I have started to rework Hamlet in my head as a possible production for the 2010 season. I stopped on the 2008 possibility because I didn't want to do a large scale with excellent principals but shakier acting lower down in the production. My thoughts are working on the idea of what is the smallest cast one can do Hamlet with. One obviously needs a Hamlet but it seems to me that every other part can be doubled or tripled up so that is what I am investigating. I am also working out whether the two actresses playing Ophelia and Gertrude could play male parts elsewhere - in which case couldn't more of the parts be played by women. Alternatively though why not have an all male cast as per Shakespeare's day?
I have also been thinking about "Coriolanus" because one of my favourite actors said he was interested in playing the lead. I remember seeing Ian Richardson play the part in a RSC production at Stratford or the Aldwych many moons ago in tanned body make up and a blonde wig. I think he was killed by a shield press of body length shields and being totally surrounded. Is it "Coriolanus" where Olivier was killed atop an arch several feet above the stage? He allowed himself to fall forward off the arch and two actors had to catch his ankles so he swung upside down in the archway. I think this is a story told by the young Edward Petherbridge who said it was a heavy responsibility to catch the greatest English stage actor of his and probably all time. Olivier refused a safety harness.
Saturday, 27 December 2008
Three quarter profile
I tried to explain to the beautiful Julie one night backstage on "The Wind in the Willows" about three quarter profile. Trying to do it in the semi darkness of the studio was a mistake as conversing in whispers is difficult enough but Julie didn't have the slightest idea what I was on about. The strange thing was that at the next performance she shifted her position onstage in relation to me and achieved the effect I was after. I put it down to the fact that she may have not understood the theatrical jargon I was using but applied her dancer's mind to what I had identified as a problem and arrived at the solution.
Acting in a small stage makes inexperienced actors play too much to the other actors rather than to the audience. In film or television the camera would be situated so that the audience can see the actor's face. However in the theatre the audience is static in their seats and it is the actor who has to be careful to include them.
In the scene referred to in the first paragraph I was downstage of the slim svelte Julie. It was lovely getting the full effect of her performance and a more selfish actor would have settled for Julie pushing herself up against him and looking directly into his eyes. However this saintly older actor wanted the audience to see her as well. The advice goes: "If you can't see the audience, they can't see you". Some actors are timid and will actually avoid the audience at all costs and sometimes achieve this effect by turning their back on the audience or hiding upstage of larger bulkier actors like yours truly. The trick is to cheat the body position so it feels like you are standing toe to toe but to cheat the downstage foot down and out, thereby opening up the body. This is called three quarter profile and means the majority of the audience can see more of your face than just a sharp profile. Julie obviously worked out the solution because she is a dancer and opening out the body is a phrase that dancers must have in their vocabulary. Anyway the scene as the car salesman confronted Badger worked successfully every time and got big laughs because Julie's physical reaction of dejection was so comical. However I think my suggestion also made it clearer viewing for more of the audience.
Acting in a small stage makes inexperienced actors play too much to the other actors rather than to the audience. In film or television the camera would be situated so that the audience can see the actor's face. However in the theatre the audience is static in their seats and it is the actor who has to be careful to include them.
In the scene referred to in the first paragraph I was downstage of the slim svelte Julie. It was lovely getting the full effect of her performance and a more selfish actor would have settled for Julie pushing herself up against him and looking directly into his eyes. However this saintly older actor wanted the audience to see her as well. The advice goes: "If you can't see the audience, they can't see you". Some actors are timid and will actually avoid the audience at all costs and sometimes achieve this effect by turning their back on the audience or hiding upstage of larger bulkier actors like yours truly. The trick is to cheat the body position so it feels like you are standing toe to toe but to cheat the downstage foot down and out, thereby opening up the body. This is called three quarter profile and means the majority of the audience can see more of your face than just a sharp profile. Julie obviously worked out the solution because she is a dancer and opening out the body is a phrase that dancers must have in their vocabulary. Anyway the scene as the car salesman confronted Badger worked successfully every time and got big laughs because Julie's physical reaction of dejection was so comical. However I think my suggestion also made it clearer viewing for more of the audience.
Monday, 15 December 2008
Sunday, 14 December 2008
Theatrical customs
In preparation for Badger in "Wind in the Willows" at the Havant Arts Centre, I was called upon to explain to a young actor why we don't whistle in the theatre. I am not particularly superstitious except when I am in the theatre. One of the reasons given for the birth of this particular superstition was that early stage-hands in the London theatres, especially Drury Lane, were often hired from a nautical background. In early theatrical work, a lot of effects were achieved by ropes, pulleys and hoists and to this day the lighting grids, etc, are referred to as rigging. We talk about "rigging the lights" for example. Therefore, the hiring of sailors, both merchant and navy, was a logical source for the skilled work needed in the theatres of those days. The control of work done in the rigging of sailing ships, and transferred to the theatres, was exercised by whistles. A whistling actor could therefore be seen as interfering with the smooth running of the backstage effects and would actively be discouraged by stage management and crew. (Note again that backstage workers and management are referred to as "crew" - another nautical reference). There has always been a bit of a divide between "techies" (technical crew) and "luvvies" (actors), mainly because the latter believe the theatre was created for them and the former believe they do all the real hard work to enable the latter to 'ponce about' on stage. I can imagine the discouragement given to the whistling actor being reinforced by large and heavy objects falling from above - hopefully but not necessarily missing the errant actor.
Actors wish each other to "break a leg" before each performance. This sounds rather malicious but is in fact meant well. A leg, in this case, applied to a drop curtain controlled by ropes (see above) and the stage manager. This small curtain would be raised and lowered at the curtain call in response to the applause of the audience. It was hard work and the wish was that the small curtain would break so tumultuous would have been the applause. It is just a way of wishing that another actor does so well he or she is subjected tyo the fulsome approval of the audience.
David Penrose, playing the Chief Weasel in "Wind in the Willows", came up with a witty variation on the "break a leg" phrase when he wished Toad (Mark Wakeman) to "break a grenouille". I laughed uproariously as I am wont to do at David's utterances!
Actors wish each other to "break a leg" before each performance. This sounds rather malicious but is in fact meant well. A leg, in this case, applied to a drop curtain controlled by ropes (see above) and the stage manager. This small curtain would be raised and lowered at the curtain call in response to the applause of the audience. It was hard work and the wish was that the small curtain would break so tumultuous would have been the applause. It is just a way of wishing that another actor does so well he or she is subjected tyo the fulsome approval of the audience.
David Penrose, playing the Chief Weasel in "Wind in the Willows", came up with a witty variation on the "break a leg" phrase when he wished Toad (Mark Wakeman) to "break a grenouille". I laughed uproariously as I am wont to do at David's utterances!
Sunday, 26 October 2008
A Week of Great Performances
In my sister blog, I said I had seen Vanessa Redgrave, Robert Lindsay and Kenneth Branagh in a marvellous week of theatre going at the beginning of October. I had intended writing reviews of all three plays, "The Year of Magical Thinking", "Aristo" and "Ivanov", but realised I was never going to complete the task, so instead have concentrated on the three star performances.
Vanessa Redgrave portrays Joan Didion, the writer and political commentator, and tells us the story of the year falling the unexpected death of her husband and the protracted terminal illness of her daughter. The stage is totally bare except for a single wooden chair on a wooden planked floor. There are a series of backdrops, which signifying passages of time in the year being described. The monologue is directed by David Hare, one of my favourite writers. Miss Redgrave is remarkable. In the packed Lyttleton auditorium, she seemed to employ no artifice, no theatrical tricks, no histrionics, but held our attention throughout and made each one of us present feel privy to a private conversation. The retelling of the husband's collapse in the evening and the bewilderment and hurt felt by his intelligent widow as she struggled to come to terms with his sudden departure and the manner of his going. We laughed, we sighed and we cried in sympathy and in empathy. We saluted the courage of humanity and the sheer resilience needed to keep going. Joan, as personified so fully by Vanessa, is a patrician who never played upon or asked for our sympathy, but instead sought our understanding of the devices, the stratagems employed in that year of "magical thinking". At the end I applauded not so much the great actress but the great story she had told, had embodied. I liked the fact that the last image was a huge photo on the final backdrop of Joan Didion with her daughter and husband, in happier times, on a balcony looking at the camera with a sea scape in the background. I felt I had learned a little more about a remarkable human being and a little more about myself.
The second performance of the week was of another real life person, the story of Aristotle Onassis, "Aristo", in Martin Sherman's play at the Minerva. (Martin Sherman wrote "Bent", which is one of my favourite Bench productions) The play takes a modern story and tells it in the manner of a Greek tragedy. Robert Lindsay plays the lead role as a human force of nature and is a charismatic, powerfully physical actor. I did feel there were elements of Anthony Quinn as Zorba the Greek but Robert Lindsay is one of a rare band of theatre actors who can carry off that sort of role. When he was on stage, I was fascinated but when he wasn't, I felt the play was diminished by his absence. I must confess that I suffer from paranoia and am something of a conspiracy theorist - I love political intrigues and thrillers - "Michael Clayton" rules - and although I accept that most history supports the idea of a cock up rather than a conspiracy, I feel that most cock ups begin with a conspiracy in some one's head. This is a long winded way of saying that some of the political conspiracies advanced by the play felt old hat and hardly revelatory. The performance on the night I saw it was marred by a cock up on lines. Elizabeth McGovern, playing Jackie Onassis, as the great prize, his Helen of Troy, seized by Aristotle despite the whole world being against the idea. (Do none of these people ever read history?) In a more than a little underwhelming performance, Miss McGovern has the line, "I thought he was a pirate, not a gangster", referring to her Turkish - Greek husband. She muffed the line and it didn't come out clearly and I thought that was something of a summation on the play generally. I felt Sherman played the European versus the American viewpoint too heavily. To us northern Europeans, a Turkish-Greek is as strange a concept as the Americans. Perhaps I am not totally tuned to the Greek theatre but Robert Lindsay's performance deserved a stronger play.
The final performance of the week was that of Kenneth Branagh as Ivanov, the depressive eponymous farmer . The master stroke of the performance and indeed of the whole production was to eschew completely the idea that depression is slow, lumbering and laborious. Ivanov is a man fighting to contain his demons and they drive him on in a roller coaster of highs and lows fuelled by enormous energy and insight. Some productions of Chekhov fall into the deadly trap of being so slow, dull and boring, because that is what boredom and depression is assumed to be about, that, as a member of the audience, I would cheerfully have slaughtered, or even have strangled with my bare hands, the entire cast. Personally I am a grumpy person, which is usually a result of my sense of physical well being, who is fortunate enough to be married to a Pollyanna in the Best Beloved. I find it difficult to envisage the mindset of a depressive, although I have known a number of depressives in my time. However Kenneth Branagh's performance gave me an insight into what goes on inside, but how the exterior is still punctuated with bright and vivid colours, high energy and creativity. He gives a wonderfully physical performance and one can understand how the other people in the play are drawn to this attractive Ivanov. There are comic highlights, in which Mr Branagh excels without ever losing the reality of the character, and he is ably accompanied by a superb supporting cast. As with Robert Lindsay, I felt I had been in the presence of a theatrical master, but as with Vanessa Redgrave, I felt I had met a real person rather than a character. I personally felt uplifted by the story of Joan Didion and the tale of Ivanov. This is why I love going to the theatre.
Vanessa Redgrave portrays Joan Didion, the writer and political commentator, and tells us the story of the year falling the unexpected death of her husband and the protracted terminal illness of her daughter. The stage is totally bare except for a single wooden chair on a wooden planked floor. There are a series of backdrops, which signifying passages of time in the year being described. The monologue is directed by David Hare, one of my favourite writers. Miss Redgrave is remarkable. In the packed Lyttleton auditorium, she seemed to employ no artifice, no theatrical tricks, no histrionics, but held our attention throughout and made each one of us present feel privy to a private conversation. The retelling of the husband's collapse in the evening and the bewilderment and hurt felt by his intelligent widow as she struggled to come to terms with his sudden departure and the manner of his going. We laughed, we sighed and we cried in sympathy and in empathy. We saluted the courage of humanity and the sheer resilience needed to keep going. Joan, as personified so fully by Vanessa, is a patrician who never played upon or asked for our sympathy, but instead sought our understanding of the devices, the stratagems employed in that year of "magical thinking". At the end I applauded not so much the great actress but the great story she had told, had embodied. I liked the fact that the last image was a huge photo on the final backdrop of Joan Didion with her daughter and husband, in happier times, on a balcony looking at the camera with a sea scape in the background. I felt I had learned a little more about a remarkable human being and a little more about myself.
The second performance of the week was of another real life person, the story of Aristotle Onassis, "Aristo", in Martin Sherman's play at the Minerva. (Martin Sherman wrote "Bent", which is one of my favourite Bench productions) The play takes a modern story and tells it in the manner of a Greek tragedy. Robert Lindsay plays the lead role as a human force of nature and is a charismatic, powerfully physical actor. I did feel there were elements of Anthony Quinn as Zorba the Greek but Robert Lindsay is one of a rare band of theatre actors who can carry off that sort of role. When he was on stage, I was fascinated but when he wasn't, I felt the play was diminished by his absence. I must confess that I suffer from paranoia and am something of a conspiracy theorist - I love political intrigues and thrillers - "Michael Clayton" rules - and although I accept that most history supports the idea of a cock up rather than a conspiracy, I feel that most cock ups begin with a conspiracy in some one's head. This is a long winded way of saying that some of the political conspiracies advanced by the play felt old hat and hardly revelatory. The performance on the night I saw it was marred by a cock up on lines. Elizabeth McGovern, playing Jackie Onassis, as the great prize, his Helen of Troy, seized by Aristotle despite the whole world being against the idea. (Do none of these people ever read history?) In a more than a little underwhelming performance, Miss McGovern has the line, "I thought he was a pirate, not a gangster", referring to her Turkish - Greek husband. She muffed the line and it didn't come out clearly and I thought that was something of a summation on the play generally. I felt Sherman played the European versus the American viewpoint too heavily. To us northern Europeans, a Turkish-Greek is as strange a concept as the Americans. Perhaps I am not totally tuned to the Greek theatre but Robert Lindsay's performance deserved a stronger play.
