UK Theatre Network

The drama commenced even before the curtain rose; the WNO has been struck by illness over the past weeks, Alwyn Mellor, the lead, has a serious throat infection so Tosca has been played by understudy Naomi Harvey for the past few performances. However, by the day of this performance Harvey had also succumbed to this infection and was rendered voiceless. The WNO had, instead of cancelling, placed Anne Williams-King to the side of the stage to sing the part whilst Harvey acted it on stage.
Conductor, Simon Phillippo, does a marvellous job of managing his orchestra, stage performers, and Williams-King up and off to his left. His sensitive style embraces the drama of Puccini's music and he does not allow the melodrama to take hold. He keeps a strong rein on the components of the orchestra and weaves them together to create a rich yet subtle sound. His direction of the opening of Act III was sublimely beautiful and deeply moving.
I don't think anyone in the audience was so naive as to expect there to be a seamless join between the performances of the two Tosca's but this was irrelevant. Harvey is a fabulous actor and thank heavens she is as this is where the evening would have fallen if it was going to. Williams-King is a supremely experienced and decorated singer and we were lucky to experience this pairing and felt we'd been given a special treat rather than been cheated.
So, to the production itself. Michael Blakemore has produced a restrained work where the melodrama is not given free rein as in so many other interpretations. His paring down and controlling of this is without doubt very successful. The revival director, Benjamin Davis, has created an atmosphere of believability, again controlling the melodrama, which allows the audience to embrace the music and story and 'feel' the emotion, the tragedy, without being 'forced' into it.
Ashley Martin-Davis has created fantastic sets with enormous props and oversized statues. They are sparing, uncomplicated but grand and imposing. The scale of these sets fits with the scale of the themes within Puccini's opera. Overall the whole production is black, white and red. This, combined with Paul Woodfield's dramatic lighting creates the illusion of a Caravaggio painting; deep areas of dark, oppressing shadow; bright gold highlights - the candles, the sunrise; splashes of red - Tosca's dress, the blood on Carvadossi's clothes and body, the entrance to the torture chamber.
The male protagonists, Carvadossi (Geraint Dodd) and Scarpia (Robert Hayward) are outstanding. Well cast and vocally immensely strong. Dodd's tenor voice is consistent and utterly convincing. He is exciting, tortured and passionate and his solid and stocky stature belies his tenderness and gentleness.
Robert Hayward as Scarpia develops from dark and brooding yet polite and cunning in Act I to a full blown predatory sadist by the end of Act II when he becomes physically overcome with his desire for Tosca.  He exudes evil and is truly frightening. This could signal one dimensionality but his voice, a rich baritone, and his restraint, he never tips completely over in to mania, lends a well crafted subtlety to his character.
This is an impressively staged and performed Tosca and appears to work effortlessly on all levels. It embraces and respects Puccini's music without letting the melodrama have full rein at any time and is so much the better for it.  A stunning production.

The management committee of the Society of British Theatre Designers is trying to contact as many designers as possible to encourage them to register their intention to exhibit at the 4 yearly national exhibition. In January 2011 it will be the inaugural event in the spectacular new building of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (still under construction). Previous exhibitions have been in Nottingham, Manchester, Sheffield and many in London (Royal College of Art, Roundhouse and Riverside Studios) - they are always pretty spectacular and very popular with visitors whether professionals, punters, researchers or school parties.


_{Artist's impression of the new building}

The text below is, hopefully, self-explanatory.


TRANSORMATION AND REVELATION

PERFORMANCE DESIGN OPEN EXHIBITION - INVITATION TO EXHIBIT

Invitation to exhibit at the SBTD national exhibition of UK performance design 2011: TRANSFORMATION & REVELATION

Designers for performance are invited to exhibit at the four yearly SBTD national exhibition which is to take place in Cardiff in January 2011. This is an open exhibition though exhibitors must be, or become, members of either the SBTD (Society of British Theatre Designers), ALD (Association of Lighting Designers) or STC (Society of Theatre Consultants) and the work exhibited must have been realised between 2007-2011.

This is a unique opportunity to take part in a celebration of UK design for performance over the past four years, and to be included in the accompanying catalogue. SBTD exhibition catalogues have long been recognised as a primary book for design reference and inspiration.

