Civilian Theatre

Thursday Afternoon Shakespeare

Here are two trailers.

And

Today’s challenge?

Above we have two films that are soon to be released in the UK.

The first is an ensemble production that plays to the gallery with an all-star cast filling the roles of appropriately recognisable figures from Elizabethan England, from which positions they can thesp their way through exponential dialogue to their hearts content, as the Director, already responsible for such sensitive films as 10,000BC, Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow, expounds every first year English undergraduate’s favourite conspiracy theory question: did Shakespeare write his own plays?

The second is the directorial debut of a man who has recently finished playing Prospero on stage and who first played the star of his film over 10 years ago. His choice is Coriolanus,one of the most complex of Shakespeare’s play with a depth of plot and psychology of language that makes Romeo and Juliet look like a nursery rhyme.

So the question is this: which of the two films make me so depressed that I want to stick pins in my eyes? Answers on a postcard and all will be revealed later in the week.

Time to cast your votes

As the nights draw in and the idea of schlepping down to the West End for an overpriced seat in an underheated auditorium begins to lose its appeal, it is time to join the Evening Standard in casting an eye over the years productions in order to bestow upon one the arbitrary title of Best Night Out. It is of course unfortunate that ‘Best Night Out’ is indelibly linked in my mind to provincial towns and phrases like ‘Mega-Bingo’ and ‘introducing Top Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood’, but we all have our crosses to bear.

So without further ado, the shortlist:

BATMAN LIVE (The O2 Arena, SE10)

Really, REALLY. It is hard to imagine the shortlist getting off to a more inauspicious start. I am not sure which marketing consultant drew a venn diagram between regular theatre goers and fans of Batman films. It is perfectly possible there are many. However they probably didn’t also consider whether all of these fans would rather rent The Dark Knight for a £3.99 than fork out extorniate prices to see Batman battle against a trio of his most deadly enemies: plot, character and action. Like all wars, there were no victors

CHICAGO (Garrick Theatre, WC2)

Yep, still here. After 14 years. As we move from Ute Lemper to Ruthie Henshall to Claire Sweeney to someone from Ugly Betty, one can only presume it is just as good now as it was then. If you are the last remaining person in London not to have seen it, rent the DVD. Its not great but at least its got Queen Latifah in it.

CRAZY FOR YOU (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, NW1 and Novello Theatre, WC2)
Ok, I actually like this. Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre are building a bit of a reputation for themselves carving out interesting musicals. Last years Into The Woods was revelatory and whilst Crazy For You doesn’t reach those exceptionally high standards, it is great to see a traditional Chorus Line musical hit London, and is comfortable the best musical of its type since the last major revival of Anything Goes.

JERUSALEM (Apollo Theatre, W1)

Still excellent. Still the best play of the 21^st century. Still one of the best performances of the 21^st century. If you haven’t seen it yet then beg, borrow or steal tickets for its latest London run. The staggering tour-de-force that is Rylance’s performance as Johnny ‘Rooster’ Byron makes it hard to imagine it being revived with any other actor in the role.

LA SOIREE (Magic Mirrors, SE1 and Roundhouse, NW1)
Saw La Clique. Sure its much the same. Seen one burlesque show seen them all. Law of diminishing returnsprobably applies. At least it’s not Cirque de Effin Soleil.

LES MISERABLES (Queens Theatre, W1)

Do you hear the people sing? Not if I can help it.

OFFICE PARTY (Pleasance Theatre, N7)
Oh god, by its own admission its interactive. Please, please, please will companies stop making us poor audiences become part of the action I am paying you to act, not me. If I could act I would be up there to begin with. Probably best for stag nights and hen parties of people who feel a little bit above Spearmint Rhino.

ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS (National’s Lyttelton, SE1 and Adelphi Theatre, WC2)
Far better than anyone expected. It is fair to describe this as the breakthrough hit of the summer and a reminder to everyone that James Corden is far more than ‘James Cordon star of Lesbian Vampire Killers’. A fine actor, a fine translation and an absolute comic treat that more than deserves its West End transfer.

THE PITMEN PAINTERS (Duchess Theatre, WC2)

Haven’t seen it. By all accounts it is very good and deserves its West End transfer for taking a wonderful story that is made even stronger by its veracity. Before deciding to book tickets it should be noted that it was created by Lee Hall; a man also responsible for Billy Elliot. My understanding is there is less dancing in this.

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN (Waterloo Station, SE1)
I really, really wish that I had managed to see this. By all accounts a lovely idea exceedingly well executed. In hindsight it makes perfect sense to stage this with a vintage steam train but actually using the former Eurostar platforms at Waterloo was a magical touch and all those who have seen it have managed a smile while stoically dabbing their eyes with hankies.

