RENT (Greenside @ Nicolson Square, 7- 30 Aug : 22.00 : 2hr 30 mins)

Posted in 3*, EdFestivals 2015, Greenside, Musical Theatre, Rated: Nae Bad by Steve Griffin

“A masterclass in simplicity and stunning individual performances”

RENT is one of my absolute favourite musicals, and I was very excited to see a full length version of it at the year’s Fringe. I’ve seen it many times in many guises, and this one offered a fresh approach, performed on a thrust stage for a more immersive experience. In some ways this interpretation packed real musical theatre punch, but unfortunately it fell flat in others.

In many ways this was a production of two halves. The first half, on the whole, was somewhat mediocre, with a few missed notes, some questionable staging (particularly in the support group scenes) and some rather “wooden” performances – Today 4 U in particular seemed a bit awkward and forced. Yet something completely flipped in the second half, and apart from the death scene that really should have been cut, it was a masterclass in both simplicity and stunning individual performances.

What I felt often held the show back was a real sense of grit and connection with the material – the opening number about the horrors of being made homeless seemed to be more mildly annoying to the actors rather than traumatic; while some of the dancing seemed clumsy and could have been sacrificed in favour of a simpler, stripped back approach. Perhaps I’m being harsh, but given how spectacular the second half was in comparison to the first, it’s clear that this company does have the ability to dazzle.

I must highlight this performance’s real triumphs. La Vie Boheme/I Should Tell you was a very powerful ensemble number and arrangement, with a genuine sense of life and passion that had been missing up until that point. In the second half, the duet Take Me or Leave Me was both incredibly staged and incredibly sung with intense grit and emotion, while the funeral scene was the stand out moment of the show. Performed with heart-wrenching rawness, it is one of the best versions of this section of the show that I have ever seen.

Rob Young as Collins was stunning throughout, with a smooth and souly voice, layered with emotion and depth. Hannah Simpson as Maureen was also very impressive, with an original take on the “drama queen”, making her cheeky and very likeable, while also delivering with a stunning vocal performance. Special mention should also go to Stephanie Marie Napier as Mimi, who struggled slightly on the higher notes in Take Me Out, but delivered all of her other songs with real gusto.

Overall, this is a very commendable effort from New Horizons Theatre Company, with some very exciting stand out moments. I hope to see them back at the Fringe next year with an even more impressive production.

—

Reviewer: Steve Griffin (Seen 14 August)

THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

15Aug2015

The Art of Reduction and the Distillation of Humanity (Jenners: Aug. 19, 21 – 23, 25 – 26, 28 – 29 : 1hr 30m)

Posted in 4*, EdFestivals 2015, Events, Other, Rated: Nae Bad by Alan Brown

Picture of Delta flag & anorak. John Mark Di Ciacca.

” .. Choice flavours, like custard creams and Fisherman’s Friend, and choice knowledge ..”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars: Nae Bad

For a start that’s a crafted title. If you know your whisky making, you might think ‘Angel’s Share’, but precious little escapes the ken of the Whisky Anorak. Take naval flags, for example. If you’re out in a dinghy in the Firth, would you recognise the signal flag ‘Delta’? Me neither. Well, set a course for the old Board Room at Jenner’s and drink your fill of select knowledge, chased down by some very distinctive whiskies. You’ll leave it a happier and wiser person.

OK, it’s a fun history lesson of the 20th Century with three drams – a mellow Spoken Word event rather than ‘Theatre’, but so what? It’s clear, easy-going, and I learnt good stuff. Next time you nose a whisky, hold the glass to one nostril and then to the other one. Sensational! What’s the connection between the Monarch of the Glen – the painting of 1851 – and the 1967 album cover of the Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’? What did the ‘Right Spirit Boys’ use for a cricket bat in 1930? And, your last snifter, what was the CIA’s Project MKUltra all about?

