Tuesday 30 July 2013

Daytona - Park Theatre

A friend of mine insisted I should go to the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park <http://parktheatre.co.uk/> as she went to see something there and was very impressed by a new venue in north London.  She was right, it is a lovely space and it has only been open since May this year. 

The main auditorium - Park 200 - is an intimate space, which is perfect for Oliver Cotton's new work Daytona.  You are literally in the living room of the apartment in New York where all the action takes place.  Joe and Elli's happy little world is thrown into turmoil by the arrival of Joe's brother Billy after a 30 year absence.  What does it all mean?  What secrets will be revealed?  In all fairness I cannot say too much about what happens as it spoils the surprises and twists in the plot.

I can talk about the actors and their performances.  Harry Shearer as Joe is good but the night I was there had a few fluffed lines.  John Bowe as his brother Billy, is a volcanic presence - a bit too loud in the bits between Billy and Joe.  The strongest performance is that of Maureen Lipman.  It's a long time since I have seen her on stage and forgotten what a presence she has.  She is a fine actress with a great sense of timing.

Go!  Support this new theatre.  I will be going again!

Tuesday 9 July 2013

Gloriana - Benjamin Britten - Royal Opera House

It seemed a good idea on paper to restage Britten's Gloriana, which was written for the Coronation, in the Jubilee year.  But somewhere along the line the production sunk the opera in waves of distracting 'business' from characters not part of the action.

The opera was set as a production being done in a village hall to celebrate the Queen's Coronation,  this meant that we had lots of slow scene changes, prompters waving their hands around at the side of the stage and a reduction in the size of the stage space to allow for all of this to go on.  And it was distracting.

The opera gets bleaker as it goes on.....The scene where the Queen takes the dress and parades around in it, is cruel.  The Elizabeth and Essex scene in her bedroom is strong and dramatic - one of the the few scenes to work well as the action was focused around the two principal characters. 

Susan Bullock's Elizabeth was well sung.  Her diction did away with the need for surtitles.  Toby Spence was a dashing Essex.  He seemed to be having great fun in the dances.

I think, like a number of things I have seen this year, it was another wasted opportunity all round - but not a total disaster!

Political Mother: The Choreographer's Cut - Hofesh Shechter - Sadlers Wells

I had seen Political Mother before and I enjoyed it.  When it was brought back to Sadlers Wells <http://www.sadlerswells.com> as part of the Sadler's Sampled season it seemed a good show to take some friends along to.

By and large they loved it, particularly the music.  My favourite quite being "Nine Inch Nails isn't as loud as this!"  And the music is very exciting - strings, rock guitars, drums, drums and more drums.  They weren't so wild about the piece itself with comments ranging from - what was going on, what was it about, repetitive and a bit long.  And none of the three people I was with realised that the final section was the whole thing being rewound.

My view is still - what's with the socks, Hofesh?  I will be interested to see his new work, later in the season.