All entries for Monday 24 July 2006

Julius Caesar @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre

MAY 11TH 2006 (backdated)

First of all, I’m going to quickly rave about the value of the seat I got. For £5, I was in the fifth row, relatively central and right in front of the stage. It was the best view I’ve ever had in the theatre! And, even better, I’ve got the same seat booked for a number of other performances. The great thing about the £5 ticket offer for 16-25 year olds is that it’s not just the cheap seats at the back- some of the seats are the best in the house.

(by the way, the RSC aren’t paying me to advertise this! I’m just incredibly glad that an offer exists which allows a struggling student to afford to indulge himself in so much theatre!)

On another interesting note about the performance of Caesar that I saw- it had no interval. The first couple of performances did have one, but the director decided to try it without, and just do it as a 2 hour 20 minute straight-through performance. Chatting to a steward at the end they explained that they were trialling it for a couple of nights to see how it worked, so only time will tell. I liked it as a single act, though- it kept up the pace and immediacy of the growing conflict, and really didn’t seem too long. I don’t know what the rest of the audience thought, though.

The third RSC production of the Festival, this time directed by Sean Holmes. And, unfortunately, not the most engaging of the three. Maybe it was the relative shortness of the production, maybe the fact it was only the fifth or sixth performance, maybe it was just that there have been so many top-class productions in the last month, but this one just didn’t seem as good.

There were some great moments, though. The spectacular rainstorm which drenched the stage in water was a highlight, as were James Hayes’ Caesar and Mariah Gayles’ Portia. Finbar Lynch made for an interesting Cassius too- his distinctive, hesitating style of delivery took some getting used to, but the ambiguity of his motives and his general shiftiness were great to watch. Comic relief came from Joseph Alessi’s camp Casca, a joy in the early scenes.

The violence was also done extremely well. Caesar’s death, drawing on material from contemporary sources, was prolonged and bloody, the murderers remaining in their soiled clothes until after the orations scene. Caesar’s body remained a presence on the stage for a long time too, eventually rising and staring at its persecutors, and then returning periodically throughout the play to haunt them. The descent into darkness was therefore strongly underpinned.

This was presumably completely unintentional, but I really enjoyed the idea of Antony being on crutches. What could have been a difficulty for Ariyon Bakare, newly returned to the company after his accident, became an advantage, turning his Antony into a wounded hero, with more than a hint of the wounded animal who becomes more dangerous as a result. Antony was sorely underestimated by the conspirators because of his disability, which made his sudden emergence in the oration scenes even more of a shock to them. I’m perhaps reading too much into this, but in my opinion it really worked, and I think it’d be good to keep him on crutches even when he’s healed!!

It was in the oration scenes, though, that the play lost a little of its drive. While the orations were fine, delivered from a high sloping platform practically overhanging the front row, they lacked the people-shaking power that is normally associated with them- not because of the speakers, but because of the crowd. The company, far upstage, jostled, argued, shouted and reacted just like a normal crowd- with the result that their reactions didn’t seem particularly motivated by what was happening downstage. Antony would scream for silence, but then not get it for quite some time. While this is possibly more natural, onstage it seemed like neither he or Brutus could actually hold their attention.

Having seen the same company perform ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ a few weeks ago, there were a few interesting comparisons to make. James Hayes, Lepidus in ‘Antony’, is now Julius. Antony is now played by the (recovered, but still on crutches) Ariyon Bakare. The Octavia of ‘Antony’ is the Portia of ‘Julius’. It’s fascinating to see the actors build bridges between their characters, to recognise faces and to adjust to their new role. This company are going on to do ‘The Tempest’ next, so doubtless there will be more links to be made.

I’ve rabbited on long enough now. Don’t get me wrong- it was good, definitely good. Just not as good as the others.

Peter Kirwan : 24 Jul 2006 22:56 |  Tags: Productions |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Try something new this year

MAY 9TH 2006 (backdated)

I really hope the 'Stratford Crowd' are going to try and see some new things this year.