John Mark Di Ciacca is the Whisky Anorak. He has years of experience in the drinks trade behind him and tells us all the answers over the course of ninety minutes. He talks, he uses a PowerPoint slideshow throughout, and he has significant objects: books, bottles, art works, album covers – all over the front of the oak panelled Board Room. It’s a smallish space, with room for ten to twelve, comfortably seated at two nicely dressed long tables with three spotless Glencairn glasses (with tasting caps) at each cover. A teaspoon is to hand to add water – not too much! – and you do need it with the 56.3% Dalmore …

I’m sure there is ‘structure’ to an excellent whisky. John Mark did not use the word but he does use the drink(s) to assemble his talk. Three bottles, three time periods: 1850s to the early 1900s; the 1920s – just consider the effect of Prohibition in the USA upon the whisky business – through to the 1950s; and then from the Cold War to the Internet and beyond. His theme is the liminal, tracing the development of a counter culture whose markers are just visible at the edge of school history books. To take one example: dazzle camouflage from the 1914 -18 war links to Aldous Huxley’s mescaline-induced ‘The Doors of Perception’ (1954) that in turn opens up to ‘The Doors’ (1968) on the tripping West Coast scene in a summer of love.

In-between times, and the lesson dragged just a tad during the 1960s, we enjoyed our whisky tasting and John Mark offered some choice flavours, like custard creams and Fisherman’s Friend, and choice knowledge of old bottle effect and of casks and ‘finishing’.

Where have we got to? Well, the whisky trade has boomed and bust and boomed again, from the Blend to the Single Malt to ‘maybe a product that has lost its way’ where a Dalmore 19 year old ‘Constellation’ bottle can be yours for around £11,000. And as far as the moral story of humanity is concerned, John Mark is a Trekkie, confessing that “The Federation is the way forward.”

That Delta question? Here’s the answer: ‘Keep clear of me; I am manoeuvering with difficulty.” Neat.

Reviewer: Alan Brown (Seen 13 August)

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11Aug2015

The Rape of Lucrece (Assembly Hall : 10 – 31 Aug : 16:30 : 1hr)

Posted in 4*, EdFestivals 2015, Other, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by Jacob Close

“Nothing short of breathtaking”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars Nae Bad

Watching actors tackle Shakespeare can usually be categorised into one of two columns: boring, or brilliant. The latter is much harder to find, which is why watching Gerard Logan’s performance of Shakespeare’s “The Rape of Lucrece” impressed me so thoroughly.

Throughout the narrative poem, which details one of the principal and ghastly acts which led to the founding of the Roman Republic, Logan’s time-honed professionalism shines. His dynamism is nothing short of breathtaking, filling each of the character roles in the work with almost uncanny shifts in energy; grief stricken one moment, and then furious the next without it ever feeling sporadic. This is a piece which has obviously been rehearsed and tweaked to the nth degree, and it shows.

And perhaps the most impressive facet of Logan’s performance was his verbal skill. His speed and dexterity meant that not only did Shakespeare’s Elizabethan writing lose none of it’s meaning, it lost none of it’s original intended impact. Even to someone who has never encountered Shakespeare before, this performance would be easily understandable and immensely enjoyable – at least, in a dramatic sense, given that the subject matter doesn’t easily lend itself to a happy mood.

However, Logan’s seemingly infinite stores of energy sometimes worked against him: certain flourishes in his physical performances, and the feverish speed of some movements, threatened to push select lines over the boundary from compelling to overwrought. And whilst these moments were few and far between in an otherwise well restrained performance, they were nevertheless noticeable.

But despite these small complaints, it was clear from the chatter after the show that the one-man performance was a clear hit – and I cannot say I disagree. Though it may not have made me into a lover of Shakespearean poetry yet, it’s nevertheless an artistic and directorial triumph.

—

Reviewer: Jacob Close (Seen 9 August)

Visit the Other archive.

THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

9Aug2015

Chicken (Summerhall, 8th-10th 12th – 17th 19th – 24th 26th – 30th Aug : 17:05 : 1hr)

Posted in 3*, EdFestivals 2015, Rated: Nae Bad, Summerhall, Theatre by Jacob Close

“Cerebral and exhaustingly intense”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars Nae Bad

The act of waking up dazed and confused, often by a strangely realistic half dream, comes under the medical umbrella term of “parasomnia”. I say this because upon leaving the hay-strewn, smoke wreathed tent in which I saw writer Molly Davies’ dark comedy “Chicken”, I felt a very similar sensation. I was impressed, dazed, and confused as all hell.

“Chicken” takes place in a dystopian future (though, as someone from the north can tell you, the themes are very much contemporary) in which the north and south of Britain have become so alienated from each-other that they are formally separating. In East Anglia, witchcraft and politics threaten to tear rural life apart – especially the town’s most precious export: chickens.