The final performance of the week was that of Kenneth Branagh as Ivanov, the depressive eponymous farmer . The master stroke of the performance and indeed of the whole production was to eschew completely the idea that depression is slow, lumbering and laborious. Ivanov is a man fighting to contain his demons and they drive him on in a roller coaster of highs and lows fuelled by enormous energy and insight. Some productions of Chekhov fall into the deadly trap of being so slow, dull and boring, because that is what boredom and depression is assumed to be about, that, as a member of the audience, I would cheerfully have slaughtered, or even have strangled with my bare hands, the entire cast. Personally I am a grumpy person, which is usually a result of my sense of physical well being, who is fortunate enough to be married to a Pollyanna in the Best Beloved. I find it difficult to envisage the mindset of a depressive, although I have known a number of depressives in my time. However Kenneth Branagh's performance gave me an insight into what goes on inside, but how the exterior is still punctuated with bright and vivid colours, high energy and creativity. He gives a wonderfully physical performance and one can understand how the other people in the play are drawn to this attractive Ivanov. There are comic highlights, in which Mr Branagh excels without ever losing the reality of the character, and he is ably accompanied by a superb supporting cast. As with Robert Lindsay, I felt I had been in the presence of a theatrical master, but as with Vanessa Redgrave, I felt I had met a real person rather than a character. I personally felt uplifted by the story of Joan Didion and the tale of Ivanov. This is why I love going to the theatre.
Sunday, 19 October 2008
Old Tales from the Green Room
Melanie has recently joined the ranks of the Bench and as a reader of my blog. Bless her socks, she also expressed an interest in the history of the Bench. Somewhere in the archives of this page are some of the Tales from the Green Room, in which I give a personal account of the Bench's past. These aren't complete as I didn't publish some of my earliest attempts. In honour of Melanie, I intend rectifying that omission over the next few weeks.
The Best Beloved also suggested that we collate the stories together into a booklet for the Bench Ruby Birthday on August 1st in 2009. If you are a past Bench member reading this page, please do get in touch with us as we would love to hear from you. We run a web page at www.benchtheatre.org.uk (there is a link to the right of this column) if you would like to keep up to date with what's happening at the Bench Theatre.
The Best Beloved also suggested that we collate the stories together into a booklet for the Bench Ruby Birthday on August 1st in 2009. If you are a past Bench member reading this page, please do get in touch with us as we would love to hear from you. We run a web page at www.benchtheatre.org.uk (there is a link to the right of this column) if you would like to keep up to date with what's happening at the Bench Theatre.
Badger in rehearsal
I had a lovely rehearsal last Sunday with Ratty, Moley, Toad and myself. Under the direction of the inestimable Damon, we worked through the scenes in Act 1. Ratty is already a rounded character and is the perfect master of ceremonies to lead the audience through the world created in "Wind in the Willows" In Alan Bennett's script, Mole becomes the favourite companion of all the creatures and in Kelly's performance will certainly do the same with the audience. Mark is a wonderful Toad and is almost as difficult to keep in check as an actor as the character is in the play. He is full of energy and invention and ideas just bubble forth in an almost constant stream. The Best Beloved appeared as Albert the horse and threatens to be something of a scene stealer herself. Albert is a pure Alan Bennett creation but lives up to the standards set by Kenneth Grahame.
Badger, played by yours truly, sounds an awful lot like Stephen Fry as General Melchett in "Blackadder Goes Forth". I don't think this is a bad thing but was somewhat unexpected.
This week we are choreographing the trial (action but few lines for Badger) and the battle of Toad Hall, two of the major set pieces, and it promises to be hard work but a lot of fun. Damon is highly skilled at getting a large cast to be creative as well as active. His intention is that we should own the scenes rather than have moves imposed upon us. Tallyho, what, what!
Badger, played by yours truly, sounds an awful lot like Stephen Fry as General Melchett in "Blackadder Goes Forth". I don't think this is a bad thing but was somewhat unexpected.
This week we are choreographing the trial (action but few lines for Badger) and the battle of Toad Hall, two of the major set pieces, and it promises to be hard work but a lot of fun. Damon is highly skilled at getting a large cast to be creative as well as active. His intention is that we should own the scenes rather than have moves imposed upon us. Tallyho, what, what!
The Walworth Farce
I love the writing of Conor McPherson and Martin McDonagh, and this week I added a new list to that roll call of honour. Enda Walsh is another young Irish writer with the gift of the gab, a talent for using language and a great storyteller.
"The Walworth Farce" is presented at the National Theatre by Druid Productions, the first professional theatre company in Ireland to be based outside Dublin in Galway. Druid premiered Martin McDonagh's "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" in 1996 as a co-production with the Royal Court.
We find ourselves in a council flat at the top of a block on the Walworth Road,off the Elephant and Castle, in South London. There is a living room in the centre, a kitchen to stage left and a bedroom to stage right, Much of the plasterboard has been removed and what remains are the wooden frames of the stud walls beneath. This is a brilliant device for allowing us to see into all three rooms simultaneously. This is crucial as this play lives up to its title of being a farce. It is a comedic story told at speed by characters prompted by quiet desperation (and sometimes not so quiet). In the flat we meet the charming but terrifying Dinny (Denis Conway) and his two put upon sons, Sean (Tadhg Murphy) and Blake (Garrett Lombard). We learn their tragic family story told in a high octane and sometimes side splitting style. The arrival of an outsider, Hayley (Mercy Ojelade), threatens the whole structure of the family and beneath the laughter we see the pain and hurt.
The cast is impeccable in its timing and the direction under Mikel Murfi is designed to elicit every comic and tragic element from the play. Denis Conway as Dinny though was splendid. He is a large Irish actor ( those who know me will recognise why I might feel an affinity) who delivers a superlative performance full of enormous energy. He made me roar with laughter and yet also tugged at my heart strings. The part must have been written for him because he inhabits the character so thoroughly. Druid Productions are renowned for their work on John Millington Synge's plays and certainly, for me, this one is up there with "Playboy of the Western World", which Druid toured to Australia in 2005 and in which Denis Conway appeared. Denis also won an Irish Times Award 2001 for his performance of "Richard III" - I wish I had seen that!
"The Walworth Farce" is presented at the National Theatre by Druid Productions, the first professional theatre company in Ireland to be based outside Dublin in Galway. Druid premiered Martin McDonagh's "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" in 1996 as a co-production with the Royal Court.
We find ourselves in a council flat at the top of a block on the Walworth Road,off the Elephant and Castle, in South London. There is a living room in the centre, a kitchen to stage left and a bedroom to stage right, Much of the plasterboard has been removed and what remains are the wooden frames of the stud walls beneath. This is a brilliant device for allowing us to see into all three rooms simultaneously. This is crucial as this play lives up to its title of being a farce. It is a comedic story told at speed by characters prompted by quiet desperation (and sometimes not so quiet). In the flat we meet the charming but terrifying Dinny (Denis Conway) and his two put upon sons, Sean (Tadhg Murphy) and Blake (Garrett Lombard). We learn their tragic family story told in a high octane and sometimes side splitting style. The arrival of an outsider, Hayley (Mercy Ojelade), threatens the whole structure of the family and beneath the laughter we see the pain and hurt.
The cast is impeccable in its timing and the direction under Mikel Murfi is designed to elicit every comic and tragic element from the play. Denis Conway as Dinny though was splendid. He is a large Irish actor ( those who know me will recognise why I might feel an affinity) who delivers a superlative performance full of enormous energy. He made me roar with laughter and yet also tugged at my heart strings. The part must have been written for him because he inhabits the character so thoroughly. Druid Productions are renowned for their work on John Millington Synge's plays and certainly, for me, this one is up there with "Playboy of the Western World", which Druid toured to Australia in 2005 and in which Denis Conway appeared. Denis also won an Irish Times Award 2001 for his performance of "Richard III" - I wish I had seen that!
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Havant Literary Festival
We have got the whole family and a large circle of friends involved in the Havant Ghost Walk taking place on Friday 26th September. The blurb says not 100% accurate but 100% entertaining. The Best Beloved and I are the storytellers and the children/friends are the spooky effects providers. I am still one story behind and the Best Beloved completed one story yesterday. She has still to tweak stories to her own style but she is definitely ahead of me. I should have spent this morning writing the story in time for the rehearsal this evening but instead have written my blog and updated my Facebook. She is not the least bit competitive but I can't say the same holds true for me.
We are doing a couple of storytelling sessions for pre-school children on the Saturday and Sunday mornings of the festival. I am a great fan of Neil Griffiths and so am hoping to base my style on him. We are hoping to have chosen the stories by Tuesday so we can rehearse them before the event. The Best Beloved and I are both blessed with the skill of being good sight readers but this sometimes encourages us to be deadliners, whereas a little preparation would have moved the performance from good to excellent.
The Havant Literary Festival website is www.havantlitfest.hampshire.org.uk. The website is worth a visit and I hope many of you will also visit the festival itself. This is the first literary festival mounted in Havant and the wealth of talent garnered by our director, Lucy Flannery, is excellent. It is a real festival with lots of events, big and small, overlapping and catering for all sorts of interests.
The Best Beloved and I are also involved with "The Art of Wodehouse" by Tony Ring on the Saturday, 6.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. I am master of ceremonies and we are providing the voices for the readings. This means something else we need to rehearse and practise before the event. We will wonder what to do with ourselves when the festival is over. Oh no, I will have to prepare the accounts as I am the festival Treasurer. And there is also the rehearsals for Wind in the Willows at the Havant Arts Centre in December and planning for the touring company in 2009.
We are doing a couple of storytelling sessions for pre-school children on the Saturday and Sunday mornings of the festival. I am a great fan of Neil Griffiths and so am hoping to base my style on him. We are hoping to have chosen the stories by Tuesday so we can rehearse them before the event. The Best Beloved and I are both blessed with the skill of being good sight readers but this sometimes encourages us to be deadliners, whereas a little preparation would have moved the performance from good to excellent.
The Havant Literary Festival website is www.havantlitfest.hampshire.org.uk. The website is worth a visit and I hope many of you will also visit the festival itself. This is the first literary festival mounted in Havant and the wealth of talent garnered by our director, Lucy Flannery, is excellent. It is a real festival with lots of events, big and small, overlapping and catering for all sorts of interests.
The Best Beloved and I are also involved with "The Art of Wodehouse" by Tony Ring on the Saturday, 6.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. I am master of ceremonies and we are providing the voices for the readings. This means something else we need to rehearse and practise before the event. We will wonder what to do with ourselves when the festival is over. Oh no, I will have to prepare the accounts as I am the festival Treasurer. And there is also the rehearsals for Wind in the Willows at the Havant Arts Centre in December and planning for the touring company in 2009.
Sunday, 3 August 2008
Quotes
I love theatrical anecdotes.
The first comes from a distant memory of a story told by Edward Petherbridge I think. It was during his time at the National Theatre with Lord Olivier. The great man was onstage in a classical piece. Suddenly Larry gave out the most heart rending cry of a man whose soul is being ripped from his body. The audience were stunned into absolute silence and collectively held their breath. Backstage the wings were crowded as the company not on stage came to see what was afoot. This wasn't a rehearsed piece and hadn't happened in performance before. Olivier left the stage and into the wings and muttered as he passed Edward, "That got the buggers!" I love the creation of a theatrical masterpiece onstage and the actor's almost ruthless analysis of the effect offstage.
Sometimes the analysis can happen onstage as well.
I am indebted to David P for the following anecdote about Sir Ralph Richardson. The great theatrical knight found himself toiling through a tedious thriller of a play. He had great swathes of speeches to make and gamely stuck at the task of delivering them. Finally during one performance he broke off and, obviously out of character and back in his own persona, strode to the front of the stage. In ringing tones, he demanded of the audience, "Is there a doctor in the house?" When a nervous medical practitioner hesitantly raised his hand in the auditorium, Sir Ralph turned his attention on him and his voice softened. "Rum old play, isn't it?" Then the old man of the theatre returned to his original position in the set and continued where he had left off.
The first comes from a distant memory of a story told by Edward Petherbridge I think. It was during his time at the National Theatre with Lord Olivier. The great man was onstage in a classical piece. Suddenly Larry gave out the most heart rending cry of a man whose soul is being ripped from his body. The audience were stunned into absolute silence and collectively held their breath. Backstage the wings were crowded as the company not on stage came to see what was afoot. This wasn't a rehearsed piece and hadn't happened in performance before. Olivier left the stage and into the wings and muttered as he passed Edward, "That got the buggers!" I love the creation of a theatrical masterpiece onstage and the actor's almost ruthless analysis of the effect offstage.
Sometimes the analysis can happen onstage as well.
I am indebted to David P for the following anecdote about Sir Ralph Richardson. The great theatrical knight found himself toiling through a tedious thriller of a play. He had great swathes of speeches to make and gamely stuck at the task of delivering them. Finally during one performance he broke off and, obviously out of character and back in his own persona, strode to the front of the stage. In ringing tones, he demanded of the audience, "Is there a doctor in the house?" When a nervous medical practitioner hesitantly raised his hand in the auditorium, Sir Ralph turned his attention on him and his voice softened. "Rum old play, isn't it?" Then the old man of the theatre returned to his original position in the set and continued where he had left off.
Thursday, 10 July 2008
I have a part!
I have been cast in a Bench production for 2008. I am playing the Badger in the Christmas production of "Wind in the Willows" . I will publish the dates later in this blog. It was a part I wanted and I am looking forward to my first acting role of the year with the Bench. I have tried to interest CCADS in casting me in one of their productions but so far to no avail.
I have also discussed with my pal, David Penrose, the resurrection of Cunning Plan in 2009, as a touring theatre for two middle aged actors and actress. We have a few ideas on that score, which I will keep up my sleeve for the moment ,in case someone else thinks they are worth copying.
2009 season is the 40th Anniversary of the Bench Theatre, with which I have been associated for 36 years. The group is doing "Old Times" in February, "Closer" in April, "Road" in July, a Brand New Play in September and "What the Butler Saw" in December. The first two productions will have no parts for me and although I like working backstage - as witnessed by this year - I do prefer to tread the boards, luvvies. The last three may or may not have parts for me but I shall be auditioning, even though I played Dr Rance in our last production of "What the Butler Saw" back in 1984. I was younger then (37 to be precise) and was playing above my range. I am just about the right age now of course. However as I have stated elsewhere this is a farce and farces are real hard work - do I have the stamina, the strength, the will power? - oh f***, of course I do! Talent will out, children!