An odd comment? Well, it doesn't seem so when I compare sold–out performances for the entire run of the excellent but traditional RSC production of 'Antony & Cleopatra' compared to half–empty houses for a mere four performances of a German production of 'Othello'.

One friend of mine loves the language and poetry of the Bard so much that she refuses to see anything that's not in English. "It's not Shakespeare if it's not in English", she says.

I don't know how widely–spread a view this is, but it seems a real shame as she will miss some wonderful theatre this year. Shakespeare, for me, is not about the language. Yes, it's wonderful, but it's not the reason I fell in love with the plays. What I fell in love with was the drama, the ways in which his characters come to life on the stage, the situations he creates and the dynamics of the characters. You don't need the plays to be in English for that. As I believe 'Othello' showed, and as films such as those by Kurosawa demonstrate, Shakespeare's dramas can be successfully transferred to all kinds of environments, cultures and languages. The stories are universal, their characters internationally recognisable.

There's going to be some pretty special international theatre. A Japanese 'Titus Andronicus', an Indian 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', a Russian 'Twelfth Night' and a Chinese 'King Lear' should be some of the highlights, and in many ways these are the plays I'm most looking forward to– how often do we get good quality international Shakespeare in the Midlands? Certainly never in this quantity. And I will be sorely disappointed if I go to these performances and have as much legroom as I did for 'Othello'. If you're going to try something this year, try something new, don't 'play safe'– get a cheap seat for something experimental, or something from a different culture, or even for one of the new plays, and just see what you think.

Rant over!

Peter Kirwan : 24 Jul 2006 19:53 |  Tags: Thoughts |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Hamlet @ The Swan Theatre

MAY 1ST 2006 (backdated)

And now for the full-on performance! My seat wasn’t as good as it was for the dress rehearsal, but no matter, the production was just as it had been two days ago- excellent.

The problem with seeing any production twice in a short space of time is, of course, over-familiarity. This can be good, though, as you notice more subtleties and minor points.

As with ‘Othello’, this was a modern-dress production, located in a South African mobland where John Kani’s Claudius was flanked by suited bodyguards and Polonius carried a clipboard. The bars across the balconies in the Swan added to the prison atmosphere in which Hamlet was trapped.

Vaneshran Arumugam was a youthful and incredibly energetic prince, who climbed the bars making monkey noises as he feigned madness and practised tai-chi during the all too famous soliloquy. Witty and sarcastic, he and the other young actors worked hard to bring out the inherent dark humour in Act One, as Hamlet sarcastically observed his peers and drew his plans. The far shorter second act, starting with the scene of Polonius’ murder and ending with the final death scenes, contrasted sharply in its downward spiral to chaos.

John Kani, whose work I’d already studied when working on Athol Fugard’s plays back as a Theatre Studies undergrad, was in the end a surprising disappointment. While suitably intimidating and dangerous as Claudius, some of his acting felt somewhat stilted, most notably as he died in a moment that actually drew laughs from the audience. This was redeemed in moments such as his prayers, where he knelt and started speaking in Afrikaan, a haunting moment as the young Hamlet crept up behind him for the kill.

Elsewhere, Rosencrantz and the replacement Guildernstern got a lot of stage time and their bumbling added much humour; the Players offered up a stylised, Eastern-themed version of ‘The Mousetrap’ set to a drum; and a young but haunting Roshine Ratnam had a shaky start as a somewhat whiny Orphelia, but then carried off her madness in style, putting a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle into its grave and then stripping topless as she clawed at herself.

It wasn’t a ‘Hamlet’ that would change the world, but it carried a lot of resonance. If nothing else, it reminded me that much of the play can be very funny, and really emphasised the pressures that the youths of the play are under from their elders.

Peter Kirwan : 24 Jul 2006 19:17 |  Tags: Productions |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Othello @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre

APRIL 29TH 2006 (backdated)

“May be unsuitable for young children. Certain scenes contain strong language which some people may find offensive”.

