New Victoria Theatre, Woking – until 31 August 2019
Reviewed by Becky Doyle
4****
I really had little idea what this show was about but boy was it explosive! The singing was amazing and by far the highlight of the show. I can’t pick fault with any of the actors voices each superb, Audrey Brisson (Amelie) and Caolan McCarthy were in particular wonderful to listen to. The musical talent on stage was beyond what I was expecting. From the very first song where each characters instrument was introduced the music had me.
There were highs and lows throughout the life of Amelie, and one that many could understand and appreciate. Her relationship with her parents was saddening yet with a happy yet surprising ending.
On the subject of her parents, an area of this storyline brought great laughs and humor whilst absorbed into the thoughts and dreams of a young woman. Many of the audience had the same response as I did with fully belly laughs and surprise throughout the second half when an unusual piece of garden memorabilia stole the stage. The stage was laid out and fully utilized – wherever you were sat you could see the whole range of the stage and props which were highly effective and thought out.
My only negative was that sometimes the music overpowered the singing and it became difficult to focus on the spoken words which made some time the story hard to follow.
Overall, I would recommend Amelie to anyone who is looking for a feel good, light hearted show filled with warmth and the ultimate love story.
Saturday Night Fever returns with a new Bill Kenwright Production which is based on the well known 1977 film starring John Travolta. Featuring the lyrics and music of the Bee Gees, Saturday Night Fever is adapted collaboratively on stage by Robert Stigwood and Bill Oakes. The stage musical has made its debut in the West End in 1998 and since then has toured nationally and internationally.
Set to Bee Gees infamous musical numbers, Saturday Night Fever tells the story of Tony Manero who seeks dancing as escapism from the stereotypical and tough realities of the working class life in Brooklyn. Tony goes on a rollercoaster journey of self-discovery with dance which projects thoughts and feelings linking into the story telling. The story is creatively re-imagined in a music and dance fiesta and is spectacularly done from the very beginning to the very end.
Audience engagement immediately begins from the start with the introduction of the many well known Bee Gee hits, under the arrangement of Scott Alder, including Stayin’ Alive, Night Fever, Jive Talkin’ and the set backing Tragedy and the calling You Should Be Dancing. The music fits so well in the story and emotively connects with the realities of Tony’s life and those in the community.
Richard Winsor, a reputed dancer and actor, exclusively projects the portrayal of Tony so well with his intricate, slick and polished dancing and movements. Winsor is supported inclusively by an excellent and energetic cast of very talented performers and dancers. The dancing is timely synchronised to the music and under the superb choreography amid the bright, flashing, colourful and innovative staging and lighting, courtesy of the creative team of Gary McCann, Nick Richings and Dan Samson. The songs are harmoniously sung in the spirit of the legendary band by Jake Byrom, James Kenneth Haughton and Danny Knott who form the Bee Gees.
This unmissable production is excellently well put together with show stopping choreography. It celebrates the era of the discotheque and dancing which expresses hope and solace to many who dream and pursue different things from their existing predicaments. Dancing isn’t exclusive and Tony demonstrates this as an inclusive opportunity for one to support their self discovery journey and daring to be different. This production inspires and finishes on a high with a finale medley of some of the well known Bee Gees’ hits which feverously draws audience to its feet. It is a night out to remember with plans being made to see the musical again either on stage or on screen.
TAMLYN HENDERSON ANNOUNCED TO JOIN THE HIT MUSICAL WAITRESS IN THE WEST END
HENDERSON WILL TAKE OVER THE ROLE OF EARL FOLLOWING PETER HANNAH’S LAST PERFORMANCE ON 7 SEPTEMBER
It is today announced that Tamlyn Henderson will join the London cast of Waitress the musical from 9 September in the role of Earl. Henderson has performed across the world including in the UK and international tour of Mamma Mia and Australian productions of Les Misérables and The Sound of Music. He will take over the role from Peter Hannah who has his final performance on 7 September. West End performer Cindy Belliott will also join the ensemble following Nicole Raquel Dennis’s last show on 7 September. As recently announced, YouTuber and Strictly 2018 finalist Joe Sugg will also join the cast from 9 September, making his theatrical debut in the role of Ogie.
Waitress celebrated its official opening night at the AdelphiTheatre on 7 March and the Tony-nominated musical is now booking through Christmas and New Year to 4 January 2020.
