‘To Breathe’ (Summerhall: 24 – 28 Nov ’15)

Posted in 3*, Dance, Rated: Nae Bad, Summerhall, Theatre by Steve Griffin

Photography: Andrew Perry. Back line, l to r: Erin Whalley, Tiffany Soirat, Anna Elisabeth Thomsen. Front line, l to r, Adela Briansó, Lewis McDonald, Maddie Flint.

“Inventive and intriguing”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars: Nae Bad

It’s not often you see student theatre groups perform original work with such a strong dance element, especially pieces on complex themes with so much thought behind them. They generally take hours upon hours to devise and rehearse, so one must give Theatre Paradok kudos for even getting to the startline of this show, and for packing Summerhall’s Demonstration Room to the rafters with an eager audience on a Thursday night.

Given the premise of To Breathe as a physical exploration of body and breath, to me it was a somewhat strange choice to develop it with a cast of performers with limited dance experience and training. The lack of finesse and technique on display in the more choreographed elements unfortunately detracted from what could have been a very powerful and moving (no pun intended) performance, and this was the lasting impression I took with me – a great concept, but perhaps slightly overreached.

As a theatrical spectacle, it was certainly very accomplished: it contained a lot of light and shade, tension and calm, with a good sense of progression and drive, and the performers’ ability to create changing moods seamlessly was very impressive. Early on the piece was very playful, and the performers raised several laughs in their innocent self-discovery, before moving onto more emotive storytelling. Rachel Stollery’s design really complemented the action, as did the subtle use of music, and with a healthy mix of ensemble and solo sections, structurally this show ticks all the boxes.

What the troupe may not have shown in dance technique or grace, they more than made up for in emotional intensity, concentration and sheer gumption. There was a great energy and spirit to the performance, with the whole company throwing themselves into it wholeheartedly. Maddie Flint in particular was utterly watchable throughout, with a very engaging and expressive face.

Lewis MacDonald and Tiffany Soirat

While choreographically it was a fairly safe piece (albeit with a few too many cliched motifs for my liking), there were moments of dramatic risk that were inventive and intriguing. In one of the duets (performed by Lewis McDonald and Tiffany Soirat) the dancers fought and tussled to cover each other in paint, in a sequence that was both passionate and very well controlled. There were some great lifts on show, and this section oozed with sexual chemistry. Later on, the dancers experimented with different movements with their hands in a pile of mud, which again showed great creativity, yet it was difficult to see the connection between this and the rest of the performance.

Overall, the heart and soul of this performance were absolutely in the right place – but I would have liked to have seen more focus on the dance elements to make it more complete.

Reviewer: Steve Griffin (Seen 26 November)

Go to Theatre Paradok

Visit the Summerhall archive.

21Nov2015

♫ Royal Scottish National Orchestra (Usher Hall: 20 Nov.’15)

Posted in 5*, Music, Rated: Nae Bad by charlesstokes

“Their playing under Jun Markl’s baton was fluent and enjoyable throughout”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars: Nae Bad

Have you ever been to a concert hall, be it Royal Albert, Royal Festival, or, in this case, Usher, stared at the organ and pipes behind the choir stalls and wondered “Ooh, I wonder what that sounds like”? Well, tonight we got the opportunity to do precisely that – twice!

The RSNO put on a night of late romantic music from both the 1850s and 1930s. Their playing under Jun Markl’s baton was fluent and enjoyable throughout, and organist Thierry Escaich showed what a very fine artist he is on an equally splendid instrument.

Our appetiser was Liszt’s Les Preludes, the third of his thirteen symphonic poems and one of the earliest of its kind. There has been the usual debate about what the work was a prelude for, including being influenced by Lamartine or his disciple Joseph Autran. Ultimately Liszt himself appears to have settled the matter in a letter to cousin Eduard Liszt, asserting that Les Préludes represents the prelude to Liszt’s own path of composition. Maybe we shouldn’t attach too much importance to names.