First thing’s first: the tech in this show was absolutely beautiful. The concerted use of blackouts, swells and musical stings to make one character seemingly materialise horror-esque on stage was the tip of what proved to be a technically marvellous iceberg. If you’re looking for inspiration for your next horror show, look no further than the chattering, eerie soundscapes and moody lights programmed by Elliot Griggs and George Dennis.

There was also some very strong acting talent on display: Benjamin Dilloway shone as gruff, masculine Harry, and Rosie Sheehy absolutely stole the show as Emily, the town’s resident Wiccan; often silent, but with a stage presence which spoke louder than an exploding tannoy speaker. There were no weak links in this cast, all of whom lent gritty humanity to an otherwise bafflingly surreal setup.

However, although this show was billed as a dark comedy, I was often confused as to whether to laugh or simply sit there in confused silence. There were moments which were genuinely humorous, but most of it was spent pondering whether the strange spectacle unfolding in front of me was meant to be ridiculous or harrowing. And whilst it could be argued that is the very point, which I would be fully apt to admit I may have missed, it sometimes lent itself to a muddled rather than complementary pairing.

And this was not helped by a script which occasionally felt clunky and forced in its weaker moments, especially when compared to the uncanny naturalism of dialogue at stronger points. Characters would mingle rural vernacular with oddly robotic cadence and non-foreshortened speech on occasion, which was jarring.

This is a show which requires time and attention to enjoy properly, and an appreciation for subtle, rather than explicit humour. Although short, it’s cerebral and exhaustingly intense ride. And while it’s shortcomings meant it could not grab me as I think it should have, I can see fans of dark comedy latching onto it with eager claws.

—

Reviewer: Jacob Close (Seen 8 August)

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THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

9Aug2015

The Turn of the Screw (Assembly Hall, Aug 6 – Aug 30 : 21:40 : 1hr)

Posted in 2*, EdFestivals 2015, Other, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by Jacob Close

“Ambitious, but unmistakeably flawed”

Editorial Rating: 2 Stars Nae Bad

The Turn of the Screw, in the words of it’s author, is a tale wherein “the strange and sinister” is embroidered on the normal for dread rather than horror – bold for the time, and even bolder as a minimalistic, two-person stage play. However, what resulted on stage was much like the mind of the story’s governess: ambitious, but unmistakeably flawed.

Rik Grayson proved a strong and surprisingly diverse actor, playing not only the male narrator but also providing powerful and eerie performances as the housekeeper Mrs Grose and Miles, one of the troubled children. His mannerisms were specific, sustained and on point – he turned what was at first a strangely humorous old woman into a figure of suspicion and palpable dread.

The same, however, cannot be said of his stage mate Suzy Whitefield. Whilst at certain points in the production she showed genuine emotional depth (a tense, genuinely unnerving darkness scene stands out), her performance felt oddly flat throughout the rest of the piece – which unfortunately, due to both the small cast size and the show’s dependence upon her character, took much of the essential fear and trepidation out of the drama. Although at times her fear was completely believable, the sense of a desperate, slowly crumbling human being behind it was not. Whitefield shows promise, but unfortunately certain aspects of her character portrayal hold her back.

This was helped, however, by simple yet brilliantly effective lighting design from the tech team, whose use of light and darkness during night and evening scenes carved the atmosphere so deep into the stage that it was nearly inescapable.

All in all, this was the very epitome of a curate’s egg: both actors had scenes which made my hair stand on end, but at the same time, parts of the show were utterly devoid of the tense, sinister fear that makes The Turn of the Screw such an enduring tale of horror. I sincerely wish I had been able to like it more. With an extra sheen of polish and a few tweaks to the pacing and delivery, this is a production which could be much more powerful.

—

Reviewer: Jacob Close (Seen 8 August)

Visit the Other archive.

THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

7Aug2015

I, Elizabeth (Assembly Roxy, Aug 7-9, 12-16, 19-23, 26-31 : 11:45 : 1hr 15mins)

Posted in 4*, Assembly Roxy, EdFestivals 2015, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by Jacob Close

“Vaughn’s command of the stage is utterly iron-fisted.”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars Nae Bad

The two hardest things as an actor, at least in my experience, are to memorise your lines and then make to them appear spontaneous and real. To do so without ever losing energy, alone and over a period of a straight hour is nothing short of astounding – and, a feat which Rebecca Vaughn pulls off as Queen Elizabeth nearly effortlessly.
I, Elizabeth is a monologue act pieced together from the Tudor Queen’s assorted letters, poems and private correspondence, and offers a glimpse into the chaotic and rich emotional life behind one of England’s most memorable rulers as presented by the Queen herself.

Vaughn’s character work is undeniably slick: she channels both regality and humility so realistically and so honestly that, even watching from the front, I often forgot I was watching an act at all. And even more impressive was her talent at making irregular, Tudor-style cadence not only make sense to a modern audience, but do it so well that it becomes compelling and, when she wants it to, genuinely funny. Unlike her character’s sometimes shaky political life, Vaughn’s command of the stage is utterly iron-fisted.

But Vaughn’s considerable talent cannot suspend reality by itself, and was aided by a very talented makeup and costume team; the result being a costume with such substance and attention to detail that it wouldn’t have looked out of place in a high-budget period drama. However, just as Vaughn portrayed a partly flawed monarch, so did her performance. Occasionally her emotional energy bordered on the melodramatic, and her tight emotional u-turns sometimes meant that gaps of monologue were lost as the volume increased. And perhaps I’m simply not smart enough to understand it, but some of the tech decisions- particularly a strange, electrical jolting sound to punctuate the monologue – seemed utterly out of place in what was otherwise a very faithful historical recreation, and sometimes completely broke the show’s atmosphere.

Despite these shortcomings, the rest of the show was nothing short of regal. Vaughn should be praised for her unmistakeable dedication to character work. Short of necromancy, it seems she is the woman to call for bringing the long dead back to complex, compelling life.

—

Reviewer: Jacob Close (Seen 7 August)

Visit the Assembly Roxy archive.

THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

21Jun2015

‘The Driver’s Seat’ (Lyceum: 13 -27 June ’15)

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

“Prime Muriel Spark”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars Nae Bad

Never mind the 4th wall, how about knocking down the back wall? Break out upstage centre from the Lyceum and you’ll be into Saltire Court on Castle Terrace. You know you’re in one of Edinburgh’s superior premises when the tenants include global accountants Deloittes and KPMG. A neat, if accidental, location then for a play whose principal character has had enough of audit, who hammers her stapler into her desk, has hysterics and takes a holiday but with absolutely no intention of coming back to the office.

Bye-bye patronizing suits, hello lemon yellow, orange, purple and blue V stripes. It’s 1970 (kind of), when you could buy novelty knives at the airside shops before boarding at Gate 14. Stressed out Lise is all decked out for the fervid south – could be Naples, might be Palermo – and with one type of man very definitely in mind.

This is prime Muriel Spark territory. She had been living in Italy since 1967 and the shocker that is The Driver’s Seat was published three years later. Here we have it adapted – call it exposed – and directed by Laurie Sansom in a one act, ninety minute, cross-over between garish psychodrama and police procedural. It is articulated, televisual theatre; think anglepoise lamp on accountant’s desk and mess with the springs.

Gabriel Quigley (on screen) and Morven Christie.
Photos: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

Centre stage is the incident ‘room’. As the investigation into ‘What-Happened-to-Lise?’ is conducted, so information, photographs, etc. go up onto a transparent wipe board. You see ‘VICTIM’ in marker pen. That’s retrospective action for you, sorted, marginally distracting, smart; very unlike the downstage action, where ‘What-Is-Happening-to-Lise’ is compulsive, jumpy, and unstable.

Lise herself (in an impressively tight performance by Morven Christie) is vulnerable because she is alone and out there, fixated, conflicted. At home in her bedsit, trying to sleep, she suffers – hands over ears – the moans of her neighbours having sex. Thirty-four years old in the book, she masquerades as the lady abroad: at one point a ‘widow and an intellectual from Iowa, New Jersey’ (sic) – supposedly fluent in four languages but plainly lost when it comes to real Italian. And it is real, via potent supporting roles from Ivan Castiglione and Andrea Vopetti.

