favourite Lisa McGrillis). Plus as we've now all learnt, Greggs is degrading to women.

I remember enjoying the National Theatre's Travelling Light whilst I was watching it, though it seems to have seeped away somewhat since. The elements I liked - the use of the filmed segments, the seduction over intellectual curiosity, the beautiful setting - didn't quite manage to make up for what I found overall a lacklustre, overly self aware story. And though the twist in Damien Molony's performance in the second half, bringing in an element of stories within stories, provided a brief interest in how much we could believe of what we'd been told - it failed somehow to ever truly grip me.

There were also two productions this month that I greatly enjoyed, but which paled a little next to what had come before, though as friends have pointed out, coming second to perfection is not a crime, it's not even really a criticism. The first, Patience, certainly stood little chance of reaching the glories of its predecessor, Iolanthe, one of my favourites last year but still managed to be utterly charming. Exploiting the operettas ridiculousness to the hilt, it maintained the high standards of the previous Union/Regan Gilbert & Sullivan outings with excellent performances and voices all round (though Stiofan O'Doherty as Grosvenor was definitely a highlight for me) and some fantastic choreography (I specially loved a section of stylised tea drinking).

Midsummer Night's Dream at the Globe likewise faced stiff competition as the last three productions of the play I've seen (the recent Filter at the Lyric Hammersmith and the last two RSC productions) all rank amongst my favourites and though it might not have reached their dizzying heights, it was still a fab little production. I loved the skiffle sing-a-long beforehand, a fantastic ice breaker between the young crowd and the actors, in fact the cast had the school audience eating out of their hand from the very first and they were never less than engrossed. And who could blame them, with such a lively inventive production - whether it was the fairies zipping in on wires or Puck disappearing with a dive into a suitcase. In fact, I loved all the fairies, though especially Emma Pallant (Titania), Chook Sibtain (Oberon) and Fergal McElherron (Puck), who embodied a mix of anarchy, fun and glam mischief. It was also fab to have a strong Bottom in Russell Layton, without it becoming an entirely show stealing role. Plus all the lovers were excellent, with their scenes proving comic highlights (I especially loved the message that if a boy tries to force you to kiss him, kneeing him in the groin is an appropriate response). Excellent stuff and it was great to see young people getting so much out of Shakespeare.

My final show to write up was LAMDA's graduating classes' Julius Caesar at Wilton's Music Hall. I'd enjoyed their production of Arcadia last year and my unceasing love for both the play and the venue made me keen to grab an elusive ticket. The audience was unsurprisingly cliquey and I think I preferred last year’s setting at the Lyric overall. The production itself was solid if not spectacular, the set interesting but marginally shaky and the streamlined plot balancing the play slightly but lacking some of the horror and intensity a full production provides. A longer version and interval may have benefitted them, it was still enjoyable however and gave the cast plenty of opportunities to shine, which is rather the point - with Tom Hudswell providing a memorable presence as Caesar, though Adam Blampied as Casca impressed most with an interesting, nuanced performance.

And we're done, no round up this time as I've been writing this for a month and am frankly fed up of it.