London

You are currently browsing articles tagged London.

Review: 66a Church Rd – New Players Theatre

June 8, 2010 in Review, Theatre | 1 comment

I chanced upon Daniel Kitson about 5 years ago at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and loved his brand of self deprecating, slightly offensive humour. Since then I’ve seen his stand-up shows a number of times and he’s climbed higher and higher up my favourite comics list. So, when I heard that a few years ago he had all but stopped his stand-up, and instead had started writing and performing theatre pieces that were basically an hour and a half monologues, I was a little worried. I finally got the chance to see one of these and suffice it to say, there was nothing to worry about.

66a Church Rd is the story of Kitson’s relationship with a flat in London (Crystal Palace to be exact) over the course of about ten years. From the initial renting period, to the long, drawn out attempt to buy the place, to the sad goodbye. With this subject matter, there could be a chance that this is about as exciting as watching paint dry. However, Kitson is a master storyteller, weaving in a good amount of pathos and humour to help an already interesting story along. It’s easy for most people, and I’m guessing everyone who goes to see him live, to relate to Kitson’s stories. They are every-day stories that could happen to anyone, but his delivery and the insights he offers inside his head raises this to something that feels familiar, but completely enthralling at the same time.

The brilliance in 66a Church Rd is how the story is constructed. When Kitson is speaking, he is talking solely about his connection and his time spent in his flat, and his relationship with his landlord. That is, he reveals little about what actually happened in the flat; the relationships formed and broken, the friendships grown and cultivated, his career and life otherwise. Instead, when the lights go down between the ‘chapters’ of 66a Church Rd, we are treated to small voiceover snippets of this personal history from his time in the flat. Completely out of context, and with no point of reference, they act as a crack, which you can peer through and get a fleeting glimpse of how he actually lived in the flat.

This is also where the brilliant set comes in.

Kitson is alone on stage, surrounded by a mountain of old suitcases. This, he tells us towards the end, is a fragment of his life after 66a Church Rd. He lived out of suitcases in various countries for a year or so, but never truly left Church Rd. During the voiceovers, small rooms are lit within these suitcases, revealing achingly beautiful miniature models of various rooms and aspects of Church Rd that act as a perfect metaphor for the tiny glimpse we are getting of Kitson’s life.

My only regret was not getting enough sleep the night before seeing this. Kitson’s voice and style of storytelling lull you into a relaxed state that can easily see you nodding off after 90 minutes. This was only remedied by Kitson himself almost fainting onstage and having to be revived with emergency Jaffa Cakes from the balcony.

While you don’t get to see the razor sharp wit that won Daniel Kitson the Perrier Award in 2002, 66a Church Rd is a slightly twee but remarkably enjoyable theatrical piece of storytelling. If you get a chance, I definitely suggest catching this before he heads to Edinburgh.

66a Church Rd is playing at the New Players Theatre until the 13th ofJune.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Review: Hair

April 14, 2010 in Review, Theatre | 4 comments

It seems that recently I’ve been in quite the quandry when it comes to shows. So far it’s been that the production is top notch, but the cast struggle with a bad script, or the cast aren’t too crash hot, but the production is just so darn fun that it makes it impossible to dislike it. I’ve been waiting for a peice of theatre to come along and knock my socks off with cast, production and the actual text itself. Sadly, I’m still waiting. However, I’m not exactly sure why.

Hair first premiered Off Broadway in 1967. It was an extremely controversial show, featuring foul language, drugs, sex, nudity and *gasp* rock and African American music. It was the perfect anti-war, anti-establishment, anti-everything theatrical masterpiece that blew everyone away. Critics seemed to love it, whilst state governments did not. Regional productions were cancelled due to the nudity and use of the American flag, and a bomb was even thrown at a theatre where Hair was showing. When it first played in London in 1968 it had a similar response. Critics loved it and it had a marked effect on London theatre, ostensibly stopping stage censorship. All this said, I just don’t really get it.

Hair, to me, is a vast collection of songs tied extremely loosely to a plot surrounding a commune of hippies and the vietnam war. Firstly, there seems to be no quality control around the songs themselves. Some songs are fantastic, while others barely warrant a listen. Secondly, most of te songs have little reason to be in the story, apart from being vaguely anti. The way these songs are presented are by turning a phrase and bursting into song, much like Godspell, which doesn’t do the musical any favours. However, this is what is often lauded as the brilliance of Hair. It breaks most theatrical and musical conventions. It has provided much fodder for academics to talk about the musical influences, the significance of particular scenes (the nude scene, especially), the sloppy style and every other aspect of the show and the performing of the show. Still, I just don’t feel the same things that other people seem to feel when they see this production.