I am also looking forward to seeing Bob in "Crave" in a couple of weeks as part of the Bench double bill July 2008 production. She has suggested directing a full length monologue with yours truly that made me drool on reading the script. There is a slight delay this year in the availability of amateur rights so hopefully this will be another project for 2009. Good on yer, Bob!
I have also discussed with my pal, David Penrose, the resurrection of Cunning Plan in 2009, as a touring theatre for two middle aged actors and actress. We have a few ideas on that score, which I will keep up my sleeve for the moment ,in case someone else thinks they are worth copying.
2009 season is the 40th Anniversary of the Bench Theatre, with which I have been associated for 36 years. The group is doing "Old Times" in February, "Closer" in April, "Road" in July, a Brand New Play in September and "What the Butler Saw" in December. The first two productions will have no parts for me and although I like working backstage - as witnessed by this year - I do prefer to tread the boards, luvvies. The last three may or may not have parts for me but I shall be auditioning, even though I played Dr Rance in our last production of "What the Butler Saw" back in 1984. I was younger then (37 to be precise) and was playing above my range. I am just about the right age now of course. However as I have stated elsewhere this is a farce and farces are real hard work - do I have the stamina, the strength, the will power? - oh f***, of course I do! Talent will out, children!
I am also looking forward to seeing Bob in "Crave" in a couple of weeks as part of the Bench double bill July 2008 production. She has suggested directing a full length monologue with yours truly that made me drool on reading the script. There is a slight delay this year in the availability of amateur rights so hopefully this will be another project for 2009. Good on yer, Bob!
The Music Man
The Chichester Festival Theatre are mounting two musicals this year: "Funny Girl" in the Minerva and "Music Man" in the main theatre. I was eager to see the former and ambivalent about the latter. After last night's performance of "Music Man", I still prefer "Funny Girl" but was won over by the performances of Brian Conley and Scarlet Strallen in particular.
The Meredith Willson musical opened on Broadway in 1957 and followed in the same vein as "Oklahoma", "Carousel" and "Shenandoah" to capture the spirit of the early American heartland. Willson wrote about his home state of Iowa and created a classic Broadway musical, full of invention and traditional Broadway numbers. "Seventy Six Trombones" is a well known number as is the much covered "Till There Was You".
We find ourselves in River City, Iowa, in the company of self-styled Professor Harold Hill, who is renowned for selling band instruments and uniforms, promising to give lessons but cannot read a note of music and disappearing with the money. Brian Conley eases himself into the part and charms the audience as much as the good folk of River City. He lacks the sleazy aspect of the salesman but wins us over firmly onto his side by his smooth humour and brilliant smile. By the end, he made me care about his character and provoked a tear or two in the Best Beloved.
His co-star and the love interest of the piece is the stunning Scarlet Strallen. She plays Marion the librarian and is gorgeous. She is beautiful, slim with a wonderful behind and the movement of a dancer, which later in the show she proves herself to be. However it is when she sings that my heart fluttered helplessly against my rib cage. "Goodnight My Someone", "Will I Ever Tell you? and "Till There Was you" are delivered in a crystal clear voice, which effortlessly reaches into the higher notes and makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention.
The director, Rachel Kavanaugh, has done a fine job with a good looking show and some terrific moments. She is indebted to Robert Jones, the designer, Stephen Ridley, the musical director and Stephen Mear the choreographer (who was also responsible for "Funny Girl" this season). The set design succeeds in creating a train, River City, the gymnasium, the interior of the library, the Wells Fargo Wagon and the Footbridge. The Footbridge is a touch of real magic on the open thrust stage of Chichester aided superbly by the lighting design of Howard Harrison. For a while I was suspended in space by the beauty of the set and the movement and singing, especially of "Till There Was You". Stephen Mear's work in choreography raises the standards even higher with a particularly fine rendition of "Marion the Librarian" (rhyming her name with her occupation and at one point in the song with "carrion") in the library interior and the chicken dance in "Pick-a-little, Talk-a-little".
Stephen Ridley, the musical director, also plays his part in putting together a marvellous evening. The melody of "Seventy Six Trombones" with the tempo slowed down is used in "Goodnight, My Someone" to link the Professor and the librarian in romantic, operatic fashion. This was as written by Meredith Willson of course. "Till There Was You" i s the traditional Broadway ballad but beautifully delivered by Scarlet Strallen. It begins in tremulous fashion with two short, halting phrases of three notes each, then rushes more freely and blissfully onwards in an expansive style. I didn't want the song to finish.
The curtain call is pure razzamatazz and I heard a Chichester audience cheering and calling for more - a sound rarely heard there by me. I think Jonathan Church and Alan Finch might have come up with yet another outstanding season!
I love musicals! I know they appeal to the more sensitive or feminine side of my nature but I can play 'butch' as well, you know!
The Meredith Willson musical opened on Broadway in 1957 and followed in the same vein as "Oklahoma", "Carousel" and "Shenandoah" to capture the spirit of the early American heartland. Willson wrote about his home state of Iowa and created a classic Broadway musical, full of invention and traditional Broadway numbers. "Seventy Six Trombones" is a well known number as is the much covered "Till There Was You".
We find ourselves in River City, Iowa, in the company of self-styled Professor Harold Hill, who is renowned for selling band instruments and uniforms, promising to give lessons but cannot read a note of music and disappearing with the money. Brian Conley eases himself into the part and charms the audience as much as the good folk of River City. He lacks the sleazy aspect of the salesman but wins us over firmly onto his side by his smooth humour and brilliant smile. By the end, he made me care about his character and provoked a tear or two in the Best Beloved.
His co-star and the love interest of the piece is the stunning Scarlet Strallen. She plays Marion the librarian and is gorgeous. She is beautiful, slim with a wonderful behind and the movement of a dancer, which later in the show she proves herself to be. However it is when she sings that my heart fluttered helplessly against my rib cage. "Goodnight My Someone", "Will I Ever Tell you? and "Till There Was you" are delivered in a crystal clear voice, which effortlessly reaches into the higher notes and makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention.
The director, Rachel Kavanaugh, has done a fine job with a good looking show and some terrific moments. She is indebted to Robert Jones, the designer, Stephen Ridley, the musical director and Stephen Mear the choreographer (who was also responsible for "Funny Girl" this season). The set design succeeds in creating a train, River City, the gymnasium, the interior of the library, the Wells Fargo Wagon and the Footbridge. The Footbridge is a touch of real magic on the open thrust stage of Chichester aided superbly by the lighting design of Howard Harrison. For a while I was suspended in space by the beauty of the set and the movement and singing, especially of "Till There Was You". Stephen Mear's work in choreography raises the standards even higher with a particularly fine rendition of "Marion the Librarian" (rhyming her name with her occupation and at one point in the song with "carrion") in the library interior and the chicken dance in "Pick-a-little, Talk-a-little".
Stephen Ridley, the musical director, also plays his part in putting together a marvellous evening. The melody of "Seventy Six Trombones" with the tempo slowed down is used in "Goodnight, My Someone" to link the Professor and the librarian in romantic, operatic fashion. This was as written by Meredith Willson of course. "Till There Was You" i s the traditional Broadway ballad but beautifully delivered by Scarlet Strallen. It begins in tremulous fashion with two short, halting phrases of three notes each, then rushes more freely and blissfully onwards in an expansive style. I didn't want the song to finish.
The curtain call is pure razzamatazz and I heard a Chichester audience cheering and calling for more - a sound rarely heard there by me. I think Jonathan Church and Alan Finch might have come up with yet another outstanding season!
I love musicals! I know they appeal to the more sensitive or feminine side of my nature but I can play 'butch' as well, you know!
Thursday, 3 July 2008
Tales from the Green Room 1984
Continuing this series of personal reminiscences of the Bench Theatre, unsupported by any documentary evidence other than my somewhat suspect memory, I jump five years from my last article and the introduction of David Penrose in 1979. We are in the year 1984 and after a few years in the wilderness bringing a family into the world and earning a degree in my spare time, I decided the time was ripe for a Peter Corrigan production.
I have always read lots of plays and I try to see as many as I can (although I can never do enough of either pastime). In 1984 I was much taken by the work of Peter Whelan, as was the RSC at the time. In particular I read his "The Accrington Pals" and was bowled over. I loved the play and had to do it. I felt the Bench could really do it credit by doing it well in our intimate theatre and inadvertently I also introduced a great character into the Bench firmament.
"Accrington Pals" is set in Lancashire in the First World War and is about the Pals battalion set from that town to fight. In fact, it is more about the impact on the town and upon the womenfolk left behind. The Accrington Pals suffered grievous losses in the War. The comment, "lions led by donkeys", about the flower of British youth and the First World war generals who led them, has long resounded in my heart and mind. The production would give me the chance to articulate some of those thoughts and feelings. I rarely direct plays as that combination of passion and intellectual stimulation are hard to find and to maintain.
The set was extraordinary and was probably realised by David Hemsley-Brown, who also starred in the play as the young male lead, Tom Hackford, an apprentice, nineteen. As usual the finishing touches, the artistic touches of the set, were applied by David Penrose, playing Arthur Boggis. An all black set it all became part of the black box of the theatre. It was easy therefore with lighting to portray interiors and exteriors ranging from kitchen ranges to cobbled market streets and the Western front. David's (Penrose) touch was to introduce the deepest red, so deep it was almost black, on to the black walls. Most of the time it was invisible but when you became conscious of it, it was always there in the background of your vision and consciousness. I had a stage manager who created the effect of smoky streets before the audience entered the auditorium.
The play is concerned with a love affair between Tom and May Hassal. May is a stall holder, in her late twenties or older. May was played by Nicola Scadding in a stunning performance. In fact the cast was one of the very best I ever assembled. We worked very hard in the rehearsals on the scenes set in Accrington and especially the ones before the Pals left for war. To this day I still remember the scene with Ralph in the tin bath. But more than anything I remember the scene between Tom and May on the eve of his departure. She was dressed in a whiter than white nightdress and he in his khakis. He brought a bunch of red roses with him. During what should have been a loving farewell, they quarrel as invariably they did. In a final gesture, Tom hurled a red rose into her lap before banging out of the house. Under the steely blue light and on that whitest of night gowns and because she was seated on a black stool, the rose landed in such a way that it looked like a bloodstain. The symbolism of that one moment could have been a painting and was for me the key moment of the whole play. It could only be captured under full lighting, costume and performance. We worked for weeks but that is what I had dreamed and its fruition was greater than I had ever imagined.
The men in the play were quite disappointed because I only rehearsed the trenches scene once or twice when the Pals went over the top. I did so because it was a beautifully written scene and once we had determined the Pals would charge up the central aisle through the audience and disappear into history, it was easy to stage. I also didn't bring the men back for the curtain call. Instead the curtain call was entirely populated by the women who opened their ranks to let through the cripple Reggie, a boy of fourteen or fifteen, the only surviving male. It was my attempt to say how we had thrown away the flower of our manhood and yet the strain was borne by women.
We were trained and drilled by the Territorial Army in the uniforms and weaponry. I had wanted to use a live pigeon in one poignant scene when Arthur at the front writes home to Annie, his wife (a powerful and heart wringing performance by Jane Hart) but had to settle for a fake one as the production was threatened with blockade by a animal rights group. I have the habit of riling people unintentionally as I go about my single minded dedication to the theatrical arts.
Finally I wonder if you have worked out the great Bench character who made his debut in that production? Well I was into the second night of auditions and was just beginning to jig the cast in my mind, when a stranger walked into the Lecture Room. I could have cast the play comfortably and usually I use the same repertory of actors when doing so. I suppose this opens me up to accusations of cliquishness. However, I was always more concerned with delivering the piece and getting it on stage than I was with developing actors. I spent my working days developing and broadening young minds and didn't want to do it as part of my hobby.
Anyway I was looking for someone to play the part of C.S.M. Rivers, a regular soldier in his thirties or forties, which believe it or not, is what I was back in 1984. The part is an important pivotal part as he is the one that induces the young men to join the Pals and rather Pied Piper like leads them away from Accrington to the battlefields, from whence they never return. Into the rehearsal space stepped one Peter Woodward, full of apologies for his late arrival and hoping he would still be allowed to audition. I believe he had been at a social or sporting event that evening and had imbibed before his arrival. Those of you who know Peter will perhaps recognise the state he must have been in that night. Now the original Rivers had been played by one of my favourite actors of all time, Bob Peck. (Have I told you about the three months I spent as an Assistant Stage Manager at the Midlands arts Centre, where Bob Peck was the star? If not, perhaps I should another time!) Peter read beautifully and caught both the martinet and the lonely man inside the uniform instinctively. I was able to welcome a new Bench member, who became one of those Bench stalwarts Mike Allen always likes to mention, and who would always be in any cast of mine if he wanted and was available.
I am not sure where this occasional series of Bench Green Room Tales will take me but I hope you will join me the next time.
I have always read lots of plays and I try to see as many as I can (although I can never do enough of either pastime). In 1984 I was much taken by the work of Peter Whelan, as was the RSC at the time. In particular I read his "The Accrington Pals" and was bowled over. I loved the play and had to do it. I felt the Bench could really do it credit by doing it well in our intimate theatre and inadvertently I also introduced a great character into the Bench firmament.
"Accrington Pals" is set in Lancashire in the First World War and is about the Pals battalion set from that town to fight. In fact, it is more about the impact on the town and upon the womenfolk left behind. The Accrington Pals suffered grievous losses in the War. The comment, "lions led by donkeys", about the flower of British youth and the First World war generals who led them, has long resounded in my heart and mind. The production would give me the chance to articulate some of those thoughts and feelings. I rarely direct plays as that combination of passion and intellectual stimulation are hard to find and to maintain.