Please visit www.theatredesign.org.uk/exhibitions/ for more details including hanging fees, venue details and themes.

Closing date for submission of intent to exhibit forms - 30th April 2010.

www.theatredesign.org.uk



the catalogue cover of the last exhibition in Nottingham
showing designs for the period 2003 - 2007

Tim Steed and Aislin McGuckin in The Duchess of Malfi

In a collaboration with Stage on Screen the Greenwich Theatre presents two new in-house productions – Volpone and The Duchess of Malfi. The collaboration was launched in 2009 with the intent to restore Greenwich Theatre to its position as one of London’s significant producing theatres, and in turn to create high quality multi-camera DVD recordings available to educational institutions and theatres lovers alike. The creative team of last year’s Doctor Faustus and The School for Scandal have been reunited – director Elizabeth Freestone, designer Neil Irish, lighting designer Wayne Dowdeswell and sound designer Adrienne Quartly, joined by TV director Chris Cowey for the DVD recordings. Volpone and The Duchess of Malfi have been cross-cast.

 Volpone by Ben Jonson

 Conscience is a beggar’s virtue

 Volpone pretends to be mortally ill in the hope of extracting wealth from his supposed friends on the expectation of legacies; the legacy-hunters all seek to be named Volpone’s heir in order to gain his treasure, and  they offer him precious gifts to achieve that honour. Practically everyone is acting a part, consciously and with intent to deceive. In his manipulation of dramatic situation, Jonson brilliantly exploits the possibilities of multi-layered irony: an extra dimension is given to the scenes in which Mosca intrigues with the suitors by the fact that Volpone himself is on stage, apparently incapable of knowing what is going on, but actually – as both we and Mosca know – perfectly aware of it all. A love plot is attached to this legacy-hunt, involving Corvino’s wife Delia and Corbaccio’s son Bonario. In a parallel plot, Sir Politic Would-be and his wife are deceived by Peregrine, a young Englishman on a Continental tour.

 Director Elizabeth Freestone sets the action in early twentieth century Venice. Her joyful and highly amusing production features Richard Bremmer as the sly fox Volpone who loves deceit even more than his riches and Mark Hadfield as the useful parasite Mosca. There are outstanding performances throughout. Tim Treloar is intriguing as the self-important advocate Voltore and Tim Steed gives a wonderful performance as the spice merchant Corvino who will even prostitute his wife to become Volpone’s heir. Maxwell Hutcheon is the decrepit Corbaccio who attempts to talk Mosca into poisoning Volpone with a deadly brew to accelerate his demise. The colourful production is designed by Neil Irish.  

 Fri 26 March 7.30pm, Mon 29 March 7.30pm, Tue 30 March 1.30 pm, We 31 March 1.30pm, Wed 7 April 7.30pm, Thu 8 April 1.30pm – filmed and 7.30pm – filmed, Sat 10 April 7.30pm

The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster

 A politician is the devil's quilted anvil; He fashions all sins on him, and the blows are never heard.

Generally considered to be Webster’s masterpiece, The Duchess of Malfi tells the story of a young widow who marries against the wishes of her powerful brothers who covet her estate, thereby setting off a storm of revenge. Critics and reviewers have loved or hated the play, with equal fervour. The Jacobean revenge tragedy has a high body count and violates taboos but the intensity of Webster’s dramatic situations and the high quality of his writing redeems him from mere sensationalism, and places this play in the first rank of dramatic
writing.

Director Elizabeth Freestone sets the action in fascist Italy against the backdrop of an escalating European war. Unbeknownst to her brothers the Duchess falls in love with her steward Antonio, and they marry secretly.  The two lovers live happily for a time and the Duchess gives birth to three children, but their marriage s eventually discovered and ther life turns into a bloody nightmare. Aislin McGuckin plays the Duchess wth sensitivity and dignified strength. Tim Steed is impressive as the sexually obsessed and eventually mad Ferdinand, and Mark Hadfield convinces as the corrupt Cardinal. Tim Treloar plays the Malcontent Bosola with quiet intensity.  