There are no hands to the big clock in the incident room, which does point to alienation theory, but up come the sound cues and they appear, chronicling Lise’s known movements from hotel lobby to department store . There’s live mapping of her taxi on the large upstage screens while handheld TV cams relay fraught close-ups. You would think that little is hidden on such a tech-savvy set but as to why Lise acts the way she does there’s not much to go on, which is probably the existential point. Are we watching an object/abject study in self-destruction or an introverted and skittering operetta, complete with CS gas? Composer and sound designer Philip Pinsky uses mild jazz in ironic counterpoint to the spiky and alarming story. Did he, I wonder, smile at the desperate lyrics of the Sniff ‘n’ The Tears’ hit single Driver’s Seat (1979), where “She had another way of looking at life”? Accept stunned recall of Elizabeth Taylor & Ian Bannen in film-of-the-book Identikit of 1974 and you can see that Spark’s work is heading straight for Thelma and Louise some twenty years down the road, except that Lise has no buddy to go over the edge with.

Take that original, startling writing of 1970 – you’ll want to read it – and lay bare its mucky gender issues. The result, from creatives and excellent cast, is hard sprung. You won’t enjoy its forlorn subject, unrelieved by some crazy Italian driving in outsize shades, but it is acute work.

A National Theatre of Scotland production.

Reviewer: Alan Brown (Seen 18 June)

Go to The Driver’s Seat and the National Theatre of Scotland here.

Visit the The Lyceum archive.

13May2015

‘Normal / Madness’ (Assembly Roxy: 12 – 13 May ’15)

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

Photos: Kidder theatre

“A show that is performed with great sympathy that you will take heart from”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars: Nae Bad

You say ‘Normal’, slash, ‘Madness’; I say ‘Normal’, oblique, ‘Madness’. WTF; you’re right, ‘slash’ is sharper, more definite. But it cuts both ways. Yes, there’s separation but they’re related, surely?

And that’s the point. Look at the flyer for Kidder theatre’s Normal / Madness. Mother and daughter, backs to the camera, are walking down a railway track holding hands; each balances on one rail, each supports the other. They walk beneath a star filled sky – in golden light – and it’s a lovely, endearing picture; but were it for real we’d have an irresponsible, lunatic, piece of parenting.

Here’s the crass response: “Pull yourself together woman!” Oh, is that all you have to do? What if you can’t because you’re ill? What if your whole life can become precarious in an instant? That’d be mental, then.

Kirsty McKenzie, 30, tells it how it is and how it was. Her mother, Mary, has schizoaffective disorder and has had it for a long time. She suffers psychotic symptoms, similar to schizophrenia, and the mood symptoms of the manic depressive. We see Mary overwhelmed and scared. We see Kirsty caring, trying to help and to understand.

Writer/Actor Fiona Geddes is alone on stage. She’s Kirsty with a broad smile, a ready sense of humour and a wonderful positive manner. She’s also Mary, low, terribly anxious and scrabbling in the sand for the six pounds in coppers that she buried and now cannot find. The tide is coming in along the Moray Firth and the children’s treasure hunt has had it. As a metaphor for how mental illness wipes you out, time and again, that’s hard to beat.

Fiona Geddes as Kirsty

We get to learn a fair bit about schizoaffective disorder. Medical information is relayed in tones halfway patronising and/or foreign. I couldn’t help wishing for some projected slides with bullet points to do a professional job. More time with Mary, Kirsty, and bipolar boyfriend Patrick, would have been better, especially as mother and Patrick don’t get on. The familiar, homely, strains of ‘Coronation Street’ are almost therapeutic and are certainly ironic.

You’ll like Kirsty because of her honesty and because she is a loving person. Yes, the issue is her Mum’s condition but the story is Kirsty’s. Consider the choices she (& Patrick) have to make regarding children of their own. Genetic counselling gives you fair enough odds but ….

Geddes and director Jessica Beck brought Normal / Madness to the Fringe last year. Now, during Mental Health Awareness Week, it is back in Edinburgh and on tour. It’s on next at The Tron in Glasgow . The charity ‘Rethink Mental Illness’ supports this production, which – forgive me – is a no-brainer. It is a show that is performed with great sympathy that you will take heart from. ‘Help and Hope’ is the message.

Reviewer: Alan Brown (Seen 12 May)

Go to ‘Normal / Madness’ at Kidder here

Visit the Assembly Roxy archive.

