My Fair Lady, Sheffield Crucible, 29/12/12

A trip over to Sheffield to see their Christmas offering at the Crucible appears to be my new Christmas tradition. Last year it was the wonderful Company, and this year I managed to snaffle one of the few remaining seats for a matinee performance of My Fair Lady (note to self – book early for 2013!), which was equally special and an excellent way to round off the festive season.

As I entered the auditorium the hard working cast were already on stage conjuring up the atmosphere of Covent Garden market. There was hustle and bustle, life and laughter, and I could tell I was going to be in for a treat. Obviously the story, and the musical, are well known, although like many people I know it solely through the film version with Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. But seeing it on the stage, with such an excellent cast, gorgeous design and exuberant choreography really brought new life to it.

Dominic West is perfectly cast as the cantankerous and condescending Professor Higgins, exasperating to the extreme, but I can definitely see why Eliza fell for him! He’s got amazing stage presence and a wonderfully powerful voice, and gives a cleverly judged performance that gives rise to some lovely comic moments but is never overplayed. I have seen him once before on stage, doing Shakespeare at the Wyndhams (where he quite literally fell at my feet as he tumbled off the stage into the front row – scripted I think, but certainly one of my most memorable audience experiences!), so I knew he was a great classical actor, but it seems there is no end to his talents.

Carly Bawden, as Eliza Doolittle, was a perfect partnering to West. She gave an outstanding performance – feisty yet vulnerable and you completely believed the relationship between the two of them. Her singing voice is simply stunning, so amazingly powerful and with such range she takes your breath away.

The ensemble cast work brilliantly together, and there are as you’d expect some great song and dance numbers with fabulous and extremely energetic choreography, ‘Get Me to the Church on Time’ being a particular highlight. The design of the show is gorgeous, a clever revolve allows seamless changes between the various scenes and the set is beautiful and filled with detail. As you’d expect the costumes, particularly in the Ball scene and Ascot are divine, and the direction makes great use of the space, ensuring there is no such thing as a bad seat for the audience.

The performance gained a well-deserved ovation and there were lots of smiling faces as I left the auditorium and floated back to the station quietly singing! A fabulous production on every level. Who needs the West End when we have talent like this in the North!

Arabian Nights, Library Theatre Company, Lowry 28/12/12

After the stressful run up to Christmas, and the inevitable post-Christmas dip, a trip to the Lowry to see the much lauded Arabian Nights was in order. A last minute booking saw me, my two young companions G (9) and R (6) and their dad (well we needed one responsible adult) travel over to Salford to be hopefully transported to more exotic lands. 

When I checked the running time before the show, and found it was almost two and a half hours, I did wonder how the younger guests would deal with it, and when we took our seats, right up in the top tier of the theatre, peering down at the stage below, there were a few initial moans (I internalised mine!) about how far we were going to be from the action and whether we would be able to see, but I needn’t have worried as this entrancing  tale had all of us completely caught up in it from start to finish, and clever design and staging meant that every member of the audience felt involved as the tales wove their magic.

A King is wronged by his wife, and after having her put to death, declares that no lady can be trusted, and so in future he will only keep each wife for one night, after which she will be slain. One young girl, Shaharazad, an expert storyteller, requests to be his bride, and each night spins magical stories for the King, postponing her death sentence and gradually teaching him important lessons about life, ultimately leading to a joyous conclusion.

The atmosphere conjured from the start for this production is wonderful. The programme tells me that the aim was to create the feeling of traditional storytelling, with tales being passed on by market traders who travelled across the Middle East, Northern Africa and India, and the ‘in the round’ staging and wonderful set design, coupled with live music, certainly adds to this feeling of being gathered round after dark to hear the tales unfold. There is even the faint smell of incense wafting through the space and as the lighting dims, and the lanterns suspended from the ceiling glow, from my lofty seat I almost feel I am peering down from a secret hiding place in the palace, eavesdropping on the stories.

The cast are fantastic, nine actors portraying over one hundred roles seamlessly, and the use of minimal props leads to imaginative and clever touches such as the cave / thieves transition in Ali Baba and the forty thieves, and the scene stealing singing tree! I think particular mention should go to Tachia Newall, who impressed me very much in Manchester Lines earlier this year. Here his energy, effortless physicality and audience engagement are used to great effect, the highlight for me being his wonderful portrayals of both the beggar and the man bewitched into the form of a dog.

There are some lovely and comedic touches in the script, which, as well as reflecting the multicultural origins of the tales, give a nod to the multiculturalism of the UK, and the home place of the Library Theatre, and they even manage to slip in a bit of audience call and answer as a nod to the seasonal panto tradition.

As for my initial worries about the staying power of younger members of our party, these were completely unfounded as they were enthralled throughout and declared the show a resounding success (especially the fart joke!). Not a single whinge was heard, even the sweets were forgotten temporarily, and the lofty viewpoint was declared a big success in the scarier moments (thieves can’t get us up here!). As for this somewhat older audience member, well I too was completely entranced and for a short while felt like a kid again. Well done all, a perfect non panto treat for all ages.