SHREK THE MUSICAL (Theatre Royal Drury Lane, WC2)

So here is a great idea – we have a much loved character that has been slowly eroded by sequels that don’t quite live up to the imaginative reinvention of fairytale stereotypes of the first. Now how can we rejuvenate the brand? There must still be some money that can be squeezed from the pockets of parents somehow. How about a musical that strips all the magic from a fantasy land by spending an extorniate amount on a set, props and make-up that has 1/100^th of the charm of the original film? C’mon people you might as well send a cheque straight to Stephen Spielberg.

WICKED (Apollo Victoria Theatre, SW1)
Actually better than you might imagine. And now with Matt Willis from Busted. Hmm bad news for both the musical and Matt Willis’ solo career then.

If you actually want to vote in this thing (admittedly its not quite X Factor but its always nice to have a say) then you can do so here: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/bestnightout.do

Let the best play win (and please please please don’t be Batman Live).

It’s not all flat caps and whippets you know

‘Provincial Theatre’; the name alone conjures up a terrifying world of underpowered Oscar Wilde revivals, a myriad number of unnecessary Noel Coward productions and a one-man show featuring Simon Callow, heavy sideburns and a troop of Dickensian characters. One imagines the blue rinse brigade being out in force and St John’s Ambulance on standby.

So if this is the case then why I am cursing to myself about both my inadequate timekeeping and the sheer lunacy of trying to claim that Kings Cross and St Pancras are the same station? Why am I hurtling along, judiciously placing sharp elbows into the sides of unaware and unamused French tourists as they gather in the middle of the thoroughfare, just about managing to leap onto the 09.55 to Sheffield with not a moment to spare?

This urgency is caused by the fact that the Crucible is not some ordinary out-of-town theatre. Admittedly the first poster I see is advertising Callow in a Dickens adaptation entitled Dr Marigold and Mr Chops (careful Simon, carry on at this rate and you put at risk your national treasure status), but that I feel is the exception rather than the rule.

The Crucible has been transformed into one of the great regional theatres with an illustrious reputation, and not just for hosting the snooker. A theatre space built with the audience in mind; what the chairs’ may lack in Regency comfort is given back in the form of a utilitarian space that manages to ensure that 980 people can be seated in a manner that allows no-one to be more than 20 metres from the stage. This, to give it some perspective, is the approximate length of a cricket wicket. For anyone who has had the questionable fortune to have sat in the Gods at the Royal Opera House or the Gallery at the Theatre Royal Haymarket then these are truly miraculous days.

But to business and the reason why I am here. Well, like many cosmopolitan liberal types – for the last five or six years I have been more than a little obsessed by The Wire. And brilliantly, here in Sheffield, not in London commanding sky high ticket prices on the West End, the Crucible has managed to entice Dominic West and Clarke Peters to perform Othello (no prizes for guessing who Othello is). The icing on the cake? £17.00 for a seat in the middle of Row D. You can tell we are not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

And I should warn Sheffield that many more productions of this calibre and they will have a stream of recession-hit, disaffected Londoner’s on their hands who have grown weary of an equivalent seat costing upwards of £60, with ludicrously high booking fees to boot.

The Cultural Olympiad: Better late then never?

Well the big news of the day is the announcement of some major theatre projects that will be heading our way in 2012. One of the elements of the Olympic legacy that never really seem to have caught the public imagination is the Cultural Olympiad – something aptly skewered in the BBC’s painfully accurate picture of life as a middle-manager on the Olympics (something that I have at times had the questionable fortune to view first hand).

World Stages London is (and this sounds does sound a little to close to the clip above for comfort) “…a once-in-a-lifetime celebration through theatre of the exhilarating cosmopolitan diversity of London’s people and culture”. Well okay, in fairness London is one of the great international cities of the world – and what sets it apart on the cultural stage is it is ability to be a melting pot that blends the ingredients of the art and world view of different cultures to create something unique – in a way that only New York can really claim to challenge..

With talents as varied as Peter Brook and Jonathan Dove, and pieces including a 500 strong site-specific work about Babel and the first-ever production of Wild Swans, it seems pretty certain that there will be something for everything in the run-up to the Olympics (where it will be wall-to-wall British sporting patriotism for the best part of six weeks).

Reasons to be cheerful…

The Suit

Peter Brook, in a collaboration with Marie Helene Estienne, continues his exploration of fables and the art of story-telling and myth-making with this adaptation of a short-story by Can Themba. Now personally I have found Brook’s last two outings at the Barbican insubstantial and well below the standards that he is capable of. Lately his reduction of the stage to its barest essentials have taken on the feel of an ascetic. However one always lives in hope of a return to the form that made him a colossus of 20th century theatre.

