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“The Thrill of Love” at the St James Theatre

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The Thrill of Love has newly arrived in London from the New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme. A small admission of bias – I saw (and loved) my first ever play at the beautiful New Vic, so I can’t help feeling proud of it for producing this skilful take on the Ruth Ellis story.

Ellis was, of course, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, in 1955, and the play’s focus is entirely on her – her murdered lover David Blakely doesn’t even make an appearance. She’s a complex character, who loves neither wisely nor well, abused but also admirably independent, with a drink problem and mental instability that makes you question the soundness of her conviction. It’s a dream role that Faye Castelow makes the most of, and the play’s author, Amanda Whittington, unflinchingly recreates Ellis’s milieu – the gentlemen’s clubs that served as seedy ‘trading floors’ for a ‘girl on the up’ with a misplaced sense of stardom (Hilary Tones gives a tremendous performance as the manageress of The Court Club in Duke Street).

As a narrative device, a detective attempts to fathom Ellis’ motivation for the crime. Despite Robert Gwilym’s best endeavours, it’s the weakest link in the show – odd when everything else is so sure-footed. The sound design and original music from James Earls-Davis are superb, and talented director James Dacre provides terrific theatrical moments, including a key scene where Ellis performs a disturbing striptease accompanied by a diagnosis from the prison doctors.

The Thrill of Love is not a documentary, and the most impressive aspect of Whittington’s writing is the space she makes for her own concerns about women and justice, despite the wealth of factual details. While hindsight sees Ellis as a tragic figure, Blakely was clearly a victim too, and this writing is too strong to eulogise his murderer. We hear nothing from the prosecution, but the case for the defence is thrillingly presented.

Until 4 May 2013

www.stjamestheatre.co.uk

Photo by Andrew Billington

Written 4 April 2013 for The London Magazine

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“Moby Dick” at the Arcola Theatre

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The Simple8 theatre company has already won acclaim for its current brief season at the Arcola Theatre. Moby Dick is its second production, following The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, another ambitious adaptation made remarkable by a back-to-basics method. With minimal props and a set erected during the action, Simple8’s emphasis is on story telling, delivering an appealingly pared-down piece of theatre.

Taking on the subject of mad Captain Ahab and whale hunting in such a rudimentary fashion works well and much of the success comes from the accompanying music, sea shanties and touching folk songs. Performances are also excellent, from Joseph Kloska as the cruelly obsessed, mutilated mariner Ahab, forever “bound” to chase the eponymous Great White, and Oliver Birch for a series of smaller roles. Taking the lead is Sargon Yelda as an impoverished schoolmaster turned sailor. If at times a touch too ebullient, he navigates proceedings admirably as our narrator.

Sebastian Armesto’s adaptation of Melville’s mammoth classic is strikingly economical and effective – qualities also commendable in his direction. Armesto superbly wrings out the action in the text using a great deal of mime and Melville’s religious concerns are downplayed. Instead, Armesto is fascinated by the allegorical use of the sea as a mirror for man’s own nature. It’s a rich seam to explore and one that gives satisfying depths to a show that provides much to reflect upon.

Until 4 May 2013

www.arcolatheatre.com

Photo by Idil Sukan

Written 3 April 2013 for The London Magazine

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“The Low Road” at the Royal Court

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The Low Road, a new play by Bruce Norris, is Dominic Cooke’s final production as Artistic Director of The Royal Court. It follows a long tradition at the theatre, but particularly under Cooke, of challenging new writing. Masterfully directed, with a joyous rebelliousness, as exemplified by Tom Pye’s freewheeling set design, the focus is nevertheless on the writer, and his startling text.

Norris’ last play, also for the Royal Court, was the smash hit Clybourne Park, a satire on racism and property. For The Low Road he takes economics as his subject, and more specifically Adam Smith, of The Wealth of Nations fame. The play examines the 18th century philosopher’s ideas, recounted as a fable about one Jim Trumpett: “his education, his progress and his eventual undoing”.

Smith himself appears as our narrator, played by Bill Paterson. His performance is hilarious and he’s in total command of the stage, which is appropriate given the manner in which Smith propounds his philosophy. Trumpett (played by Johnny Flynn) is a character who is inspired by Smith’s ideals and takes them to their extremes. Flynn is impressive as a Hogarthian villain who treats all the other characters in the piece appallingly. And there are plenty of them. The Low Road features a huge cast, taking on numerous roles with magnificent speed. Elizabeth Berrington in particular, who plays several female leads, has superb comic skills.