In Waitress the Musical the ingredients of life don’t taste too good for our heroine Jenna, but a blend of true friendship, rare talent and sweet, sweet music combine to deliver a story of hope, love and a delicious future. You will leave with a spring in your step and tears of joy in your eyes.
Tamlyn Henderson (Earl) has performed in the UK and international tour of Mamma Mia and international productions of Les Misérables. Other musical theatre credits for Australian theatre include The Sound of Music, Ladies in Black, Calamity Jane and Falsettos. Tamlyn has also appeared on stage in The Dark Room (Theatre503), The Importance of Being Earnest (Seymour Centre),Circumspecto (Sydney Opera House), The Jinglists (Edinburgh Fringe/Soho Theatre). On screen, Tamlyn in known for Careless Love, Love Letters and Redfern Now.
Cindy Belliot (ensemble) has performed regularly in the West End including in Aladdin (Prince Edward), Motown (Shaftesbury), The Hurly Burly Show (Garrick), Dirty Dancing (Aldwych) andWicked (Apollo). Previous credits also include: Chiffon in Little Shop of Horrors (Storyhouse); Hattie in Kiss Me Kate (Crucible); Sweet Charity (Nottingham Playhouse); Fela (Broadway, National Theatre & USA tour); Bubbling Brown Sugar, Cats (Dutch Tour); The Lion King (The Netherlands) and Saturday Night Fever (The Netherlands).
Brought to life by a ground breaking, female-led creative team, Waitress features an original score by 7-time Grammy® nominee Sara Bareilles (Love Song, Brave), a book by acclaimed screenwriter Jessie Nelson (I Am Sam) and direction by Tony Award® winner Diane Paulus (Pippin, Finding Neverland) and choreography by Lorin Latarro. The production is also currently touring the US and Canada and has announced an Australian premiere in 2020 at the Sydney Lyric Theatre with further productions to open in Holland next year and Japan in 2021.
Alongside Tamlyn Henderson as Earl, Waitress stars Lucie Jones as Jenna, Laura Baldwin as Dawn, Marisha Wallace as Becky, Joe Sugg as Ogie, David Hunter as Dr. Pomatter and Andrew Boyer as Old Joe.
The full company includes Kelly Agbowu, Laura Baldwin, Piers Bate, Cindy Belliot, Andrew Boyer, Michael Hamway, Peter Hannah, Tamlyn Henderson, David Hunter, Lucie Jones,Stephen Leask, Chris McGuigan, Olivia Moore, Nathaniel Morrison, Sarah O’Connor, Leanne Pinder, Charlotte Riby, Joe Sugg, Marisha Wallace and Mark Willshire.
Waitress premiered on Broadway in March 2016 and has since become the longest running show in the history of the Brooks Atkinson Theater. The production is also currently touring the US and Canada and has announced an Australian premiere in 2020 at the Sydney Lyric Theatre with further productions to open in Holland next year and Japan in 2021.
On its Broadway opening, Waitress was nominated for four Outer Critics’ Circle Awards, including Outstanding New Broadway Musical; two Drama League Award Nominations, including Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical; six Drama Desk Nominations, including Outstanding Musical; and four Tony Award Nominations, including Best Musical.
Within the theatre bearing the Lowry name, the gala premiere of Mrs Lowry and Son took place last night, telling the story of a simple man, a man who paints and who is controlled by his bedridden mother.
Mrs Lowry, played beautifully by Vanessa Redgrave, does not mourn the death of her late husband, but the business failures that led to the loss of her middle-class existence in the well-to-do Victoria Park. From her bedroom in Pendlebury, a symbol of her fall from grace, she abuses her son’s devotion and desire to please her, stifling his creativity and ambition for recognition with disdain for his work.
Her treatment of her son constitutes abuse, but Martyn Hesford’s script paints Mrs Lowry as more troubled than monstrous. At times, she is wickedly spiteful, but there are moments of warmth, with both characters seeming wholly dependent on the other for their happiness.
The complexities of the relationship on which the film centres are portrayed with an understated quality by both Redgrave and Spall. However, at times, Spall’s portrayal of Lowry does seem overly meek. Between their scenes, we follow a less obsequious Lowry around industrial landscapes which could be a gallery of his work, with narration explaining his affection for his home and the people within it.