24Apr2015

‘Birdsong’ (King’s: 21 – 25 April ’15)

Posted in 4*, King's Theatre, Rated: Nae Bad by Alan Brown

Edmund Wiseman as Stephen Wraysford and Emily Bowker as Isabelle Azaire.
Photos: Jack Ladenburg

“More resonant than sword waving in front of machine guns”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars Nae Bad

If you can bear a literary introduction read Sassoon’s The Redeemer and Owen’s Strange Meeting before the show. If not, just take this from Issac Rosenberg’s Returning, we hear the Larks:

‘Death could drop from the dark
As easily as song –
But song only dropped’

Which is what you do get in this moving if fitful adaptation of Sebastian Faulks’ Birdsong. There is lovely singing and there are skylarks – but there is also a rat on a bayonet, blood dripping down 60 feet, and furious bombardment.

This is poignant and dramatic storytelling by the Original Theatre Company. Yes, Faulks’ book is blasted open in Rachel Wagstaff’s new version for the stage and at times the effect is not pretty, parts do fall away and some of the shoring up looks shaky but I reckon that’s inevitable. The back set is a high rampart of shattered wood and piled debris. Two large timbers make a cross that rises above the parapet in a stark reminder that Christ had one hell of a job to do on the Western Front. Men pray in this play, which is not at all what I remember from the book, and it is horribly easy to understand why. That green hill is not so far away and might well be undermined by tons of explosive that will send you to kingdom come.

What I do recall from Faulks’ pages are sex and war story content of frightful detail and claustrophobic novelty. Well, the sex is still around but the novelty has gone because even if you do not know the book there’s the two-part tv. series with Eddie Redmayne and the Australian film Beneath Hill 60. Tunnelling onto and about the stage aint the same but the sappers do a brave job of crawling by (electric) candlelight. They ‘Play Fritz’ and imagine the lives of the enemy, who may only be a few feet away, below, above, or ahead. There’s suspense to be had before an attack tunnel breaks through or a detonation shakes the walls and then there’s rushing confusion. Nevertheless, the best action stays with the characters.

Peter Duncan as Jack Firebrace and Liam McCormick as Arthur Shaw

With a name like Jack Firebrace we’re close to plain allegory. Peter Duncan plays him admirably as sturdy, loving, dauntless . The short scenes when this former London Tube tunneller and his best mate, Arthur Shaw (Liam McCormick), share letters and thoughts of home are possibly the most affecting in the play. What is more intense but – it seems – far less mature is the love affair between Stephen Wraysford, 20, (Edmund Wiseman) and Isabelle Azaire, 27 (Emily Bowker). The individual performances are easily good enough to make this believable in the moment but it is a stretch to see it played out over eight years, from 1910 to 1918. The flashbacks flare and are gone and you can almost see the narrative being shovelled in before the light vanishes. A final, near wordless, scene when the cast of Stephen’s lacerated memories people the stage is a welcome coup d’oeil upon the whole ghastly shebang.

Arguably a resurrection is being played out: of Stephen’s passionate love and of his war – that’s understood; but it is also an appeal to stand by what is now out of living memory. Hence the really telling effect in this production of folk song, hymn and psalm, beautifully sung by James Findlay ; a cut above and much more resonant than sword waving in front of machine guns, more so even than a Tommy / Hun hug of reconciliation. For what Wagstaff has crafted from Faulk’s book and what director Alastair Whatley turns out on stage is a theatrical ‘Stand to’ – to guard against what Stephen kept close in his coded notebook and is now given voice:

James Findlay as Cartwright, Singer and Musician

‘No child or future generation will ever know what this was like. They will never understand … We will seal what we have seen in the silence of our hearts and no words will reach us’.

You might simply want to accept Stephen’s commanding officer’s invitation to join him for tea on the Royal Mile when ‘this’ is all over. Or you can talk about ‘Birdsong’, which would be better.

Reviewer: Alan Brown (Seen 22 April)

Go to the King’s and Festival theatres here.

Visit the King’s Theatre archive.

6Apr2015

‘Hatters!’ (Assembly Roxy: 31 March – 3 April’15)

Posted in 3*, Assembly Roxy, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by Steve Griffin

“Awash with lots of individually interesting ensemble moments and devices.”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars: Nae Bad

Hatters is an intriguing piece of ensemble theatre. It follows the story of Robert, a hapless member of the Bright Young Things in 1930s London, and his attempts to navigate a minefield of sinister characters and mistaken identities in order to marry his fiancé.