The highlight of the show is a magnificent scene resembling the last supper, in which Trumpett turns on a hospitable religious group – challenging the charity he himself has benefited from, with breathtaking tastelessness. Trumpett’s morality of the markets, in which taxation is seen as the only evil, sees him clash with wealthy civil society too. And protestors, past and present also feature (a scene at an economic forum that rewards less than it should). It all culminates in an epilogue so startling, it’s a little alienating. There are also some knowing references to the fact that some might doubt the theatre is the best forum for a debate to resolve the nature of capitalism.

The play has a showy intelligence, and is technically brilliant, with olde English dialogue full of wit and profanities to get the giggles in. It has an embarrassment of rich ideas, and if at times it overreaches, it still cannot fail to impress. Norris’ exegesis of economics is tremendous, his presentation respects the audience’s intelligence, and the imagination applied to Smith’s metaphors is ingenious.

Until 11 May 2013

www.royalcourttheatre.com

Photo by Johan Persson

Written 28 March 2013 for The London Magazine

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“Quasimodo” at the King’s Head Theatre

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London’s excellent fringe theatres often afford the chance to see hidden gems and curios: seldom-performed pieces, which can catch on with many or fascinate the aficionado. Quasimodo, by Lionel Bart, receiving its premier 50 years after it was first written, falls into the later category.

The musical, which has only been workshopped until now, has parallels with another beauty-and-beast show, The Phantom of the Opera, and various adaptations of French epics, including another of the iconic Victor Hugo story, Notre Dame de Paris, that have proved successful. But Bart’s was a project that never took off, so all credit to the talented director Robert Chevara for finally bringing it to the stage. It’s a shame that Quasimodo will really only interest those mad for musicals.

There’s certainly nothing wrong with the source or the book, which has been shaped by Chris Bond and Chevara into a slick work full of neat parallels, satisfyingly far removed from anything reminiscent of Disney’s 1996 film. Just as much the story of the beautiful Esmeralda, who inspires the passion of nearly everyone on stage, it’s ambitious and engaging. Bringing to the fore the theme of sexual anxiety, with Quasimodo as an understandably confused young man, is brave and bold. Chevara’s central performers explore the themes well; Zoë George is a vulnerable orphan willing to hone her feminine wiles and the excellent Steven Webb plays the crippled campanologist with charm.

Chevara’s production is at its best in its darkest scenes, there are moments when you suspect he’s onto something, but the humour in the piece rings like a cracked bell and proves distracting. Performances from the supporting cast could be pared back. The set by Christopher Hone is a good idea but sellotaped cobwebs give an amateurish feel, and the costumes, with their mismatched styles, misfire.

While the band do their best, you can hear the score crying out for more – this music needs a big sound in order to be judged properly, especially the choruses. But this is not the late, often great, Lionel Bart’s finest writing, the lyrics are unimaginative and the tunes simply not memorable enough. Ultimately that, rather than any battle of Quasimodo’s, is the tragedy of the piece.

Until 13 April 2013

www.kingsheadtheatre.com

Photo by Francis Loney

Written 25 March 2013 for The London Magazine

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“Proof” at the Menier Chocolate Factory

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Immediately before the interval of Proof, just opened at the Menier Chocolate Factory, the heroine drops a bombshell, claiming that she, and not her recently deceased famous father, has made an important mathematical discovery. It’s a fantastic moment of drama – so much so you can’t wait for the break to be over, which is surely indicative of the high quality of both play and production.

The genius father, who fought a losing battle for sanity most of his life, was looked after by his devoted Catherine, who put her own career on hold to care for him. Dealing with his death is proving difficult: in the first scene she talks to his ghost, portrayed with great emotional control by Matthew Marsh, and there’s a complex sibling relationship with her sister Claire, played wonderfully by Emma Cunniffe, to factor in. Add to the mix a former student of her father’s, Jamie Parker, sniffing around old notebooks for an academic scoop, and there are plenty of components to this fascinating equation.

David Auburn’s artfully written play deserves all the acclaim it has received since its New York premiere in 2000. It’s a controlled piece, easy to admire, full of subtlety actors can work with. Clearly visualised, the text must be a joy to direct; Polly Findlay does a superb job and brings out some humour with the help of Parker’s affable stage presence. Playing another Hal, after his triumph as Prince Henry at the Globe last year, his Catherine here takes the lead. Fearful that she shares her father’s instability as well as his intelligence, this is a demanding role for both actor and audience. Mariah Gale is wonderful in the part – frequently on the brink of tears yet with a wicked sense of humour – this play gives all the proof we need of her talent.

Until 27 April 2013

www.menierchocolatefactory.com

Photo by Nobby Clark

Written 22 March 2013 for The London Magazine

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“Above and Beyond”at the Corinthia Hotel

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Although it’s a tough job, theatre critics should aim for some semblance of objectivity when they write. That makes Above and Beyond, currently playing at the Corinthia Hotel, difficult to deal with. Billed as “one-on-one immersive theatre” the thrill is that each audience member can make of it what he or she wills. Participation, which many, including reviewers, dread, plays a big part. It’s an exciting adventure, best commended by saying that at the end it’s something you’ll want everyone to do.