Much like an exhibit in a museum, the film is a well-crafted window into Lowry’s life and, although lacking the substance to have you on the edge of your seat, a suitable testament to the life and work one of Lancashire’s most famous sons.
JOSEPH MARCELL AND CHRISTOPHER FAIRBANK TO STAR IN THE UK PREMIERE OF SAM SHEPARD’S AGES OF THE MOON
17 OCTOBER – 24 NOVEMBER
The Vaults Theatre
Joseph Marcell – best known as laconic British butler ‘Geoffrey’ in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – and Christopher Fairbank – best known for his role as ‘Moxey’ in the iconic British series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet – will star as ‘Byron’ and ‘Ames’ in the long-awaited UK premiere of Sam Shepard’s play AGES OF THE MOON, directed by Alexander Lass, playing from Thursday 17 October – Sunday 24 November at the Vaults Theatre in London’s Waterloo.
On a hot summer’s night, deep in the American wilderness, Byron and Ames are reunited by mutual desolation. By the fading light of an eclipsing moon, the pair reflect on love and life over a bottle of whiskey – and as old rivalries flare, their forty-year friendship is put to the test at the barrel of a gun.
AGES OF THE MOON premiered in Dublin in 2009, starring Stephen Rea and Sean McGinley, and then transferred to New York the following year, with several subsequent productions in North America and Canada. This new production marks its UK premiere.
Alexander Lass said, “Byron and Ames provoke as much as they entertain. Two men in their mid-sixties, suffering literal and metaphorical heartache, they crave to be heard and known. Through their rambling recollections, coarse observations and raunchy humour, we are taken on journey where fact merges with fiction, beginning with youthful optimism and ending with mournful nostalgia. They philosophise about sex, marriage, betrayal, loneliness, death, country western music, horse-racing, and astronomy.
Like Estragon and Vladimir or Hirst and Spooner in No Man’s Land, Byron and Ames amuse us with their homespun conversation, disturb us with their despair all the while knocking back glass after glass of “the great malt which wounds”. The more they drink, the less we feel we can trust anything they say.
I cannot wait to direct this play. I am drawn to the humanity, comedy, universality, and understated showmanship of Sam’s poetic words, and I am thrilled to be collaborating with Joe and Chris, two incredible actors who will bring Ames and Byron vividly to life.
“Definitely see this play” – New York Times
Christopher Fairbank has a long and distinguished screen career, with films including Lady Macbeth, Aliens III, Zefferelli’s Hamlet, Besson’s The Fifth Element, Burton’s Batman and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Well known for his role as ‘Moxey’ in iconic eighties series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, his extensive television credits include most recently Taboo, Granchester, Wolf Hall and Wallander. He starred in Sam Shepard’s Curse of the Starving Class at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh in 2009, and his recent theatrical credits include Albion at the Almeida, The Pyramid Text at the Birmingham Rep and the Caucasian Chalk Circle at the Royal Lyceum.
Joseph Marcell has extensive theatrical credits: for Shakespeare’s Globe, he has played in multiple productions, including the lead in King Lear and Derek Walcott’s Omeros, both directed by Bill Buckhurst, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Our Friends in the North for the RSC; lead roles in numerous August Wilson productions in London & Washington DC and John Guare’s A Free Man of Colour at The Lincoln Centre. More recent stage credits include Lady Windermere’s Fan directed by Kathy Burke in the West End and Babette’s Feast at the Print Room. Joseph starred in the hugely successful NBC series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and has many television credits in the UK & USA including: EastEnders, Death in Paradise, Frost, Wrapped up in Christmas and Ryan Murphy’s soon to be screened Ratched. Film credits include Cry Freedom, Fedz, Hero and The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind.
AGES OF THE MOON will be directed by Alexander Lass, nominated for Best Director at the 2017 Stage Debut awards for 46 Beacon at Trafalgar Studios 2, and whose other credits include Associate Director onShakespeare in Love at the Theatre Royal Bath and on tour, and on No Man’s Landin the West End. Lass has recently directed the critically acclaimed play When the Birds Come by Tallulah Brown at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and will also be directing the first London revival of David Hare’s The Permanent Way at the Vaults in September.
AGES OF THE MOON will have set and costume design by Holly Pigott, casting by Ellie Collyer-Bristow CDG, and is produced by Debbie Hicks.