The work itself is for a full orchestra and so warmed us up nicely for the major works to come. Liszt and Chopin are among the world’s greatest ever pianists, and it has always intrigued me how the former is much more skilled at orchestration than the latter. This was a mature work well played that seemed to tell a story. The flutes, that I felt held back slightly a couple of weeks ago in Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy gave a beautifully clear account of themselves in the opening counter balance with the strings and then throughout. Rich, relaxing horns and warm string tones brought us to a happy conclusion.

We went forward in time some eighty years to hear Poulenc’s Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani. Commissioned by Princess Edmond de Polignac and premiered a full five years later in 1939 by no less than Maurice Durufle on organ, it is a work of contrasts, from shades of gothic horror to interludes of quiet reflection. Organ, strings and timpani interplayed seamlessly in a myriad odyssey of seven movements. A twenty minute treat, it is one of my favourite works for organ and orchestra and organist Thierry Escaich extracted every nuance from the solo part.

To conclude our evening there followed Liszt contemporary Camille Saint-Saens’s 3rd Symphony, more commonly known as the Organ Symphony, although the organ comes into its own only in the final movement. There is the danger of dismissing the remainder of the symphony as we wait for the great piped beast to come into its own, which is a pity, because the work as a whole is melodious, exciting and eminently listenable to. From the opening violins, pizzicato cello and woodwind to the resounding brass there are wonderful examples of orchestration to which the RSNO did more than justice, producing a seamless flow of glorious music that after the magnificent coda gave way to sustained applause.

Reviewer: Charles Stokes (Seen 20 November)

Go to RSNO

Visit the Usher Hall archive.

20Nov2015

The Addams Family (Pleasance: 17 – 21 Nov ’15)

Posted in 4*, Pleasance, Pleasance, Potterrow & Teviot, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by Jacob Close

Photos: Oliver Buchanan

“Funny to the point of tears…”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars Nae Bad

I hate The Addams Family theme song. It’s not that I think it’s bad, I think it’s too good. It’s every bit as iconic as it is catchy. No matter who you are or what you do, as soon as you hear that da da dadum *click click*, you’ll be reduced to a finger-snapping, grinning mess. Driving a car? Doesn’t matter. Operating heavy machinery? Tough luck nerd. You’re on a one way bus trip to Addams-town and there’s only one song playing on the radio.

And just as epochal is the tune’s creepy, kooky subject matter. The cemetery-dirt stained shoes of the Addams family are impossibly large ones to fill, and although EUSOG’s ambitious production fell an inch or two short of six feet under, it’s a performance so bouncy and entertaining that you’d hardly even notice.

It’s crisis in the Addams household: Wednesday (Ashleigh More) is growing up fast, and even worse, she’s fallen in love with a guy so normal he makes white bread look like a Harley Davidson. Now, his parents are coming to town, and the family needs to be on their best behaviour. It goes just about as well as it sounds like it might. It’s hardly a daring new direction in terms of plot cliché, but there are fine seeds growing in this well-trod ground.

From the outset, it’s very clear that this is a talented cast. Scott Meenan’s Gomez is an utter joy to watch, and an even greater one to listen to. His comic timing and twitchy crispness of movement enhanced an already impressively funny repertoire of gags. But even more impressive was his emotional range: it’s easy to tickle a funnybone, but less so to pull a heartstring.

And whilst Melani Carrie’s Morticia often lacked the steely, sultry smugness which forms the character’s backbone, it’s hard not to be blown away by her voice – not to mention her knack for latin footwork. She was very much the smoky family matriarch, but when next to Meenan, she seemed oddly muted. However, this never affected the performance to the point of becoming a significant problem, and all feelings of flatness were limited to the spoken portions of the show. When Carrie opens her mouth, it’s like being hit by a verbal sledgehammer.

Though perhaps more nuanced than the footwork was More’s Wednesday Addams. Although usually presented as a monotone proto-goth, I was pleasantly surprised by More’s characterization. She perfectly embodies the sense of being pulled in two directions, and manages to do so in such an entertaining and genuine way that it never falls into the usual trap of feeling hackneyed or trope-ish. This was an excellent performance in every sense – especially the oddly sweet chemistry between her and masochistic brother Pugsley (Holly Marsden).