Not a disclaimer for this blog, but the one sent out prior to the arrival of the first of the international contributors to the Festival – Munchner Kammerspiele from Germany.

This was emphatically NOT for the faint-hearted. Rather than translate Shakespeare’s text into German, the writers had instead written a new version of the play in contemporary language. Language being the operative word, as every swear word I know was used in turn, some to appalling effect, others so often that by the end of the play they felt like polite conversation!

This was “Difficult” Shakespeare, designed to provoke and cause conflict. Two hours straight through on a bare and dimly-lit stage dominated by two grand pianos on top of each other, one black and one white. It was in German with English surtitles, the stage so dark that we could rarely see the actor’s faces, and an astonishingly vicious approach to cutting the play.

I have to be honest, though. I absolutely, 100% loved it. The music made it- throughout, the play was accompanied by an offbeat live jazz score, the pianist using his instrument in every way possible, even leaning inside and banging on the strings. At one moment the actors would be jerking about to the insane rhythms, as if controlled quite literally by the strings of the piano, at others the pianist sang beautifully moving ballads.

Having a white actor, Thomas Thieme, playing Othello allowed the production to bring out another distinction between the two lovers- their age. While Julia Jentsch’s Desdemona skipped about the stage, Othello lumbered to keep up and looked somewhat ridiculous. Their aggressively physical relationship- all over each other at very inappropriate times, like the war council- here betrayed a deep-felt insecurity on both sides: Othello insecure about his age and his ability to satisfy Desdemona, Desdemona about whether she had made the right match, as became clear towards the end as she screamed, swore and threatened to leave Othello.

You might get from that that this wasn’t the traditional demure, saintly Desdemona. Instead, she was a modern girl discovering her sexuality, who would only go so far to placate her lover and wouldn’t accept his final violent treatment of her. She played the child but felt herself to be very much the woman, and so their tragedy became one of miscommunication, of a couple experiencing problems but unable to talk about them, thus leading to destruction.

This was their play. Bianca was cut, and Cassio’s story conflated with Iago’s so that Cassio was in fact having an affair with Bianca, leading to a shattering moment after the offstage murder of Cassio when Iago re-entered with Cassio’s shirt, and proceeded to violently shred it with a knife in front of his wife.

I could really go on about this play all night. A lot of people didn’t like it, and one of the most disheartening things about the night was overhearing one group asking, “Where do we queue to get our money back for THAT rubbish?”, and I can understand why people would react like that. I’ll probably post later about people’s preconceptions of what ‘Shakespeare’ should be, as I think that’s going to have a big bearing on audience figures. It says something, though, that this run was only four performances long, and was far from sold-out when I saw it.

I loved it, though. To me, it was what theatrical Shakespeare is all about, the spirit of the thing, the dynamic relationships between characters, those moments onstage which have the groundlings gasping, sobbing and laughing. It was distant, but at the same time superlatively evocative and emotional, and superb theatre.

Peter Kirwan : 24 Jul 2006 18:52 |  Tags: Productions |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Sneak peek!

APRIL 27TH 2006 (backdated)

There are advantages to going on conferences sometimes. While on a two-day conference on Thomas Kyd’s ‘The Spanish Tragedy’ (a very good play by the way, hoping someone mounts a production of it in the near future), we got the offer of seeing an open dress rehearsal of the Baxter Theatre Centre’s production of ‘Hamlet’ in The Swan.

I’m seeing the play proper in four days anyway, so I’ll save the ‘review’ part of things until then. For now, though, I’ll save a bit of time by giving some background.

This is one of the first international productions of the Festival. It’s directed by Janet Suzman, who’s an RSC alumnus, but it’s by the Baxter Theatre Centre of South Africa. The cast features a suitably diverse cross-section of South African society, with a colour-blind approach to casting and a wide range of accents and dialects, yet almost all spoken in English.

