Wednesday 8 June 2011
Dr Faustus
Filled with devils, ghosts and necromancy the play Dr Faustus is taken to the stage at the Rose Theatre in London with sheer brilliance. Still uttering the words of Christopher Marlowe's work, the play is taken to the place where the demons were summoned 400 years ago!
The Cherry Orchard
A version of the play written by Anton Chekhov taken by Andrew Upton which captures a poignant moment in Russia's history. Was intriguing to see what Zoe Wanamaker out of the T.V. screen where you will not be disappointed where she superbly takes on the role.
Ovid's Metamorphosis
Complete and utter genius. Taking technique from every corner of performance, each actor truly showed talent and brilliance to Theatre.
Wednesday 25 May 2011
Monday 9 May 2011
Fiddler on the Roof
The University Theatre was brought to life as the School of Music and Performing Arts took on the famous song and dance production 'Fiddler on the Roof' written by Joseph Stein. In collaboration with the Music department, a live band brings the award winning music writer Jerry Bock's brilliant score to the stage with the famous numbers such as 'If I were a rich man' and 'Do you love me?' A true success with clear choreography and vocals.
Thursday 21 April 2011
Others Review
Through movement, music and text the Paper Birds theatre group attempt to represent three absent women overtaken by stereotypes of the media and give the audience the chance to understand these ‘’women without voices’’ or indeed ourselves. They present the lives of three very different women, an Iranian housewife, a convicted husband killer serving a life sentence and the celebrity Heather Mills. Through this they let us share their hopes, experiences and disappointments giving presence to those characters who are usually absent on stage.
Performed at The Ustinov theatre, the Paper birds from the University of Chichester strive to create and share devised work that is important, work that is socially, culturally, politically observational and conversationally urgent. They attain a physical and visual approach with nothing more than a table with wheels attached to it and a T.V used for the interview with Heather Mills. As she was on mute they played the funny sitting room game of putting the words in her mouth for us. Whilst this was extremely amusing for the audience they were also purveying the message of how the media can interrogate a celebrity or culture by twisting their image into a negative representation or stereotype.
They would repeat certain movements (usually reflecting domestic violence) to keep their message alive keeping a dark undertone every time the audience saw it. The clean and choreographed movement of the performers across stage, their subtle costumes in florals which are at once matching yet individual at the same time showed their well-rehearsed potential. The versatile, emotive music which was added for light comic affect when one actor was frantically moving about stage or for a shocking scene when one women was being repeatedly hit ‘’over and over and over’’ again.
How they got their research was extraordinary as it was based on a six month exchange of letters and emails with these three women. The Paper birds constructed a series of stories from east to west, from different sides of the law and television screen. Asking questions such as ‘’Who is she? And how would you go about finding out? By interpreting the tilt of her head or the flick of her wrist? By imagining her world?’’ were announced on stage repeatedly to remind us just how curious and invasive our society is. It is definitely a new, fresh approach to theatre with relevant research to today’s society. Easily related to the census forms that every individual has to fill out themselves answering personal questions, it was definitely teaching us about our society on how we can be ignorant and invasive. A true masterpiece.
One line review: A truly eye-catching and hard hitting performance. The Paper Birds theatre group show their extremely relevant message of how our society can be ignorant and invasive through the media. Definitely an approach that must be used more often as they prove just how much research they put into this amazing production.
Performed at The Ustinov theatre, the Paper birds from the University of Chichester strive to create and share devised work that is important, work that is socially, culturally, politically observational and conversationally urgent. They attain a physical and visual approach with nothing more than a table with wheels attached to it and a T.V used for the interview with Heather Mills. As she was on mute they played the funny sitting room game of putting the words in her mouth for us. Whilst this was extremely amusing for the audience they were also purveying the message of how the media can interrogate a celebrity or culture by twisting their image into a negative representation or stereotype.
They would repeat certain movements (usually reflecting domestic violence) to keep their message alive keeping a dark undertone every time the audience saw it. The clean and choreographed movement of the performers across stage, their subtle costumes in florals which are at once matching yet individual at the same time showed their well-rehearsed potential. The versatile, emotive music which was added for light comic affect when one actor was frantically moving about stage or for a shocking scene when one women was being repeatedly hit ‘’over and over and over’’ again.
How they got their research was extraordinary as it was based on a six month exchange of letters and emails with these three women. The Paper birds constructed a series of stories from east to west, from different sides of the law and television screen. Asking questions such as ‘’Who is she? And how would you go about finding out? By interpreting the tilt of her head or the flick of her wrist? By imagining her world?’’ were announced on stage repeatedly to remind us just how curious and invasive our society is. It is definitely a new, fresh approach to theatre with relevant research to today’s society. Easily related to the census forms that every individual has to fill out themselves answering personal questions, it was definitely teaching us about our society on how we can be ignorant and invasive. A true masterpiece.