Championing the side of “normalcy” is the impressive Nitai Levi; having traded his moody rocker persona a-la Rent for wonderfully dorky fianceé Lucas, he provided a great foil for More’s Wednesday, delicately dancing the line between nerdily sincere and annoying. And it seems like the talent runs in the family: Mother Alice (Esmee Cook) and Father Mal (Patrick Wilmott) inject ever more laughter into what is already a show bursting at the seams.

But if stealing a show was a jailable offence, Campbell Keith would be going away for a very long time. Acting as the show’s narrator, Keith’s Uncle Fester dominated the stage every time his weirdly pale head popped out of the wings. It’s hard to make a man who looks like Humpty Dumpty’s goth cousin charismatic, but I’ll be damned if he didn’t succeed.

But all the talent in the world, unfortunately, can’t control a tech setup. Whilst the swell of voices (especially thanks to the ghostly chorus of Ancestors) managed to rise above the band, the microphones were simply too quiet. I lost most of the lyrics in the first half, and the problem still persisted through some numbers in the second act. And the lights, whilst vibrant and interesting, sometimes felt oddly out of sync with the action on stage. In isolation, either of these issues may not matter. But eventually, grains of sand do become a heap.

And although the chorus should be applauded for their brilliance in terms of both movement and vocal work, the choreography sometimes felt cluttered. There were times I was genuinely afraid an overenthusiastic kick might KO the cellist. Having fewer objects and people on stage may have helped this production breathe easy.

However, I’m loathe to admit the above for a number of reasons. The first being that it would be a crying shame to lose any of the strong chorus, and the masterful musical section – the former never faltering even in the show’s faster and more energetic sections. And secondly, changing the stage would mean altering the breathtakingly Burton-esque set dreamed up by Lu Kocaurek. I’d feel more comfortable pushing over a henge.

Although blighted by a few blips, this was a show more than worthy of its pedigree. Funny to the point of tears and touching to very much the same end, EUSOG’s Addams Family is just as creepy and kooky as that damned theme song promises. Check this one out while you can: Kate Pasola and Rebecca Simmonds have conjured up a brilliant show indeed.

Reviewer: Jacob Close (Seen 17 November).

Go to EUSOG for The Addams Family & cast list.

Visit the Pleasance archive.

17Nov2015

King Charles III (Festival Theatre: 16 – 21 Nov ’15)

Posted in 4*, Festival Theatre, Rated: Outstanding, Theatre by Steve Griffin

Photographs from the West End Production of 'Charles III' by Johan Persson

Photographs by Johan Persson from the West End Production of ‘King Charles III’

“The best of Shakespeare, bang up to date”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars: Outstanding

Given how topical this production is, I still can’t quite get my head around why someone hasn’t thought of doing a play like this before. Yes, it’s daring and bound to spark discussion on either side of the Royalist debate, but perhaps that’s what makes it utterly ingenious.

Mike Bartlett’s script really is the star of the show – conceiving an idea both dangerous and compelling, that’s also utterly believable. That’s a mean enough feat for many a playwright, but then consider it is also written in Shakespearean style blank verse (with nods to more of his works than I could keep track of), bang up to date, witty, funny and gripping to the very last stage direction.

It’s cleverly structured to allow for scenes and opinions to unfold between all characters, and pacey enough to keep the action flowing, without ever cheating the audience of any details. I would have preferred more ensemble scenes to break up the endless soliloquies and duologues (again, very Will’), while a more contrasting sense of status between the Royals and others would have gone some way to create even more tension.

The style of the performance took some getting used to early on: interpretations of well-known people seemed over-theatricalised, while showing a distinct lack of respect to each other and occasion. This made it hard to engage with immediately, as I was expecting a subtler and more faithful approach to character. For this reason, for me it was the “made-up” characters of Mr Stevens (Giles Taylor) and Jess (Lucy Phelps) who rang most true, and achieved the optimum balance between the theatrical style of the script and connection with the audience.