Loosely inspired the Evelyn Waugh novel Vile Bodies, the company devised the production around the novel’s key dramatic moments and characters. Keeping very much in theme with the “modernist” style adopted by Waugh in his book, a more experimental approach is used by the company in its presentation of society in the run up to World War 2.

It’s a very physical production, which at times hinders the narrative of the piece as the actors often parade around from scene to scene embodying furniture, cars and general London street scenes. This makes it quite difficult for the audience to know what’s going on. In fact, the show opens with all nine actors stood in a circle facing inwards, and one by one they appear to suffer some sort of epileptic fit before ending in a pile on the floor. By the end of the performance we still had no idea what relevance this had to everything else, and moments like this unfortunately detracted from what was actually a very interesting exploration of modernist theatrical storytelling.

In saying that, in many of the physical sections the action was accompanied by human soundscaping, which worked particularly well in creating atmosphere, and was executed with just the right level of depth and detail. In some cases though, a subtler approach could have been more effective and less jarring to the main action, which was on the whole, very well executed.

As a devised work, facilitated by the passionate Sibylla Archdale Kalid, Hatters is awash with lots of individually interesting ensemble moments and devices. One good example of this was the tea party scene, where actors swapped character with each other many times, but managed to maintain continuity and clarity of action and dialogue. Indeed, the cast’s overall approach to and execution of characterisation, aided by different hats to help identify them, was a real strength of the show.

However, the fragmented style and seeming need to cram in everything that had been devised for fear of wasting it did end up being a bit overkill. With so many different devices and styles used, the piece lacked some consistency. It would have been more effective to see more themes running throughout the performance, rather than something new adopted for every new scene.

The production was certainly not without its laughing moments. Comic timing was very good throughout, as was delivery of some of the witty one-liners worked into the script. My particular favourite was uttered by Robert’s fiancé, just after he’d had to sell her to pay off his debts: “These feelings don’t just go away when you’re sold!” Something about the pure innocence in the delivery had the whole audience in stitches.

Overall, this was a courageous and admirable effort, with a lot of potential to be expanded and developed over time. It’s just not quite there yet.

—

Reviewer: Steve Griffin (Seen 3 April)

Visit the Assembly Roxy Bedlam Church Hill Theatre Festival Theatre King’s Theatre Other Pleasance, Potterrow & Teviot Summerhall The Lyceum The Stand Traverse archive.

THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

Get Your Coats On

and go see this!

Category Archives: Rated: Nae Bad

RENT (Greenside @ Nicolson Square, 7- 30 Aug : 22.00 : 2hr 30 mins)

“A masterclass in simplicity and stunning individual performances”

The Art of Reduction and the Distillation of Humanity (Jenners: Aug. 19, 21 – 23, 25 – 26, 28 – 29 : 1hr 30m)

” .. Choice flavours, like custard creams and Fisherman’s Friend, and choice knowledge ..”

The Rape of Lucrece (Assembly Hall : 10 – 31 Aug : 16:30 : 1hr)

“Nothing short of breathtaking”

Chicken (Summerhall, 8th-10th 12th – 17th 19th – 24th 26th – 30th Aug : 17:05 : 1hr)

“Cerebral and exhaustingly intense”

The Turn of the Screw (Assembly Hall, Aug 6 – Aug 30 : 21:40 : 1hr)

“Ambitious, but unmistakeably flawed”

I, Elizabeth (Assembly Roxy, Aug 7-9, 12-16, 19-23, 26-31 : 11:45 : 1hr 15mins)

“Vaughn’s command of the stage is utterly iron-fisted.”

‘The Driver’s Seat’ (Lyceum: 13 -27 June ’15)

“Prime Muriel Spark”

‘Normal / Madness’ (Assembly Roxy: 12 – 13 May ’15)

“A show that is performed with great sympathy that you will take heart from”

‘Birdsong’ (King’s: 21 – 25 April ’15)

“More resonant than sword waving in front of machine guns”

‘Hatters!’ (Assembly Roxy: 31 March – 3 April’15)

“Awash with lots of individually interesting ensemble moments and devices.”