One line review: A truly eye-catching and hard hitting performance. The Paper Birds theatre group show their extremely relevant message of how our society can be ignorant and invasive through the media. Definitely an approach that must be used more often as they prove just how much research they put into this amazing production.
Sunday 3 April 2011
Fugitive Songs - Famous and Divine
Certainly new, wasn't exactly sure what it was trying to portray. There were awkward moments between the two actors as it was hard to hear them at some points. Their multi-role playing was interesting but not obvious enough, it seemed that the overall tone of the play seemed slow, sleepy and drab.
Under Milk Wood
Bob Gwilym and Kelly Joy Stewart take on the tremendous vocal and visual performance in their stride whilst the extremely amusing drunk character in the background taken on by Natasha Pring with her cheeky face indulges herself in the huge variety of noise effects. Staged like a real live radio show all three of them do extremely well as a trio working together with their entertaining facial expressions, accents and on stage chemistry.
Tuesday 22 March 2011
Season's Greetings
300 word review:
Once again, the National Theatre shows off another superb set for another sell out show Seasons Greetings written by Alan Ayckbourn. His plays usually staged in small and intimate theatres is taken and amplified to incredible detail right down to the last door knob. The audience is literally given a window into this family drama as they watch the plot unfold. Even the most frequent theatre-goer is unable to ignore the exquisite detail that has been poured into it as you look up into the attic room all the way down to the electrics and pipes under the floorboards of the stage.
Catherine Tate, the star celebrity of the show uses her brilliant stand up comedy technique and confidently takes to the stage as the 'The IT Crowd' plays the dissatisfied wife aroused by the novelist (Belinda Bunker.) Katherine Parkison best known from plays another disappointed wife as she desperately nags at her husband wasted on the mulled wine. Each comic event easily relatable too for those who dread the family Christmas with his farcical comedy.
Although other critics have found that the set was almost too big to coincide with this hilarious piece of Alan Ayckbourns's work, others think it was definitely a new approach using the wide space of the Lyttelton Theatre and didn't feel that they lost the intimacy that you usually achieve with his plays. Although the comedy seems to fit the taste of an older generation it can be seen as a little bit dated for those from a younger age group. It has to be admired that the director Marianne Elliot certianly picked a tremendous bunch of comic actors to make this play truly successful. Marianne takes a post-modern approach whilst making sure that in the first hour the gloom is allowed to envelop to make the upcoming events all the more hilarious.
One line review: An extraordinarily realistic and brilliant set right down the to the last detail, not a surprise as it was hosted by the National Theatre. The story on the other hand may not reach all ages as the comedy used is one for an older generation, or those that have experienced more Christmas's in order to relate to the disasters that are witnessed in this family riddled play.
Once again, the National Theatre shows off another superb set for another sell out show Seasons Greetings written by Alan Ayckbourn. His plays usually staged in small and intimate theatres is taken and amplified to incredible detail right down to the last door knob. The audience is literally given a window into this family drama as they watch the plot unfold. Even the most frequent theatre-goer is unable to ignore the exquisite detail that has been poured into it as you look up into the attic room all the way down to the electrics and pipes under the floorboards of the stage.
Catherine Tate, the star celebrity of the show uses her brilliant stand up comedy technique and confidently takes to the stage as the 'The IT Crowd' plays the dissatisfied wife aroused by the novelist (Belinda Bunker.) Katherine Parkison best known from plays another disappointed wife as she desperately nags at her husband wasted on the mulled wine. Each comic event easily relatable too for those who dread the family Christmas with his farcical comedy.
Although other critics have found that the set was almost too big to coincide with this hilarious piece of Alan Ayckbourns's work, others think it was definitely a new approach using the wide space of the Lyttelton Theatre and didn't feel that they lost the intimacy that you usually achieve with his plays. Although the comedy seems to fit the taste of an older generation it can be seen as a little bit dated for those from a younger age group. It has to be admired that the director Marianne Elliot certianly picked a tremendous bunch of comic actors to make this play truly successful. Marianne takes a post-modern approach whilst making sure that in the first hour the gloom is allowed to envelop to make the upcoming events all the more hilarious.
One line review: An extraordinarily realistic and brilliant set right down the to the last detail, not a surprise as it was hosted by the National Theatre. The story on the other hand may not reach all ages as the comedy used is one for an older generation, or those that have experienced more Christmas's in order to relate to the disasters that are witnessed in this family riddled play.
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