The set was extraordinary and was probably realised by David Hemsley-Brown, who also starred in the play as the young male lead, Tom Hackford, an apprentice, nineteen. As usual the finishing touches, the artistic touches of the set, were applied by David Penrose, playing Arthur Boggis. An all black set it all became part of the black box of the theatre. It was easy therefore with lighting to portray interiors and exteriors ranging from kitchen ranges to cobbled market streets and the Western front. David's (Penrose) touch was to introduce the deepest red, so deep it was almost black, on to the black walls. Most of the time it was invisible but when you became conscious of it, it was always there in the background of your vision and consciousness. I had a stage manager who created the effect of smoky streets before the audience entered the auditorium.
The play is concerned with a love affair between Tom and May Hassal. May is a stall holder, in her late twenties or older. May was played by Nicola Scadding in a stunning performance. In fact the cast was one of the very best I ever assembled. We worked very hard in the rehearsals on the scenes set in Accrington and especially the ones before the Pals left for war. To this day I still remember the scene with Ralph in the tin bath. But more than anything I remember the scene between Tom and May on the eve of his departure. She was dressed in a whiter than white nightdress and he in his khakis. He brought a bunch of red roses with him. During what should have been a loving farewell, they quarrel as invariably they did. In a final gesture, Tom hurled a red rose into her lap before banging out of the house. Under the steely blue light and on that whitest of night gowns and because she was seated on a black stool, the rose landed in such a way that it looked like a bloodstain. The symbolism of that one moment could have been a painting and was for me the key moment of the whole play. It could only be captured under full lighting, costume and performance. We worked for weeks but that is what I had dreamed and its fruition was greater than I had ever imagined.
The men in the play were quite disappointed because I only rehearsed the trenches scene once or twice when the Pals went over the top. I did so because it was a beautifully written scene and once we had determined the Pals would charge up the central aisle through the audience and disappear into history, it was easy to stage. I also didn't bring the men back for the curtain call. Instead the curtain call was entirely populated by the women who opened their ranks to let through the cripple Reggie, a boy of fourteen or fifteen, the only surviving male. It was my attempt to say how we had thrown away the flower of our manhood and yet the strain was borne by women.
We were trained and drilled by the Territorial Army in the uniforms and weaponry. I had wanted to use a live pigeon in one poignant scene when Arthur at the front writes home to Annie, his wife (a powerful and heart wringing performance by Jane Hart) but had to settle for a fake one as the production was threatened with blockade by a animal rights group. I have the habit of riling people unintentionally as I go about my single minded dedication to the theatrical arts.
Finally I wonder if you have worked out the great Bench character who made his debut in that production? Well I was into the second night of auditions and was just beginning to jig the cast in my mind, when a stranger walked into the Lecture Room. I could have cast the play comfortably and usually I use the same repertory of actors when doing so. I suppose this opens me up to accusations of cliquishness. However, I was always more concerned with delivering the piece and getting it on stage than I was with developing actors. I spent my working days developing and broadening young minds and didn't want to do it as part of my hobby.
Anyway I was looking for someone to play the part of C.S.M. Rivers, a regular soldier in his thirties or forties, which believe it or not, is what I was back in 1984. The part is an important pivotal part as he is the one that induces the young men to join the Pals and rather Pied Piper like leads them away from Accrington to the battlefields, from whence they never return. Into the rehearsal space stepped one Peter Woodward, full of apologies for his late arrival and hoping he would still be allowed to audition. I believe he had been at a social or sporting event that evening and had imbibed before his arrival. Those of you who know Peter will perhaps recognise the state he must have been in that night. Now the original Rivers had been played by one of my favourite actors of all time, Bob Peck. (Have I told you about the three months I spent as an Assistant Stage Manager at the Midlands arts Centre, where Bob Peck was the star? If not, perhaps I should another time!) Peter read beautifully and caught both the martinet and the lonely man inside the uniform instinctively. I was able to welcome a new Bench member, who became one of those Bench stalwarts Mike Allen always likes to mention, and who would always be in any cast of mine if he wanted and was available.
I am not sure where this occasional series of Bench Green Room Tales will take me but I hope you will join me the next time.
Friday, 30 May 2008
Reading "Passion Play"
I didn't put on my play reading list the one play I am reading at the moment, which is "Passion Play" by Peter Nichols. I only got through the first act yesterday so wasn't able to get it ready in time for presentation at the Bench Artistic Panel as a possibility for next season. It is a 1980's play so I may still have another chance if there are second stages of selection needed. I believe there is only one production on offer for the 1980 slot and it may get turned down by the company so opening up the opportunity of a second bite of the apple for slowcoaches like me.
The subject matter is adultery and I was much taken by the sex war. Peter Nichols also uses the actor's training exercise of having a second actor portray the character's innermost feelings and thoughts. He does this for both the main male and female leads. I will let you know how I get on with finishing the reading and possible production.
The subject matter is adultery and I was much taken by the sex war. Peter Nichols also uses the actor's training exercise of having a second actor portray the character's innermost feelings and thoughts. He does this for both the main male and female leads. I will let you know how I get on with finishing the reading and possible production.
The Cherry Orchard
This is one of the clearest productions by Philip Franks of a Chekhov play I have ever seen. It also moves at a very brisk pace through its two hours on the stage, there are no “longeurs” that I have often associated with English versions of Chekhov classics in the past. The set by Leslie Travers is deliberately minimal and interior scenes are depicted by a few pieces of furniture – the grey of the nursery in Act 1, the plush red of the ballroom in Act 2. There is almost a proscenium arch effect upstage under which the nursery furniture is stored under sheets in the final Act and under which the majority of the party takes place screened off by red drapes. This allows the majority of the stage to be used as thrust. The cherry orchard seems to be the audience.
The play opens with Michael Siberry as Lopakhin preparing the house and us for the return of Madam Ranyevskaya after her five year self imposed exile in Paris. He does so brilliantly and with verve and vigour. This was the real star performance of the evening for me. I totally believed in this complicated and complex self-made man. His triumphs and setbacks were achieved with energy and subtlety. It was a thrill to see Frank Finlay as Firs, the head valet, on the Chichester stage – one of the heroes of the early days of the National Theatre and a theatre icon. Like all great actors (Anthony Sher and Derek Jacobi spring to mind here) he isn’t a big man but his presence fills a stage. Unfortunately for me, Mr Finlay didn’t ever capture my heart as the old man and the famous final scene went for naught. I know the actor is probably of the same age as the character but in fact appeared too sound in limb and mind to achieve the collapse at the end.
Then entered Diana Rigg as Ranyevskaya. This actress is up there amongst my favourites with Barbra Streisand (read review on “Funny Girl” previously) so it was with great anticipation that I waited to see her performance. Last year I made the mistake of criticising Patrick Stewart’s Scottish thane because of his age and he went on to Tony nominations for best Actor on Broadway so that shows you how much I know! However I did find Miss Rigg too old for the part. Ranyevskaya’s five year self-imposed exile in Paris is prompted by the death of her seven year old son by drowning on this very estate. If he had lived, he would now be twelve years old, and though I do not wish to be ungallant I could not believe this Ranyevskaya was young enough to be the right age for child bearing a dozen years before. I must admit that the characterisation is spot on and Miss Rigg makes what can be a tiresome and silly woman believable and interesting, although the hand gestures are a little too repetitive for my liking.
William Gaunt as Gayev, the empty headed brother of Ranyevskaya, and John Nettleton, as the ever-penurious Simeonov-Pischik, provide excellent support in the parts I could see myself playing. Maureen Lipman is imperious as the German governess, Charlotta, and made sense for me of what is usually an enigmatic part. It needed someone of her stature to make it work. Young Charlotte Riley as the daughter Anya and the youngest person at stage is delightfully fresh and optimistic.
The star performance for me though came from Jemma Redgrave as Ranyevskaya’s adopted daughter. Varya is the sensible one, the one who keeps the estate going despite her mother’s profligacy, and the one who is feared by the older serfs and peasants as the enforcer. This is not the position she would wish to find herself in and her relationship with Lopakhin is the only chance of escape. Miss Redgrave captures magnificently the desperation of the character and her dissolution times in with that of the Cherry orchard itself. Her performance made me feel whereas for most of the production I admired.
I did feel the sound effect for the chopping in the cherry orchard in the final act fell short of being a powerful and affecting one, which rather sums up my feeling about the whole production. If you are a Chekhov fan or even if you are new to Chekhov, this is a production worth seeing for the clarity of the story telling and the sureness of the pace with which it is performed.
The play opens with Michael Siberry as Lopakhin preparing the house and us for the return of Madam Ranyevskaya after her five year self imposed exile in Paris. He does so brilliantly and with verve and vigour. This was the real star performance of the evening for me. I totally believed in this complicated and complex self-made man. His triumphs and setbacks were achieved with energy and subtlety. It was a thrill to see Frank Finlay as Firs, the head valet, on the Chichester stage – one of the heroes of the early days of the National Theatre and a theatre icon. Like all great actors (Anthony Sher and Derek Jacobi spring to mind here) he isn’t a big man but his presence fills a stage. Unfortunately for me, Mr Finlay didn’t ever capture my heart as the old man and the famous final scene went for naught. I know the actor is probably of the same age as the character but in fact appeared too sound in limb and mind to achieve the collapse at the end.
Then entered Diana Rigg as Ranyevskaya. This actress is up there amongst my favourites with Barbra Streisand (read review on “Funny Girl” previously) so it was with great anticipation that I waited to see her performance. Last year I made the mistake of criticising Patrick Stewart’s Scottish thane because of his age and he went on to Tony nominations for best Actor on Broadway so that shows you how much I know! However I did find Miss Rigg too old for the part. Ranyevskaya’s five year self-imposed exile in Paris is prompted by the death of her seven year old son by drowning on this very estate. If he had lived, he would now be twelve years old, and though I do not wish to be ungallant I could not believe this Ranyevskaya was young enough to be the right age for child bearing a dozen years before. I must admit that the characterisation is spot on and Miss Rigg makes what can be a tiresome and silly woman believable and interesting, although the hand gestures are a little too repetitive for my liking.
William Gaunt as Gayev, the empty headed brother of Ranyevskaya, and John Nettleton, as the ever-penurious Simeonov-Pischik, provide excellent support in the parts I could see myself playing. Maureen Lipman is imperious as the German governess, Charlotta, and made sense for me of what is usually an enigmatic part. It needed someone of her stature to make it work. Young Charlotte Riley as the daughter Anya and the youngest person at stage is delightfully fresh and optimistic.
The star performance for me though came from Jemma Redgrave as Ranyevskaya’s adopted daughter. Varya is the sensible one, the one who keeps the estate going despite her mother’s profligacy, and the one who is feared by the older serfs and peasants as the enforcer. This is not the position she would wish to find herself in and her relationship with Lopakhin is the only chance of escape. Miss Redgrave captures magnificently the desperation of the character and her dissolution times in with that of the Cherry orchard itself. Her performance made me feel whereas for most of the production I admired.
I did feel the sound effect for the chopping in the cherry orchard in the final act fell short of being a powerful and affecting one, which rather sums up my feeling about the whole production. If you are a Chekhov fan or even if you are new to Chekhov, this is a production worth seeing for the clarity of the story telling and the sureness of the pace with which it is performed.
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Current playscript reading list
Over on my personal blog page, “Boanerges”, I said I would list my current playscripts reading list and so here it is below.
“The Wind in the Willows” is the Bench Christmas production 2008. I am auditioning and helping with a dance for the auditions on Monday June 10th and Thursday June 13th. I would like a part.
Irish writers do dominate. I will try and do thumbnail impressions of the plays as they are read.
Alan Bennett : The History Boys; The Wind in the Willows
Kate Atkinson: Abandonment
Gregory Doran: Merry Wives the Musical
Brian Friel: Making History
Simon Gray: Little Nell
David Hare: My Zinc Bed; The Permanent Way
David Harrower: Dark Earth; Knives in Hens
Derek Hines: Gilgamesh – The Play
Robert Holman: Jonah and Otto
Kneehigh Theatre: Tristan & Yseult
Greg Kotis: Urinetown;The Musical
Martin McDonagh: The Beauty Queen of Leenane; The Lonesome West; The Lieutenant of Inishmore.
Duncan Macmillan: Monster
Conor McPherson: Port Authority; Dublin Carol; Shining City
Owen McCafferty: JP Miller’s Days of Wine and Roses
Moliere: Don Juan
Wallace Shawn: The Designated Mourner
Polly Teale: Jane Eyre
Over on my personal blog page, “Boanerges”, I said I would also complete my internal debate about choosing plays for production. That will be my next posting, unless I get round to uploading some of my “Tales from the Green Room: a personal history of the Bench Theatre” before then. There are also reviews of “The Cherry Orchard” (Chichester Festival Theatre) and “Brassed Off” (Theatre Royal, CCADS) due this week as well.
“The Wind in the Willows” is the Bench Christmas production 2008. I am auditioning and helping with a dance for the auditions on Monday June 10th and Thursday June 13th. I would like a part.
Irish writers do dominate. I will try and do thumbnail impressions of the plays as they are read.
Alan Bennett : The History Boys; The Wind in the Willows
Kate Atkinson: Abandonment
Gregory Doran: Merry Wives the Musical
Brian Friel: Making History
Simon Gray: Little Nell
David Hare: My Zinc Bed; The Permanent Way
David Harrower: Dark Earth; Knives in Hens
Derek Hines: Gilgamesh – The Play
Robert Holman: Jonah and Otto
Kneehigh Theatre: Tristan & Yseult
Greg Kotis: Urinetown;The Musical
Martin McDonagh: The Beauty Queen of Leenane; The Lonesome West; The Lieutenant of Inishmore.
Duncan Macmillan: Monster
Conor McPherson: Port Authority; Dublin Carol; Shining City
Owen McCafferty: JP Miller’s Days of Wine and Roses
Moliere: Don Juan
Wallace Shawn: The Designated Mourner
Polly Teale: Jane Eyre
Over on my personal blog page, “Boanerges”, I said I would also complete my internal debate about choosing plays for production. That will be my next posting, unless I get round to uploading some of my “Tales from the Green Room: a personal history of the Bench Theatre” before then. There are also reviews of “The Cherry Orchard” (Chichester Festival Theatre) and “Brassed Off” (Theatre Royal, CCADS) due this week as well.
Thursday, 15 May 2008
Run! To the Minerva, you MUST go!
