SECRETS COCK TAVERN THEATRE

With the enticing title of Secrets and publicity that promised ‘explosive drama,’ I was all set for an exciting night out at the latest play at the Cock Tavern Theatre. However this rather tame and unfocused contribution offers little in the way of startling confessions or dramatic originality.

Created by Flexible Productions, eight actors reveal their own, true-life secrets through devised enactments. Amongst those unravelling their inner-most shames are a traumatised woman revisiting her sadistic relationship with a boyfriend, a closet queen, a supposedly reformed bully and a questionable victim of sexual abuse. Apart from Helen Briscoe’s disturbing revelations it’s all a bit timid, confused and ultimately shallow. In fact there are the secrets which are so vaguely wafted about that’s it hard to actually pin-point what they actually are.

This awkward effort lets down the usual high standard of work that the Cock has consistently produced in the past. The writing is all over the place, contrived and clumsily structured with some scenes adding little to the storyline or development of the characters. Indeed the only revelation this play really offers is the ability of the exceptionally skilled cast to create engaging, truthful performances despite being in a production that under Danielle Coleman’s messy direction, looks like a drama school creation. This further is emphasised by a bricolage of victim headlines glued onto a cheap looking backdrop as the centre piece for the set.
Helen Briscoe is exceptional in all her roles, James Dutton convincing as the bully and a suspected victim, Andrew Cleave very watchable as the put-upon psychologist and Shireen Walton adds some equally comic and moving moments to the play.
The telling of secrets have been the basis for many a successful drama. This is not one of them.
OLIVER VALENTINE
www.cocktaverntheatre.com

THREE MINUTE HERO                    COCK TAVERN THEATRE

 

A three minute hero is a singer who connects with a whole generation of music fans with a breakthrough number that has a universal message. Phil Setren’s, new play of the same title is based on a promoter’s dream to find such a talent, and explores the clash of the commercial hit making music machine with Muslim cultural beliefs and art.

Dave is an aspiring music promoter who follows his very slim copy of ‘How To Make It In Music,’ guide to the word. He hires a girl band called Hot Goddess, who fail to make the grade but provide him with a big music industry learning curve. He then meets a young Muslim singer called Ash who is in the queue at the X Factor auditions. Simon Cowell’s team fail to see any ability in Ash, but Dave sees his potential and becomes his promoter. All is going well until Ash’s traditionalist brother Raz objects to Ash selling out to the commercial western market and it’s ‘corrupt’ values.

The first half of the play is a rather predictable tale of promoter creates untalented girl band, the girls fall out and the band collapses. Despite strong performances from the actresses and the occasional funny line, the tired storyline and uninspired writing offers little originality. It is not until the second half with arrival of Ash and his brother that the dialogue really comes alive, and dramatic tension is created. Indeed the writing in the second half feels so much more advanced, that it is hard to believe it has been written by the same author.

With the themes in the latter half of the play, Setren has so much original material that this potentially could be a whole drama on it’s own.

Julie Osman’s capable direction keeps the play moving, and there is great sound design by Matt Lee Newby.

Paul Egan is perfectly cast as the eternally optimistic Dave, and Ramanvir Grewal and Anil Kumar are compelling as the brothers.

Three Minute Hero runs at the Cock Tavern Theatre until 14^th November.

                                                                                                             OLIVER VALENTINE                                                                                      

THE YORK REALIST                             RIVERSIDE STUDIOS

Their could be no better 70th birthday present for Peter Gill, founder and director of the Riverside Studios, than this superb revival of his 2001 Oliver-nominated play, The York Realist. This tribute is also a gift for the audience too.

It’s 1961 and George is part of a dying breed of traditional farmers, living in a rural farm on the Dales. He is a down to earth bloke whose world is turned upside down when he falls in love with John, the assistant director of The York Mystery Plays for which he is rehearsing for. He is torn with leaving his mother, and the possibility of marriage to local lass Doreen, for an illegal affair with another man (homosexuality was not decriminalised until 1967), and a career as an actor in London. But when his mother dies, and he is free to pursue his own pathway, the realist in him makes him doubt his ability follow his true desires.