It runs from 21 May to the 16 June. More details can be found here

Babel

In what looks like a very special production and the possible flagship event of the whole project, Battersea Arts Centre and WildWorks (responsible for the critically acclaimed The Passion at Port Talbot) are teaming up for Babel, which includes a cast of 500 community and professional actors, musicians and performers. It is site-specific and the location is yet to be revealed, but it seems likely that a famous London landmark is involved and one imagines that it will have to be somewhat tower-shaped (my personal hope is Big Ben but one imagines security concerns may make that one tricky)

It runs from 08 – 20 May. More details can be found here

Wild Swans

A literary classic and a world-wide best seller (no hyperbole here, over 30 translations and 10 million copies – thanks Wikipedia!), Juna Chang’s novel looks set to be one of the more popular smash hits of the festival. Telling a story of one family’s multi-generational struggle against the backdrop of an ever-changing China, it effectively contains the biographies of three generations of women in the Chang family.

I must admit it has never held any interest for me whatsoever. I haven’t read it and can’t imagine doing so soon. No doubt it is my loss but then so are many of the other books I have never, and sadly will never, read. It is almost certain going to be a complete sell-out and if you want to go, you should get your tickets soon.

It runs from 13 April to 13 May. More details can be found her e

Three Kingdoms

Despite being one of the more mysterious offerings on the programme, its sheer intriguing nature has me hooked and will be what I will be most looking forward to this spring. Written by Simon Stephens and exploring the trade in trafficked women and organised crime across Europe, it doesn’t profess to being the most uplifting evening you are likely to spend in the theatre. However a new play by Stephens is always worth catching and it is interesting to see a plotline that seems more suggestive of a film being given the stage treatment – throw in the puzzling trail picture (above) and you can count me in.

It runs from 03 – 19 May. More details can be found here

Much more on World Stages London

The Stow Festival – A shameless plug and a great event

Tomorrow kicks off a project that I have been working on in the background for almost 9 months. No, I am not expecting a baby but in its own way the residents of Walthamstow can look forward to a new arrival of their very own tomorrow: a dedicated local music festival in an area that is in desperate need of more culture.

A number of ‘concerned local residents’ decided to take matters into their own hands and have put together a 4 day festival that takes place over 9 venues and includes over 25 musicians. A massive thank you must go to all the bands, venues and local businesses who have helped us to create The Stow Festival.

Now all we need is an audience…this is where you come in.

If you live in Walthamstow you have no excuse,

If you have friends who live in Walthamstow, well its the perfect time to visit,

If you have never been to Walthamstow, well what could be better than kicking off your experience with a whole host of live music to enjoy.

Shameless plug yes but this blog does not endorse any old crap. It should be the last good weekend of the year – after this it will be cold, dark, gloomy and dank. So finish off the Summer in style by showing your support and having a great day out.

www.stowfestival.com

Stow Festival Programme

Ok shameless, shameless plug over. Normal service will be resumed once the festival is out the way and I have managed to catch up on the many hours of sleep that I am currently missing.

Reviews over the next few weeks should include: Othello in Sheffield, Hamlet in the Young Vic and One Man, Two Guvnors in its West End incarnation. If you have any productions that you would like me to review then feel free to get in touch, I am always interested in fringe productions and new writing.

Sexual politics and swinging London

When Did You Last See My Mother – Trafalgar Studios, until 08 October.

Written when he was 18 and produced for the Comedy Theatre two years later, When Did You Last See My Mother, marked Christopher Hampton’s explosive debut and meant that he was the youngest playwright of modern times to have a play staged in the West End. It opened to almost universally rapturous reviews and immediately propelled Hampton into the spotlight as a precocious new talent. After a career that includes The Philanthropist, Tales from Hollywood and the Oscar-winning screenplay for Dangerous Liaisons, When Did You Last See My Mother seems like it is from the distant past and almost unbelievably this new production at the Trafalgar Studios marks the first major revival of the play in the West End for almost 40 years.

Currently the West End appears to be in a period of looking to the past; we have seen a number of Rattigan revivals in his centenary year, The Kitchen has just opened at the National and the Donmar will soon be staging Osborne’s Inadmissible Evidence. A reason behind these revivals is the belief that these three playwrights share an ability to create a universality of truth that can transcend the time when it was written; Rattigan finds his range across the spectrum of human emotion whilst Wesker’s masterpiece, The Kitchen, lays bare the individual within the machine.

To expect that a play written by an 18 year old will reach such a level of truth is unreasonable and there are moments when it is clear that Hampton is still finding his ear for dialogue; in particular Jimmy’s mother must deliver a couple of lines that suggest a playwright still finding his feet in giving voice to a mature women; interestingly a theme mirrored within the play. However this production is full of moments that touch on the sublime and show us glimpses of a master honing his art. More crucially, Hampton is very strong on the undercurrents of sexual identity and class envy that run through the play and still feel immediate and challenging to a modern audience. Review Continues Here