One of the members of the cast, the actor playing Guildernstern, was sadly killed not long before the production came to England, and understandably it was a difficult decision to decide whether to replace him or to cancel their engagements. They chose the latter, obviously, but knowing that story adds a pretty sobering feel to the whole production. It doesn’t make the production any better or worse, but it does contextualise the play somewhat in terms of the South African mob environment it presents- but more on that later.

On a seperate note, I quite enjoyed being there at an open dress rehearsal. The press were all in, and I have to admit the noise of cameras constantly clicking for the first hour was very irritating. Getting the best seats in the house was great, though!

Plays seem to come in short bursts- it’s ‘Othello’ in two days, then the proper performance of ‘Hamlet’ two days after that. It’s nice knowing I’ll be seeing it again though, hopefully it’ll wear well over two viewings!

Peter Kirwan : 24 Jul 2006 18:19 |  Tags: Events Hamlet |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Antony & Cleopatra @ The Swan

APRIL 13TH 2006 (backdated)

Whew.

Well, as opposed to ‘Romeo and Juliet’, Doran’s ‘Antony & Cleopatra’ was a very traditional production, but very, very good. It says something that for its three hours length, I didn’t even notice that I was standing, the time just flew.

Whereas the cast of ‘Romeo’ were dwarfed by their set and design, ‘Antony’ was a very cast-oriented production. The highlights were, of course, the two big names, Patrick Stewart and Harriet Walter. From their first scene, where the two ran about giggling like small children, to the emotional climax of Antony’s death, the two held attention whenever they were onstage.

The humour of the play was brought out far more than I’d expected, often to poignant effect. Walter’s hint of brattishness betrayed a queen led by the heart rather than the head, and her scenes with the Messenger were among the funniest things I’ve ever seen at the RSC, as the young man tried desperately to judge her mood. Stewart’s laughter, on the other hand, gradually evolved from genuine joy to a more strained way of coping with mounting adversity, rarely betraying to his enemies- or even to his love- any doubt about his coming victory.

The production didn’t just hinge on the two leads, though, and I do hope the critics remember to mention the other highlights of the production. One pleasant surprise was the spectacular Peter de Jersey, who had lead roles in ‘Sejanus: His Fall’ and ‘Believe What You Will’ last season, standing in at short notice as Pompey for Ariyon Bakare, who recently broke his leg. de Jersey’s Pompey was a powerful and noble soldier, whose short stage time was particularly compelling. Coupled with an Octavius who was visibly shaking during his first meeting with Antony, but later gained confidence, and a deeply troubled Enobarbus, there were fantastic performances to be found in every scene.

One of the most impressive scenes was the very ‘manly’ drinking scene, wherein Antony, Octavius, Lepidus, Pompey and their men drank, danced and sung. On the stage it became very real, not unlike the aftermath of a university rugby team social- soldiers daring each other to down bowls of wine, people standing on shaking platforms trying not to fall over and, of course, much laughter at the expense of the quickly-drunk Lepidus. It was funny and terrifying at the same time, with the constant fear that with one mistake the bonding exercise would descend into all-out war. It’s a bizarre thing, how sometimes even those scenes you normally wouldn’t think twice about can have such an impact live.

It’s to my deep regret that I only managed to get a standing ticket for this performance. Although fortunately several of the characters spent time reclining on the floor, meaning their faces were tilted upwards, for most of the play I could see very little facial expression or subtlety. The performances were still wonderful, but I did get the strong feeling that I was missing out on a large part of the experience. I was also very confused at the start looking for Patrick Stewart- looking for a bald head, it was a long time before it clicked that he was there, just wearing a wig!

