March 2010

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Review: Blaze

March 22, 2010 in dance, Review, Theatre | 8 comments

Blaze at Peacock Theatre

I feel like there should be a support group for this kind of thing. I’ll start things off…

Hi, my name’s Luke and for about 10 weeks in the year I am addicted to So You Think You Can Dance.

It is because of his addiction that I went along to Peacock Theatre this weekend past to see the new offering from Sadler’s Wells and panDaddy Productions, Blaze. It’s a ‘streetdance sensation’ very much in the same style of Bounce, that took the West End by storm in 2005, and features two dancers from said reality tv show. I will admit that this last little factum is the only reason I purchased tickets, but I’m extremely glad I did.

However, on the way back to my abode I found myself in a slight quandry. Having never seen a ‘streetdance sensation’, or for that fact any modern dance show, how was I to review? How do I review something that I really have no point of reference for? Therefore, I have decided to pretend that I am an afficianado of dance. I’ve been to the ballet… Once. I own some dance pants and an aged pair of jazz slippers. I can do this.

To be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect from Blaze. I like hip hop dance as much as the next middle class white boy, but an hour and a half of it? What resulted was an hour and a half of pure entertainment. It helps that these are 16 of the best hip hop dancers and breakers currently performing. Also, they have a team of 7 choreographers from across the globe, as well as one of the top West End directors/choreographers at the helm. Add to this some of the best lighting and projection work that I’ve seen on the London stage, and it’s hard to see where they could go wrong.

The dancers were all extremely strong. it’s interesting to see both Lizzie Gough and Tommy Franzen from sytycd in the context of a show surrounded by other professional dancers. You are led to believe that these guys are the best that the UK has to offer. What struck me is how much they blended in with the troupe. They may have been on tv for a few months, but they are definitely not the best out there. In saying that, Tommy, who came second in sytycd, at times did stand out from the rest of the dancers. Not so much due to talent, which is definitely in no short supply, but more so because he has an extremely distinctive style. So much so that it was incredibly obvious which routine he choreographed for the show. I honestly believe he has a future in choreography, with his routine being one of the most enjoyable in the show.

The three breakers (four if you count the MC) are clearly at the top of their game. The moves that these guys pulled off were only matched in precision and skill by sheer lunacy. It’s amazing to see these three dancers, nay athletes, pull off some of the most death defying moves I’ve ever seen. The little comic interludes for the three breakers were also very well done.

While all the routines were quite amazing, the highlight of the night was definitely the extremely touching couch routine. The two dancers, Rowen Hawkins and Lil’ Steph, portrayed two quarrelling lovers with a grace and poignancy usually only seen in contemporary dance routines. While it felt a little sytycd, I was sucked right in. It’s a problem I have.

The technical aspects of the show, particularly the lighting and projection work, were simply breathtaking. The way that both worked with the set design was slightly awe inspiring. Special mention of Lizzie’s 3D routine, where the dancer interacted wih the lighting and projection flawlessly. It was a fantastic display of performance and technology working in ways that theatre often refuses to. The lighting designers, Patrick Woodroffe and Adam Bassett, and video designers, Mehmet Akten, Robin McNicholas and Jane Laurie, need to win something for this show. Now.

Overall, whilst being a slight dance philistine, I enjoyed Blaze immensely. Even a dance moron like myself can see and appreciate the flawless technique and immense skill that everyone in his production posesses. I wholeheartedly suggest seeing this before it moves on in a weeks time.

Blaze is playing at the Peacock Theatre until March 28.

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Review: Waiting for Godot

March 19, 2010 in Review, Theatre | 2 comments

Waiting for Godot

I managed to secure a free ticket to Waiting for Godot, currently playing at Theatre Royal in Haymarket, thanks to a fellow Twespian. Waiting for Godot holds a special place in my heart, as it was my introduction to absurdism way back in high school. Having studied it at both high shool and university, I’ve seen countless filmed productions and quite a few staged excerpts, mostly by students. As a result, I’ve often found it a largely innaccesible play. Even the Beckett directs Beckett production felt incredibly academic in it’s approach. Even though I love the play, I had written it off as a piece of theatre reserved for actors, directors and academics; a slightly elitist play that would never be popular theatre.

This was definitely the case when Godot premiered in France in 1953. Audiences left half way through and The Irish Times famously deemed it a play where “nothing happens. Twice.” Waiting for Godot features two four and a half characters, a bare stage save a tree and a bucket load of absurd dialogue. Vladimir and Estragon are two clown like figures who are stuck in an endless loop, waiting beside a road for Godot, the heavily symbolic, never present title character. They are joined by Lucky and Pozzo half way through each act, but the why is never truly explained. It’s a play that is heavy on symbolism and dialogue. However, this production manages to defy convention and actually present this revered text in an engaging and very entertaining way, and not just for the theatre snobs.