Gill’s play is an observant piece about vanishing country life and the arising new moral dilemma’s of a changing society. The language is warm, realistic and endearing, and Elspeth Morrison’s dialect coaching is spot-on for the colloquialisms of  the period. The writing does however seem to lack depth when developing the major themes of the play.

Kate Guiness’s cottage  set is delightfully detailed right down to the old cooker and sink and Victorian ornaments, and with this production Adam Spreadbury- Maher proves yet again to be one of the most outstanding director’s on the fringe.

The play is excellently cast, with notable performances by Stephen Hagan as George, and Stephanie Fayerman as his mother. There is also superb comic character acting  from Sarah Waddell as Doreen, the ever present neighbour and George admirer.

With The York Realist, Good Night Out Productions goes from strength to strength.  This is a treat not to be missed.

OLIVER VALENTINE
The York Realist runs until 11 October at the Riverside Studios. Tickets: £14 (£12 concessions

THE WRONG SLEEP                 COCK TAVERN THEATRE

The Cock Tavern Theatre, Kilburn, under the artistic direction of Adam Speadbury –Maher continues with The Wrong Sleep, to offer some of London’s finest and most innovative fringe work.

Ruthsdale, a desolate town is rocked by an explosion that leaves many dead and injured. A priest offers the community God as comfort, despite beginning to doubt his own faith, and a deeply disturbed Muslim woman suffering from extreme insomnia, comes to him seeking answers. She is torn between Islam, Christianity and secularism, and as it becomes increasingly clear that she is willing to use violence to vent her frustrations, she also uses the place to confess. She is unashamed of her actions both past and present. Currently she seems to be talking to her dead lover wrapped in a sleeping bag that shares her bed, and also admits she is the enemy within, having caused the bomb blast. In the past she claims to have murdered her three children and stuffed them into flowerpots.

With this surrealistic play produced by visiting company Lumenis, it is never certain what is real, or what is created as part of a manic awake dreamscape devised by Janet’s long term sleep deprivation. Writer Mary Mazzilli, seems to be heavily influenced by Martin Crimp’s Attempts On Her Life, and the absurdist theatre of Ionesco, and this structurally fragmented script seems be an ‘open text’ which offers little resolution. Janet could be crazy as a loon, a victim of psychosis due to long term insomnia who is not sanely responsible for her actions, but she could just as easily be a monster who just enjoys killing. It is left to the audience to decide on this and other matters. As with much surreal theatre the story is polymorphous, and is sometimes hard to see where it is going, but it is held together by Adam Morley’s tight direction, and compelling performances by the actors.

Nadia Shash is highly watchable as Janet, who seems to respond instinctively to the dramatic twists and turns of her character, and David McCelland is excellent as the persecuted priest.

Mazzilli’s intense, poetic language flits between themes of sex and incest, imperialism and terrorism, compassion and retribution. It challenges and touches the audience, and despite striving to be a little too intellectually abstract at times, manages to engage from beginning to end. 

If you want to see theatre that breaks away from the bog-standard commercial norm this is the show to see.

OLIVER VALENTINE                           Box office: 08444771000

FRY AND LEY – A Double Bill            COCK TAVERN THEATRE

 

Stephen Fry’s Latin, and Duncan Ley’s Last Drinks at the Cock Tavern Theatre, Kilburn, offers an interesting, if not a peculiar mix and match of theatre.

Latin was written by Fry whilst still at Cambridge and remains his only play to date. It won him an Edinburgh Fringe First, and led to his collaboration with Hugh Laurie. Set at Chatham Preparatory School for Boys, it is a witty spoof of the traditional boys boarding schools so often immortalised in fiction. Dominic Clarke is the new school master of Latin who has a cunning plan to marry the headmaster’s daughter in order to become head himself when her father dies. However his older colleague Herbert Brookshaw discovers that Clarke has been having an affair with Cartwright, one of his 13 year old pupils. In return for not revealing his secret he asks Clarke to beat him “twice a week with a coat hanger and a wet towel, not forgetting the peanut-butter!”