That being said, this is the strongest cast I have ever seen on stage. Every single member of the tribe was an unbelievably strong singer and actor, and the movement and staging of the entire thing was flawless. The ‘leads,’ if you can call them that, were each perfectly suited to the role. Will Swenson as Berger was a force to be reckoned with. He dominates the stage as a kind of leader to the Tribe. He has an intensity and something bordering on rage bubbling beneath the surface that makes him absolutely electric to watch on stage. Gavin Creel as Claude and Caissie Levy as Sheila had two of the most impressive voices I’ve ever seen on stage. I have never seen anyone match the purity of both of these singers. Sasha Allen as Dionne was everything Dionne should be: a black powerhouse who could belt the roof off the theatre. Andrew Kober took the cake with a comic tour de force as both Dad and Margaret Mead. His comic acting was amazing and it was quite impressive how well he could seamlessly slip back in with the Tribe, having to constantly go between Tribe and ‘straight’ characters. All in all, the cast were amazing and instead of gushing over the entire cast, I shall leave it at that. I think it’s fairly clear why they chose to tour this cast with the production, as I don’t think I could have seen a better cast made of west-end performers.

Also, I think Hair is a show that performers can really appreciate. While I didn’t particularly like the show, I was wishing that I was onstage with the cast. It is a show where the cast are so united as a group and so immersed into their performances that it makes other performers jealous. RENT is another show where this seems to happen. Another incredibly flawed show that looks like an absolute joy to be in (which I got to experience first hand in Sydney). Another show that critics seemed to go mental for that I didn’t particularly get.

I did enjoy Hair. I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I feel I should have.

I guess some shows just aren’t for me.

Hair is playing at the Gielgud Theatre from 14 April. Check out their facebook page for cheap tickets!

Tags: , , , , ,

Review: Meow Meow in Beyond Glamour: The Absinthe Tour

April 6, 2010 in Cabaret, Review | 1 comment

Meow Meow has changed my life.

This didn’t happen last Thursday at the Soho Theatre, but about three years ago in Sydney when I last saw Beyond Glamour at the Sydney Opera House.

Meow Meow is the cabaret alter ego of Melissa Madden Gray, an Australian actress who occasionally pops up in Shakespeare and opera in Melbourne and around Australia. However, you would never know this, considering neither the actress nor the persona will talk of each other. Instead, Meow Meow tours the globe performing in some of the world’s most prestigious and well known cabaret venues, regularly appearing in La Clique and being courted by people like David Bowie and John Cameron Mitchell. She is a force to be reckoned with and I’ve been lucky enough to see her grace the Sydney Opera House stage no less than five times. She is not just a singer, or a performer, but an artist who can take songs and breathe new life and meaning into them, bending them to her will.

When I first saw Meow Meow in Beyond Glamour, she inspired me to perform. After seeing her show I was driven to find my own niche within the cabaret scene and perform the hell out of it. What eventually became of it was a 6 month weekly stint performing and producing cabaret in one of my favourite cabaret venues in Sydney. Such is the power of Meow Meow.

Beyond Glamour is a show that Meow Meow has been performing around the world for nigh on five years. However, upon witnessing it again in London, I wouldn’t have guessed it. Her chaotic style and pace keeps the material original, as she throws herself through a set list comprised of originals and classics in around half a dozen languages. Her manic delivery and banter makes the audience genuinely believe that everything is going wrong as she manages to use audience members in a way I have never seen a performer pull off. Constantly climbing through the crowd, abusing and controlling people and pulling off one of the finest crowd surfing moments in a sit-down theatre I think I will ever see, Meow Meow is possibly the most chaotic cabaret show you will see.

Musically, backed by the Emmy award winning composer/producer/pianist Lance Horne, Meow Meow’s velvetty vocals have never sounded better. As a chanteuse, she echoes the greats of a genre dominated by singers who are long dead, such as Marlene Deitrich, Lotte Lenye and Edith Piaf. Her rendition of songs such as Surabaya Johnny echo the greats, and yet are infused with so much character that she makes you believe they were written just for her. To boot, her songwriting abilities are quite impressive too. Although she only performs one or two in this show, her songs sound like cabaret standards that have stood the test of time. She slots so easily into the genre, and then dominates it with a personality that is bigger than any other performer out there.