In saying that, the very beauty and intelligence of this piece is the subtle level of detachment from presenting something real and expected, to an exploration of imagination and possibility. Once this performance was in full swing, and I could appreciate the characters as part of an intriguing story (as opposed to what I would expect to see in real life), I was all but blown away by its power and craft. Ben Righton’s William was bang on the money in terms of character development throughout, progressing from stable wallflower to dominant leader, while the descent of Charles (Robert Powell) into public ridicule was nothing short of masterful.

If the King could grant me one wish, it would be to fast forward 100 years, when the population know comparatively little of our current royal family, and see how well it is received then. My money would be on it being viewed in the same way we lap up the best of Shakespeare today.

Reviewer: Steve Griffin (Seen 16 November)

Go to King Charles III at the Festival Theatre

Visit the Festival Theatre archive.

13Nov2015

♫ Edinburgh Quartet (Queen’s Hall: 11 Nov. ’15)

Posted in 5*, Music, Queen's Hall, Rated: Outstanding by charlesstokes

“Precision mirrored with passion”

Embedded image permalink

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars: Outstanding

One of the many appealing aspects of our home string quartet is the creativity of their programming. Chamber Music is beautiful but a full concert can be a little samey. Not so tonight. Who else would start with the young Schubert, and then follow it immediately with Shostakovich, a leap of almost 150 years in composition, and make it work?

This was the second Edinburgh Quartet concert in their Intimate Voices series. Following its successful launch at St Andrew’s and St George’s West almost a month ago, the Intimate Voices concept highlights the extraordinary intimacy created by the intense exposure and interdependence of the string quartet genre.

The publisher who mistook Schubert’s 10th String Quartet when discovering it posthumously could be forgiven for mistaking it to be a more mature work, but we now know Schubert wrote it when he was sixteen. Properly fashioned nonetheless, the Edinburgh Quartet immediately developed its luscious, rich and warm tone that quickly drew us in. Confidently and perfectly executed, this delightful piece with its nuances of Haydn and Mozart set us up for the treats to come.

The Shostakovich String Quartet No 7 proved an exciting thirteen minute contrast. The F sharp minor key created an atmosphere of loss (Shostakovich’s first wife Nina died suddenly of undetected cancer of the colon. Their marriage had had its moments, but he was irreconcilable to the loss and the work is dedicated to her). As so often with Shostakovich, the sparse strings have all the unstated menace of a horror movie, the fearful anticipation that worse is to come. Throughout the three movements the tension gradually built into a cacophony of searing anguish only to fade away into the ether at the end. Here the Edinburgh Quartet’s playing was undoubtedly world class. Precision mirrored with passion.

After the interval we dropped back fifty years and settled down to Sibelius’ String Quartet “Voces Intimae”. Even though Sibelius himself was extremely wary of “names” for his compositions, (“You know how the wing of a butterfly crumbles at a touch? So it is with my compositions; the very mention of them is fatal”) the applied nomenclature is apt as it was self-penned. The intimate nature of the work was immediately set by the opening violin and cello passage. It is almost a feeling of reassurance that one gets from the Quartet’s complete homogeneity; they are at ease with each other and handled the frequent dynamic and tempo changes assuredly. They kept the spirit going all the way through the five movement work; their playing at times spellbinding, with aching tenderness in the Adagio di molto where Sibelius wrote the words Voces Intimae on the manuscript, and then frantic, with a wild moto perpetuo in the final Allegro, as they drove it to a breathtaking finish.

Not many promoters would put on a programme as varied as we had tonight. It gave us a rich panoply of romantic music spanning 150 years. The Quartet’s reputation continues to grow.

Reviewer: Charles Stokes (Seen 11 November)

Go to the Edinburgh Quartet.

Visit the Queen’s Hall archive.

12Nov2015

Hector (Traverse: 11 -12 Nov’15. Touring.)

Posted in 4*, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre, Traverse by Alan Brown

Images: Peter Dibdin & Paul Davies.

“Distinct, succinct, and valuable”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars: Nae Bad

Take two names of the same man, move him from Dingwall to Colombo, via Kandahar, Omdurman, and Bloemfontein, and you have an extraordinary life. It should be a history in an imperial sense – proud and impressive, monumentally worthy of respect – and in Scotland it surely is; but add sleazy allegations, the New York Herald, and a hotel bedroom in Paris and it’s all demeaned.

Born Eachann Gilleasbaig MacDhòmhnaill in Mulbuie on the Black Isle, Major General Sir Hector Archibald MacDonald shot himself in the head in the Hotel Regina on 25 March 1903. He was 50 years old. This distinct, succinct, and valuable play by David Gooderson, directed by Kate Nelson, would show how, in all likelihood, this came about.

There is a parade ground moment of wounding significance, there is a battle-field manoeuvre of astonishing derring-do, but actually it’s all set up in the mincing and treacherous line, ‘None of us would be called a fairy’, viciously twisted from ‘Three Little Maids from School Are We’. ‘Fighting Mac’, the crofter’s son from Ross-shire, had no defence against tittle-tattle and class prejudice. His face may have been on cigarette cards but the Governor’s wife cares only for (English) officers who can waltz.

Look at Hector MacDonald, courtesy of ebay, and see Steven Duffy – broad, ramrod straight, level gaze – but without sword, sash and medals. Actually, keeping uniform to plain khaki and the odd puttee is quietly effective, as is the Highland lilt to Hector’s voice. Fancy jackets, drawled vowels, a certain moneyed ease and a torpid morality are the property of the colonial administrators and the plantation owners. Valentine Hanson is especially conspicuous as the scheming Hugh Phipps and an excellent Kevin Lenon is the chaplain, possessed of a conscience certainly, but with not quite enough of it to do any good. The Governor (Stevie Hannon) and his frightful Lady (Gowan Calder) would curl their upper lips in disdain if they knew that Hector’s London home is in middle-class Dulwich. And Hector has another, much more precious secret that comes as a smart surprise early in the second half.

Ali MacLaurin’s serviceable set is out of a military transport: an unfussy assembly of crates, a desert-blown tarp across the back, boarding steps, and a larger, rectangular box that doubles as wardrobe and coffin. (Listen up for the time of Hector’s funeral. It’s both sad and scandalous.) There is a tantalising snatch of the pipes and drums, just possibly of ‘The Black Bear’, but the fuller, evocative sound is of strathspey and reel and of gaelic song, beautifully gathered at the close.

My one gripe is with Lord Roberts, supposedly Hector’s army mentor and ally. He bellows a final order that in fact does for Hector. I would have thought it would have been a kinder encounter along the lines of, “Now see here, Archie, this wretched business has to be faced down ….” However, what do I know? David Gooderson has had to work on what is known of MacDonald’s last years when it is clear that relevant letters and papers were ‘lost’ or destroyed. Fortunately, Raj Ghatak, who plays Roberts, also has the much more sympathetic part of the local bank manager, Vikram.

Poppy Day, introduced in 1919, came too late for Hector MacDonald, but for him (and for the Gordon Highlanders) here are the concluding sentences to the Government Commission’s report on his death:
‘…. We find that the late Sir Hector MacDonald has been cruelly assassinated by vile and slanderous tongues … we cannot but deplore the sad circumstances of the case that have fallen so disastrously on one whom we have found innocent of any crime attributed to him.’

Reviewer: Alan Brown (Seen 11 November)

Go to ‘Hector’ at Ed Littlewood Productions.

Visit the Traverse archive.

10Nov2015

Balladynas and Romances (Assembly Roxy: 9 -10 November ’15)

Posted in 3*, Assembly Roxy, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by Alan Brown

Aphrodite.
Photos from Teatr Pinokio, Lodz.

“The clucking immortality that is forever C-3PO.”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars Nae Bad

My namesake, Alan, has had his own school of motoring in Edinburgh since 1979. He also advertises that a Polish instructor is available, Lekcje nauki jazdy w języku polskim. That would have been handy, off-road, for Balladynny i Romanse. But then in these fluent days the President of the European Council and former Prime Minister of Poland is a Donald, so what the hell …

… which brings me to the Roxy where – appropriate for an old church – heaven and hell congregate on earth in director Konrad Dworakowski’s immersive staging of the Ignacy Karpowicz novel. It is long at 135 minutes but is disciplined and expert. Go to the excellent Polish Book Institute for a useful synopsis of the book and be drawn to Karpowicz’s other work, not least ‘Uncool’ (2006); all still waiting for publication in English.

What we get in Balladynas and Romances on stage is, however, eminently translatable as it’s a classic ‘What If …?’ What if the gods drop in while we’re about our ordinary, sometimes tacky lives, in and out of Poundland (the cute Polish equivalent is Biedronka or ‘Ladybird’ ), in and out of each other – warning: puppets perform sex acts – and what if Athena, Aphrodite, Jesus, and the rest, are a bit cheap and maybe past their sell-by date? The answers are not hard to come by, as the gods are very visible and like talking about themselves, but it is tricky to see if Olga, Janek, Artur and Kama notice that their tawdry domesticity is being messed with. ‘A remote god [may] be a redundant one’ but it has long been our Fate – aka. the Occasional Narrator – not to realize that Eros or Lucifer happens to be in the front room.

The little mortals are puppets and the gods are dressed in primary black and white, in bathrobes and shades for example. It provides for effective contrast(s), not least when Nike, god of Victory, tenderly cradles the tiny body of a bomb blast victim. Olga, Catholic, fifty something and living alone, undresses and takes a bath and her credulous faith is somehow all the more touching for being manipulated into being. It is the showy gods, though, who demand attention, dwelling as they do on their genealogy – which is a nightmare for Gender theorists – and selfish loves. Eros and Lucifer stand apart, interestingly, each musing on their lot; whilst Osiris’ slender shrouded form and huge eyes recalled the clucking immortality that is forever C-3PO.

Smart lighting and electronic music often snapped the piece back from self-indulgent space and without those puppets the drama would have died, which may well have been the point.

I missed Poland. Eros ruefully mentioned his adopted country at the end of the first half and there were, I’m sure, far more references available than I understood. I googled one Erika Steinbach when I got home and grasped why Old Nick, from Lodz, is a fan. Clearly Balladyna is important but her literary profile receded as, languorous yet scheming, she acted out her bridging role as demi-god fixer and apologist for the ills of the world. At one point, in marvellous conversation with an opinionated Chinese Fortune Cookie, she convinced me that Pinocchio Theatre really know what they are about.

Director: Konrad Dworakowski
Set designer: Marika Wojciechowska
Music: Piotr Klimek
Choreographer: Jacek Owczarek
Lighting director: Bary

Cast: Hanna Matusiak, Ewa Wróblewska, Żaneta Małkowska, Małgorzata Krawczenko, Mariusz Olbiński, Łukasz Bzura, Łukasz Batko, Natalia Wieciech, Anna Makowska.

Reviewer: Alan Brown (Seen 9 November)

Go to ‘Balladynas and Romances’ at the Polish Cultural Institute & to Pinocchio Theatre, Lodz.

Visit the Assembly Roxy archive.

8Nov2015

♫ Royal Scottish National Orchestra (Usher Hall: 6 Nov ’15)

Posted in 4*, Music, Rated: Nae Bad, Usher Hall by charlesstokes

“the playing was of the highest calibre…….”

Photo: RSNO.

4 Stars: Nae Bad

“If music be the food of love, play on…” Yes, that’s from “Twelfth Night”, for love was the leitmotif of Friday evening’s RSNO concert at the Usher Hall, but the principal vehicle was that most famous love story of all, of Juliet and her Romeo.

While many others, from Gounod to Leonard Bernstein, have told this tale in musical form, there is no doubt that within the classical arena it is Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev who hold sway and these two were the chosen representatives for this part of the evening’s programme.

The concert opened with Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy. Tchaikovsky abandoned plans for an opera, never mind a ballet, and yet this 20 minute work is like a short, single movement symphony. Not telling the story as such, it portrays its three main elements: the solemnity and compassion of the Friar, the passion of the young lovers, and the festering hostility between the Montagues and Capulets.

RSNO Music Director Peter Oundjian chose to interpret this magnificent work conservatively and thereby avoided the emotion and thrills one might expect from, say, a Russian orchestra. As a consequence one found oneself wanting more, particularly from the all important flutes. There were issues of balance among woodwind and brass, and a generally slow tempo. Perhaps, inevitably, the band was settling in.

In between the Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev came the brilliantly chosen Khachaturian Piano Concerto. The concerto, written some eighty years ago, was an ambitious attempt to blend Caucasian folk music influences within a bravura Liszt style masterwork. It arguably doesn’t quite bring it off, but is high on excitement, melody and romance, and is more akin to Prokofiev than the oft compared Tchaikovsky. A clever piece of transitional programming.

It was with a sense of joy (and a bit of relief) that here, as for the rest of the evening, the RSNO gave of their very best. The playing was taut, together, focussed. Brass and woodwind complementing each other perfectly, a warm bass clarinet providing rich undertones for the clear and bright strings.

Soloist Xiayin Wang gave an exciting, bravura and thoroughly comprehensive interpretation in her high octane premiere performance of the work. After the wake up call of the Allegro ma non troppo e maestoso we were soothed by the tender and melodic Andante con anima before the joyful resolution of the familiar third movement, appropriately designated as Allegro brilliante. Orchestral accompaniment was punctuated by two extensive solo interludes, if not quite cadenzas, which the soloist disposed of magnificently. As a result I got more from work than ever before, and now consider it as far more than just Prokofiev-lite, and had the privilege of telling the soloist so as she charmingly and modestly mingled with us in the interval, sipping from a bottle of mineral water and shimmering in her gown.

Following the interval we were treated to a suite of 20 excerpts from Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet that included some of its most romantic, accessible passages, until thirty minutes in, the bleak, searing awfulness of Tybalt’s Death hit us right between the eyes. Again, perhaps a little more restrained than a Russian orchestra might portray it, nonetheless, the RSNO’s playing was of the highest calibre: rich, flowing cadences, a silvery sheen on the strings, well balanced, richly toned woodwind and brass, and in the background the tuba and timpani sounding like a death knell.

Taken as a whole this was a cleverly programmed and highly effective concert that showed the RSNO’s playing, when into its stride, as being of the very finest. Kicking off with the Tchaikovsky demands a leap of faith and perhaps a little less caution. Nonetheless we had a glorious, generously programmed evening. There was a real lift to my walk home across the Meadows.

Reviewer: Charles Stokes (Seen 6 November)

Go to RSNO here

Visit the Usher Hall archive.

31Oct2015

Thingummy Bob (Traverse: 29 – 31 October ’15)

Posted in 4*, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre, Traverse by Alan Brown

Karen Sutherland and John Edgar.
Photo: Douglas Jones & Emma Quinn.

“Go Bob, go!”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars: Nae Bad

A Lung Ha Theatre Company production in association with Luminate, Scotland’s creative ageing festival.

Go looking for ‘Thingummy’ in a dictionary and you’ll find ‘Thing + a meaningless suffix, colloquial [since] 1751′. Well, there is nothing sketchy, meaningless or dated about this prize piece from writer Linda McLean and Lung Ha Theatre. It is plain, touching, and enjoyable; which is totally unsurprising when you learn that its title song is The Young Ones by Cliff Richard and The Shadows, 1962 (and counting). It is a bit mean of me to draw your attention to line 6, ‘For we won’t be the young ones very long’, but that’s the inescapable bit.

Bob (John Edgar) is in a wheelchair in a care home and is on a mission to rescue his LP records and what he can of his memory. He knows that he likes caramel wafers and is none too keen on pill popping. He loves his wife Audrey very much and wants to get back to their house but he cannot find his keys. He is determined, resourceful and witty and when he says “I do so mean it”, he does.

Binox (Karen Sutherland) has the job of keeping her eyes on Bob. She is the speaking voice of the care home’s security system and – binoculars trained – she would follow him wherever he goes. Charge Nurse (Kenneth Ainslie) and auxiliary Cap (Mark Howie) do their caring best and his niece Gemma (Emma McCaffrey) is always reassuring and kind but Bob can be hard to keep track of. The police get in on the act too. Bob’s other niece, Lesley (Karen Sutherland again), sends warm letters and postcards but she’s in Sydney, Aus. so really it’s down to his neighbour, Mrs Johnson (Kenneth Ainslie once more), to put the kettle on for when Bob makes it home.