I loved the 1968 William Wyler Oscar winning adaptation of the 1964 Broadway hit “Funny Girl”, starring the incomparable Barbra Streisand. I loved the concept and I loved the songs and the singing of the leading lady.
Yet here I am in 2008, forty years later, saying get yourself across to the Minerva Theatre in Chichester – Fanny Brice is back in town! Tiny Samantha Spiro (5’2” of dynamite) is wonderful as the eponymous Funny Girl. She takes on the feisty Jewish girl and produces a marvellous heart wrenching but ultimately uplifting performance. Her voice may not match the great diva but she sings the great anthems “Don’t Rain on my Parade”, “People” and “I’m the Greatest Star” with passion and commitment. You believe in this Fanny. She is actually funny in the comedy sequences, she is a triumphant Broadway star in the dance sequences and backstage and she is in love with her incredibly handsome but no-good man. You will not see a better musical theatre performance this year anywhere.
At times this does feel like a one-woman show and Miss Spiro does have to carry most of the emotional weight. A wonderful cast and a chorus line of eight gorgeous dancers with very long ladder length legs are on hand to support her. Rose Brice, her mother, is a wise cracking, wiseacre of a Jewish momma, warmly played by Sheila Steafel. I loved the songs, “Who Taught Her Everything?” and “Find Yourself a Man” but these were especially sold on me by the performance of Sebastien Torka as Eddie. He is Fanny’s longstanding friend, who helps get her launched on her career, and who is the one to caution against Nicky Arnstein, the good looking gambler.
Mark Umbers certainly is a good looking heart throb and he sings well. The Best Beloved fell for him during the evening and none more so in the beautifully recreated restaurant scene. The sophisticated gentleman in the “height of nonchalance, providing beds in restaurants”, woos the feisty, prickly and bad tempered Fanny (“You Are Woman, I am Man”). She is introduced to the delights of posh food and high living but discovers pate is only “chopped liver” after all.
The set is marvellous in a design by Mark Thompson. I particularly liked the way the theatre is stripped back to the bare black walls for the back stage but the white roses for the Long Island mansion, the red ottoman for the restaurant and the same ottoman stripped for the railway station are simply done but most evocative. Special mention must go to Stephen Mear, the choreographer, who produces some marvellous thrilling dance sequences. The musical direction of the unseen band is wonderful by Robert Scott and one has to thank Jason Carr for his orchestrations and his informative notes in the programme. The director, Angus Jackson, doesn’t allow his cast to put a foot wrong. He drives the show through its two and three quarter hour length without making me once conscious of time or haste.
Well done, Jonathan Church and Alan Finch, for another great opening to another great Season at Chichester. The last two seasons have been marvellous and this one promises to be just as good. I would just echo Michael Billington and say Jule Styne’s “Gipsy”, the story of Gipsy Rose Lee and her fearsome mother, Rose, would go down a storm. (I want to do it myself at the Bench if I can find a musical director). Especially if the musical is done in the Minerva – doing a full-scale musical in the smaller auditorium was a masterstroke.
If you are still reading this review, you shouldn’t be here now! You should be phoning up the box office 01243 781312, going online at http://www.cft.org.uk/. You only have until June 14th to join “People (who need people are the luckiest people in the world) and who have seen glorious Sam Spiro as the fearless ugly duckling in this Cinderella meets Prince Charming of a musical delight.
Yet here I am in 2008, forty years later, saying get yourself across to the Minerva Theatre in Chichester – Fanny Brice is back in town! Tiny Samantha Spiro (5’2” of dynamite) is wonderful as the eponymous Funny Girl. She takes on the feisty Jewish girl and produces a marvellous heart wrenching but ultimately uplifting performance. Her voice may not match the great diva but she sings the great anthems “Don’t Rain on my Parade”, “People” and “I’m the Greatest Star” with passion and commitment. You believe in this Fanny. She is actually funny in the comedy sequences, she is a triumphant Broadway star in the dance sequences and backstage and she is in love with her incredibly handsome but no-good man. You will not see a better musical theatre performance this year anywhere.
At times this does feel like a one-woman show and Miss Spiro does have to carry most of the emotional weight. A wonderful cast and a chorus line of eight gorgeous dancers with very long ladder length legs are on hand to support her. Rose Brice, her mother, is a wise cracking, wiseacre of a Jewish momma, warmly played by Sheila Steafel. I loved the songs, “Who Taught Her Everything?” and “Find Yourself a Man” but these were especially sold on me by the performance of Sebastien Torka as Eddie. He is Fanny’s longstanding friend, who helps get her launched on her career, and who is the one to caution against Nicky Arnstein, the good looking gambler.
Mark Umbers certainly is a good looking heart throb and he sings well. The Best Beloved fell for him during the evening and none more so in the beautifully recreated restaurant scene. The sophisticated gentleman in the “height of nonchalance, providing beds in restaurants”, woos the feisty, prickly and bad tempered Fanny (“You Are Woman, I am Man”). She is introduced to the delights of posh food and high living but discovers pate is only “chopped liver” after all.
The set is marvellous in a design by Mark Thompson. I particularly liked the way the theatre is stripped back to the bare black walls for the back stage but the white roses for the Long Island mansion, the red ottoman for the restaurant and the same ottoman stripped for the railway station are simply done but most evocative. Special mention must go to Stephen Mear, the choreographer, who produces some marvellous thrilling dance sequences. The musical direction of the unseen band is wonderful by Robert Scott and one has to thank Jason Carr for his orchestrations and his informative notes in the programme. The director, Angus Jackson, doesn’t allow his cast to put a foot wrong. He drives the show through its two and three quarter hour length without making me once conscious of time or haste.
Well done, Jonathan Church and Alan Finch, for another great opening to another great Season at Chichester. The last two seasons have been marvellous and this one promises to be just as good. I would just echo Michael Billington and say Jule Styne’s “Gipsy”, the story of Gipsy Rose Lee and her fearsome mother, Rose, would go down a storm. (I want to do it myself at the Bench if I can find a musical director). Especially if the musical is done in the Minerva – doing a full-scale musical in the smaller auditorium was a masterstroke.
If you are still reading this review, you shouldn’t be here now! You should be phoning up the box office 01243 781312, going online at http://www.cft.org.uk/. You only have until June 14th to join “People (who need people are the luckiest people in the world) and who have seen glorious Sam Spiro as the fearless ugly duckling in this Cinderella meets Prince Charming of a musical delight.
Friday, 25 April 2008
Bronte Review
"Bronte" begins with the three actresses playing the three Victorian novelists addressing the audience directly about the three people they are about to portray. There is a faint whiff of the animated lecture here but once the costumes are on and the actresses become the characters, we are off on a whirlwind journey through their lives. We become so attached to the three sisters that we feel their struggles, their emotions and their triumphs keenly and deeply. Charlotte Bronte (Kat Corrigan) dominates the stage through her physical and emotional presence, very much as the real Charlotte must have done in the Bronte family. Charlotte had the ambition to be "forever known", to "create something of one self that would live outside one's own body", and was consumed by the desire to write from her childhood. She quarrelled with her younger sister, the elemental Emily (Francesca McCrohon).: "You are fascinated by me, but I am the hardest to find out about..." We were fascinated by Francesca's performance as the creator of "Wuthering Heights". Francesca captures the strangeness of the woman who is only truly at home striding relentlessly and endlessly across the moors. We also believe in her as a remarkable poetess.
The third sister, Anne (Lorraine Galliers), is portrayed clearly and passionately as an early Socialist and prototype Suffragette. She finds herself as the meeting point between her two sisters and Lorraine makes her a rounded and believable character.
The three women are joined by the ghosts of Cathy Earnshaw from "Wuthering Heights" and Bertha from "Jane Eyre". Both ghosts are played by the same actress (Lynda Fleming). For me, the play lifts off on the first appearance of Miss Fleming and she differentiates between the two characters magnificently. I loved the way she interacts as the characters with the two authors. The vaginal slit through which the characters enter is a striking symbolism of the set and I wondered if it was intentional. I would wish for a greater variety in the entrances themselves but Miss Fleming gives a beautifully nuanced and highly physical interpretation of two key parts.
Then we come to the two male actors. Callum West, making only his second appearance for the Bench Theatre, manages to capture the vainglorious brother on whom the hopes of the Bronte family were built. He sketches in the promise of the early youth and the disillusionment of the man. He is convincing as the man driven to the drink and as the man who loved too well if not wisely. Callum also manages the difficult feat of convincing us as Heathcliff, one of the most passionate creations in English literature.
David Penrose is rightly dubbed one of the "Bench stalwarts" as he has appeared in many roles for the Bench Theatre. What I liked here was his subtleties as he moved from character to character, sometimes in a split instant. I believed in Patrick Bronte, the patriarch. The scene between David as Heger, the Belgian teacher, and Charlotte Bronte explodes at the end into a prose aria and a wonderful sequence of young unrequited, desperate love. It is as Rochester with Charlotte playing Jane Eyre that David wrings the withers and made me want to see that play (also written by Polly Teale). The scenes between Charlotte and Arthur Bell Nicholls though warm the cockles of the heart.
The direction by Ingrid Corrigan is light of touch but clear in its aim to extract a performance of "imagination" to live long in the memory. I felt I experienced a great deal of the lives of three remarkable English writers and caught a glimpse into the pain and cost of the creative process. This production is a reminder of how good the non-professional theatre can be in the hands of such a cast and director.
The third sister, Anne (Lorraine Galliers), is portrayed clearly and passionately as an early Socialist and prototype Suffragette. She finds herself as the meeting point between her two sisters and Lorraine makes her a rounded and believable character.
The three women are joined by the ghosts of Cathy Earnshaw from "Wuthering Heights" and Bertha from "Jane Eyre". Both ghosts are played by the same actress (Lynda Fleming). For me, the play lifts off on the first appearance of Miss Fleming and she differentiates between the two characters magnificently. I loved the way she interacts as the characters with the two authors. The vaginal slit through which the characters enter is a striking symbolism of the set and I wondered if it was intentional. I would wish for a greater variety in the entrances themselves but Miss Fleming gives a beautifully nuanced and highly physical interpretation of two key parts.
Then we come to the two male actors. Callum West, making only his second appearance for the Bench Theatre, manages to capture the vainglorious brother on whom the hopes of the Bronte family were built. He sketches in the promise of the early youth and the disillusionment of the man. He is convincing as the man driven to the drink and as the man who loved too well if not wisely. Callum also manages the difficult feat of convincing us as Heathcliff, one of the most passionate creations in English literature.
David Penrose is rightly dubbed one of the "Bench stalwarts" as he has appeared in many roles for the Bench Theatre. What I liked here was his subtleties as he moved from character to character, sometimes in a split instant. I believed in Patrick Bronte, the patriarch. The scene between David as Heger, the Belgian teacher, and Charlotte Bronte explodes at the end into a prose aria and a wonderful sequence of young unrequited, desperate love. It is as Rochester with Charlotte playing Jane Eyre that David wrings the withers and made me want to see that play (also written by Polly Teale). The scenes between Charlotte and Arthur Bell Nicholls though warm the cockles of the heart.
The direction by Ingrid Corrigan is light of touch but clear in its aim to extract a performance of "imagination" to live long in the memory. I felt I experienced a great deal of the lives of three remarkable English writers and caught a glimpse into the pain and cost of the creative process. This production is a reminder of how good the non-professional theatre can be in the hands of such a cast and director.
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Bronte production photo
This is Charlotte Bronte (Kat Corrigan) in the Bench production of Polly Teale's "Bronte", which opens tonight, Thursday April 24th, at the Havant Arts Centre. The production runs until this Saturday April 26th, and then again from next Tuesday April 29th to Saturday May 3rd.
(The photograph is the copyright of Dan Finch)
Saturday, 19 April 2008
God of Carnage
One of the recent delights at the Bench Theatre was appearing in "Art", which subsequently won the Best Production of the Year Award sponsored by the Portsmouth News. I loved the play and the production with old chums, Pete Woodward and Tim Taylor, directed by beautiful young Robin Hall.
I needed no persuasion, therefore, to see a matinee of "God of Carnage" at the Gielgud Theatre. It has a limited run of 10 weeks only because the stellar cast includes Ralph Fiennes ( a man with a backlog of filmwork to get back to), with Tamsin Greig, Janet McTeer and Ken Stott. Ken Stott was part of the original cast of Art by Yasmina Reza. God of Carnage is also translated by Christopher Hampton who did Art. The director is Matthew Warchus who also directed Art (and also directed Speed the Plow, reviewed below).
The play is set in the Parisian apartment of Veronique (McTeer) and Michel (Stott). It is a wonderfully red interior with minimal but classy furniture. They are being visited by Alain (Fiennes) and Annette (Greig). The visit is occasioned because the two eleven year old sons of the two couples have been involved in a fight in a local park. The visitors' son has hit the other boy in the face with a stick. The two sets of parents are trying to work out a way an apology can be made.
It isn't long before the carefully constructed facades of the quartet start to crack and split asunder under the strain of being together. Ralph Fiennes' wonderful laconic lawyer, permanently attached to his mobile phone trying to dampen down a prescription drug drama, has a great line in black comedy and produces some real belly laughs from the audience. Tamsin Greig does a wonderful turn when chundering all over Veronique's precious books. Michel the self made entrepreneur of domestic goods (Stott) begins seemingly supporting his wife's attempts at a civilised solution but capitulates when the going gets tough. Before the end we see the paper thin veneer of civilisation disappear from the quartet and the Parisian apartment.
At the end silence reigns as the four retire to their separate corners, no longer able to communicate between the two couples, or indeed with their partners in the couples. Reza is telling us that the dividing line between civilisation and brutality remains so very thin.
The playing is consistently good and the teamwork extraordinary. The production is sure footed and swift - the 90 minutes playing time is delivered with pace, attack and brio - a hallmark of Warchus' direction (especially after having seen "Speed-the-Plow"). I was riveted throughout and really enjoyed the performance. I am not totally sure I was convinced by Reza's thesis at the end but it was certainly delivered in a stylish and thought provoking manner.
A production I would heartily recommend for all parents and teachers!