I hope she brings her other shows, such as Vamp and Meow to the World: Crisis is Born, to the London stage soon. Whilst Beyond Glamour still holds a place in my heart, affectionately dubbed by a colleague in Sydney as ‘the show where she can’t finish one fucking song,’ when Meow Meow gets into full swing she can produce shows that can no longer be seen as cabaret, but full blown classic theatre. With Beyond Glamour, Meow Meow is merely establishing herself as the best cabaret artist the world has to offer. Not bad for something that isn’t even her best work.

In fact, she’s made me start planning my cabaret again…

Beyond Glamour: The Absinthe Tour is playing at Soho Theatre until April 10.

Tags: , , , ,

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.

Tags: , , ,

Not tweatre… Twespians

February 12, 2010 in Social Media, Theatre | No comments

I’ve been attending tweetups for about two years now. The idea behind them is that they strengthen connections that you’ve made with the people you talk to on Twitter, as well as introducing you to more like minded people. Most of the tweetups I’ve been to have been based around social media and marketing. That is, quite often they are tweetups about Twitter and how to use it.

One thing I lamented about in Sydney was the fact that there weren’t many people on Twitter from the theatre. Theatre is about community. Twitter is about community. It makes sense, doesn’t it? However, the theatre people I talked to couldn’t really see the value in it and so they stayed away. However, when I got to London it was a different story. I suppose it comes down to the fact that while there are a decent number of theatre loving folks in Sydney, there are a whole lot more in London.

Finally my dreams of having a tweetup solely for theatre people might actually become a reality.

Twespians, the tweetup for theatre types, held it’s first event on the 2nd of February at Theodore Bullfrog in London as part of the global Social Media Week. I was never sure of how successful it would be. I was half expecting that of the 50-60 people who registered, I may only get 10 or 20 people actually turn up. In the end, we managed to get about 40, which was an amazing number.

However, the numbers meant nothing.

Who was there was *far* more important.

The thing that really struck me was the diversity of the people who attended. We had the usual tweetup fodder of journalists, bloggers and marketing/PR types, as well as a mix of actors, directors, musical directors, choreographers, producers, festival organisers, social media artists, theatre administrators and students. Also, the type of theatre was mixed as well. We had musical theatre, straight theatre, physical theatre, dance and spoken word.

To tell you the truth, I was a little surprised.

For some reason, I was expecting majority of musical theatre fans, with a few ‘proper’ theatre people thrown in for good measure (kind of like a cat/pigeons scenario). I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t, and the evening was all the better for it.

Was there value in it, though?

I see Twitter as being used in one of two ways. You have a ‘leader/follower’ arrangement, where somebody has a whole bunch of followers, but doesn’t follow back and only engages when directly engaged with. Then you have the ‘community’ or ‘network’ arrangement. Say you had a diagram of all the people you follow. Draw a line from you to them, then draw lines from them to the people they follow. What you would end up with is very distinct communities, or networks, based around similar interests. For example, mine would have a very distinct social media/marketing/PR circle, as well as a theatre circle. In addition, there’d be smaller circles about fairly specific interests, which are more niche communities.

This second way of using Twitter is where tweetups come in to the equation. What you are effectively doing is strengthen a connection that you’ve already made online, which is made easier by having a common passion. The other thing it does, is break down the barriers that would normally exist in traditional networking situations. Twitter is a level playing field. Tweetups like this don’t only bring people from different areas of the industry, but also different levels. For example, students are networking with newspaper editors and West End musicians. It’s great, and the possibilities that come out of these events are endless. Not only is it great on a personal level, as networking is a key part of succeeding in such a fickle industry, but also it builds a sense of community amongst people who have a passion for theatre.

We’re currently in the process of organising the next Twespians event in London. Follow the twitter account to be kept up to date with what’s happening.  If you have any thoughts, comments or suggestions then leave a comment.

Tags: , , , ,

Review: Nation.