WORLD PREMIÈRE OF EMILY WHITE’S DEBUT PLAY PAVILION
Theatr Clwyd present the world première of
PAVILION
By Emily White
26 September – 12 October
Director Tamara Harvey; Designer Jacob Hughes; Lighting Designer Tim Mascall
Sound Designer Dan Balfour; Choreographer Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster
Fight Director Owain Gwynn; Casting Director Annelie Powell
Theatr Clwyd today announce the full company for the world première of Emily White’s debut play Pavilion. Artistic Director Tamara Harvey directs Ifan Huw Dafydd (Dewi), Carly-Sophia Davies (Jess), Caitlin Drake(Myfanwy), Ellis Duffy (Gary), Michael Geary (Evan), Lowri Hamer (Bethan), Victoria John (Big Nell), Kristian Phillips (Lloyd), Adam Redmore (Mark/Will), Rebecca Smith-Williams (Mary) and Tim Treloar (Dylan). The production opens at Theatr Clwyd on 2 October, with previews from 26 September, until 12 October.
Dance. Drink. Fight. Snog.
Friday night. Music pounds, lager flows, lust ignites and fists fly. This run-down spa town in a forgotten corner of Wales is filled with big personalities and even bigger egos.
A new dark comedy by Wales’ Emily White and directed by the company’s Artistic Director Tamara Harvey.
Pavilion is Emily White’s debut play. She originally trained as an actress at RADA, before obtaining an MA in Theatre Writing at York University. In 2018 she won a place on Channel 4’s 4Screenwriting Course and this year she was selected to be part of the BBC Wales Writersroom group. She is currently writing a digital theatre piece for Wrapt Films/Open Sky Theatre and is also developing projects for TV, radio, theatre and film.
Ifan Huw Dafydd playsDewi. His previous theatre credits for Theatr Clwyd include Under Milk Wood, As You Like It, Blackthorn, Festen, History of Falling Things, The Draw Boy, Memory, The Crucible and King Lear. Other theatre credits include The Wood (Torch Theatre), Raving (Hampstead Theatre), Desire Line (Sherman Theatre), and An Enemy For The People (Chapter Arts Centre). For television, his credits include The Light, 4 Stories: On The Edge, Pitching In, 15Daysand The Crown.
Carly-Sophia Davies plays Jess. She graduated from LAMDA in 2018. Her credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Taliesin Theatre).
Caitlin Drake plays Myfanwy. She graduated from Italia Conti in 2019. This marks her professional debut.
Ellis Duffy plays Gary. His previous theatre credits include Scrappy (Theatre West), 13 (Tobacco Factory) and Dead Born Grow (Aberystwyth Arts Centre).
Michael Geary plays Evan. His previous credits for Theatr Clwyd include My People, The Light of Heart, Rape of the Fair Country, As You Like It, Humbug, Taking Steps, The Taming of the Shrew, A Child’s History in Wales, Tall Tales, Thinking Out Loud, Festen, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Tales from Small Nations and The Suicide. Other theatre credits include The Boy Who Fell into a Book (Soho Theatre), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Guildford Shakespeare Company) and Fantastic Mr Fox (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre). For film, his credits includeViking Siege, Tulip Fever and The Baker.
Lowri Hamer plays Bethan. Her previous theatre credits include Salad Days (New Union Theatre) and Lord of the Flies (Theatr Clwyd).
Victoria John plays Big Nell. Her previous credits for Theatr Clwyd include Wave Me Goodbye, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Cyrano de Bergerac, All My Sons, The Light of Heart, Aristocrats, The Winslow Boy, Rape of the Fair Countryand Boeing Boeing. Other theatre credits include Hir (Bush Theatre), Play (The Other Room)and The Frozen Scream (Wales Millennium Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome). For television, her credits includeGwaith/Cartref, Miranda, Cast Offs and Little Britain.
Kristian Phillips plays Lloyd – his previous work for the company includes Season’s Greetings and Bruised. His other theatre credits include As You Like It (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Richard III (Almeida Theatre), Of Mice and Men (Birmingham Rep, UK tour), The Alchemist (Liverpool Playhouse), The Sea Plays (Old Vic Tunnels), Crazy Gary’s Mobile Disco (Tron and Traverse Theatre) and The Passion (National Theatre of Wales). For television, his credits include Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators, Press, Nightmares andWizards vs Aliens.
