Tag: Shakespeare

Interview: Emma Bentley, To She Or Not To She

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One of the first shows I reviewed for LondonTheatre1 was a scratch night at Morley College. The five companies performing were all preparing their work for Edinburgh, and competing for rehearsal space and the opportunity to return to Morley for a full-length performance before heading to Scotland.

My personal favourite – and the ultimate winner – was a one-woman show by Emma Bentley of Joue le Genre, called To She Or Not To She, about the challenges faced by women in the acting industry.

After a successful run in Edinburgh, Joue le Genre are now preparing to bring To She Or Not To She to Evolution at the Lyric Hammersmith on 23rd January. I was really excited to see it’s coming back down south, and got in touch with Emma, who was lovely enough to talk to me about the show. Thanks Emma! 🙂

What inspired you to write To She Or Not To She?

Both me and Holly Robinson, who co-wrote the show and directed the Edinburgh version, wanted to stick the finger up to casting directors/writers/directors putting women in shit roles. And in doing so write something ourselves where we could reclaim this exciting idea of getting to do whatever you want and not being judged for it.

Shakespeare at drama school had been a really wonderful experience because I had got to play a load of men: Feste in Twelfth Night and Angelo in Comedy of Errors. Not the big dogs like Macbeth or Richard III or anything but it was good fun. And with Feste in particular, it was refreshing to play a character whose relationship with the other characters in the play was not focused on romance and/or sex. I wanted to continue playing roles like this and exploring Shakepeare’s men. Luckily I started doing some work with Smooth Faced Gentlemen, the all female Shakespeare company based at the Greenwich Theatre, so I did get to play a murderer in Macbeth. Working with SFG made me want to write it even more.

Sophie Wu is Minging She Looks like She’s Dead and La Merda, both at Soho Theatre, were two shows that inspired the style of the show for me.

And then one of my teachers from LIPA, Gillian Lemon would always say, ‘What are you gonna do Emma? Just sit around on your arse waiting for the phone to ring? You’ve got to make your own work!’ So I had her very stern Northern Irish voice egging me on too.

Can you sum up the show in one sentence?

Shakespeare’s biggest fangirl falls in and out of love with the Bard and the acting industry, whilst growing into a young woman of no fame or fortune (yet) but some comedy potential.

To She Or Not To She, Joue le Genre

You’re playing yourself – how close is show Emma to real Emma?

I’ve been working quite a bit on distinguishing the different Emmas within the show with Katharina Reinthaller, who is directing the show for its Lyric reincarnation. There are four different Emmas in total, you meet her (me) at 14,19, 23 and then there is also ‘Show Emma’, which is me on stage right now talking to the audience, trying to be as honest as possible.

The other Emmas are a bit of twist on the truth. I like to think 14-year-old Emma is a little more embarrassing than me actually as a teenager but I’m sure my friends would beg to differ.

Emma at drama school is probably a little more hopeful and bouncy than I really was at LIPA, I feel like I took everything quite seriously.

How has the show developed since you first wrote it?

The show has gone through 10,289 drafts. Or something like that. It’s changed a lot. Even in the last few days there are things where we say, do we really need this? And that’s just script wise, then there are lots of physical and spacial changes that we decide on with every rehearsal. The cynical voice of ‘Show Emma’ has definitely manifested herself a little more for this run of the show. And because we’re in a bigger space than Edinburgh at the Lyric there is more physicality to it. I’m going to push over a chair whilst standing on it at one point which I’m very excited about – I get to have my Frantic Assembly moment.

Has it taken any unexpected directions?

Originally I thought the show was going to be me playing a variety of Shakespeare’s men. Then, one day when I was showing Holly a scene for a scratch night I had written, where I played Hamlet on a tinder date (which sounded hilarious to me), she said to me why don’t we just write a play about you? Why don’t we write your story so far of wanting to play Shakespeare’s men? Then you can play a load of men, but also a load of women and yourself. With some made up bits of course to make it more Shakespearean. I’m not a very private person anyway, so I didn’t find it shocking or anything writing my story to share, but I guess I just never thought of it being dramatic. It turns out stick a few gags in and a bit of lighting and you’ve got a show.