When it comes to the ‘doing’, Above and Beyond is a tremendous achievement on the part of its cast and apparently super-human director Mimi Poskitt. After being escorted to the starting point in the lobby, you launch on a solo journey in and outside the hotel, up and downstairs, meeting all kind of characters. Of course your every move is plotted to perfection and the mechanics of the operation are almost distractingly smooth – you can’t help looking out for other participants and maybe start to feel a little paranoid that everyone you see is a member of the cast. The plethora of details is delightful and the execution faultless. And give yourself some credit – interacting with the cast like this, no matter how skilfully encouraged, is unusual and engrossing.

Such is the level of complicity established, I confess my allegiances lie with the team behind the show, the Corinthia’s ‘Artists in Residence’, Look Left Look Right. There’s a charge from the unexpected that they utilise so any plot spoilers would be unfair to this hard working crew. Suffice to say, don’t expect a narrative as such, rather of collection of stories, written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and Katie Lyons, inspired by the hotel, its staff and the international elite who stay in a place like this.

The scenes designed to provoke sentiment and nostalgia, with a nod to the location’s history, worked less well – for me anyway – but the majority of Above and Beyond has a sense of fun, a welcome change from much theatre in this format, and an intelligent wit that recognizes the bizarre situations. This is one of the funniest nights I’ve had in ages – I couldn’t stop laughing in several scenes. And a couple of teasers: expect a real giggle in the spa and check your face for make-up before you leave.

Lloyd Malcolm and Lyons have an impressive sense of independence despite the overwhelming generosity of the hotel. Going behind the scenes could prove awkward and a marketing seminar you are invited to join is close-to-the-bone funny. But the Corinthia is its own advertisement, with interiors gorgeous enough to awe a humble theatre critic and a penthouse suite I felt privileged to visit. The real members of the hotel staff deserve credit as well since the experiment must make more work for them. Let’s hope they get a chance to experience some of the magic themselves.

Until 14 April 2013

Written 20 March 2013 for The London Magazine

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“Ring” at the Battersea Arts Centre

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“The most important thing is the darkness”, our host for the evening tells us, as the audience files into the atmospheric Battersea Arts Centre for theatre with a difference. Ring, conceived and directed by David Rosenberg and produced by Fuel, is performed in total darkness, using headphones to create a sound piece that’s unnerving and unmissable.

The darkness is unnatural, a pitch black not normally experienced, set-up theatrically by Simon Kane, playing Michael, who leads an unusual therapy session with the flair of a magician. Kane’s showmanship establishes the scene marvellously. When the lights go down expectations are up and we are in the midst of the drama: part of a group using the dark as cover to explore issues of blame and frightening events. What our role is, and how we work out what’s going on, is the investigation at the centre of the show and it creates an engaging experience that leaves you exhausted despite its brief 50-minute duration.

Make no mistake; this is not just a variation on a radio play. The idea of the group, people coming together to share an experience, is at the heart of the show and exploring this makes it work as theatre. In these remarkable conditions, the story Ring tries to shape struggles to hold its own, even though writer Glen Neath raises a number of questions and issues, tries to inject some humour, and manages to toy with expectations intelligently.

The science behind the headsets we all wear is fascinating – binaural recording is apparently the key to the uncanny effects – and the technical achievements of Ben and Max Ringham, who designed the sound and music, tremendous. But the show really works because it uses our imaginations. So limitless are the possibilities, the story behind Ring doesn’t quite satisfy: composed of fragmentary scenes and conversations the scenarios are a little too predictable, but the technique is so novel and exciting it has to be heard to be believed.

Until 28 March 2013

www.bac.org.uk

Photo by Susanne Dietz

Written 14 March 2013 for The London Magazine

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“Mies Julie” at the Riverside Studios

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South African director and writer Yael Farber has brought her Mies Julie from Cape Town – via the Edinburgh Festival and considerable critical acclaim along the way – to the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. Farber’s wonderfully free adaptation of Strindberg’s drama of sex and class, the 1888 Miss Julie, adds the toxic politics of present day South Africa to create an explosive mix.

The majority of the adaptation is inspired. The action is set on a farm besieged by ‘squatters’ aiming to oust the white Boer owners, Miss Julie and her father. The homestead is staffed by John and his mother Christine, who has a mystical, ancestral bond with the land. The racist connotations of Julie’s decision to dance with and then sleep with John add to the intensity of Strindberg’s writing, which can baffle a modern audience. And yet while this potent layer of politics benefits the play by amplifying each character’s desires, it becomes monotone. Mixing the personal with the political fascinates, but Farber falters in successfully conducting what starts as an orchestral piece, unfortunately reducing it to a single note.