Adam Redmore plays Mark/Will. His previous theatre credits include Sugar Baby (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Wonderman (National Theatre Wales), Milked (UK tour), Roberto Zucco (Chapter Arts), Maudie’s Rooms, Clytemnestra (Sherman Theatre), Tonypandemonium (National Theatre Wales) and Caligula (Chapter Arts).
Rebecca Smith-Williams plays Mary – her previous work for the company includes Humbug. Her previous theatre credits include Y Brain/Kargalar, Be Aware (Volcano Theatre), Margaret and the Tapeworm (Chapter Arts Centre, UK tour), Miramar (UK tour), The Eyes Have It (Watford Palace Theatre), Darkness Spoken(Southbank Centre), Black Battles with Dogs (Southwark Playhouse), After Troy (Oxford Playhouse), The Fool (Cock Tavern)and Mary Mother of Frankenstein (The National Theatre of Belgium).
Tim Treloar plays Dylan. His previous theatre credits include Birdsong, Wait Until Dark (UK tours), House & Garden (The Watermill Theatre), Three Sisters (Lyric Theatre Belfast), King Charles III (Birmingham Rep, UK tour, Roslyn Packer Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Squerryes Court), I Kiss Your Heart (Soho Theatre), King Lear (Chichester Festival Theatre), Realism (Soho Theatre), and The Heart of Robin Hood (Royal Shakespeare Theatre). For film, his credits include A Hundred Streets, Maleficent, The Crown and The Dragon and Macbeth.
Tamara Harvey has been Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd since August 2015. Most recently she directedOrpheus Descending in a co-production with the Menier Chocolate Factory and the première of Home, I’m Darling by Laura Wade – which has been nominated for UK Theatre and Evening Standard Awards, as well as five Olivier Awards, winning the Olivier for Best New Comedy, and recently transferred to the West End before returning to Clwyd. Also for the company she has directed Much Ado About Nothing, the première of Elinor Cook’s award-winning play, Pilgrims, Skylight by David Hare and the première of Peter Gill’s version of Uncle Vanya (Best Production, Best Supporting Actress and Best Director in the English Language at the Wales Theatre Awards). She has directed in the West End, throughout the UK and abroad, working on classic plays, new writing, musical theatre and in film. Her previous credits include the world premières of From Here to Eternity (Shaftesbury Theatre), Breeders (St James Theatre), The KitchenSink, The Contingency Plan, Sixty-Six Books and tHe dYsFUnCKshOnalZ! (Bush Theatre), In the Vale of Health (a cycle of four plays by Simon Gray), Elephants and Hello/Goodbye (Hampstead Theatre), Plague Over England (Finborough Theatre & West End). Other theatre includes Kreutzer vs Kreutzer (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse/Royal Festival Hall), Bash(Trafalgar Studios), Whipping It Up (New Ambassadors), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Gielgud & Garrick Theatres), Educating Rita (Menier Chocolate Factory & Theatre Royal Bath), the UK première of Something Cloudy, Something Clear (Finborough Theatre) and Pride and Prejudice (Sheffield Theatres).
Full casting has been announced for Evan Placey’s award-winning drama Mother of Him, which opens at Park Theatre on 18 September running until 26 October, with press night on Tuesday 24 September at 19.00 in Park200.
Joining the previously announced Tracy-Ann Oberman (Brenda Kapowitz) in this powerful and provocative play inspired by true events, is Scott Folan (Matthew Kapowitz), Simon Hepworth (Robert Rosenberg), Anjelica Serra (Jessica/Tess), Neil Sheffield (Steven), Hari Aggarwal and Matt Goldberg (Jason Kapowitz).
Mother of Him is directed by Max Lindsay, with designs by Lee Newby, lighting by Ali Hunter and sound by Fergus O’Hare.
A child accused. A mother conflicted. Is love really unconditional?
December. Toronto. It’s cold.
Brenda, a single Jewish mother sends her youngest son, Jason, off to school. His elder brother remains asleep upstairs. This could be a day like any other, if older brother Matthew wasn’t under house arrest.
Pursued by the media and tormented by guilt, Brenda tries to hold her family together as the world is set to tear them apart.
Mother of Him is produced by Jacob Thomas and Oliver Mackwood Productions in association with Park Theatre, and follows Oliver’s past Park Theatre hits, The Life I Lead, Pressure and Madame Rubinstein.
