May 2010

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Review: Tick, Tick… Boom! – the Union Theatre

May 21, 2010 in Review, Theatre | No comments

I am vexed by my problems as a theatre blogger (first world problems, anyone?). I keep seeing shows that I have a previous attachment to and judging them, sometimes unfairly, as a result. Once again, it has happened. I wish I could unsee the production of Tick, Tick… Boom! at the Zenith Theatre in Sydney that I saw a few years ago. I also wish I could unlisten to the brilliant Raul Esparza singing the role of Jon on the cd. If both of these things happened, I’m certain I could’ve enjoyed this production a whole lot more.

Tick, Tick… Boom! Is Jonathan Larson’s other work. While RENT at least made it to workshop stages before his untimely death, Tick Tick was pieced together after the fact from a wholly unfinished work. It is an autobiography of sorts and tells the story of Jon, a struggling composer who is trying to write the next great American musical. Surprisingly, it came out being, in my opinion, the far superior creation. Sure, there are a few naff songs, but for the most part the music is great, the dialogue snappy and the lyrics touching, funny and poignant.

The cast in this production are all incredibly talented performers. Ashley Campbell has had fantastic reviews in his other roles in Little Fish and Rat Pack. Leanne Jones has won an Olivier for her portrayal of Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray. The problem is, I feel they are a little misplaced. In fact, the only one who seems to sit in his role comfortably is Adam Rhys-Davies, the relative unknown, as Michael. Jon is a character that requires subtlety, or at least that is something that has been drummed into me by previous productions I’ve experienced. Unfortunately, Campbell didn’t quite capture this subtlety, and managed to over-perform the role just a tad. He put so much emotion into songs like ‘Why’, that we ended up losing a lot of the meaning behind the song. I can’t deny that he is an extremely strong actor, but he just didn’t seem right for Jon.

Leanne Jones does an admirable job of Susan, as well as the slew of bit characters that both her and Rhys-Davies are required to play. Her voice is very impressive and she sings the balls off all of her numbers. However, she seemed a little out of sorts with the character of Susan. Her performance felt slightly hesitant, which detracted slightly. However, this could’ve easily been due to it being early in the run, and the Union is a very different theatre to somewhere like the Shaftesbury (Instead of at least 10 metres between you and the audience, there is at best maybe 3, at worst about 10 centimetres). I think she’ll settle into the role a lot more during the run. Adam Rhys-Davies did a great job as Michael, especially considering it’s the least fleshed out character. Even if the character didn’t have as much stage time as he perhaps should have, Rhys-Davies made an impression on me every single time he was on stage.

Damien Sandys did a great job with staging this production, keeping up a good pace and hitting some really nice moments with some of the songs, notably during ‘Sunday’ and ‘Therapy’. It’s not an easy show to move along, as it’s fairly heavy on dialogue and relies on the actor’s carrying it without glitz or pretension. The stripping down of the music to just a piano worked well, although I did miss the drums and guitar of the original recording, especially in songs like ‘Therapy’ and ’30/90′.

Overall, It’s a reasonably enjoyable production of a musical that isn’t performed all that often (even if it was done in London last year). I would recommend anyone go and see it, but only if you’re a little more open than me with interpretation. The actors are all fantastic performers. However, I just didn’t feel that they were all the right performers…

Tick, tick… boom! is playing at the Union Theatre until the 5th of June

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Review: Peter Pan – National Theatre of Scotland

May 21, 2010 in Review, Theatre | 1 comment

Peter Pan was always one of my favourite stories as a child. Who am I kidding, It’s still one of my favourite stories. The pirates, the sword fights, the mermaids, the fairies… It’s a camp straight man’s dream. The wish to never grow up is something that I still cling on to now. I’m in my mid twenties and I still occasionally rock out with a Bob the Builder wrist watch. Why would anyone want to grow up? According to Peter Pan, a world in which you never grow up is a world where magic exists, where fights never result in injury or death (unless you’re a bad guy) and where you can fly. Between Peter Pan, Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland, I’m sitting somewhere in my ideal world.

