Tuesday 25 January 2011
Urashima Taro
Different,eery and full of folk tale culture from Japanese Mythology. Truly individual, including paper theatre and playing with shadows, something you don't get to see on your usual theatre trip!
Lilly Through the Dark Review
Lilly Through the Dark, a tale written and directed by Edward Wren, takes his production to the University Theatre at Bath Spa. This rare treat performed by The River People who have originated from Winchester University tell this modern day fairytale with lyrical, sometimes rhyming dialogue with singing tunes. Based on true events, a little girl Lilly, sacrifices herself at the beginning of the play to search for her father in the land of the dead, you see Lilly struggle as her memory fades and endures countless obstacles. .
It relies on four actors (Joseph Bone, claire Harvey, Andy Gray and Clare Ponting) who take it well as they set out in Victorian costume strongly resembling characters from a Tim Burton movie. It fits well with the genre of the Gothic as a delicate little puppet show filled with melancholic tones but still shows hints of hope. They all control the puppet Lilly at one point or another and brilliantly convey the sorrow that is created by loss but also inject humour and comedic effects e.g. when Lilly tries to cross a bridge, she comes across two characters much like Tweedledee and Tweedledum which keeps the mood from becoming too distressing.
The set is a visual delight as the actors are able to pop in and out of a pile of books which resonates the theme of storytelling and the dream like tone. Atmospheric musical accompaniment is present throughout which almost sweeps the audience into a dreamlike state.
It is no wonder that they have won countless awards including Time Out's critics choice and the Total Theatre award for best emerging company as the story, the music and the actors captivate the audience. Although the show is obviously too dark for children it is assured by the director that it is not a story about depression but a story of hope and that even though Lilly's story is dark (hence the name) it does withhold light at the end.
It relies on four actors (Joseph Bone, claire Harvey, Andy Gray and Clare Ponting) who take it well as they set out in Victorian costume strongly resembling characters from a Tim Burton movie. It fits well with the genre of the Gothic as a delicate little puppet show filled with melancholic tones but still shows hints of hope. They all control the puppet Lilly at one point or another and brilliantly convey the sorrow that is created by loss but also inject humour and comedic effects e.g. when Lilly tries to cross a bridge, she comes across two characters much like Tweedledee and Tweedledum which keeps the mood from becoming too distressing.
The set is a visual delight as the actors are able to pop in and out of a pile of books which resonates the theme of storytelling and the dream like tone. Atmospheric musical accompaniment is present throughout which almost sweeps the audience into a dreamlike state.
It is no wonder that they have won countless awards including Time Out's critics choice and the Total Theatre award for best emerging company as the story, the music and the actors captivate the audience. Although the show is obviously too dark for children it is assured by the director that it is not a story about depression but a story of hope and that even though Lilly's story is dark (hence the name) it does withhold light at the end.
Kupenga Kwa Hamlet Review - To be or not to be? That is the point!
''To be, or not to be, that is the point.'' Hamlet, a tragedy written by Shakespeare taken by the award winning The Two Gents productions take to the stage at The Ustinov theatre in Bath. They ingeniously take the play and make an intriguing new version of the revenge tragedy tearing down and rebuilding the play to create a poetic and spiritual tale. The play being 75 minutes long show that they can pack just as much if not more than the longer version of Shakespeare as the director Arne Pohlmeier deliberately uses the ''first quarto'' rather than the longer version as his storytelling template.
The actors Tonderai Munyevu and Denton Chikura, both from Zimbabwe, brave the stage by taking on all fifteen of the characters from the play wearing only orange boiler suits and having access only to two props none other than a wicker matt and mbira (used as a thumb piano and a cup.) They tell the story using African storytelling culture with traces of the Shona custom. Brilliantly, they keep the audience members on their toes by interacting and making eye contact with them and each other as they perform their story within a story.
So how do they succeed in playing all the characters without completely leaving the audience in confusement? The director cleverly gets them to use simple hand gestures and voice so that the actors could adopt the roles in an instant. For example there was Gertrude who had her hand constantly on her cheek and ''Ofelia'' indicates the popping of breasts. They posses beautiful singing voices which resonates around the space. The sound and rhythm is so important to create spiritual emotion to the audience as the play starts off with a traditional Zimbabwean funeral song for the death of the king.
What I love about this production is that, like a panto it can be different every night. I realised when we were able to talk to the director and actors after the performance that it was very much a work in progress taking on the opinion of its audiences. Their reaction is completely different every night as talking to the audience can result in the audience members talking back to them which forces them to improvise. I would say this is most effective to people who are slightly bored by the usual standards of Hamlet and want to see something new and original, I certainly did, having seen many Shakespearian productions, this was one of the most memorable for me as it made it more entertaining but were still able to express the tragedy of Hamlet.
The actors Tonderai Munyevu and Denton Chikura, both from Zimbabwe, brave the stage by taking on all fifteen of the characters from the play wearing only orange boiler suits and having access only to two props none other than a wicker matt and mbira (used as a thumb piano and a cup.) They tell the story using African storytelling culture with traces of the Shona custom. Brilliantly, they keep the audience members on their toes by interacting and making eye contact with them and each other as they perform their story within a story.
So how do they succeed in playing all the characters without completely leaving the audience in confusement? The director cleverly gets them to use simple hand gestures and voice so that the actors could adopt the roles in an instant. For example there was Gertrude who had her hand constantly on her cheek and ''Ofelia'' indicates the popping of breasts. They posses beautiful singing voices which resonates around the space. The sound and rhythm is so important to create spiritual emotion to the audience as the play starts off with a traditional Zimbabwean funeral song for the death of the king.
What I love about this production is that, like a panto it can be different every night. I realised when we were able to talk to the director and actors after the performance that it was very much a work in progress taking on the opinion of its audiences. Their reaction is completely different every night as talking to the audience can result in the audience members talking back to them which forces them to improvise. I would say this is most effective to people who are slightly bored by the usual standards of Hamlet and want to see something new and original, I certainly did, having seen many Shakespearian productions, this was one of the most memorable for me as it made it more entertaining but were still able to express the tragedy of Hamlet.
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