The other thing worth mentioning is Tim Mitchell’s lighting design. There was very little set for this production, with most of the major changes in location marked by changes in the lighting wash. Very subtle, but very effective, especially in a play that moves between so many exotic locations. The set itself mostly conformed to the wooden boards and struts of the Swan Theatre, with wooden platforms, ropes and exotic drapes conjuring a world of war machines, clashing cultures and

This was, frankly, the RSC at the top of their game- a traditional delivery with powerful and resonant performances, but also an innovative use of design and space. The critics have so far unanimously loved it, and I would recommend anyone who reads this goes and sees it- except, of course, you’ll be lucky to get a ticket!

Peter Kirwan : 24 Jul 2006 17:36 |  Tags: Antony Productions Review |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Seeing Shakespeare Solo; or, Famous People Sell Shows

APRIL 12TH 2006 (backdated)

One problem with seeing fifty plays in one year is finding people to go with you! I've had to get organised very quickly, and I have tickets for performances as late as March 2007, and naturally most people don't have the luxury of planning that far ahead. So, I've had to book for most of these productions by myself.

It's not really a problem, though. I saw 'Romeo' by myself yesterday, but my girlfriend went to see it a week ago on a hen night, so I still had someone to talk to about it. I've got friends coming to some plays with me, and I know people seeing most of the rest, so I hopefully won't be in a position too often where I'm the only person who's seen something. It's good to talk to people about performances, as half the time you'll both find that you saw things the other missed, and getting different perspectives always helps me work out my own thoughts.

Not looking likely with tomorrow's play, however. 'Antony & Cleopatra' has already sold out almost its entire run– which is until the Autumn! The reason for this, of course, is that it stars Patrick Stewart and Harriet Walter. Now, I'm not an actor–led theatre–goer, but the few times I've been in London to see plays I've been amazed to see that this is what people mostly talk about. Not about how new or exciting the adaptation is, not about the director and their previous work, but about who's in it. Famous people sell shows, and it looks like that's just as true in Stratford as anywhere else!

I'm very excited about tomorrow's play, but that's because it's Greg Doran directing (I saw his 'Midsummer Night's Dream' last year which was pretty special, and the TV version of his 'Macbeth' which was also excellent) and it's the first time 'Antony & Cleopatra', which is a very big play, has been done in the Swan. Of course, I'm very excited to see two amazing actors in the lead roles as well. I just hope that equally exciting productions that don't have big names get a similar level of interest– I think if you're only going to see the plays that have Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Judi Dench or Tamsin Greig in, you'll probably miss a lot of very innovative and fascinating Shakespeare.

Anyway, that's all an aside. I'm standing in the top gallery tomorrow, which will be a new experience! Will post again then.

Peter Kirwan : 24 Jul 2006 17:05 |  Tags: Thoughts |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Romeo & Juliet @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre

APRIL 11TH 2006 (backdated)

I was always going to be excited about the first show of the Festival, but this promised to be particularly special. The director, Nancy Meckler, debuted with the RSC last year with ‘The Comedy Of Errors’, the funniest production of a Shakespeare play I had ever seen. Physical, fast and hysterical, it got a standing ovation which doesn’t happen often with that play. So, to hear she was tackling R&J was good news, and I hoped she could stay true to form.

There’s good news and bad news about this play. The first bit of bad news is undoubtedly the length. It was three and a half hours long (yet they kept the ‘two hours traffic’ part of the prologue, the liars!), and somewhere in the second act I started to feel it. The good news, however, is that it was fun. It’s not as good as ‘Comedy’, and in that sense I was a bit disappointed, but it was certainly enjoyable.

The major innovation was to set it as a play within a play. We appeared to be witnessing a family picnic between two different clans, who began the play by laying down their weapons in a large blanket before reclining in garden chairs as if on a hot summer day. A raised area in the centre marked out a ‘stage’ in the middle of the event, which became the focus of the action as members of the party got up and began acting out the tragedy while the others watched.

The point of this wasn’t made expicit, however, and critics made a great many guesses: Kate Basset’s review for the Independent guess that, “Maybe this riven community are learning a collective lesson by re-enacting the tragedy”, seems to make sense, but not all the critics were convinced by this way of staging it.