It’s all a bit naughty with double entendres all the way. Latin is a gem of subversive juvenilia, and it’s uniquely British humour with references to bottoms, sticky ends and firm hands manages to bring the crowd into hysterics. From the beginning the audience take on the role of the errant pupils as they are addressed face to face with a Joyce Grenfell approach. Punters are put in detention for lateness, and exercise books are hurled at them with derisive comments from the tutor. Fry never apologises for the illegal relationship in the play. Indeed he almost celebrates it. Perhaps it is because of it’s sensitive nature that it has been rarely performed. Not surprisingly when it premiered in Edinburgh, a local councillor attacked the play for promoting paedophilia.

Matthew Burton displays outstanding comic timing as Clarke, and Mark White is scarily convincing as the merit obsessed Brookshaw, who appears the epitome of the old- fashioned master who surreptitously delights in late night extra-cirriculars. The pair embrace this titillating romp with gusto and it’s all very watchable.

The same cannot be said of Last Drinks by Duncan Ley. This feeble attempt at a poor man’s Waiting For Godot, had me wanting to run for the bar long before last orders had been called. Despite probably the best intentions by Ley, the play at times frequently seemed more like a parody rather than a homage to Beckett. Nathan Godkin’s direction veers between confused states of attempted comedy through ‘League Of Gentlemen’ characterisations and desperate drama. As the theatres of Paris and Berlin show, absurdist theatre is a specialised art form that has to be done extremely well or it comes across as trite and very pretentious. Unfortunately this production is a victim of the latter. This is not a reflection on the very capable cast who cope admirably with direction that appears to be guessing at this particular type of theatre.

The night’s double-bill is a reminder of how the success and failure of any production depends on so many fragile factors. It felt like a very long night, and perhaps the productions should have been presented on alternative evenings rather than together.

 

OLIVER VALENTINE                          Box Office: 08444771000

A powerful new play from the unequivocally adventurous Second Skin Theatre and penned by resident writer William Whitehurst  brings the story of Rasputin –that mythical mad monk who helped destroy an empire – and his era to the stage in a stunning new production at the Rosemary Branch Theatre in Islington.

The opening moments of the play resound with the sounds –and even the smells –of Russian orthodoxy and as the lights go up we are confronted with a set that really wouldn’t look out of place in a national theatre. This kind of high-reaching and meticulous approach used by designer Mike Lees acts as an indicator of what’s to come on stage.

Andy McQuade brings to the role of Rasputin an astonishing depth of feeling and authenticity, capturing at once the man’s raw peasant vitality, his lust, his craftiness, and most of all the extraordinary pain at the core of his being. His principal antagonist, Felix Yussupov, is played to the hilt by one of the two Russian actors in the cast, Benny Maslov. Maslov brilliantly captures the sinister aspects of Yussupov but we also see this shell progressively shredded by the final dramatic scene –“In spite of everything, I still believe!” And we all know he’s not even fooling himself any longer.

The other Russian actor in the cast, Nika Khitrova, plays the bitterly wronged servant girl Katya, who transforms from humble servant to raunchy stripper to dark instrument of revenge with bone-chilling conviction. With just a few short scenes spread throughout the play she manages the near impossible task of presenting a monumental journey across many years with gut wrenching authenticity; her final moment is as moving as it is horrific.Alice Fernbank as the tormented Tsarina, caught between the demands of empire and a desperate desire to help her suffering son, offers such emotional nuance and range that we come to understand and deeply sympathize with her even as we watch her help unleash the chaos that will destroy her world.