What’s been the highlight so far?

In Edinburgh there was a girl who came to see the show, who sat on the front row and who had come up to do a production of Comedy of Errors. In the preshow I played Shakespeare Top Trumps with someone from the audience, so I spotted her and asked, ‘do you wanna play Shakespeare Top Trumps with me?’ She looked at me and was just like ‘YEAH’. That was a good show.

Aaaand getting to be a part of Evolution at the Lyric. I used to work in the café. Now I’m getting to perform my play there. I like the old-fashionedness of it – a feeling of working your way up by getting to know people. Makes you feel part of a theatre family somewhere.

And finally… if you could play any Shakespeare role, which one would it be?

Hammmm ….

Catch To She Or Not To She at the Lyric Hammersmith on Saturday 23rd January at 8.45pm.

@tosheornottoshe
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Theatre round-up: 22 Nov 2015

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Sometimes you just have to see a show more than once (or should that be four times). This week had a couple of repeats, but since both were brilliant, I’m not complaining… So here’s what I’ve been enjoying this week:

Harlequinade / All On Her Own

I was lucky enough to be at the first preview of Harlequinade, one of the plays in the Branagh season at the Garrick Theatre. And when I was invited to see it again this week, I jumped at the chance. The double bill by Terence Rattigan begins with Zoë Wanamaker in All On Her Own, a short but incredibly intense piece about a woman who finds herself talking to her dead husband late at night after one too many whiskies.

It’s followed, in a swift change of pace, by Harlequinade, a comedy about a theatre company rehearsing Romeo and Juliet and The Winter’s Tale. The brilliant cast is led by Kenneth Branagh and Miranda Raison as the company’s lead actors, the Gosports – but for me, the star of the show is undoubtedly Tom Bateman as their overworked manager, Jack Wakefield. It’s a very funny play, and I only wish it had been a bit longer; there are so many actors that some of them get very limited stage time. Overall, though, it’s a lot of fun and I’d recommend it, especially if you’re not sure about Shakespeare – this play might just change your mind.

Review for London Theatre Direct to follow.

This week's theatre

Miss Saigon

My fourth trip to see Miss Saigon and I love it a little bit more every time. This particular outing was booked in response to the announcement that the show will be closing in February (news that still outrages me). There’s not a lot to say that I haven’t said before – I love the tragic love story between Kim, a Vietnamese girl, and Chris, an American GI; I love the music by Boublil and Schönberg; I love the helicopter, which still gives me a little thrill every time; I love the brilliant cast, especially Jon Jon Briones as the Engineer and the incredible Eva Noblezada as Kim (and a quick shout out to Richard Carson, who was a fantastic Chris on Friday evening); and I love how it makes me cry like a baby every time.

Basically, I love it.

Review for London Theatre Direct (written in February – after visit no.3 – so some cast members have changed)

This week’s theatre

Bit of a quiet one – lots of other things going on – so just the one show coming up this week:

The Illusionists, Shaftesbury Theatre

Review: Hamlet at the Barbican

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They say good things come to those who wait. And we certainly waited. Over a year after managing by the skin of our teeth to grab some tickets for Benedict Cumberbatch’s Hamlet at the Barbican, the day finally arrived last Saturday. I’d been going out of my way not to read any reviews, but couldn’t avoid the headlines – unscrupulous newspapers, famous speeches being put in the wrong place, public appeals for audience members to behave – and after all the hype, I was interested to see if the actual production would live up to expectations. So did it? Mostly…

I might as well start with the obvious question – how good is Benedict Cumberbatch? And the answer is – not entirely surprisingly – very good. Unlike some previous incarnations of the character, you have the feeling his Hamlet is always more or less in control of events (although perhaps that’s just because we’re so used to seeing him outsmart everyone in Sherlock, and so naturally assume he knows what he’s doing). And in a play that’s notoriously short on good news, he breaks the tension with his ‘mad’ scenes, which see him playing at soldiers while his uncle, the king, prepares for the possibility of a real war with Norway. He certainly owns the stage any time he appears, and in a more intimate setting, I imagine his performance would have been pretty mesmerising.

Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet
Credit: Johan Persson

But the Barbican is not an intimate setting; it’s a huge space, and, particularly for those of us sitting further away, a little of this emotional connection gets lost. Not to mention that the entire cast are completely dwarfed by Es Devlin’s jaw-dropping set. Seriously, it’s been a week and I’m still coming to terms with the sheer scale and magnificence of it; it just goes on forever. I’m not complaining – it’s a visually gorgeous set – but it does distract a bit from the performances, because there’s just so much to look at on the enormous stage.

Hamlet at the Barbican
Credit: Johan Persson

Hamlet is, of course, not a one-man show – but if Cumberbatch is good, what about the rest of the cast? I enjoyed Leo Bill’s anxious nerd Horatio (although it wasn’t totally clear why he always had to be carrying his massive backpack around), and Jim Norton is an entertaining Polonius, whose tyranny towards his daughter seems born of genuine concern. Sian Brooke’s Ophelia really makes an impression in the second act, when she’s heartbreaking in her madness; her final exit, as she stumbles slowly off into the distance, is one of the most powerful scenes in the whole production. Ciarán Hinds, unfortunately, is a bit of a mumbler as Claudius; both he and Anastasia Hille, who plays Gertrude, are at times inaudible. True, we were sitting in the back row, but we still needed to know what was going on.

Hamlet at the Barbican
Credit: Johan Persson

The play itself is Shakespeare’s longest, and even with some scenes cut, the first act comes in at a bottom-numbing hour and fifty minutes, ending with a dramatic climax that may or may not have been designed to startle anyone in danger of nodding off. The second act, in contrast, is a whole hour shorter; then again, the interval does fall at the most appropriate point in the story, so maybe we have to blame Shakespeare for that one.

Anyone who knows me will realise this is an unusually critical review, from someone who’s usually irritatingly positive about everything. So just to be clear – I really did enjoy Hamlet, and had it not been such a big deal, I’d probably be raving about it right now. Lyndsey Turner’s production is massive and dazzling, and makes a long play which – let’s face it – involves a lot of talking and not a lot of doing, feel like a tense psychological thriller. The problem is that the bar was set so incredibly high that the play would have had to be perfect in every way to live up to everyone’s expectations, and it wasn’t – quite. So perhaps it didn’t blow me away, but I still loved it.

Hamlet at the Barbican
Credit: Johan Persson

And – bonus – there was not a mobile phone to be seen. Well done, Benedict.


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 round-up: 30 Aug 2015

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Back on track after a week off, here’s what I’ve seen this week (plus one from the week before):

Twelfth Night

My second visit to see Oddsocks, whilst on holiday in Guernsey. Castle Cornet is a lovely setting, even when it pours with rain, and Oddsocks never fail to entertain with their unique, family-friendly approach to Shakespeare. Their Twelfth Night is a Britpop musical featuring hits from the likes of Adele, Roxy Music, Take That and – yes, really – PJ & Duncan. As always, you never quite know what to expect from an Oddsocks show, but it’s always a safe bet that it’ll be great fun.

Twelfth Night review

Madama Butterfly

I’m no expert on opera, but of the ones I know, this is a favourite. And this particular version, part of the Grimeborn Opera Festival at the Arcola Theatre, is different to any I’ve seen before. It’s a unique reinterpretation of the classic story, based on Japanese ghost stories, with a set that looks like something out of a horror movie. But it still retains the emotional punch of the original, thanks to the intimate, candle-lit setting and incredible performances – from the entire cast, but particularly from Natasha Rouhl as the tragic heroine, Butterfly.

Madama Butterfly review for LondonTheatre1

You won’t succeed on Broadway if you don’t have any Jews

Yes, that is actually the name of the show; it’s a quote from Monty Python musical, Spamalot. This is a gloriously, unashamedly stagey celebration of the contribution made by Jewish people to musical theatre over the last century. Which actually includes a lot more shows than I realised – Hairspray, The Wizard of Oz, Fame, Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, Godspell… even my favourite, Les Mis. The show, at St James Theatre, is fast-moving (sometimes a bit too fast), funny and filled with sensational performances from the cast of singers and dancers. If you’re a fan of musical theatre, this is the show for you.

