Not a lot to talk about this week, as I just had two theatre trips and one I’m not really allowed to talk about yet, as it was a preview – so I’ll include that in a future round-up. But one I can talk about is…
A Land Without People
A new play by Brian Rotman and staged by Palindrome Productions, A Land Without People charts events between 1939 and 1945 leading to the creation of the independent state of Israel. It doesn’t try to suggest any answers, instead focusing its attention on a factual retelling of history. The production, at the Courtyard Theatre, contains some truly haunting moments, and the closing scenes leave a lasting impression, reminding us that this conflict is far from over, nearly 70 years later.
The play’s cast of five take on a range of characters – almost all of them real people – to explain the origins of the conflict from a variety of perspectives. While 85 minutes is hardly long enough to make sense of something so complicated, Rotman’s script successfully pulls out both the main facts and the primary players to produce something that is at once moving, powerful and informative.
A unique take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, in which four students at a strict boys’ boarding school read extracts from the play to each other after class. What starts out as a bit of fun soon turns more serious as story and real life merge, and the boys are forced to confront their feelings of love, jealousy and friendship. The result is funny, moving and at times violent, and though the words may be familiar, this is unlike any adaptation of Romeo and Juliet I’ve ever seen.
The play itself, by Joe Calarco, was written almost twenty years ago, and has been performed all over the world, including the West End. This production by the Chapel Lane Theatre Company features an impressive young cast, and will be at the Tabard Theatre until 8th August.
A family drama written by Andrew Keatley and directed by Antony Eden, The Gathered Leaves explores the complex relationships between three generations of the Pennington family. For the first time in seventeen years, the whole family are all together for the long Easter weekend, trying to put the past behind them in the face of an uncertain future.
An excellent cast is led by Jane Asher and Clive Francis as William and Olivia Pennington, along with Asher’s real-life daughter Katie Scarfe, and father-son duo Alexander and Tom Hanson. But for me, the star of the show is Nick Sampson, who’s delightful as the Penningtons’ autistic son, Samuel. The Gathered Leaves is a story of one family on the brink of significant change, but is also a more general reflection on what family really means. It’s on at Park Theatre until 15th August.
Four very different theatre experiences this week, beginning with…
Dead Simple
A thriller based on the novel by crime writer Peter James, at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. It’s the story of a man buried alive on his stag night, only for all his friends to die in a horrible accident and leave him there. (Not good if you suffer from claustrophobia.) A very complex plot condensed into two hours means there are obviously going to be a few plot gaps, but it’s suitably chilling and good entertainment.
Acclaimed choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella is a different take on a well-known story. There’s no fairy godmother, no pumpkins – not even a glass slipper. But even though it’s based on the Brothers Grimm version of the story, this ballet is still just as magical, romantic and funny as the fairy tale we all know and love. It was also my first go at reviewing ballet, which was a fun challenge 😉
Having heard some great things about Constellations, which began life at the Royal Court Theatre in 2012, I was excited by the opportunity to see it at Trafalgar Studios this week. A romantic drama with added physics, it makes you laugh and cry, while considering the multiple possible paths life can take. With stunning performances from Louise Brealey and Joe Armstrong, this is a must-see.
Constellations review for London Theatre Direct – link to follow
The Diver
A one-woman show from Helen Foster of Craft Theatre, this is not a ‘sit in the dark and say nothing’ theatre experience. Everyone in the audience is expected to play their part in the story – but luckily it’s so much fun that you really don’t mind getting involved. It’s a show about knowing what you want from life and having the courage to pursue it. And it’s completely bonkers, but there’s nothing wrong with that.
Before I start, a quick health warning: this may not be the play for you if you have a fear of small spaces. Or blood. Or clowns. Or… Oh. I think that’s everything. Moving on…
Michael Harrison thinks his life is perfect. He’s got a successful business, millions in the bank and a beautiful fiancée. But it turns out he’s also really bad at choosing his friends – and after a stag night prank goes disastrously wrong, Michael finds himself buried alive, with no immediate hope of rescue.
It’s the stuff of nightmares – and also the plot of Dead Simple, a novel by Peter James adapted for the stage and currently on tour around the UK. Former Hollyoaks actor Jamie Lomas stars as Michael, with Tina Hobley as his beautiful wife-to-be, Ashley, and Rik Makarem as his best friend and business partner, Mark. Meanwhile Gray O’Brien plays DS Roy Grace, the detective charged with finding Michael before it’s too late.
Dead Simple is a carefully crafted thriller, full of twists and keeping the audience guessing at every turn. The play hits the perfect note for a wuss like me – chilling without being terrifying, and messing with your head rather than making you jump out of your skin.
It’s a brave move to try and condense such a complex story into two hours; act one does a great job of establishing the characters and plot, ending with a twist that will have you scratching your head and arguing about what just happened throughout the interval. This leaves the second act with a lot of work to do, and it has to move at breakneck speed to unravel the complicated story before the curtain falls. And so, unsurprisingly, there are a few gaps, not least in the character and back story of Roy Grace – but then, as Peter James’ novel is the first in a series featuring Grace, that was probably to be expected.
What the play lacks in realism and detail, though, it more than makes up for in entertainment and intrigue. In this regard it’s very much like a classic Agatha Christie, which you never for one moment believe could actually happen, but you have a great time watching it all the same. The scenes with Michael in the coffin are particularly well done; Jamie Lomas sounds genuinely petrified. And who knows, maybe he is – it can’t be much fun in there.
Another challenge of staging such a complex story is all the locations it has to cover, but Michael Taylor’s multi-level set is more than up to the task, encompassing Michael’s living room, the forest where he’s buried, an underground dungeon and the road outside. We can even see into the coffin – whether we want to or not. Any gaps are filled by the special effects; the car crash scene is a particularly unnerving example of how the play works on your imagination.
The cast are clearly enjoying themselves with the intricate plot, and anticipating the audience’s reaction to each twist (I genuinely squeaked a couple of times; it’s hard not to). Lomas is a charismatic lead, even from inside a coffin, in contrast to Rik Makarem’s Mark, who may be physically free but is weakened by his own indecision. Meanwhile former Grange Hill actor Josh Brown makes an impressive theatrical debut as Davey, a young man obsessed with American crime shows, who inadvertently finds himself starring in one.
This play is anything but Dead Simple – but a convoluted plot is saved by clever staging and a strong cast. It may not be great literature, but it’s good fun, and isn’t that what the theatre’s supposed to be about?
Dead Simple is at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury until Saturday 11th July, before concluding its UK tour in Worthing next week.
Unbelievably, until late last year I’d never read Harper Lee’s classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. (My school made us study Of Mice and Men instead.) And so, in a moment of madness, I decided not to see the production at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2013 – then regretted it, when everyone started telling me how good it was.
Well, I wasn’t going to make that mistake again, so when the production transferred to the Barbican at the end of a national tour, I jumped at the chance to go and see what all the fuss was about. And now I get it.
For anyone else like me who’s been in the dark all this time, To Kill a Mockingbird is a story about innocence and injustice in the Deep South, seen through the eyes of a young girl, Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch. Scout and her brother, Jem, live a comfortable life in the small town of Maycomb, surrounded by the eccentric townsfolk and morbidly fascinated with their reclusive neighbour, Boo Radley. Then their father, Atticus Finch – who both children think is pretty old and boring – is hired to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. Suddenly Jem, Scout and their friend Dill are exposed to a new world, in which an innocent man can be condemned because of the colour of his skin, and the most unlikely characters can suddenly become heroes.
The charm of the novel lies in its narrator, Scout, who makes us reconsider the horrifying events of the story from a child’s perspective. Timothy Sheader’s production captures that childlike spirit to perfection, as the company take it in turns to read aloud from the novel, slipping into costume to play their part in the story, and crawling around the stage on their hands and knees to draw a rough outline of Maycomb in chalk.
The three young stars of the show – on this occasion played by real-life siblings Jemima and Harry Bennett, with Leo Heller as Dill – give incredible performances. I couldn’t believe it was Jemima’s professional debut; she’s warm, funny and has all the simple innocence of a child, and yet there are moments, particularly when dealing with the men in her life – Jem, Dill and Atticus – where a matter-of-fact young lady can be glimpsed hiding just beneath the surface.
Meanwhile, the true hero of the story, Atticus, is brought to life by Robert Sean Leonard. Seen first through the eyes of his children, he seems a little dry – but his wry smile, and, later, his fierce passion as he stands up for what’s right, soon reveal him to be a far more complex character. Leonard’s performance is spellbinding; I’ve rarely heard a theatre so silent as the moment when he sums up his defence case, with the desperate look of a man who knows it’s probably futile, but is determined to try.
Robert Sean Leonard as Atticus Finch. Photo by Manuel Harlan
What I enjoyed most about this production, though, is its loving homage to the original text. Each member of the company, as they file on to the stage, picks up a copy of the novel and holds it aloft in a silent salute, before beginning to read. There’s no need for a fancy set or dramatic effects – the production allows Harper Lee’s work to speak for itself in a faithful retelling of a classic story. After all, why change something that was already perfect to begin with?
If you get the chance to see this production before it closes on July 25th, don’t pass it up, because you might live to regret it. To Kill a Mockingbird, like the novel on which it’s based, is deeply troubling and yet, at the same time, utterly charming. It makes you question things that as adults, we tend to take for granted, and leaves you feeling a little like a child yourself. But I think we all need to feel that way from time to time; being a grown up is overrated.
Can’t see the map on iPhone? Try turning your phone to landscape and that should sort it. I don’t know why but I’m working on it… 😉
Theatre Things 