(I think I owe Matthew Warchus an apology as I think I kept calling him Marcus in a previous posting)
I needed no persuasion, therefore, to see a matinee of "God of Carnage" at the Gielgud Theatre. It has a limited run of 10 weeks only because the stellar cast includes Ralph Fiennes ( a man with a backlog of filmwork to get back to), with Tamsin Greig, Janet McTeer and Ken Stott. Ken Stott was part of the original cast of Art by Yasmina Reza. God of Carnage is also translated by Christopher Hampton who did Art. The director is Matthew Warchus who also directed Art (and also directed Speed the Plow, reviewed below).
The play is set in the Parisian apartment of Veronique (McTeer) and Michel (Stott). It is a wonderfully red interior with minimal but classy furniture. They are being visited by Alain (Fiennes) and Annette (Greig). The visit is occasioned because the two eleven year old sons of the two couples have been involved in a fight in a local park. The visitors' son has hit the other boy in the face with a stick. The two sets of parents are trying to work out a way an apology can be made.
It isn't long before the carefully constructed facades of the quartet start to crack and split asunder under the strain of being together. Ralph Fiennes' wonderful laconic lawyer, permanently attached to his mobile phone trying to dampen down a prescription drug drama, has a great line in black comedy and produces some real belly laughs from the audience. Tamsin Greig does a wonderful turn when chundering all over Veronique's precious books. Michel the self made entrepreneur of domestic goods (Stott) begins seemingly supporting his wife's attempts at a civilised solution but capitulates when the going gets tough. Before the end we see the paper thin veneer of civilisation disappear from the quartet and the Parisian apartment.
At the end silence reigns as the four retire to their separate corners, no longer able to communicate between the two couples, or indeed with their partners in the couples. Reza is telling us that the dividing line between civilisation and brutality remains so very thin.
The playing is consistently good and the teamwork extraordinary. The production is sure footed and swift - the 90 minutes playing time is delivered with pace, attack and brio - a hallmark of Warchus' direction (especially after having seen "Speed-the-Plow"). I was riveted throughout and really enjoyed the performance. I am not totally sure I was convinced by Reza's thesis at the end but it was certainly delivered in a stylish and thought provoking manner.
A production I would heartily recommend for all parents and teachers!
(I think I owe Matthew Warchus an apology as I think I kept calling him Marcus in a previous posting)
Speed the Plow
David Mamet, the Hollywood writer, has written a play about Hollywood and Matthew Warchus' production is populated by two Hollywood stars, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum. This is high octane stuff. The writing is brilliant and the performances are electric. Jeff Goldblum plays a newly promoted head of production in a studio and the opening of the play finds him installed in his brand new office still littered with step ladders and paint pots. Into the office bounces - and I mean bounces - Kevin Spacey as Charley Fox. Charley is an old time buddy of Goldblum's characetr, Gould, and doesn't really resent the fact that he has been promoted over Charley's head. His resentment is tempered because Charley has a fantastic package, a prison movie, a script that can't fail because it has worked so many times before in other movies and a star in full ascendancy as part of the package. The exchanges between Goldblum and Spacey are delivered at such speed and clarity. The two actors obviously had a ball in rehearsal and in this performance we were invited to the ball as well. At one stage Spacey is doing physical exercise with fag in mouth and still keeping the dialogue going at breakneck speed. Not once was clarity lost and it is the audience who almost end up breathless not the actors. There are touches of the Marx brothers in the glibness and comedy of the dialogue.
The final conclusion to the deal has to be delayed to the following morning but eh, it's a done deal, ain't it? Enter the third character, Laura Michelle Kelly's Karen. She plays Goldblum's temporary secretary. Charley Fox, so high on the adrenalin of the big deal he is going to be part of in the morning, makes the mistake of betting Gould he can't lay his temporary secretary this very evening.
The second act takes place at Gould's apartment and is virtually a monologue by Karen, with sparse interposes by the Goldblum character. It centres on her trying to sell him the idea of making a film out of a worthy but very abstract book. Her main premise is that making the film of the book would be so much more than a moneyspinner. It would make him a film maker rather than a studio hack. Laura Michelle Kelly is believable even though Mamet's dialogue sounded much more clonking than it had in the first act. I couldn't believe in the book, which was something to do with radiation death of the planet, and struck me as pretentious gooblydook. I am not sure still whether this was Mamet's intention or not.
It was with relish that the third act returned to the office the next morning and we awaited the reaction of Charley Fox. If the energy levels of the first act had been breakneck, they went up several more notches in the third. The arguments battered backwards and forwards, with nary a stop for breath. We had violence, male insecurity at its worst, male jostling for position and power, resentment, anger and desperation. This is acting at its finest. Language is used not as a tool of communication but as a weapon to batter and beat others into submission.
Hollywood is the dream factory but inhabited by these denizens it sounds like a nightmare place to be. The Laura Michelle Kelly character is much more subtle than that of the Spacey and Goldblum ones. Is this because Mamet is more at ease with the male characters than the female one? I was interested in my own reaction as part of the audience though. I was rooting for Charley throughout and grudgingly grew to like Gould but wasn't interested in the saving of mankind as proposed in the book supported by Karen. Why is that? Am I sold on the glamour of Hollywood? I was certainly seduced, excited and intrigued by this play and these performances; a wonderful production by Marcus Warchus.
The final conclusion to the deal has to be delayed to the following morning but eh, it's a done deal, ain't it? Enter the third character, Laura Michelle Kelly's Karen. She plays Goldblum's temporary secretary. Charley Fox, so high on the adrenalin of the big deal he is going to be part of in the morning, makes the mistake of betting Gould he can't lay his temporary secretary this very evening.
The second act takes place at Gould's apartment and is virtually a monologue by Karen, with sparse interposes by the Goldblum character. It centres on her trying to sell him the idea of making a film out of a worthy but very abstract book. Her main premise is that making the film of the book would be so much more than a moneyspinner. It would make him a film maker rather than a studio hack. Laura Michelle Kelly is believable even though Mamet's dialogue sounded much more clonking than it had in the first act. I couldn't believe in the book, which was something to do with radiation death of the planet, and struck me as pretentious gooblydook. I am not sure still whether this was Mamet's intention or not.
It was with relish that the third act returned to the office the next morning and we awaited the reaction of Charley Fox. If the energy levels of the first act had been breakneck, they went up several more notches in the third. The arguments battered backwards and forwards, with nary a stop for breath. We had violence, male insecurity at its worst, male jostling for position and power, resentment, anger and desperation. This is acting at its finest. Language is used not as a tool of communication but as a weapon to batter and beat others into submission.
Hollywood is the dream factory but inhabited by these denizens it sounds like a nightmare place to be. The Laura Michelle Kelly character is much more subtle than that of the Spacey and Goldblum ones. Is this because Mamet is more at ease with the male characters than the female one? I was interested in my own reaction as part of the audience though. I was rooting for Charley throughout and grudgingly grew to like Gould but wasn't interested in the saving of mankind as proposed in the book supported by Karen. Why is that? Am I sold on the glamour of Hollywood? I was certainly seduced, excited and intrigued by this play and these performances; a wonderful production by Marcus Warchus.
Monday, 14 April 2008
Bronte
This is the flyer for the Bench production of "Bronte" by Polly Teale. It opens at the Havant Arts Centre a week this Thursday, April 24th. It is directed by the Bext Beloved, the Firstborn is the Stage Manager and Kat appears as Charlotte Bronte.
It has a great cast and should proudly take its place amongst the Bench's finest. Please come and see it if you can! (Details on the flyer)
Monday, 31 March 2008
Verbal Diahorrea
I was meant to be keeping my posts to 250 words but the last one amounted to 1028 words. The limit was self imposed but I just don't know when to stop!
Tales from the Green Room 1979
The Best Beloved spotted a factual error in my last dispatch from the Green Room, this very personalised history of the Bench Theatre. As I have said before, these reminiscences are based upon personal memory without access to the Bench archives, so errors or misperceptions or views from an individual perspective are bound to occur. It is one of the reasons that these Tales from the green room will change format after this dispatch. This is the last one that will deal with ancient history and, from now on, the tales will be concerned with particular productions and will use the archive material carefully stored and maintained by the Bench archivist.
Anyway I was telling you about the factual error spotted in the last Tale when I was describing the 1977 production of “As You Like It” and the advent of the Penroses on the Bench scene. Spokey Wheeler did make an appearance in 1977 but didn’t play Silvius to Jenny Jones’ shepherdess.
Spokey did go on to be Bench Chairman and Chairman of the Arts Centre but he didn’t play Silvius.
That honour went to Langley Gifford, a Havant College student at the time. In fact Langley may have been the very first Havant College student to have joined us but he definitely was one of the first of a long line of highly successful Havant College additions to the company, which have been a direct result of David Penrose becoming a Bench member. Such Bench stalwarts as Mark Wakeman and Damon Wakelin joined initially as Havant College students, before going off to University, and eventually returning to Havant and the Bench Theatre. Mark, I remember, arrived for “Martin Chuzzlewit” (May 1990) and one of the productions lined up for a backwards look in the forthcoming series of “Tales from the Green Room”.
I did say that I would review our first version of “Habeas Corpus” in this particular Tale. We did the very first production of any kind in the Arts Centre in November 1977 with me directing the Alan Bennett farce (It was reprised in July 1994 with Jacquie Penrose as director).
Alan Bennett wrote a farce in Habeas Corpus – admittedly in his own linguistic style but he deliberately wrote it in the form of a farce. The driving force behind a farce and what motivates the characters is desperation. A superficial reading of Habeas Corpus can mislead you into thinking it’s about English eccentricity and observation of quaint people and their foibles. But if you remember that each one is driven by desperation then the throwaway lines are not occasioned by wry humour but are wrested from tortured souls. The audience reaction should begin as quiet chuckles of recognition but as the farce proceeds, the pace quickens and the events come tumbling in on one another in ever hectic fashion, the laughter begins to roll in waves until the ultimate sign of success is audience humour exhaustion – “enough is enough already – my sides ache – please stop!”
One of the comments heard occasionally at play selection evenings is the plea that the Bench do something light, a frivolous bit of fun for all concerned. When such a suggestion surface, I groan because invariably comedy is hard work to do really well and the payback only comes in performance – there are invariably tears and tensions during the rehearsal period unless everyone involved is on the same wavelength. Such comments go double for farce!
Added to the difficulty of mounting a farce as described above was the fact that we were about to mount a theatrical performance in 1977 in a building, which had just ceased being the Civic Offices and Council Chambers of the Borough of Havant. The sunken area in Red Mango on the way to the toilets used to be the Mayoral Changing Room and what is now the theatre was the Council Chamber itself. From this we had the public gallery, which is now the balcony and lighting box. However, in 1977, there was no tiered seating. In fact there was no seating at all. The entrance at the back of the auditorium entered on the same level as what is now the stage. It was a purely arbitrary decision on my part that the stage area became the stage area. We had to clean and clear the area to make it practicable as an auditorium. We could have built a temporary stage area on rostra and this would probably have existed to this day. However, I went for performing on the flat and raising the audience on temporary seating stands. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I was setting down the way the theatre has been used ever since in what is the David Spackman Auditorium or Hall, named after one of the Bench members, whose exploits I have extolled in previous Tales from the Green Room. One of my reasons for performing on the flat was that I wanted to hang one of the cast. I wasn’t being unnecessarily cruel to my cast but rather the first act ends with an actor having hung himself and the second act starts from exactly the same moment. It is a dangerous activity, hanging, so I had hired a proper flying kit. The lighting grid you see now didn’t exist and the roof was too far for us to use. I designed and built a triangular setpiece similar to the one that Tim Taylor designed for “Art” (July 2006). The difference was that one of the triangles faces was left out but with the cross beams still visible. It was from these that the actor (Brian Sweatman) hung himself. The counter weighting of the whole structure took a bit of thought I can tell you – and quite a few trials and errors before we got it right – without damage to Brian, who fulfilled all performances and rejoined the Bench for “Man of La Mancha” in February 1995.
The audience must have been very uncomfortable during the show but I am pleased to say the production itself was something of a triumph and helped to successfully herald in a new era of the Bench Theatre at the Havant Arts Centre.
I hope to continue these “Tales from the Green Room” by taking a look at some of the landmark productions the Bench has mounted at the Arts Centre since then, relying less on personal memory and more on our wonderful archive material.
Anyway I was telling you about the factual error spotted in the last Tale when I was describing the 1977 production of “As You Like It” and the advent of the Penroses on the Bench scene. Spokey Wheeler did make an appearance in 1977 but didn’t play Silvius to Jenny Jones’ shepherdess.
Spokey did go on to be Bench Chairman and Chairman of the Arts Centre but he didn’t play Silvius.
That honour went to Langley Gifford, a Havant College student at the time. In fact Langley may have been the very first Havant College student to have joined us but he definitely was one of the first of a long line of highly successful Havant College additions to the company, which have been a direct result of David Penrose becoming a Bench member. Such Bench stalwarts as Mark Wakeman and Damon Wakelin joined initially as Havant College students, before going off to University, and eventually returning to Havant and the Bench Theatre. Mark, I remember, arrived for “Martin Chuzzlewit” (May 1990) and one of the productions lined up for a backwards look in the forthcoming series of “Tales from the Green Room”.
I did say that I would review our first version of “Habeas Corpus” in this particular Tale. We did the very first production of any kind in the Arts Centre in November 1977 with me directing the Alan Bennett farce (It was reprised in July 1994 with Jacquie Penrose as director).
Alan Bennett wrote a farce in Habeas Corpus – admittedly in his own linguistic style but he deliberately wrote it in the form of a farce. The driving force behind a farce and what motivates the characters is desperation. A superficial reading of Habeas Corpus can mislead you into thinking it’s about English eccentricity and observation of quaint people and their foibles. But if you remember that each one is driven by desperation then the throwaway lines are not occasioned by wry humour but are wrested from tortured souls. The audience reaction should begin as quiet chuckles of recognition but as the farce proceeds, the pace quickens and the events come tumbling in on one another in ever hectic fashion, the laughter begins to roll in waves until the ultimate sign of success is audience humour exhaustion – “enough is enough already – my sides ache – please stop!”