It doesn’t hurt that everyone involved in the production are seasoned professionals. When you enter the theatre, you are struck by the art of the set design. Shying away from the bare stage that is often usedfor Godot, Stephen Brimson Lewis has instead created a decaying stage, complete with crumbling proscenium arch and balconies. A bare brick wall stands upstage and a gnarled bare tree sits on the back of a sloping stage. It’s an appropriately apocolyptic design that works brilliantly. Similarly, the way that Sean Mathias has staged this is almost apocolyptic. Vladimir and Estragon are presented as two old men, beaten by life and feeling as if the end is nigh.

Ian Mckellen is a force to be reckoned with. His portrayal of Estragon as an aging, doddery Northerner is an interesting interpretation, quite often reducing the absurdism of the dialogue to the rambling of an alzheimers sufferer, but it works a charm. The very straight and sane protrayal of Vladimir by Roger Rees, who replaced Patrick Stewart in this revival of last years production, is a perfect contrast. The stand as a dichotomy, representing both hope and despair, optimism and pessimism. These two, quite rightly, were the definite standouts in the production. both Matthew Kelly and Ronald Pickup as Pozzo and Lucky respectively were both very good. The problem is that the two characters aren’t particularly likeable, and when standing against two formidable actors playing two revered characters, they didn’t really tans a chance. In saying that, special mention has to go to Pickup for Lucky’s thinking speech, which was delivered with such madness that it left you feeling slightly exhausted.

It was a shame not to see the original pairing of McKellen and Stewart, but Rees was more than enough. The only problem I found was that with someone like McKellen on stage, he makes everyone else look nowhere near as good. The man is one of the greatest actors on the stage today.

Waiting for Godot is playing at Theatre Royal, Haymarket until 4 April

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Review: Priscilla Queen of the Desert

March 17, 2010 in Review, Theatre | 5 comments

Does a piece of theatre need to be good in order to be highly entertaining?

If we are talking about Priscilla, then the answer is most likely no.

I saw Priscilla when it first opened at he Lyric Theatre in Sydney in 2006. I also vowed never to go back and see it again. I was, suffice it to say, not impressed with the way they took a classic, nuanced Australian film and turned it into an OTT, high camp jukebox musical. Ok, so it kind of made sense due to pay homage to the subject matter, and it featured some of the best and biggest costumes you’re likely to see outside of the Moulin Rouge. But it isn’t a good musical…

I managed to get some tickets to Priscilla in London due to a Twitter competition (that still runs if you’re interested), that I entered in a ‘why not’ frame of mind. What I didn’t expect is to exit the theatre last night with a very large grin on my face having had a very good night at the theatre.

Come to think of it, I think the same happened in Sydney.

The problem is that I automatically judge this show in comparison to my favourite musicals. Usually, I tend to go for heavier, darker shows with amazing books and scores. Also, I compared Priscilla to the movie, which the show doesn’t attempt to recreate, rather seems to pay homage to.

So… The songs are a pastiche of awful drag standards, sometimes painfully arranged and often without any good reason to exist. The book is a slapped together montage of the funny lines from the movie, and definitely won’t be winning a pullitzer anytime soon. The cast were passable (with the exception of Oliver Thornton as Adam/Felicia who was FABULOUS), the accents horrible and the sets so glitzy they hurt your eyes.

It’s also possibly one of the most enjoyable shows you will ever see.

I don’t believe you can see this show without enjoying the ridiculous excess and camp chic. This mostly succeeds because the show knows how bad it is, and seems to then do it with more gusto. It also doesn’t hurt that it is done with tongue firmly planted in cheek. The performances are all completely overblown. Every character is an absurd caricature of their counterpart in the movie and it seems the direction given was somewhere along the lines of ‘if you can get a cheap laugh, go for it’. Some memorable examples include bouncy, sagging breasts on the bogan (Australian’s equivalent of Chavs), assless dresses, and a ‘why oh why did they spend so much money on a bad joke’ rendition of Macarthur Park (yes, someone left a cake out in the rain). However, these all make the show slightly more enjoyable as opposed to detracting from the overall quality. While the cast weren’t particularly good, I think this was more to do with the style of the show, as opposed to actual talent. I’ve seen a few of the performers in other things and they have been much, much better.

Gareth James said it best: “The closest match is Mamma Mia and that can’t be bad. Go for spectacle and laughs and you’ll certainly get them”

Oh, and Shane from Neighbours is in it. Win.

Priscilla is playing at the Palace Theatre, Shaftesbury Theatre in London.

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