It was a spectacular production, though, with enormous cross-girders dwarfing the set and stylised ‘battles’ that were actually tap-dances with sticks, replacing ‘real’ violence with movement that conjured up the danger and confusion of fighting through rhythm and choreography. In that sense it reminded me of West Side Story’s style of dance-fighting, where the noise and the movement is more important than actually seeing the connecting blows.

More importantly, the play was funny! Rupert Evans, playing Romeo, brought out the comedy of what is essentially teen-angst in his poetry to Juliet, and was sweet in his bumbling and clumsiness. Morven Christie’s Juliet, on the other hand, emphasised her awkwardness in the balcony scene, playing up the contrast between her ideas of how romance ‘should’ happen and what she was actually feeling. Suddenly, Romeo and Juliet became two kids from school who were falling in love for the first time and trying to make sense of what they were feeling, and it became both funny and moving at the same time.

The production for the most part overwhelmed the actors though. Ladders became balconies, worshippers became physical obstructions, sticks became symbols of speech (or giant phalluses if Mercutio was using them), lovers turned into statues and a little girl with bunny ears scarpered about for the entire first Act (most of the debate with my friends afterwards centred around her, with as many different theories to her purpose as there were audience members!). It was these things that stuck in the mind in contrast to the acting, which was good, but not strong enough to be remembered through the innovative and visually impressive production.

Not everyone likes innovation, and one of the problems with ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is that EVERYONE seems to know it. I enjoyed it, though. It’s nice to see a play that’s so over-familiar treated differently, and the design of the production was fantastic. I wish it had had a better critical reception, but I suppose many people expect something more traditional from the RSC. Well, they’ve got the next play for that…..

Peter Kirwan : 24 Jul 2006 15:09 |  Tags: Productions Review Romeo |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The Grand Plan

APRIL 1ST 2006 (backdated)

Welcome to The Bardathon, the running account of one student's attempt to see every single production in the Royal Shakespeare Company's mammoth Complete Works Festival!

My name's Pete, and the Festival is happening right in the middle of my two year part–time MA in English Literature, so I'm basing my dissertation on it as one of the most exciting and interesting projects in Shakespeare performance of recent times.

The aim of the Festival is to show every single one of Shakespeare's plays and poems. Many of them are being done by the RSC themselves, but there are companies visiting from all over the world to contribute– some with one–off events, some with long runs. Among other things, it's going to be a fantastic chance to see some truly great international theatre and see how different cultures approach the Bard.

There are going to be fifty–four productions over the course of the year, as well as a near–infinite amount of events, debates, student plays, balloon flights, brunches, film screenings and other Shakespeare–related happenings. I'm focussing on the core of the festival, the 54 productions, but I'm going to try and get to as many of the other things as possible.

It's a logistical nightmare, and I've had to plan the next twelve months pretty intensely in order to make sure I can clear enough space to see all of these plays. Luckily, the RSC offer £5 tickets to 16–25 year olds, which means I can just about afford to get to everything so long as I cut back on alcohol and CDs…..

So, this is The Grand Plan. I've booked as many tickets as possible, though unfortunately some of the one–day events sold out before public booking was even open, so I'm going to have to wait until the day of those performances to try and get last–minute tickets. My diary is full, my holidays are booked to avoid all performances and my friends are all prepared to see a lot less of me!

This blog will give reviews of everything I see– which, I will stress, are my own opinions and are not meant to be taken as gospel! I'll also post updates, news as I receive it and some reflections on what's been going on. Ultimately, this is a Festival, and I'm hoping that it's really going to feel like one, rather than just a string of plays in closed–off theatres. It's an exciting time to be living near Stratford, and I hope this'll give some idea of the year to everyone else!

All for now. First play is Romeo And Juliet, and I'm looking forward to getting started!

Peter Kirwan : 24 Jul 2006 13:59 |  Tags: News |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem