"Phèdre" (NT Live) - June 2009

Here's something a little bit different. Tonight we went to see the National Theatre's London performance of "Phèdre" starring Helen Mirren in the title role... at the Glasgow Film Theatre. It's the first of a series of 'one night only' NT Live performances of National Theatre productions that are beamed simultaneously to cinema screens around the world. I have to admit to being a bit dubious as to if it would work, but there is no question in my mind now. It did work - brilliantly.

In a pre-show on screen chat it was explained that the performance was essentially taking place exactly as it has been each and every night and that the cast would continue to play to their real live audience in the National Theatre and not to the cameras (which are presumably unobtrusive on the auditorium). We certainly saw no indication of cameramen wandering around on-stage. Technically it was almost flawless - with only a couple of jumpy 'pull back' shots and a moment of jerkiness, although on a few occasions Waldorf found herself wishing for a wider shot of the stage.

Performances were all very strong with Dominic Cooper particularly impressive as Hippolytus who finds himself undone by his stepmother Phèdre's impossible lust for him. He manages to make the character's reluctance to reveal Phèdre's advances to his father believable - despite his knowledge of the likely consequences. Helen Mirren brings everything to the role that you would expect - strength, emotion and just the right amount of willfulness. Margaret Tyzack is the other standout of the night, as Phèdre's confidante Oenone, bringing out much of what little humour the piece allows.

But there were logistical problems with the event. We were told the performance would commence at 6.30 (with doors opening at 6.00) and that the run time for the show was two hours. However, on arrival there were notices saying the performance would start at 6.45pm and come 6.45 it became clear we had a further 15 minutes of 'chat' between director Nicholas Hytner and Jeremy Irons. And that 30 minutes makes a huge difference and must take a share of the blame for all those who had to avail themselves of the cinema's toilet facilities during the performance. It also has a knock on effect for those with dinner plans after the show. But regardless of that, the production needed an interval - the amount of fidgeting and watch checking during the last fifteen minutes made this abundantly clear as the show never actually dragged to any extent.

Tickets for the screening cost us £10 each. Would I rather have paid around £40 for a ticket to 'the real thing'? Possibly. Would I rather have paid £200 for tickets, flights and accommodation. Definitely not. This is genuinely a brilliant initiative from the National Theatre and I was really impressed with how 'theatrical' it felt. Waldorf was scathing of some of those around us who applauded at the curtain call, but truth be told I was half tempted to join in.

Phèdre continues its run at the National Theatre until 27th August. NT Live has performance planned of three future shows - "All's Well That Ends Well", "Nation" and "The Habit of Art".
Image by Catherine Ashmore used with permission.

"Cyrano de Bergerac" - June 2009

Yes, we know this was last week's 'Corona Classic Cut' at Oran Mor, but we only saw it on Saturday and it was a busy weekend. We'll try not to let it happen again. Actually no, we'll not be seeing this week's play 'Romeo & Juliet' until Saturday and with another busy weekend planned you'll probably not see our thoughts on that until Monday night either. Sorry.

Selma Dimitrijevic has cut down Edwin Morgan's Glaswegian Scots translation of Rostand's classic tale to fit the 50 minute lunchtime slot by effectively reducing it to the relationship between Cyrano (Gary Collins) and Christian (Ryan Fletcher). Although the production also features Annie Grace providing a scene setting introduction and musical accompaniment, she's really rather wasted here. The brunt of making the production work falls on Collins and Fletcher who give excellent comic performances. The unfamiliar language simultaneously amuses and frustrates (even here in Glasgow) and I'm afraid I lost a good portion of the narrative in Cyrano's final speech. Dimitrijevic's direction works well for the most part, but the changes between scenes are often unclear and there's little indication of time passing or intervening events.

An entertaining way to spend a lunchtime but not one that we'll remember for any great length of time.

Cyrano de Bergerac has completed its run at Oran Mor. The Corona Classic Cuts series concludes this week with Romeo & Juliet.
Image by Leslie Black used with permission.

Edinburgh Fringe 2009 - First picks

Since the Edinburgh Fringe Programme was published last Wednesday we've been working our way through it trying to make an initial selection of shows. While there's still plenty of time before it starts officially on Friday 7th August, tickets went on sale on Monday and we always try to get some of the more expensive shows booked up as part of the 2 for 1 offer many shows operate on the first Sunday/Monday. So here are the shows that have caught our attention so far, and a round up of some of the ones we've already seen that are being revived at this years Fringe...

Usually the first place we start when planning our opening weekend is the Traverse, partly because it can usually be relied upon for quality and also because its shows can be at the more expensive end of the scale. But this year we've been rather underwhelmed with their offerings and as things currently stand we won't be booking up for any of the Fringe shows at the Traverse this year. That may change as more info comes out and we get a better feel for the shows - at the moment details are sparse in the Fringe Programme and their website has no info at all. Perhaps this lack of a 'must see' show is a knock-on effect of the Traverse' involvement in the Edinburgh International Festival where they are staging "The Last Witch" at the Lyceum (which we will be seeing). There is one exception to our lack of enthusiasm for the Traverse Fringe Programme - "Midsummer (A Play with Songs)" which is being brought back after huge success towards the end of last year. Like just about everyone who saw it we adored it and anyone who wants to see a feelgood show has to fit this one in.

We're also having to come to terms with the loss of what has been one of the highlights of recent years at the Fringe. Due to work being undertaken at Rosslyn Chapel, Nonsense Room are unable to stage their show there this year and have decanted to the Scottish Mining Museum just outside Dalkeith with two shows. We'll be making an early visit to "Ae Fond Kiss" and may try to see "Treasure Island" later in the month. Even without the added attraction of a visit to the Chapel, Nonsense Room have proved to us over the years that their shows are always worth seeing.

But making up for those elements missing from this year's Fringe is the return of site specific specialists Grid Iron. We've not seen their work at previous Fringes but their shows "Roam" and "Yarn" both provided us with some fantastic theatrical memories. We've already booked up for "Barflies" at the Barony Bar and given the reputation this company has tickets will go quickly.

We like to dip our toes in the Comedy section of the programme and having enjoyed his campaigning TV shows we've booked up for Mark Thomas who is putting together a manifesto based on suggestions from his audiences. Sadly there's no new Rebus McTaggart show but there is a short run of the original show that we enjoyed so much.

Over the last two years with "Mehndi Night" and "Stolen Secrets" Fin Kennedy and Mulberry School have proved that a 45 minute show can pack in just as much as a three hour epic, and we're expecting something equally as delightful with this year's "The Unravelling". And another school group who we'll be seeing is Feltonfleet's "An Ofsted Inspector Calls".

The highlight of our theatrical year so far has been "Sub Rosa" and the driving force behind it, David Leddy, has two shows in Edinburgh this year. He has transferred his audio based show "Susurrus" and located it in Royal Botanic Garden, as well as premiering his new Japanese themed show "White Tea".

At last year's Fringe we enjoyed You Need Me's "How It Ended" despite it being located in the Dance and Physical Theatre section of the Programme. This year they return with "Certain Dark Things" which sounds similar in tone and style.

A week or so ago I read a review of "Kursk" down in london and thought it sounded fantastic so I was delighted to discover it as I flicked through the Programme. Unfortunately there seems to be a problem with booking tickets for the show at edfringe.com. Hopefully this is just a temporary glitch and not a sign of a more serious problem with the plans for the show.

It's a book I've always had a lot of time for, so we've booked up to see EattheBaby's take on "A Clockwork Orange"
over the first weekend. But some other shows inevitably have to wait until later in the month due to scheduling issues, one of which will be Gregory Burke's "Gagarin Way" by the Comedians Theatre Company.

I think that's covered all the shows that we're immediately booking up for, but as well as our weekend trips through together, I'll be doing a few midweek visits on my own - flexitime permitting. Here's a quick run through of some of the other shows I'm hoping to fit in:
EGTG's version of "Antigone", Michael Frayn's "Audience" and a political take on Arthurian legend in "King Arthur".

Other shows appearing at this year's Fringe that we saw in the last year include - "The Year of the Horse", "Djupid (The Deep)" and "My Grandfather's Great War"

But there's still plenty of gaps to fill and we'll continue to follow up on some of the website links provided in the Programme and see what else grabs our interest. And of course we're always open to suggestions...

Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland

Congratulations to all the winners at Sunday's ceremony for the CATS (Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland). The big winner was 'Interiors' which won Best Production, Best Ensemble & Best Director (for Matthew Lenton). Of the other winners the only one we managed to see was Matthew Zajac for Best Male Performance in 'The Tailor of Inverness', so we can't really claim to give a complete assessment, but we are dismayed that 'Sub Rosa' and 'Midsummer' left empty handed.

The full list of winners is currently available at The Stage and is soon to be posted on the CATS website which also details the nominations.

"Medea" - June 2009

The only downside of Oran Mor's "A Play, A Pie & A Pint" seasons is that unless you wait for the reviews to come out, potential audiences have little to go on other than a line or two that often reveals little. As a result it can be a bit hit and miss - not in the sense of quality, more as to personal taste. But with their short season of Corona Classic Cuts the plays are cut-down adaptations of well known pieces, so you have a better idea of what to expect. This week saw the first of this year's four productions - 'Medea' by Euripides, translated by Alistair Elliot and adapted/directed by Paddy Cunneen.

Cara Kelly gives a wonderfully engaging performance as the mistreated title character as she wreaks a horrific revenge on her errant husband Jason, his wife-to-be and her father, King Creon. Kelly's ability to connect directly with each audience member makes Medea's justifications pretty convincing - at least until we are confronted by the shattering reality of her actions.

Candida Benson is tasked with playing all the male characters in the play - including Jason and Creon. When an actor is asked to play so many characters in a short period the easy option is to play it for laughs and exaggerate the characters, but Benson and director Cunneen choose the harder course and Benson pulls it off beautifully making each character fully formed and distinct. Kelly and Benson are accompanied by an effective chorus of the women of Corinth, played by students from the University of the West of Scotland.

With a run time of almost the full hour, this was considerably longer than most of Oran Mor's shows but it never felt it and I suspect over the course of the week some audience members may have found themselves explaining to bosses why they were late back from lunch! An excellent start to this short season which continues next week with "Lady Windemere's Fan".

Medea has now completed its run at Oran Mor.
Image by Leslie Black used with permission.

"Hoors" - May 2009

I'm really not sure we should be writing about "Hoors" as there appears to have been some mistake in the production we saw. Gregory Burke has clearly written a nice little throwaway 45 minute play, perhaps for the next 'A Play, A Pie & A Pint' season of lunchtime theatre at Oran Mor, but somehow it has got lost along the way. It's gained an hour in length and has been transformed into a lavish production at the Traverse with a three week run (followed by runs at the Tron and the Theatre Royal Bath). How on earth did that happen??? Okay... it might have had something to do with Burke's last play.

The premise is actually a promising one for the 'black comedy' it's billed as. Wild stag weekend ends up with a dead groom being buried on his wedding day, while his wife-to-be Vicky is more relieved at getting out of marrying Andy than anything else. We meet Vicky (Lisa Gardner) and her sister Nikki (Catherine Murray) the night before the funeral as Andy's mates Tony (Andrew Clark) and Stevie (Michael Moreland) come round to pay their respects. Stevie has already slept with Vicky since Andy died and wants a future with her. Tony and Vicky have a past she would like to revisit while Tony fancies his chances with Nikki. And they work their way through a load of drink and drugs. Yawn.

There are undeniably some nice lines but they are few and far between - and the biggest laugh of the night was a cheap shot at the expense of Clark's height. Throughout the play there was sporadic laughter in the audience but strangely it only ever seemed to be a handful of different people laughing at different moments. There was never a sense that a line really hit home with a large section of the audience.

There are also indications that the play wants to be more than just a comedy. The set, the direction, the pace, the lighting all seem more suited to a serious piece of drama rather than comedy (black or otherwise). The production also features a revolving stage that makes an impact the first couple of times but which frequently irritates by shifting only fractionally (and very slowly) between scenes to provide a slightly differently angled view of the same room. Totally pointless.

Every so often it looks like it might have something to say, such as Vicky's comments about her apparent wealth being all built on a house of cards about to fall, but then goes nowhere with it. And the characters are so uniformly unpleasant that it's impossible to feel any level of empathy for them - even poor dead Andy lying on stage in his coffin is quickly shown to be not exactly undeserving of his fate. And I reckon that's the biggest mistake the play makes. Andy should have been the key to making it work and seeing/hearing his opinion on the actions of the others is where the humour should have come from - Desperate Housewives style.

The cast do their best but the play is pretty unsalvageable. Unless of course Burke wants to cut it down to the 45 minutes of decent material that's currently rattling around in there somewhere.

Hoors runs at the Tron until Saturday 6th June and at Theatre Royal Bath from 10th to 20th June.

"Oliver" - May 2009

With Lionel Bart's Oliver! (exclamation mark compulsory) you know exactly what you should be getting. Lots of small loveable orphans and cheeky pickpockets, a thief with a heart and a right bad 'un. Oh, and some pretty well known tunes and an infamous request for a bit more grub. So with all this, what more does this need? That's right, a BBC Saturday night reality TV show to cast the leading lady. But how do all these work together in this revival at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane?

First off, the set changes worked rather well, in particular a rather nice raised stage section that allowed you to descend into Fagin's lair. However the stage itself seemed small from where we sat towards the side and back of the stalls. Perhaps just the number of cast and chorus that filled it at various points made it seem (intentionally?) claustrophic, but it lacked some of the scale and wow factor I expected.

There also seemed to be opportunities missed. Obviously licencing issues may have played a part, but in the middle of a recession some of the gags could have been tuned to the times. Rowan Atkinson as Fagin provided most of the comic relief, but as Statler said it was a little too much Mr Bean and not enough Blackadder. Jodie Prenger as Nancy performed her songs well, but the star song was "Who Will Buy" with Oliver & Company - and largely because of The Company.

The urchins, orphans, Oliver (Harry Stott) and The Artful Dodger (Eric Dibb-Fuller) were all suitably cute, but that contrasted with the horribly over the top bawdiness that was going on around them. The worst bits of Benny Hill going over the head of the remarkably well behaved younger members of the audience.

Was it an ok show to see? Yes. Was it a good use of £120 on a sunny Saturday afternoon in London? Absolutely not. Definitely more a case of 'Sorry sir, I've had quite enough'.

Image by Michael Le Poer Trench used with permission.

"What the Animals Say" - May 2009

While the joy of the "A Play, A Pie & A Pint" seasons at Oran Mor is the variation in style and tone from week to week, there's always something a bit special about the ones that aim for pure comic entertainment. When they succeed, like "What the Animals Say" did, they send me back to the office with a grin that won't fade until three hours later when I hit the queues on the M8 on my way home.

David Ireland's comedy reunites two Belfast schoolfriends as they wait for the Stranraer to Belfast ferry. Both are now living in Glasgow, but under very different circumstances - Jimmy is a struggling actor waiting for his big break while Eddie has already made it big playing for Celtic. It takes a brave or foolish writer in his debut play to call to mind "Father Ted" and risk the inevitable comparisons, but here the reference works well in establishing exactly the tone the piece is aiming for - full of cuddly irreverence, physicality and playful obscenity.

The comedy is sustained throughout and rarely, if ever, misses the mark. It's just as well the audience at Oran Mor is willing to laugh at itself as both Glasgow and the theatrical community find themselves firmly in the firing line here. Other targets include their shared Loyalist background, the Beckhams and Mel Gibson. While much of the humour tests the boundaries of political acceptability, Ireland ensures that we are largely laughing at rather than with Eddie. Considered in isolation many of the laughs here shouldn't work half as well as they do, but there's such a momentum created that the laughs just seem to roll from one set piece to the next. Robbie Jack as Eddie and David Walshe as Jimmy make for a pretty spectacular double act and get every last laugh out of the material.

This is comedy at its best and if anyone out there is looking for a sitcom to go to pilot this would not be a bad place to start at all.

"What the Animals Say" has completed its run at Oran Mor.
Image by Leslie Black used with permission.

"Love's Time's Beggar" - May 2009

Those who follow our posts closely, well the ones written by me at any rate, may have noticed that apostrophes can be an issue. But despite a title that sets my head spinning, we popped along to "Love's Time's Beggar" from Ankur Productions' Community Ensemble at the Tron. As always, please remember that we don't make allowances for this being a Community based piece - we treat all productions in the same manner.

The proposition is simple but immediately intriguing - five characters who have recently died are given the opportunity by their guides to the afterlife to record one memory from their lifetime to take with them to eternity - all other memories will be erased. Each then shares a memory which is portrayed with the help of the others in the 'waiting room'. It's a nice framing device that shares the burden of the narrative and allows each segment to set its own tone and feel, without overwhelming the whole.

It takes a while to warm up and in the early stages the performances feel rather 'forced', almost uncomfortable. The problem isn't Anna's tale of domestic abuse (the first we see), more the dynamic in the 'waiting room' scenes. Fortunately, as the show goes on the performers seem to relax into their roles and by the time we reach the more playful elements of Max's retreat into a virtual world, it has developed into a pretty polished production. But while each of the tales was sufficiently well crafted to keep my interest, and there were a couple of very nice moments, it never quite made the impact the concept has the potential to.

This was certainly a perfectly pleasant way to spend an evening, but I suspect those involved may have been aiming just a little bit higher.

"Love's Time's Beggar" has completed its run at the Tron.
Image by Andrew Wilson used with permission.

"Ghosts" - May 2009

If you read reviews of this show elsewhere you'll no doubt read about how it's not a traditional production of Ibsen's work, but as far as that's concerned, I really don't care. We aren't talking "Romeo and Juliet" or "Pygmallion" where taking liberties will be noticed by a wider audience familiar with the classic interpretations of the tale, so I've little interest in comparisons here. All I'm interested in is whether I enjoyed what was put on the Citz stage in front of us.

Amelia Bulmore's version of the text is a thoroughly modern one - much more so than the period costumes and set would suggest. In fact I'm not sure it wouldn't have benefitted from being brought entirely into a present day setting to remove any lingering doubts as to its current relevance - the language used would certainly support such a staging.

And the issues addressed are certainly not ones in our past. The importance of reputation, the hypocrisy of the great and good, infidelity, deceit, duty vs self interest, and finally euthanasia. As you can see there's plenty to think about here... if only we had the time. There's a division of opinion on this at View From The Stalls with Waldorf liking the pace of events as an indication of just how quickly things can fall apart, but for me it was all too rushed. Not just in direction and pace but in the timing of events. With the action seeming to take place over a very short period it damages what is otherwise an entirely plausible chain of events. And it's so unnecessary, as there are natural breaks that would easily have allowed a suggestion that time had passed between events.

But despite all those serious themes there's plenty of humour here - for the first three quarters at least. And it works really well, although as we overheard another audience member comment, Kevin McMonagle's Pastor Manders is "just a little too Reverend I M Jolly". But what the production does amazingly well is shift the tone from light to dark - without the continuing inappropriate laughter that so often accompanies such a change. Central to this success is Maureen Beattie's performance as Mrs Alving. Frequently playing straight man to McMonagle's more obvious comedy she delivers a compelling performance so when the time comes there's no difficulty in going with her to the play's tragic conclusion. The supporting performances are all strong but the show belongs to Beattie.

This is a production that is easy to like and enjoy, but to some extent that palatability makes it easy to dismiss without giving it the deeper thought that it should really provoke. But for those who do wish to examine the issues, for a play written in 1881 it remains remarkably relevant.

Ghosts runs at the Citizens until Saturday 30th May
Image by Eamonn McGoldrick used with permission