The last link in this remarkably talented ensemble, Alastair Natkiel, creates in the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich a thoroughly sympathetic portrait of a vulnerable, wounded man who wants most of all to love and be loved. Natkiel understands how to maintain the outer façade while showing us how the inner man crumbles. Love may be all this character really wants, but it is in desperately short supply in Russia in the last years of empire and so he like everyone else is swept along by a tide that ultimately chokes off all but the worst aspects of human nature. And that, this play suggests with extraordinary power and conviction, is ultimately the tragedy of Russia itself at the dawn of the twentieth-century.

Do not miss.

http://secondskintheatre.com/

Sean Baker

PRODUCT MEDEA 4.0                           COCK TAVERN THEATRE

Medea.4.0 at the Cock Tavern Theatre, Kilburn is a modern marketing take on the classic Greek myth that engages from beginning to end.

Slovenian playwright Sasa Rakef gives the legend a 21^st Century angle by placing it in the corporate world, and spinning Medea’s tragedy for mass entertainment and maximum financial return. With an aggressiveness that would shame even Alan Sugar’s apprentices Medea. Inc uses ‘emotion design technology’ to sell their product.

The main character enters the stage ready to tell her story as an Eva Peron persona, but is stripped of her clothes, jewelry and dignity by Medea.Inc, in order to repackage her. The company conveniently rebrand her long held reputation as a monstrous child killer and makes her a victim who had no choice. We as the audience become investors of this new product, and are also able to buy Medea memorabilia at auction. Believing she has found her Max Clifford with Medea.Inc, she becomes complicit with her new image exploitation.

This brilliantly written and thought provoking play makes some spot-on and cynical observations of product advertising and media manipulation. Medea’s ancient tale could just as easily be replaced today by the late Jade Goody’s, as her demise has probably sold more media copy recently than any other. The message is sell the story, celebrity or brand however dubious the ethics.

The production is tightly directed by Maja Milatovic-Ovadia, and is supported by Verana Meneses imaginative choreography. James Palmer’s original score is highly effective and perfectly compliments the action on stage.

The cast work well as an ensemble, and there are notable performances by Victoria Grove and Konstantinos Kavakiotis as part of the selling team. Nikki Squire as Medea displays strong emotions, although sometimes there is a tendency to make her classic speeches extremely staccato and drawn out.

Product Medea.4.0 has all the best components of theatre. Along with the drama of hard sell and the pathos of it’s central character, there are also some very funny lines. This is probably the best hour of theatre you can invest in all week.

 

OLIVER VALENTINE                                          08444771000             www.cocktaverntheatre.com

 

 

PETER PAN                                                                          

KENSINGTON GARDENS

 

A new effects laden production of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, the original place where the story began, sounds like the perfect scenario for this much loved 1904 tale to return home. But on it’s journey it has lost it’s heart and soul in a messy plundering of J.M Barrie’s original concept.

Presented in a 1,100-seat circus–like arena by designer Bill Dudley, it is the world’s first fully 360-degree movie backdrop for live theatre. Computer generated images projected on to a cyclorama that runs right round the tent, provide stunning panoramas as Pan, Tinkerbell and the Darling children take flight. With superb flying skills they zoom over a dazzling three-dimensional CGI set of Edwardian London, and eventually arrive in an equally striking Neverland. Perfectly complimented by a soaring soundtrack by Benjamin Wallfisch, it feels as if we are flying with them.

Sue Buckmaster’s highly effective puppet creations add to the magic. Operated by War Horse-style puppeteer Mohsen Nouri, they include Nana the dog, the Neverbird and a wonderful skeletal crocodile.

There are adaptations to the original story by Tanya Ronder that work. In this day of high profile child disappearances, Mr.and Mrs Darling do not leave the children home alone, but are entertaining guests downstairs when their youngsters disappear. Tinkerbell is no longer just a ball of twinkling light but is a punky fairy with attitude. But there are other differences that are not so successful. When Tinkerbell swallows poison the audience are asked not to clap but told to whisper ‘I believe in fairies,’ to save her life. It is almost apologetic and seems to sum up the whole mood of the production. Indeed there seems to be an unwillingness to adhere to any commitment that might give the play emotional truth. Consequently it fails to move, resulting in a production that is ultimately shallow. The energy of the show seems to reflect this, and despite my attendance at only the second press night, it already felt tired.