Sat 27 March 1.30pm and 7.30pm, Tue 30 March 7.30pm, Wed 31 March 7.30pm, Thu 1 April 1.30pm, Tue 6 April 7.30pm, Fri 9 April 1.30pm – filmed, 7.30pm – filmed, Sat 10 April 1.30pm

Eves     £17.50, £15,        Mats     £15, £12.50

Concessions     £2.50 off

Greenwich Theatre Box Office 020 8858 7755

www.greenwichtheatre.org,uk

That Alchemy is a pretty kind of game...to cheat a man with charming

Three con artists – the venture tripartite – take over a London house while the owner is away and set about trying to swindle and cheat greedy people who are naïve enough to fall for their trickery. Their gulls include the pompous knight Sir Epicure Mammon who dreams of a life in extreme luxury yet pretends he will donate all of his “lead turned to gold” riches to charity, Dapper who expects to win millions as a gambler by charming the Fairy Queen, and a young shopkeeper, Abel Drugger, who seeks good fortune and prosperity for his business. However, Sir Epicure’s companion Surly sees through the scam and strives to expose the con artists.

First performed in 1610, The Alchemist is Ben Jonson’s most successful play. It is a cynical view of a world inhabited by people who are practically spellbound with greed and are willing to believe anything as long as it will make them rich. It is difficult to feel empathy with their plight because they are so blinded by their desire to be filthy rich that they actually deserve to be conned.  

The Alchemist is a very funny play and the director (Scarlett Plouviez Comnas) makes it accessible to a wide audience although Jonson’s language is more difficult than Shakespeare’s. The production is fast paced and very energetic. The leading actors go a bit overboard at times but generally the cast is very good. Kevin Millington as Subtle is hilarious and there are also very good performances by the gulls – particularly Daniel Moore as Sir Epicure Mammon, Alex Williams as Dapper / Kestril, and Rose McPhilemy as the clergywoman Ananias and Kestril’s sister Dame Pliant.

23 March – 11 April, Tue – Fri 7.30 pm, Sat and Sun 7.00 pm

Tickets: £ 12 / £ 10 (concessions)

BOX OFFICE: 020 7704 6665

The Rosemary Branch, 2 Shepperton Road, London N1 3DT

Back again after two successful runs last year, the latest JB Shorts show - six brand new ten-minute plays written by top TV writers - returns to the basement of Joshua Brooks on Princess Street.

Work of this calibre, coupled with a comparatively short time commitment, attracts actors that Manchester’s top theatres would envy: JB Shorts 3 includes Chris Hannon (Lunch Monkeys), Vicky Binns (Molly from Corrie), Anthony Crank (Shameless) and Peter Slater (Ideal), while local luminaries Caroline Clegg and Noreen Kershaw are among the directors.

As usual there is an eclectic mix of style and content.  Backlash by James Quinn (currently gracing the stage of the Library Theatre) is a spoof party political broadcast satirising the anti-political correctness brigade; Lindsay Williams’ Quixotry exposes the fraught world of Scrabble tournaments; and Andrew Kirk uses multimedia technology and a bunny-girl outfit to put a relationship under pressure in I’m Mad, Me. 

After the break (featuring some very disturbing invisible theatre) S.H.A.G.G. by Dianne Whitley imagines what might happen if Russell Brand hosted a sex addicts support group in Chorlton-cum-Hardy (very convincing turn from Marvyn Dickinson as the tousle haired host who seems to be mainly addicted to himself), followed by the Trevor Suthers comedy Shakespeare’s Monkeys, a surreal piece which is dominated by Antony Bessick’s astonishing physical performance as a semi-simian zookeeper.

The finale, and my favourite, was Peter Kerry’s Truncheons and Blackberries which had sharp writing from the off, fantastic acting all round, a nice touch of farce and enough meat in the concept for a full-length play.  Peter Slater and John Catterall are a pair of memorably dim PC Plods, Verity Henry is their sexy but foul-mouthed Deputy Chief Constable, and Annamarie Bayley is a top Daily Mail columnist who inadvertently uncovers an explosive secret.