January 28, 2010 in Review, Theatre | 2 comments

On a whim I went and saw Nation at the National Theatre last night. Nation is a play with music based on the Terry Pratchett novel of the same name. It’s been adapted for the stage by Mark Ravenhill, which was an odd thing considering I was only familiar with his earlier work like Shopping and Fucking. Nation seemed to me a slight departure for a playwright who’s works have mostly been in the ‘in-yer-face’ style. What was a playwright who had previously written a great scene where a character gets raped with a knife doing writing what is ostensibly a Young Adult’s fantasy book. However, what I didn’t know is that Ravenhill seems to have tamed a bit in recent years, even writing a pantomime.

Yes, a pantomime.

To tell you the truth, I probably wouldn’t have bothered if I hadn’t picked up a £5 ticket offer for some insanely good seats. I’m not a big Pratchett fan. This could probably get my nerd status revoked, and I have honestly tried, but Pratchett just hasn’t captured me in the same way as other fantasy authors. In fact, the thing that stands out for me from Pratchett’s novels is a single quote.

62 books. 1 quote. Not bad.

I’m being unnecessarily harsh about Mr Pratchett. I also enjoyed the Hogfather when it was on TV. I also had a read of Guards! Guards! the play, and thought it was quite funny, if not a little too nerdish. Anyway, back to Nation.

Nation is the first non-Discworld novel that Pratchett has put out since 1996. It’s an alternate history of our world set in the 1870s. It tells the story of Mau, a native of ‘The Nation’ who finds himself alone after a giant wave washes away everyone he knows and loves, until he finds the ghost (read: white) girl. Daphne, who thinks that she’s the sole survivor of the wreck of the Sweet Judy is stranded on the island with Mau. They fall in love, things happen and they ostensibly save the world (paraphrasing here).

Nation is flawed. I felt that I couldn’t really get attached to the story. There were some interesting and funny characters within the story, and there were some great moments, but the story as a whole left me feeling a little empty. It was nice enough but I had a sense that I’d seen it a million times before. It seemed a typical Pocahontos/Avatar style white person meets and falls in love with a native style story.

In saying that, Nation by National Theatre was an absolutely revelation. In fact, the play itself is about the only thing I can fault in the production. The cast were great, and did the most with what they had to work with. The staging was brilliant, the lighting, set and sound design were truly impressive and the puppets and puppetry were fantastic. It’s an extremely strange and disconcerting feeling for me to say how much I enjoyed the production, considering I really didn’t like the script all too much. The production values were so high that they overshadowed the piece itself, which in this case is a good thing.

I’ll start with the cast. The two leads, Gary Carr and Emily Taaffe were very strong. They both had great comic timing and made the most of what was often trite dialogue. Carr, who plays Mau, is an exceptionally talented man. It’s always pleasing to see a production where the lead character actually stands out above the rest. He played Mau with such conviction and seemed to own the stage with his every movement. Taaffe, as Daphne, was spot on. She managed to be likeable and irritating at the same time, which was absolutely perfect for the character. What I was most impressed with was that she never turned the character into a caricature, which would have been so easy. The other standout, by far, was Jason Thorpe as Milton the Parrot. His movement and delivery of lines were perfect. According to the woman behind me, the parrot was a Shakespearean device. I just thought it was a nice piece of comic relief in an otherwise boring story. Each to their own. The rest of the ensemble were extremely good, but hard to pick out individually.

Secondly, the direction. Melly Still did an exceptional job with Nation. It’s often hard to see the direction behind a show. However, the staging of Nation was hard to ignore. The way that the actors interacted with the set, lighting and soung, along with the interaction between the actors themselves was awe inspiring. There were moments where my jaw simply hit the floor, especially towards the end. This is an incredibly well staged, tight production. In addition, the use of puppets for the slightly surreal animals of the island was inspired, providing menace and comedy in equal measures.

Finally, the design. I would recommend seeing Nation for, if nothing else, the set, lighting, sound and projection design. The way all elements interacted was a thing of beauty. The I have never seen such an effective use of sound and projection within the theatre before. I sound like I’m gushing, but in all honesty, it absolutely floored me. One scene in particular, where Mau is shown paradise and then taken back to the stark reality of the world was beautiful. The juxtaposition of the stage filled with tiny, pretty lights, to the barren world that was created with one lighting change was inspired.

That happened to be a long winded, rather conflicting review. All in all, I would recommend seeing Nation. It runs until the end of March at the National Theatre. What it lacks in story, it makes up for as an experience.

£5 tickets aren’t bad, either.

Tags: , , , ,