I don’t want to live in David Greig’s Neverland.

This production, adapted from the original by David Greig for National Theatre of Scotland, has been reimagined slightly. First off, the obvious points. No longer are we in London. Instead, we have been transported to Victorian Edinburgh and the building of the Forth Bridge. However, it’s not just the location and the accents that have changed. With the move to Scotland, comes a much darker play than the original. This isn’t for kiddies any more. First off, Pan isn’t the cheerful, naive character from the Disney film. Instead we have a clear reference to Pan, the Greek god of mischief, with his animal-skin shorts and his horned hairdo. Similarly, Captain Hook is no longer a stereotypical ostentatious pirate. Instead, we have a more local idea of a pirate, a ruthless, menacing, skinheaded, heavily tattooed ruffian. This is the kind of man you would not want to meet in a dark alley. In fact, the only characters that have transferred relatively intact are Michael, John and Wendy, with the rest shedding their caricatured state and adopting more realistic, human and ultimately flawed characters. The closest comparison you could draw in style is probably Lord of the Flies.

Overall, this production of Peter Pan is quite dark, visually and thematically. The lighting very rarely fills the stage, and is quite often made to make it seem like Scotland very rarely sees the sun (No sun in the UK? Really?), something that West End Whingers seem to dislike slightly. I, on the other hand, loved the effect this had. The colour palette and the dank mood lighting set the tone perfectly. It made it very apparent that this time we weren’t watching Disney. Thematically, it starts off on a similar path to the original. These boys are lost and therefore won’t grow up. Tinkerbell is jealous of Wendy. Hook wants Pan dead. I’m comfortable with this, I know this. Sure, there are a few nods to adult(ish) humour, my personal favourite being Peter’s rather male-bravado infused ‘They’re my gang‘ to impress Wendy, but for the most part this is still Peter Pan. After the first act, however, things change a little. People die (rather gruesomly), there’s a bit of blood and Peter borders on the psychotic. In short, it starts out with dark edges in the first act, then throws a tin of black paint on the rest in the second.

The set design was lovely. What starts off as the beginnings of the Forth Bridge swings around to become trees/caves/pirate ships and are abstract enough to actually pull it off with a few extra props hung off them. The music was pretty, comprising mostly of sea shanties and homages to traditional Gaelic songs, and managed to firmly plant the piece in one particular place (Scotland) and one particular time (some time before today). Annie Grace and Alasdair Macrae, when not in Mrs Darling/Smee modes, complemented the scenes and set changes perfectly with an array of instruments and gorgeous lilting/grating and suitably piratey melodies.

The standouts within the cast was very clearly Kevin Guthrie as Pan. He seemed to constantly switch between naive boy and absolute psychopath who refuses to be touched or grow up. His absolutely dominated the stage every time he walked on it and managed to enthral me with every word. His boyish charms and good looks didn’t hurt either. However, when he turned dark, he really turned dark. The final scene in particular left chills down my neck which was not only carried by the inspired writing, but also by the stellar performance. Cal MacAninch did a rather beige job of Mr Darling. However, his turn at Hook was extremely menacing and worked perfectly. The menace in all his actions, particularly in the second half, were spot on and made him a character you hated, yet also made him intriguing and a little bit attractive. Another standout was Tinkerbell. The inspired use of flame was fantastic and was one true piece of magic onstage, considering the ‘flying’ was intentionally not masked at all.

All in all it was a very enjoyable night at the theatre, and I didn’t manage to nod off once. I found it a brilliant experience to revisit a beloved text of mine in a different light, and for the most part I enjoyed the darker side of the story.

Even if I don’t particularly remember Peter sticking knives through teddy bears in the original.

Peter Pan is playing at the Barbican until 29 May, and then heads north. Check it out if you get the chance.