Based on Neal Pike’s memories of life at a special educational needs (SEN) school, Five Years uses poetry, storytelling and direct address to explore an adolescence shaped by being marked ‘disabled’ owing to his stutter. Directed by Matt Miller, this sharp, subtle and brutally human solo show questions the limited expectations others had for a child with a stutter. Five Years is a work about refusing to conform to those ideas, reaching for a life beyond the one teachers and parents had planned for him, and keeping hold of a sense of self during turbulent times.
From 1998-2002, poet and performer Neal Pike was a pupil at Foxwood, an SEN school in Nottinghamshire. At once a show about the uniqueness of SEN schooling and the commonalities of teenage experience, Neal describes Foxwood as being both difference to other schools and, in many ways, exactly the same. Filled with 90s references and often painfully relatable anecdotes, the piece explores how our school experiences help shape the people we grow up to be, for better or worse.
Neal Pike is a poet and performer based in Nottingham. He was inspired to create Five Years, his first work for the stage, after hearing theatre maker and comedian Jess Thom, a.k.a Touretteshero, (Backstage in Biscuit Land and Not I) present a talk on making autobiographical art at an Arvon writing retreat. Having previously mentioned his school days and youth in Identity Bike Ride, his debut poetry pamphlet, Neal felt the time was right to delve deeper into his past and broaden his own artistic practice with a work for theatre. Along with performing his work at venues across the UK and internationally, Neal is the leader of Tentacles, a collective and network for disabled and d/Deaf writers supported by Unlimited.
Writer and performer Neal Pike said, “Being told you can’t do something because you’re special and you will be forever known as special always stuck with me. I wrote this show and am touring it because I want to show people that it’s possible to do things when everyone defines you as having disabilities and forever dampen your expectations”.
Director Matt Miller said, “Working with Neal on Five Years is where I’ve learned my craft as a director and it has been an immense privilege to be allowed access to work on such a rich, deep, complex, moving and entertaining story. Neal’s performance style, both with joyful off the cuff humour and real felt investment and care in his own stories creates an almost effortless connection with audiences, which is great to watch and be part of. I can’t wait to help bring his story to an audience across the UK.”
Matt Miller is a poet, performer and theatre maker. In 2014, Matt was chosen as one of BBC Radio Three’s Verb New Voices. Matt’s poem River Monster, about their Tyneside childhood, was broadcast on the show. Two years later, their debut solo theatre show, Sticking, played to sold-out venues in Newcastle, Manchester and Durham. Their follow-up work for the stage, Fitting, is currently under development. Matt was also a member of the Mouthy Poets, a poetry collective from Nottingham, which is where they first met Neal Pike.
Running Time: 60 minutes | Suitable for ages 16+
Content/Trigger warning: references to bullying, occasional strong language
All performances are relaxed and BSL interpreted
Company Information
Written and performed by Neal Pike Directed by Matt MillerProduced by Dan Nicholas
Listings information
25 Sep The New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich Civic Drive, Ipswich, IP1 2AS 7.45pm | £10 (£5 concs)
Antic Disposition return to the magnificent Temple Church with their dark and powerful production of Macbeth. Directors Ben Horslen and John Risebero (who also designed the show) make the constraints of staging the play in the central aisle of the church seem minimal and make the most of the echoing acoustics and evocative atmosphere by using lighting at either end of the stage. The acoustics could work against a lesser cast during scenes where characters raise their voice, but the actors let the words breathe and the echoes carry, adding to the building tension onstage.
Shakespeare’s story of insane ambition and regicide is presented with the cast wearing Victorian clothing: Duncan (Chris Courtenay) in towering stovepipe hat, Ross (Robert Bradley) looking for all the world like a Victorian clerk and Lady Macbeth with a black bustle that is switched for a stunning red outfit after the interval when her bloody deed has been done. What is most effective is the witches’ costume and demeanour. Dressed as maidservants, they are an almost constant presence, effortlessly eerie in their encounters with Macbeth – staged simply and chillingly with no special effects. The cauldron scene becomes the 3 witches laundering the bloody sheets from Duncan’s deathbed, with a fantastic nod and a wink to the Victorian obsession for spiritualism as they call forth the spirits. The staging of Macbeth’s vision of Banquo’s (the excellent Peter Collis) future line of kings is simple but shocking. When the 3 (Louise Templeton, Bryony Tebbutt and Robyn Holdaway) take the roles of messengers and servants delivering bad tidings to Macbeth or taking orders from the nobles, there is a definite Handmaid’s Tale rebellion vibe as they intone bad news in a monotone, never quite making eye contact with their masters, but allowing a victorious smile to creep out as their machinations triumph. The use of the witches is inspired, especially during Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene, adding an extra frisson of psychological horror.