You won’t succeed… review for Carn’s Theatre Passion

The Lion King

This was probably my fifth visit to see The Lion King, one of my favourite shows ever since I first saw it years ago. I don’t know how, but it somehow manages to turn me into a child, and by the time that opening scene (in my opinion, probably one of the best of any show) finally started, I was basically bouncing up and down in my seat like a five-year-old. And it was just as good as I remembered. Between the story, the humour, the music, the set and the incredible puppetry, it’s all brilliant, and so much fun it’s impossible to resist.

Bonus – this time, I was with a friend who’d never been to a musical before, so I was also really excited for her. And although I’d briefed her on the fake happy noises she was to make if she didn’t enjoy the show, the good news is that none were required, because she loved it too.

This week's theatre

 

 

NEXT WEEK’S THEATRE

Kinky Boots – Adelphi Theatre

Thoroughly Modern Millie – Landor Theatre

The Man Who Had All the Luck (End of Moving Walkway) – King’s Head Theatre

Review: Twelfth Night at Castle Cornet

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Last summer, I was in Guernsey visiting a friend, and she took me along to an outdoor production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the appropriately magical setting of the historic Castle Cornet. The theatre company, Oddsocks, were new to me, but two things soon became clear – they’re brilliant, and they’re completely bonkers. Fortunately, when it comes to theatre, this is my favourite combination.

So when I arranged to visit Guernsey again last weekend, and my friend told me Oddsocks were back, I jumped at the chance to see what they’d made of Twelfth Night. I was fairly confident that the play’s love triangles, gender bending, mischievous pranks and general air of confusion would offer plenty of opportunities for mayhem – and I wasn’t disappointed. Despite the weather, which was dismal to say the least, a great night was had by all; Oddsocks productions go on come rain or shine, and it’s a testament to how enjoyable they are that nobody got up and left when the heavens opened in act 2.

Photo credit: Oddsocks

Once again, the company’s take on the Bard’s work is fresh, unique and very, very funny. I never would have thought that I’d see two Shakespearean characters singing Let’s Get Ready to Rhumble… but now I can cross that particular goal off my bucket list. Because this is the Britpop musical version of Twelfth Night, and if you think that sounds mad – well, it is. But that doesn’t mean it’s not all kinds of amazing. Fans who enjoy conventional Shakespeare may object to Duke Orsino’s ‘if music be the food of love’ speech being replaced by Roxy Music; then again, those people are unlikely to be found at an Oddsocks play – or at least, not for long. (But do be prepared for the cast to heckle you on the way out.)

Led by director, and born showman, Andy Barrow, the cast basically just get up on stage and have a good time, dealing with whatever happens to come their way, whether or not it’s in the script. I particularly enjoyed the drunken antics of Sirs Toby Belch and Andrew Aguecheek (Kevin Kemp and Gavin Harrison), who spend much of their time giggling and falling over, and at one point wander into the audience in search of booze. And I may never be able to forget Malvolio (Andy Barrow) and his yellow stockings – for all the wrong reasons.

It’s all so chaotic that at times it’s hard to tell what’s planned, and what’s been made up on the spot (although I’m pretty sure the pause to fix their dangerously sagging roof with a mop was a one-off). In fact, the whole production plays pretty fast and loose with Shakespeare’s original text, but given that the audience are all having such a great time, I’m going to bet he’d be willing to forgive that.

Photo credit: Oddsocks

If I had to sum up an Oddsocks production, I’d probably describe it as ‘Shakespeare does panto’. You’ve got music, slapstick, audience participation (where else can you get up on stage and throw wet sponges at one of the actors?), a few pointed references to current affairs, and even a girl dressed as a boy. The only difference, really, is it’s way better than any panto I’ve ever been to.

Unfortunately the Oddsocks tours don’t tend to take in Kent or London, but they do seem to have become something of a fixture in Guernsey. So I guess I’ll be forced to head back that way next summer and do it all over again… It’s a tough old life.