Abbey Ford as Wendy is uninspiring and too old for the role, and there are little age differences (actual or performance wise), with the actors playing her brothers. Supporting actors in the Lost Boys and Pirates are far more convincing; and in the leads Jonathan Hyde is excellent as the wanna-be-loved Hook, Ciaran Kellgren dynamic as Pan and Itxasco Moreno riveting as naughty fairy Tinkerbell.

Of course I am reviewing this version of Peter Pan from an adult’s viewpoint. The children watching were not so critical, and although they only counted for only about ten percent of the audience they seemed to love it. Perhaps their voice should reflect any   future successes of the show much louder than that of a critic who has broken Pan’s rules and grown up.

OLIVER VALENTINE                                                                

STUDIES FOR A PORTRAIT                OVAL HOUSE THEATRE

 

Studies For A Portrait, at the Oval House Theatre follows the last few days of Julian Barker, a highly successful artist in the ranks of David Hockney, Francis Bacon and Andy Warhol.

The dying artist retreats to his East Hampton beach home with his much younger partner Chad. The latter is a hard-faced but efficient gold-digger who is determined to take sole control of Barker's estate once he is dead. However Barker’s previous long term boyfriend Marcus, appears on the scene broke and believing he has also a stake in the painter’s work. Along for the ride is also Justin, Chad’s cute twenty-three year old underwear model boyfriend who wants Chad’s full attention but is also willing to share his time with Barker as his new muse. As the battle for inheritance, heart and legacy begins amongst the ménage a trios, the best and worst of human nature is seen.

Daniel Reitz’s witty and often moving play is an observation of the complexities of relationships, power-games and self-preservation. He cleverly gives each character enough dimensions so it is not always clear cut what their motivations are. Is it simply the legacy of the artist? Or is it greed, control or even love?

The artist himself is a whirlwind of emotions as he faces death from pancreatic cancer. Co-dependent on Chad both practically and emotionally, he is perhaps the only person who sees the people around him for what they really are. Chad himself is not particularly a likeable character, having schemed his way into Barker’s life and chased away the threat of Marcus, he is determined to cling on to what he has gained. But again Reitz gives Chad unexpected edges, he may also genuinely love Barker, and not just for his money. Marcus the ex-lover who never quite got over his relationship with Barker, is a showcase of passive-aggressive behavior. Playing mainly victim yet more than able to turn to persecutor when needed. And Justin proves he is not just a fabulous body, he has brains and sensitivity, and is possibly more genuine than any of the men in the house.

The play takes a while to get going with the first half sometimes lacking energy and pace, but once it takes-off it hooks the audience as the charged atmosphere builds.

Adam Spreadbury-Maher's direction is generally focused, and Sophie Mosberger’s arty set a delight. The choice of sixties music is an ideal soundscape for the play. Martin Bendel is splendid as the acerbic Barker, Brodie Bass convincing as the ice queen Chad and David Price hits the mark when he finally lets go in a furious rant against his rival Chad. Michael Parr displays fine acting as Justin, and brings a much needed lift to scenes that sometimes dip.

Studies For A Portrait deals with important legal issues still facing gay couples in America. Barker realizes after his death anything left to Chad would be subject to inheritance tax, and creates a foundation to provide a tax-shelter for his lover when he is gone. It is essentially a gay play for today, but this is not just a play just for gay audiences.  It is a tale which has an emotional core that reflects the general human condition when dealing with issues of relationship and conflict. It is really a study of what makes people tick in times of emotional crises, and in this sense has a universal connection for all theatre goers. This is not to be missed.

OLIVER VALENTINE                                                  Box office: 020 7582 0080