It’s a fun pursuit that is made all the more engaging by the breadth and space of the set design by Karen Tennent. M C Escher squares and a revolving centre piece might suggest a board game – with rapping moves – but the projection of photographs from Bob’s family album adds a whole new dimension. Personal really. Music by Philip Pinsky provides a catchy accompaniment, complete with scratches from those treasured 33s.

At one point, when Bob is trying to reach Audrey, Gemma says ‘”This is too sad”. It is and it isn’t, which is the appeal of ‘Thingummy Bob’. McLean’s script is clever, switching from the short and conversational – especially Cap’s serial “Aye’s” – to the longer, more considered and reflective sequencing of Binox and Lesley. Certainly the issues of aging and dementia are well in place but it is Bob’s story and Edgar’s performance that hold the stage as he wheels around it.

Artistic director Maria Oller and Movement Director Janis Claxton find great, sympathetic, cheer from this closing couplet of ‘The Young Ones’, ‘And some day when the years have flown / Darling, this will teach the young ones of our own’. Go Bob, go!

Reviewer: Alan Brown (Seen 30 October)

Go to Lung Ha Theatre Company and Luminate

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21Oct2015

Hidden (The Lyceum: 20-24 October ’15)

Posted in 3*, Rated: Nae Bad, The Lyceum, Theatre by Steve Griffin

“Gives chills and thrills aplenty”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars: Nae Bad

Hidden really is a treat for anyone who’s ever wanted to explore what goes on everywhere else in a theatre that audiences don’t normally get to see. Marry that with tales from the history of the building and a Victorian horror story and you have quite an intriguing evening’s entertainment. However, while the idea and overall style and feel of the piece were terrific, there was no clear narrative or sense of progression between each section, leaving me feeling a bit cheated as to specific details and stories.

Individual sections were generally great at creating an overall mood, setting a scene (the dressing rooms in particular stood out), or presenting a static idea, and the piece was littered with numerous magical moments – terrified faces and screams, isolated “scenelets” and monologues. Yet we learned very little about who these characters were, why there were there, and how they related to anything else that was going on.

While for most of the performance, the audience is directed where to go next by theatre ushers, in one section in the scenery dock, three of the young performers (Xanthe Mitchell, Ellis Imrie and Anna Millar) more than capably moved us around to follow the action. Staying true to their characters and without speaking, they created a compelling and haunting theatrical moment, demonstrating commanding professionalism and presence beyond their years. Moving into the area beneath the stage, Gregor Weir delivered a very charismatic and spooky monologue about being trapped, making clever use of the space by hiding in between and rattling racks of stored stage lights.

Indeed this whole section (directed by Lyceum Artistic Director Mark Thompson), which allowed the audience to fill the space as they wanted and explore the action from the perspective they chose, gave the piece a very immersive and personal feel. It’s a shame that this sense of individual discovery was not carried through more parts of the performance, particularly the section on the stage, where instead we were asked to simply stand in a line to one side and observe.

In saying that, the section in the stairwell leading up to “the Gods” (very emotively delivered by Emma Simpson and Tegan Wright) was a great way to follow the action, and break-up the sense of travelling from one part to the next by making the travelling itself part of the performance. Similarly, walking behind the bar in the stalls, past three caged performers shrieking to be let out, also helped make the “journey” more interesting to experience.

While it wouldn’t have been right to have delivered this piece in tour guide style, I feel that making more effort to communicate some of the background to each section would have been really beneficial. I felt it also lacked a little bit of diversity in terms of mood – it was almost all a chilling ghost story, when some happier or funnier moments of the theatre’s history would have added another layer of depth to the performance.

Given that this performance was devised and delivered by young people, in collaboration with four different directors, one must give them due credit for their achievement – this is a very ambitious project that gives chills and thrills aplenty, and is a worthy education and exploration into just how exciting theatre can be. For me it just lacked that bit of cohesion to make it really special.

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Reviewer: Steve Griffin (Seen 20 October)

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THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

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