The fast-paced format of JB Shorts makes it a winner with audiences because even if one sketch isn’t to your taste another will be along in ten minutes (a much better service than the Eccles tram, I can tell you).  Here’s looking forward to JB Shorts 4.

www.jbshorts.co.uk

Till Saturday 27 March (not Sunday) @ 7pm

Tickets £5 on door

Joshua Brooks

106 Princess Street
Manchester

Lancashire M1 6NG

Talking Tom

The Customs House, South Shields

The latest production of The Customs House’s fifteenth anniversary celebratory season is Talking Tom, a series of monologues by Jarrow-born playwright Tom Kelly, performed by Pat Dunn and Donald McBride.

Firstly, we are introduced to Elsie, an elderly spinster who loathes smoking and drinking but who is looking for love and is desperate to ensnare the new male resident at the care home where she lives. In Elsie and Elsie Rides Again, Pat Dunn peels back the layers of Elsie’s personality perfectly and skilfully reveals the rather predatory monster that lies hidden beneath.

Next we meet The Club Doorman, a curmudgeonly old duffer, played by Donald McBride, who keeps the door at the CIU-affiliated working men’s club and who knows everyone’s business. What he doesn’t know is the effect that his moaning, groaning and general nastiness is having upon his long-suffering family.

McBride’s second character is the nosey neighbour from hell in Neighbourhood Watch. Shunned by all in the street because of his interfering, snooping and spying, he leads a lonely, empty and isolated existence, but is on duty twenty four hours a day, nevertheless.

The monologues are interspersed with readings from the playwright himself, in which he reflects upon his youth and the music and events that defined it, resulting in some spontaneous singing-along from the audience.

Each of Kelly’s characters has been penned with honesty and perception and they are so real, so familiar that they almost leap from the page. The dialogue is witty, natural and believable and it captures the extraordinariness of the ordinary to great effect. The performances from Pat Dunn and Donald McBride are faultless, the characterisations have been acutely observed, finely honed and are sharply delivered.

Talking Tom is a gem of a production that comes with the highest of recommendations.

STEVE BURBRIDGE.

Runs until Saturday 20^th March 2010.

HAUNTED at Richmond Theatre

Starring Brenda Blethyn (Mrs Berry), Niall Buggy (Mr Berry) & Beth Cooke (Hazel).

Published by: Tremayne

“The appetite for life”, uttered by Niall Buggy who plays Mr Berry.

Beth Cooke (Hazel), I found, spoke very mechanically.  I understood her character was meant to give lessons in elocution but the way in which she chose to express it worked more as a deterrent.  However, we, as an audience, could not help but remark on the twinkle in her eyes, which helped to draw us in a lot more.

 “You are wasted on young children”, say Mr Berry, who introduces himself to Hazel as Quincy.  He recognises in her, actress-like qualities, as she manages to deliver large chunks of speech to him, taken from various different sources.

The first reference to flowers is made, more specifically, to roses.

Mr Berry: “The scent of the damask…”, as we learn the reason for rose petals being turned red is after Mary Magdalene’s tears fell onto them.

Hazel walks across the stage and over to the door to leave, as he says to her: “Same time next week?  Shall we brave the bard?”, the same time he hands her a cardigan   as a gift.

At this moment Brenda Blethyn (Mrs Berry) comes on the stage and I immediately breathe a huge sigh of relief, as by her mere presence I am reassured.  The case with a lot of the other members of the audience too,I am sure, due to the individual performances up to this point having been nothing more than static.

Mrs Berry remarks: “There was a suspicious box at the door” and Mr Berry replies saying: “There wasn’t a box at the door”.  She can accept this but is adamant that he is having an affair, “that’s what life is (to you), a drink, a cuddle…”

The next thing we are led to believe is that he is perhaps suffering from senile dementia, as Mrs Berry utters the words “…I can’t have you ill… …our child (a stillborn, we suppose)… …did something to us… …we aged”.  “Live and grow old with me”, she says not wanting him to give up on life.

In the next scene Quincy, or Mr Berry, is being given an elocution lesson from Hazel.

“Have you ever been in love?”, he asks her.  She gives herself the liberty of opening up to him and says: “…across the water (describing where the one she loves lives).  He knew what he wanted. …conviction in his eyes.  He was a man with no spare time.  People said he wasn’t emotional. …he just had to hide it under lock and key.”  When she is asked if she had seen him again, it turns out that she only saw him once more, in a lift, where he chose to turn his back on her.

Quincy delights and dazzles her by dangling a black evening gown in front of her very eyes, and speaks of the many suitors that she will have to fend off with a stick, saying: “All things come to she who waits”.

The backdrop changes to a different variety of roses.  Mrs Berry responds to the knock heard at the door, despite her husband’s attempts of dissuasion. “Is it a debt collector you’re hiding from?”, she asks.  She opens the door once more , only to hear the sound of children’s laughter. “It’s all we have”, she says as she reaches out, a spotlight placed upon her and with haunting music playing in the background.  The backdrop depicts a closing red rose, and then there is a black out.

We can make out a touch of the manic depressive in Mr Berry, as his wife encourages them not to break with tradition and to continue having their daily tipple.  The clock strikes twice as it would every time they  toast their good health.  Has one of their lives already been brought to a close or is it about to?

He remains subdued as he arranges his seed sachets in the box they are kept in, something which made me think of my own grandfather, who was an avid gardener.

She enquires: “When are you going to be yourself again?”  With a look of uncertainty about him, she begins to read out loud the instructions from the back of one of the seed sachets.  After retiring to the bedroom, she rushes back in, a sudden panic encompasses her, realising items of her clothing have gone missing.  Is Hazel a figment of Mr Berry’s imagination or the twenty eight year- old daughter he and his wife never had but who he has appeared to have passed his wife’s garments on to?

“It was twenty eight years ago” says Mrs Berry, “and I sat on the bus seat stuck to it”, From this we can only assume that this was when she experienced a miscarriage, as faint whistles and children’s voices can be heard.

One audience member’s response to this production was that he/she felt cheated by the end of it, hoping that any doubts she held in Act I would be somewhat resolved in Act II. They compared it to going up to the counter in McDonald’s, ordering a super size me portion (which until very recently used to be available in The States) and only coming back out with a Happy Meal, and I couldn’t help but agree with this astute remark.

The Hobbit

Darlington Civic Theatre

There’s no doubt that bringing J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy novel, The Hobbit, to the stage is an ambitious project. Creating the sights, sounds and atmosphere of Middle Earth in a theatre is, indeed, no small task. However, it is a task that producer Vanessa Ford has taken on under the direction of former thespian Roy Marsden.

Bilbo Baggins (Peter Howe), a quiet and contented Hobbit, has his life turned upside down when he is chosen by Gandalf the Sorcerer (Christopher Robbie) to join Thorin Oakenshield (Andrew Coppin), exiled King of the Dwarves, on his quest to reclaim their kingdom and treasure. The adventurers battle through the Misty Mountains, wind, rain, hail and thunderstorms, narrowly escaping Trolls, Goblins, Wolves and Giant Spiders until, finally, Bilbo alone must face the guardian of the treasure – a fearsome dragon named Smaug.

Glyn Robbins’s adaptation doesn’t flow seamlessly and at times seems somewhat disjointed. This is compounded by David Shields’s set design, comprising of two rotating podiums, which make the wobbly sets associated with the soap opera, Crossroads, seem positively sturdy by comparison. Furthermore, on numerous occasions, it was impossible not to notice the varying pieces of technical equipment, including machinery and ropes, that were responsible for producing the ‘sparkling new magical effects’ mentioned in the programme notes, thus dispelling any sense of magic that could have been created by a slicker crew.

On the plus side, one cannot fault the enthusiasm, energy, commitment or talent of the ensemble cast. Credit should also be given for Abigail Hammond’s costume design, Mark Bloxsidge’s sound design and John Harris’s lighting design, all of which contributed to creating the atmospheric setting of Middle Earth.

Regrettably, their efforts alone cannot make a silk purse from a sow’s ear and this production is ultimately let down by the technical side of things. Indeed, I have seen school Nativity plays with better production standards.

Whilst this interpretation of The Hobbit works on some levels, it falls desperately short on others and I suspect that the legendary Tolkien is spinning in his grave at this very moment.

Steve Burbridge.

This production runs at Darlington Civic Theatre until Sunday 21^st March 2010 and is also touring to Truro, The Hall for Cornwall; Northampton, Derngate; Cardiff, New Theatre; Dartford, Orchard Theatre; Derry, Millennium Forum; Nottingham, Theatre Royal; Aberdeen, His Majesty’s Theatre and Belfast, Grand Opera House.