One of the comments heard occasionally at play selection evenings is the plea that the Bench do something light, a frivolous bit of fun for all concerned. When such a suggestion surface, I groan because invariably comedy is hard work to do really well and the payback only comes in performance – there are invariably tears and tensions during the rehearsal period unless everyone involved is on the same wavelength. Such comments go double for farce!
Added to the difficulty of mounting a farce as described above was the fact that we were about to mount a theatrical performance in 1977 in a building, which had just ceased being the Civic Offices and Council Chambers of the Borough of Havant. The sunken area in Red Mango on the way to the toilets used to be the Mayoral Changing Room and what is now the theatre was the Council Chamber itself. From this we had the public gallery, which is now the balcony and lighting box. However, in 1977, there was no tiered seating. In fact there was no seating at all. The entrance at the back of the auditorium entered on the same level as what is now the stage. It was a purely arbitrary decision on my part that the stage area became the stage area. We had to clean and clear the area to make it practicable as an auditorium. We could have built a temporary stage area on rostra and this would probably have existed to this day. However, I went for performing on the flat and raising the audience on temporary seating stands. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I was setting down the way the theatre has been used ever since in what is the David Spackman Auditorium or Hall, named after one of the Bench members, whose exploits I have extolled in previous Tales from the Green Room. One of my reasons for performing on the flat was that I wanted to hang one of the cast. I wasn’t being unnecessarily cruel to my cast but rather the first act ends with an actor having hung himself and the second act starts from exactly the same moment. It is a dangerous activity, hanging, so I had hired a proper flying kit. The lighting grid you see now didn’t exist and the roof was too far for us to use. I designed and built a triangular setpiece similar to the one that Tim Taylor designed for “Art” (July 2006). The difference was that one of the triangles faces was left out but with the cross beams still visible. It was from these that the actor (Brian Sweatman) hung himself. The counter weighting of the whole structure took a bit of thought I can tell you – and quite a few trials and errors before we got it right – without damage to Brian, who fulfilled all performances and rejoined the Bench for “Man of La Mancha” in February 1995.
The audience must have been very uncomfortable during the show but I am pleased to say the production itself was something of a triumph and helped to successfully herald in a new era of the Bench Theatre at the Havant Arts Centre.
I hope to continue these “Tales from the Green Room” by taking a look at some of the landmark productions the Bench has mounted at the Arts Centre since then, relying less on personal memory and more on our wonderful archive material.
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
Theatre Reviews
These are two brief theatrical reviews that I came across.
One is from Noel Coward, reviewing Lionel Bart's "Blitz" as "half as long as the original and twice as loud".
The other is from Groucho Marx: "I didn't like the play. But then I did see it in adverse circumstances. The curtain was up."
One is from Noel Coward, reviewing Lionel Bart's "Blitz" as "half as long as the original and twice as loud".
The other is from Groucho Marx: "I didn't like the play. But then I did see it in adverse circumstances. The curtain was up."
Sunday, 9 March 2008
Merrily We Roll Along
The Best Beloved, Penroses and I saw the production of "Merrily We Roll Along"(Stephen Sondheim) at the Watermill, Newbury, Thursday matinee on the 6th after lunch in the restaurant. This was my second viewing of this particular Sondheim musical, having seen a Donmar production with Daniel Evans a couple of years ago. I remember the Donmar version with particular affection as I was blubbing by the time we had got to the end of the show. The blubbing was induced by the excellent performances, the music and the story of youthful ideals and friendships lost in the search for fame and success. The two songs which get me going are "Friends Like Us" and "As days go by". Sondheim also gives a producer in the show a hummable tune, with which he derides the lack of hummable tunes produced by the young songwriters in the plot. Sondheim is just occasionally too clever for his own good. The show lasted sixteen performances on Broadway and was a parting of the ways, I believe, between Sondheim and Harold Prince.
"Merrily We Roll Along" is told chronologically in reverse. We begin with a speech by Frank Shepherd to an academic presentation day audience to which he has been invited as guest speaker because of his fame and success on Broadway and in the movie industry. The musical then works backward through his life showing the shortcuts and betrayals needed to become the success he is. The show actually ends where the life story of Frank Shepherd the composer begins - on the rooftop of a student community hall watching Telstar cross the skies with his two old friends, Mary and Charley. They pledge eternal friendship and commit themselves to the cause of producing remarkable music. This is an anthem to youth and youthful aspirations.
John Doyle, the director, made a name for himself by taking a production of "Sweeney Todd" from the Watermill all the way to Broadway in 2005. Doyle uses actor-musicians to perform his pieces. The twelve strong cast each plays one or more musical instruments as well as singing. The cast are the orchestra as well. The Watermill is a tiny theatre with a tiny performing space. There is no set other than a large vertical tape recorder on the back wall. The space is dominated by Frank's grand piano. I am pleased we saw this production from the circle so we were looking down on the action as i suspect the view from the stalls would have been highly restricted by the piano and pianist. As it was the action mainly consisted of duets and trios around the piano. The emphasis was mainly upon singing and the Best Beloved commented that it was more akin to watching a concert version than a stage one. I certainly did not feel the upswell of emotion that I had experienced during the Donmar version. It may have been due to having to admire the skill with which speeches or songs would be delivered, followed by the raising of an instrument to add to the score. One admired the skill rather than felt the emotion. Sam Kenyon as Frank was good looking but slight and this, for me, rather summed up his performance. I thought Elizabeth Marsh as Mary and Thomas Padden as Charley caught the disillusioned companions well but perhaps that is because the characters themselves are more worthy than Frank. I liked Rebecca Jackson as Gussie with black, thigh high split skirt and black fish net stockings perched high on the piano. Well, I would, wouldn't I?
Johnson Willis, with shaven pate, gets the part of Joe the producer and hapless husband to Gussie. Joe gets the hummable tune in which he derides the unhummable nature of much of the musical output of the composer/ songwriter duo that is Frank and Charley.
I love the intimacy of the Watermill and I love the intimacy of "Merrily We Roll Along" but somehow John Doyle's production never used either intimacy to arouse my soul sufficiently in a beautifully if minimally staged show. I admired it but like my heart strings to be twanged and they weren't.
"Merrily We Roll Along" is told chronologically in reverse. We begin with a speech by Frank Shepherd to an academic presentation day audience to which he has been invited as guest speaker because of his fame and success on Broadway and in the movie industry. The musical then works backward through his life showing the shortcuts and betrayals needed to become the success he is. The show actually ends where the life story of Frank Shepherd the composer begins - on the rooftop of a student community hall watching Telstar cross the skies with his two old friends, Mary and Charley. They pledge eternal friendship and commit themselves to the cause of producing remarkable music. This is an anthem to youth and youthful aspirations.
John Doyle, the director, made a name for himself by taking a production of "Sweeney Todd" from the Watermill all the way to Broadway in 2005. Doyle uses actor-musicians to perform his pieces. The twelve strong cast each plays one or more musical instruments as well as singing. The cast are the orchestra as well. The Watermill is a tiny theatre with a tiny performing space. There is no set other than a large vertical tape recorder on the back wall. The space is dominated by Frank's grand piano. I am pleased we saw this production from the circle so we were looking down on the action as i suspect the view from the stalls would have been highly restricted by the piano and pianist. As it was the action mainly consisted of duets and trios around the piano. The emphasis was mainly upon singing and the Best Beloved commented that it was more akin to watching a concert version than a stage one. I certainly did not feel the upswell of emotion that I had experienced during the Donmar version. It may have been due to having to admire the skill with which speeches or songs would be delivered, followed by the raising of an instrument to add to the score. One admired the skill rather than felt the emotion. Sam Kenyon as Frank was good looking but slight and this, for me, rather summed up his performance. I thought Elizabeth Marsh as Mary and Thomas Padden as Charley caught the disillusioned companions well but perhaps that is because the characters themselves are more worthy than Frank. I liked Rebecca Jackson as Gussie with black, thigh high split skirt and black fish net stockings perched high on the piano. Well, I would, wouldn't I?
Johnson Willis, with shaven pate, gets the part of Joe the producer and hapless husband to Gussie. Joe gets the hummable tune in which he derides the unhummable nature of much of the musical output of the composer/ songwriter duo that is Frank and Charley.
I love the intimacy of the Watermill and I love the intimacy of "Merrily We Roll Along" but somehow John Doyle's production never used either intimacy to arouse my soul sufficiently in a beautifully if minimally staged show. I admired it but like my heart strings to be twanged and they weren't.
Saturday, 8 March 2008
Bronte Begins
"Bronte" is the Bench Theatre production opening on Thursday April 24th until Saturday May 3rd, 2008. It is the Polly Teale version created with Shared Experience. The Best Beloved is the director with yours truly as movement director (and possibly dialogue coach). The Firstborn is the Stage Manager and Cat is playing Charlotte Bronte, so it is something of a family show. I think the Natty Chap may be approached as lighting designer.
The cast gathered for the first read through on Monday 3rd March. The other two sisters are Lorraine as Anne and Frankie as Emily. The ghosts were played by a single actress in the original production but they will be split in ours with Lynda as Bertha and Jo as Cathy.
The two men have to play a number of male characters each. David is Patrick, the Bronte father, and Callum is Branwell, the brother. David has given Patrick a slight Irish burr but has also discovered that Bell Nicholl, another male character he plays, was also Irish. Heger, a third character, is Belgian and David's final part is as Rochester from "Jane Eyre". Callum has also to play Heathcliff from "Wuthering Heights" and Arthur Huntington from "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall".
The play has an interesting structure. The actresses playing the three Bronte sisters change out of modern clothed and into costume during the Prologue. The play then plays chronological tricks with the timeline 1825 - 1854. We see the sisters' story at various times during their lives but not necessarily in time order. By the time the audience see it, this will be absolutely clear but it does mean the company have a lot of work to do to keep the structure clear in their own heads.
As this is FA Cup day and Barnsley are playing Chelsea at their Oakwell ground, I was intrigued to see that Charlotte Bronte - under her nom de plume of Fieldhead - stayed at Oakwell Hall. How's that for an interesting coincidence?
The cast will also have to take on board a Yorkshire accent, which will be part of my briefing. Also a physiotherapist observing the Club Night on Thursday last observed that the incorrect posture was adopted in response to the request to behave like Victorians. She has offered to help with the movement in rehearsal and to do some exercises in future Club Night sessions. The wardrobe are also working very hard to get costumes ready for rehearsal rather than just for performances. I am not sure whether corsets are part of the costume brief but perhaps they should be.
The Club Night also produced outlines of the plots of "Jane Eyre", "Wuthering Heights" and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" acted out by three sections of the gathered assemblage. It was interesting to note how much aspects of all three plots have been retained in the memory as almost iconic moments but how much of the plot is really unknown. It certainly helped the cast to learn about the three books in a painless way and hopefully helped the whole company towards an interest in the current production.
The next rehearsal is Sunday 9th March with a look at the two men and their variety of parts. We will also look at the interaction between Anne and her brother, Branwell.
Jo and Frankie are rehearsing "Stand and Delivery", the Mark Wakeman one acter, for the Totton Drama Festival on Friday 14th March. Cat is away in London at the Actors' Workshop.
I will try to keep you abreast of progress in the production as we go along. It is certainly an interesting challenge to be playing people with real lives who actually existed. The research possibilities are there but one has to rely on Polly Teale having done hers beforehand before writing the play. She will have selected what she wanted to include in the telling of her tale.
The cast gathered for the first read through on Monday 3rd March. The other two sisters are Lorraine as Anne and Frankie as Emily. The ghosts were played by a single actress in the original production but they will be split in ours with Lynda as Bertha and Jo as Cathy.
The two men have to play a number of male characters each. David is Patrick, the Bronte father, and Callum is Branwell, the brother. David has given Patrick a slight Irish burr but has also discovered that Bell Nicholl, another male character he plays, was also Irish. Heger, a third character, is Belgian and David's final part is as Rochester from "Jane Eyre". Callum has also to play Heathcliff from "Wuthering Heights" and Arthur Huntington from "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall".
The play has an interesting structure. The actresses playing the three Bronte sisters change out of modern clothed and into costume during the Prologue. The play then plays chronological tricks with the timeline 1825 - 1854. We see the sisters' story at various times during their lives but not necessarily in time order. By the time the audience see it, this will be absolutely clear but it does mean the company have a lot of work to do to keep the structure clear in their own heads.
As this is FA Cup day and Barnsley are playing Chelsea at their Oakwell ground, I was intrigued to see that Charlotte Bronte - under her nom de plume of Fieldhead - stayed at Oakwell Hall. How's that for an interesting coincidence?
The cast will also have to take on board a Yorkshire accent, which will be part of my briefing. Also a physiotherapist observing the Club Night on Thursday last observed that the incorrect posture was adopted in response to the request to behave like Victorians. She has offered to help with the movement in rehearsal and to do some exercises in future Club Night sessions. The wardrobe are also working very hard to get costumes ready for rehearsal rather than just for performances. I am not sure whether corsets are part of the costume brief but perhaps they should be.
The Club Night also produced outlines of the plots of "Jane Eyre", "Wuthering Heights" and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" acted out by three sections of the gathered assemblage. It was interesting to note how much aspects of all three plots have been retained in the memory as almost iconic moments but how much of the plot is really unknown. It certainly helped the cast to learn about the three books in a painless way and hopefully helped the whole company towards an interest in the current production.
The next rehearsal is Sunday 9th March with a look at the two men and their variety of parts. We will also look at the interaction between Anne and her brother, Branwell.
Jo and Frankie are rehearsing "Stand and Delivery", the Mark Wakeman one acter, for the Totton Drama Festival on Friday 14th March. Cat is away in London at the Actors' Workshop.
I will try to keep you abreast of progress in the production as we go along. It is certainly an interesting challenge to be playing people with real lives who actually existed. The research possibilities are there but one has to rely on Polly Teale having done hers beforehand before writing the play. She will have selected what she wanted to include in the telling of her tale.
Sunday, 2 March 2008
Attempts On Her Life
This Bench production of a play by Martin Crimp came to an end on Sunday 2nd March at around noon.
The Natty Chap created a play and a company that puts it up there in the top ten amongst my 45 years of theatrical endeavour. I am still unsure whether he is a genius or just really stubborn. I suspect both elements have their sway in his general make up.