Harry Anton is a strong and brooding Macbeth, delivering the most well-known speeches with an intense stillness but also excelling in the more physical scenes. Helen Millar’s steely Lady Macbeth is a fine match for Anton, and their onstage chemistry is wonderful to watch, especially so as their grip on power loosens. Andrew Hislop’s Macduff and Nathan Hamilton as Malcolm also impress, making even the tedious scene where Malcom tests Macduff riveting. Wisely, Chris Courtney’s Seyton is played as a boorish, unappealing drunk rather than forcing any comedy out of the scene.
This chilling and atmospheric production proves that with a stellar cast, inspired design and an intuitive understanding of Shakespeare’s text, you don’t need high tech bells and whistles to create something magical.
Kākāriki Theatre Company aim to showcase great New Zealand writing and theatre, and this is their first UK production.
Arthur Meek may well have written some great plays, but this isn’t one of them. Promotional material states that the play recounts the courage of a visionary who must battle his conscience to change the world, but Meek’s Darwin is an insipid ineffectual scientist taking refuge on his sickbed and in his study, breeding increasingly sickly pigeons and children as the world spins around him. (Portrayed most effectively by the cast repeatedly rotating the set around Darwin as he stands in a trance-like state.)
Darwin was undoubtedly brilliant, but he wasn’t the most exciting man (he spent years studying barnacles!) and was only stirred into publication after the much more interesting Alfred Russel Wallace came to the same conclusions independently, but he can’t possibly have been this dull. Meek starts the play some years after Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle, with his thoughts about natural selection already formed and distils the entire controversy surrounding the publication of On the Origin of Species into two hours (although it seems much longer). At home in Kent, Darwin (Gavin Harrington-Odedra) is visited by two people, Alfred Thomas (Richard Stranks) and John Roberts (Michael Tuffnell), instantly recognisable as representing Wallace and Robert Fitzroy, captain of the Beagle. This sets up the visionaries against the stuffy establishment, but becomes increasingly frustrating, especially in the second act as Meek crams as many of Darwin’s supporters’ and opponents’ voices as possible into the two composite characters. Thomas begins as a boyish, wide-eyed scientist, full of awe at the wonders of the world and morphs into a rabid anti-establishment revolutionary, an espouser of eugenics, and Darwin’s bulldog, Thomas Henry Huxley. Roberts swerves back and forth between initially supportive fellow scientists questioning the mechanics of the process and religious figures. Meek can’t resist slipping in the Huxley/Soapy Sam ape argument, and there has obviously been a lot of research put into the writing, but it just doesn’t work. Using only two voices to present the arguments and debate surrounding the theory of evolution is a disaster, as both Darwin’s supporters and detractors had myriads of different questions and reasons for their stands and it all becomes a huge jumble of ideas. Meek may just have well had Thomas and Roberts dressed as a devil and an angel standing at Darwin’s shoulder whispering “Publish” and “Don’t publish” for two hours. It would have had the same effect as this overly verbose script – it’s no wonder that some members of the cast sometimes lost track of their lines. It’s as if the only characters Meek feels anything for and imbues with any real and lasting humanity are Gardner, Darwin’s loyal assistant, played with a light touch by Richard Houghton-Evans (a welcome relief whenever he appeared, as you knew there’d be a comedic moment) and Emma Darwin. Paula James impresses as Emma, showing her devotion, faith and strength with a deft hand. So strong is Emma next to Charles (with Harrington-Odedra playing him exactly as written – a dithering, strangely spiritless little man) that you expect her to jump up at the end and shout “It was ME who wrote the damn book!”.
The cast do their best and will become more at home with their roles over the run, and likewise director Jessica Jeffries attempts to instil a little drama into the turgid material, but the play does the exact opposite of what it sets out to do, making Darwin appear frankly pathetic. Not the best way to celebrate the 160th anniversary of publication.