Yet the execution of Mies Julie is fantastic. Aided by a soundscape (created by Daniel and Matthew Pencer) that includes traditional music performed by Tandiwe Nofirst Lungisa and Thoko Ntshinga, who also plays Christine, the play’s atmosphere is magnificently oppressive. Better still are the central performances from servant and mistress Bongile Mantsai and Hilda Cronje: the chemistry between these two is electric, their balletic movements captivating amidst the show’s hysteria and gore. The games they play are deeply erotic and for the most part capable of carrying the portentous burden placed upon them. It’s impossible to take your eyes off Mantsai and Cronje as they travel to the play’s depressing, bloody conclusion.

Until 19 May 2013

www.riversidestudios.co.uk

Photo by William Burdett Coutts

Written 12 March 2013 for The London Magazine

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“Singin’ in the Rain” at the Palace Theatre

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Now well into its second successful year in the West End, director Jonathan Church’s acclaimed production of Singin’ in the Rain is a reverential remake of the beloved MGM film. Determined to create the feelgood factor and equipped with enough simulated showers to make sure it does just that, recent changes in the cast mean a new set of talented performers drench and delight those in the front rows of the Palace Theatre.

The newest cast member is Jennifer Ellison in the role of silent movie star Lina Lamont, whose career is endangered by the introduction of talking pictures – incompatible with her hilarious Noo Yawk accent. Ellison reproduces the voice in fine style, with a larger-than-life delivery perfect for the role.

Also a recent addition to the show, Louise Bowden plays the female lead Kathy Selden to whose vocals Lamont lip-syncs. And what a beautiful voice it is. Even better, Bowden’s dancing is divine. Adding the comedy to the show is Stephane Annelli as Cosmo Brown, who gives an appealing performance and an athletic rendition of my favourite number, Make ‘em Laugh.

Despite the wonderful songs Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed wrote for the film, Singin’ in the Rain is really all about dancing. Thankfully, still in the main role, the fantastic Adam Cooper is more than up to the job. Making the whole thing look as easy as anything, he is a joy to watch. The accomplished ensemble join him and have plenty of fun with choreographer Andrew Wright’s clever renditions of the famous numbers. But all eyes are on Cooper as, amazing as it sounds, he gives a performance of which even Gene Kelly would have been proud.

Until 8 June 2013

Photo by Manuel Harlan

Written 7 March 2013 for The London Magazine

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“Purple Heart” at the Gate Theatre

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It’s a brave decision for a playwright to make a child one of the central characters of a play. In Bruce Norris’ Purple Heart, receiving its UK première at the Gate Theatre in Notting Hill, Thor is a 12-year-old caught between his grieving mother and grandmother after his father dies in Vietnam. Given the raw intensity of the part, it would be almost impossible for a child of the same age to play it so the first medal awarded to this production goes to the actor Oliver Coopersmith, who is 20, for an astonishingly convincing portrayal of a precocious, disturbed pre-teen.

The family trio mourns in different ways. The resilience of youth is matched by the stoicism of age, with Linda Broughton playing Grace, a mother-in-law whose best intentions and insistence she is “on top of it” would test anyone. Grace’s attempts to control her son’s widow have an underlying insecurity that Broughton develops well. In the central role, Amelia Lowdell gives a similarly layered performance; the focus of a close-knit community obsessed with sending condolence casseroles, she is close to suicide through grief and alcoholism. Lowdell makes her fragile character the focus of our sympathy, despite her vicious streak.

Matters become more complex with the arrival of Purdy, a Vietnam veteran and a fourth, fine performance from Trevor White. It doesn’t take long for the soldier’s clean-cut manner to slip and White manages this superbly, making the most of every movement. Purdy is more a device than a well-rounded character: Norris uses him to pull out ideas and give Purple Heart some weight. At times, his character makes the play seem a touch sensational but the writing is original enough to fascinate.

Christopher Haydon’s intelligent direction serves Norris’ text well. Most of the conversations have an interrogatory feel that is delivered with an appropriate military pace. Better still, Haydon clearly appreciates the author’s quirky comedy; despite being a play about grief Purple Heart is full of laughs. It’s the darkest of humour, one that gives even poor jokes an edge. It’s a work unafraid of crudity, even silliness (Thor’s novelty jokes, gifts from his father, make continued appearances) – all to bring out the plays painful questions. Norris is known to London audiences primarily through his success at the Royal Court – this early work is every bit as good as the smash hit Clybourne Park, and deserves just as many awards.

Until 6 April 2013

www.gatetheatre.co.uk

Photo by Hugo Glendinning

Written 6 March 2013 for The London Magazine