I do not intend to use this post as a resume of the whole process as Natty Chap set up a rehearsal blog elsewhere for the production. However I would like to pick out my highlights from rehearsal but mainly from the production week just passed.
The company was excellent. At times in rehearsal they foundered with this strange play in which Martin Crimp provides the dialogue but without naming any of the speakers and providing no stage directions. At such times they were all prepared to provide ideas and contributions, but especially Neil and Zoe, who were also mentioned in the fair dinkum newspaper review. When the ideas were in short supply, the Natty Chap just drove them on, coming up with endless variations that they could work on. The company hung together. I don't think I heard one cross word exchanged between them and they all supported each other magnificently. They were a great credit to themselves and to the Natty Chap's direction.
During rehearsal I felt somewhat isolated as Stage Manager. I have done the job before and thought I knew it well enough to be able to do it without too much sweat. However,I was having to learn how to operate the camera and the projector, while at the same time trying to keep the master copy up to date with the amendments. We eventually committed four scenes to the use of live camera work, which was at least one fewer than we had intended. The film crew turned out to be me on projector and the Natty Chap himself on camera, although we had tried a few variations on that before arriving at the performances.
The production team didn't really meet up until 7th February about 18 days before the performance week. Emily and her sister agreed to work in the box as lights and sound crew. Sharman was to be Deputy Stage Manager on the book so I could keep an overview and do the filming. Lizzy was joining us from finishing a stint as Stage Manager on the College production of "Guys and Dolls". She was to be Assistant Stage Manager in charge of props and microphones.
Robin ( Herself) was working hard as producer and providing the props. During the week of the performances she and Himself ( Paul) proved invaluable. Herself was Box Office Manager and Arts Centre Duty Manager on several nights.
We had scheduled a long day for Get In Sunday on 24th February. We worked on the lights from 0900 till noon. We then worked on the visual imagery provided by Patsy and on the mobile projection supervised by yours truly. By 4.00 p.m. we were ready to go through a long, slow tech with the actors before doing a full dress rehearsal at 8.00 p.m. We finished at 10 p.m. The show worked although we had had technical difficulties with the back wall projections. They were incomplete and there seemed to be some lack of communication between the laptop and the static projector. Get that, please, all the human agencies were on their best behaviour and except for one spluttery moment by yours truly late in the day, communication channels were kept open and civilised throughout the day. The only communication breakdown was between two pieces of machinery, who just wouldn't talk to each other unless cajoled and coaxed! I ask you!
We had dispensed with staging blocks, instead going for taped areas on the stage floor. We had two lightweight flats on either side of the stage which were also the screens for the mobile projector. Otherwise we had curtained black surrounds and a large white cyclorama on the back wall. We were certainly going for a minimalist approach.
The Monday dress rehearsal was beset with technical difficulties. The same difficulties from the Sunday hadn't really been resolved and in the end we did the final dress rehearsal without the back wall projections. The cast and crew were magnificent but without the projections the show was too minimalist. Nobody panicked but we hadn't yet run the show in its entirety and next stop was first night and press night!
The first night arrived and we hadn't yet run the show in its entirety with all the technical bits and pieces attached. Adrenalin was flowing but tempers were remarkably under control. Lynda, the assistant director, was magnificent and turned up trumps in finally getting the back wall projections up and running. We did, however, have to call upon the computer expertise of Himself to get the laptop and projector to actually agree to talk to each other. This meant the birthday tea of Herself was somewhat truncated as a result. Hopefully we made up for it at the last night party, which became her unofficial birthday party.
We also discovered that Emily, our lighting operator, who had done a marvellous job on Sunday and Monday taking on board the lighting programme and plot, had been involved in a car collision. We were concerned on her behalf but relieved when her sister Lucy still turned up to do sound and reassured us that Emily was not seriously injured but might be kept in hospital overnight. Jacquie, the lighting Designer, stepped into the breach as Lighting Operator for the performance. In fact, though she was worried about her big sister, the only comment Lucy made was that Emily was looking pale. Now Emily is one of those very slim young women who always to my eyes look "pale and interesting" so I was intrigued to know how Lucy could tell that Emily was pale.
However we had to delay the curtain going up until 8.06 p.m., 36 minutes after its scheduled time. The audience were accommodating, the FOH staff and Amanda the Arts Centre Director jollied them along until we could start. The reviewer was amongst the first night crowd and still give us a very fair and good review.
The show ran to time and, though they were other hiccups during the week. we managed to get through all the performances with flying colours.
I particularly liked Scene 7 The New Anny, which is in the form of a car advertisement. The cast were good at the physical theatre needed and which they had devised.
Scenes 2 and 3 grew on me during the week. The idea of a documentary film crew filming the biography of Anne had arrived early in rehearsals but the action had taken some time to develop. The actors were surprised to find how funny Scene 2 was in performance with a live and aware audience. Scene 3 was quite hard hitting but didn't ever really work until we were in the theatre and using the lighting effects as planned.
I loved the live camera work on the show. I am pleased that Nathan himself operated the camera, freeing me to concentrate on the projection. Nathan knew what he wanted visually and was able to get it. Jacquie's idea to back project it on to the screens was a winner.
I loved the two scenes with Julie. I thought The Camera Loves You was splendid as Julie has the figure to be a model. It was however her vulnerability that tugged at the heart strings as Neil the director harangued her.
The tight close up on Julie in Strangely! again allowed the audience beyond the footlights and into those tawny eyes. To see them fill with tears and then to see the tears run down her cheeks was moving in the extreme.
I thought The Statement was the weakest of the scenes cinematic ally. The idea was good but somehow the hands weren't expressive enough and it just didn't hold together dramatically.
I have recorded all the scenes on Windows Movie Maker as instructed and hopefully we shall see them at future exhibitions as part of the Bench archives.
I was impressed by the company spirit. Sometimes they wallowed at rehearsals but always Nathan drove them on, usually by providing a context or an idea. All the cast were eager and able to contribute ideas and Neil and Zoe in particular seemed to come up with new ones time and again. I never heard a cross word exchanged and the actors were totally supportive of each other from the beginning to the end. The ensemble and company esprit were directly due to Nathan's directing approach. The backstage crew were equally supportive of each other and the production.
I loved working on this play and have learned a lot of new skills. I am working on the next production, "Bronte", as movement director and having to cover for the Best Beloved as director for some of the rehearsals. The stage manager and I intend to film some of the rehearsals so the cast can see themselves and movement points can be made to them. The stage manager is my Firstborn and Kitten is playing Charlotte Bronte so it is quite a family affair.
This blog will now continue as my viewpoint on "Bronte", the Bench production for April 2008.
At the last night party after the Saturday performance, the Natty Chap, the director, asked me, "Knowing what I know now, would I do it all again?" My instinctive but truthful answer was, "No!"
Later, today, I had to qualify it by saying it was one of the productions I was proudest of being involved with.The Natty Chap created a play and a company that puts it up there in the top ten amongst my 45 years of theatrical endeavour. I am still unsure whether he is a genius or just really stubborn. I suspect both elements have their sway in his general make up.
I do not intend to use this post as a resume of the whole process as Natty Chap set up a rehearsal blog elsewhere for the production. However I would like to pick out my highlights from rehearsal but mainly from the production week just passed.
The company was excellent. At times in rehearsal they foundered with this strange play in which Martin Crimp provides the dialogue but without naming any of the speakers and providing no stage directions. At such times they were all prepared to provide ideas and contributions, but especially Neil and Zoe, who were also mentioned in the fair dinkum newspaper review. When the ideas were in short supply, the Natty Chap just drove them on, coming up with endless variations that they could work on. The company hung together. I don't think I heard one cross word exchanged between them and they all supported each other magnificently. They were a great credit to themselves and to the Natty Chap's direction.
During rehearsal I felt somewhat isolated as Stage Manager. I have done the job before and thought I knew it well enough to be able to do it without too much sweat. However,I was having to learn how to operate the camera and the projector, while at the same time trying to keep the master copy up to date with the amendments. We eventually committed four scenes to the use of live camera work, which was at least one fewer than we had intended. The film crew turned out to be me on projector and the Natty Chap himself on camera, although we had tried a few variations on that before arriving at the performances.
The production team didn't really meet up until 7th February about 18 days before the performance week. Emily and her sister agreed to work in the box as lights and sound crew. Sharman was to be Deputy Stage Manager on the book so I could keep an overview and do the filming. Lizzy was joining us from finishing a stint as Stage Manager on the College production of "Guys and Dolls". She was to be Assistant Stage Manager in charge of props and microphones.
Robin ( Herself) was working hard as producer and providing the props. During the week of the performances she and Himself ( Paul) proved invaluable. Herself was Box Office Manager and Arts Centre Duty Manager on several nights.
We had scheduled a long day for Get In Sunday on 24th February. We worked on the lights from 0900 till noon. We then worked on the visual imagery provided by Patsy and on the mobile projection supervised by yours truly. By 4.00 p.m. we were ready to go through a long, slow tech with the actors before doing a full dress rehearsal at 8.00 p.m. We finished at 10 p.m. The show worked although we had had technical difficulties with the back wall projections. They were incomplete and there seemed to be some lack of communication between the laptop and the static projector. Get that, please, all the human agencies were on their best behaviour and except for one spluttery moment by yours truly late in the day, communication channels were kept open and civilised throughout the day. The only communication breakdown was between two pieces of machinery, who just wouldn't talk to each other unless cajoled and coaxed! I ask you!
We had dispensed with staging blocks, instead going for taped areas on the stage floor. We had two lightweight flats on either side of the stage which were also the screens for the mobile projector. Otherwise we had curtained black surrounds and a large white cyclorama on the back wall. We were certainly going for a minimalist approach.
The Monday dress rehearsal was beset with technical difficulties. The same difficulties from the Sunday hadn't really been resolved and in the end we did the final dress rehearsal without the back wall projections. The cast and crew were magnificent but without the projections the show was too minimalist. Nobody panicked but we hadn't yet run the show in its entirety and next stop was first night and press night!
The first night arrived and we hadn't yet run the show in its entirety with all the technical bits and pieces attached. Adrenalin was flowing but tempers were remarkably under control. Lynda, the assistant director, was magnificent and turned up trumps in finally getting the back wall projections up and running. We did, however, have to call upon the computer expertise of Himself to get the laptop and projector to actually agree to talk to each other. This meant the birthday tea of Herself was somewhat truncated as a result. Hopefully we made up for it at the last night party, which became her unofficial birthday party.
We also discovered that Emily, our lighting operator, who had done a marvellous job on Sunday and Monday taking on board the lighting programme and plot, had been involved in a car collision. We were concerned on her behalf but relieved when her sister Lucy still turned up to do sound and reassured us that Emily was not seriously injured but might be kept in hospital overnight. Jacquie, the lighting Designer, stepped into the breach as Lighting Operator for the performance. In fact, though she was worried about her big sister, the only comment Lucy made was that Emily was looking pale. Now Emily is one of those very slim young women who always to my eyes look "pale and interesting" so I was intrigued to know how Lucy could tell that Emily was pale.
However we had to delay the curtain going up until 8.06 p.m., 36 minutes after its scheduled time. The audience were accommodating, the FOH staff and Amanda the Arts Centre Director jollied them along until we could start. The reviewer was amongst the first night crowd and still give us a very fair and good review.
The show ran to time and, though they were other hiccups during the week. we managed to get through all the performances with flying colours.
I particularly liked Scene 7 The New Anny, which is in the form of a car advertisement. The cast were good at the physical theatre needed and which they had devised.
Scenes 2 and 3 grew on me during the week. The idea of a documentary film crew filming the biography of Anne had arrived early in rehearsals but the action had taken some time to develop. The actors were surprised to find how funny Scene 2 was in performance with a live and aware audience. Scene 3 was quite hard hitting but didn't ever really work until we were in the theatre and using the lighting effects as planned.
I loved the live camera work on the show. I am pleased that Nathan himself operated the camera, freeing me to concentrate on the projection. Nathan knew what he wanted visually and was able to get it. Jacquie's idea to back project it on to the screens was a winner.
I loved the two scenes with Julie. I thought The Camera Loves You was splendid as Julie has the figure to be a model. It was however her vulnerability that tugged at the heart strings as Neil the director harangued her.
The tight close up on Julie in Strangely! again allowed the audience beyond the footlights and into those tawny eyes. To see them fill with tears and then to see the tears run down her cheeks was moving in the extreme.
The fact that the rest of the scene onstage was played by the light only of two flashlights held by the actors was very powerful and heightened the projected close up of Julie. One member of the audience was heard to ask where Julie was when she was being filmed. Gently she had to explain it was her silhouette to be seen behind the SR screen and that was where she was filmed. She was lit by a torch held by an actor while Nathan filmed her from upstage.
I also liked the Kinda Funny, American evangelical TV, with Callum and Sue. The shots of Sue as Mom were excellent. Callum's performance was rightly praised in the review and I suspect it was mainly on this particular scene. He was creepily "right on" as the evangelical commander of a group of like minded people carving a new life for themselves and maintaining their right "to bear arms". He got the American flow and his asides to the camera were so accurate.
I thought The Statement was the weakest of the scenes cinematic ally. The idea was good but somehow the hands weren't expressive enough and it just didn't hold together dramatically.
I have recorded all the scenes on Windows Movie Maker as instructed and hopefully we shall see them at future exhibitions as part of the Bench archives.
I was impressed by the company spirit. Sometimes they wallowed at rehearsals but always Nathan drove them on, usually by providing a context or an idea. All the cast were eager and able to contribute ideas and Neil and Zoe in particular seemed to come up with new ones time and again. I never heard a cross word exchanged and the actors were totally supportive of each other from the beginning to the end. The ensemble and company esprit were directly due to Nathan's directing approach. The backstage crew were equally supportive of each other and the production.
I loved working on this play and have learned a lot of new skills. I am working on the next production, "Bronte", as movement director and having to cover for the Best Beloved as director for some of the rehearsals. The stage manager and I intend to film some of the rehearsals so the cast can see themselves and movement points can be made to them. The stage manager is my Firstborn and Kitten is playing Charlotte Bronte so it is quite a family affair.
This blog will now continue as my viewpoint on "Bronte", the Bench production for April 2008.
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