Andre & Dorine, 16/11/12, Lowry Studio

What a wonderful night at the theatre this show turned out to be. The exquisite Andre & Dorine, presented by the Spanish theatre company Kulunka, was a masked piece about an elderly married couple, at the stage in their lives where familiarity has led to niggling annoyances with one another and competition for their son’s attention. But the routine of their existence is shattered by the cruel blow of Alzheimer’s, and the narrative moves between the disease’s increasing grip on Dorine, and flashbacks of their loving relationship from first date to married life and the creation of a family.

It’s the first time I had seen mask theatre, and I suspect I have been lucky enough to see it at its best already. The performances were incredibly skilful, conveying every nuance and emotion perfectly. The tiniest detail was brilliantly observed, and portrayed through subtle and finely judged performances from the cast of three – Jose Dault, Garbine Insausti and Edu Carcamo. 

The use of masks allowed seamless changes between scenes, in particular a nice use of flashbacks where the older Andre remembers his younger days and the blossoming relationship with the feisty Dorine. The detail of the performances was so fine that, although each performer took on multiple characters, each was perfectly realised and completely individual. There was even a section that included some fantastic puppet work as the son’s early years were shown.

The story itself was well constructed and very moving. Whilst the progression of the illness was absolutely heart-breaking, and told with brutal realism, humour was ever present, particularly in the flashback scenes, which in a way heightened the emotion of the piece overall. Hauntingly beautiful music added an additional dimension to the piece, and the masks and set were fabulous.

Either there were a lot of people with colds in the audience at the Lowry Studio that night, as there was a lot of sniffling and wiping of eyes going on, or most people were as moved as I was by this beautiful, moving and uplifting creation. Rather than handing out leaflets as we left, maybe the ushers should have been handing out tissues as there was more than one person shuffling out in tears! I was quite glad it was raining as I left the theatre as it disguised my tear stained face.

I really did think this performance was one of the most wonderful pieces of theatre I have seen in a long time, and it got a fabulous, and completely deserved, reaction from the Studio audience. I would love to see it again, it was so beautifully realised both in construction and performance. Simply gorgeous.

Best of BE Festival, Lowry Studio 6/11/12

BE Festival (I think I’m right in saying the BE stands for Birmingham European) was first held in 2010. Its aim, according to their website, was to celebrate the difference and variety within Europe, but also the universal languages and experiences that unite us. It has done this over the last three years by bringing together diverse performances from artists and companies across Europe, that don’t necessarily rely on a common language or cultural references to connect with an audience and bring people together to celebrate both differences and similarities.

For the first time this year, three performances from the 2012 festival were chosen to tour the UK, and this visit to the Lowry Studio was the final stop on that tour. The event was nicely structured, almost as a mini festival in itself, with two performances, then a break for food and a chance to chat to other audience members and the artists, followed by the final piece, and a question and answer section with the companies, that allowed us to get an insight into the development processes for the pieces and the inspiration behind them.

L’Absent, by La Compagnie du Geste qui Sauve (Brussels)

This was a beautifully crafted piece of physical theatre created and performed by Antonin Descampe and Lievine Hubert. Apart from occasional interludes from the gorgeous voice of singer Liane Van De Putte, this was performed silently and you could have heard a pin drop in the Lowry Studio. The performance was absolutely captivating. A lady is in her home, and the gentleman shadows her movements, stepping into the place of various objects she interacts with such as a shower, a chair, and even, most beautifully, a dress that flows around her. It’s so cleverly done, illustrating how the influence of people can live on in the objects around us long after they leave, and has a really haunting and emotional twist towards the end. My only criticism of this piece is that it was too short and the final scene maybe a little hurried and I would have loved to have seen more. It is possible that it will be developed further and I really hope it is, it deserves it, and the skill of the performers in realising it so beautifully is awe inspiring.

Fantasy no 10: “The Beauty of Life” by Compagnia Vladimir Tzekov (Granada)

I had a little more problem falling in love with this piece! It is utterly bewildering, at times absurd, and with no fathomable narrative or structure. In the post-show discussion, it became clear that this was exactly what the company were aiming to create. They want to strip away all narrative, and challenge the audience’s reactions. They find it interesting to see how people react and want the audience to put their own individual interpretation on what is shown to them. I got the impression that success to them would be no two members of an audience having the same experience. To me it felt more like a piece of performance art than a theatre production, and performance art and I have never really gelled, the logical side of my brain is always shouting ‘but why’! There was no doubt that it was skilfully performed, and there were some very striking images that have stayed with me. The music was well used and there were some sections that were highly amusing, although I was never really clear whether I was meant to be amused. But there were also a few elements that I felt had been just included for the shock factor that really didn’t add to the piece, and as an audience member at times I felt I was being patronised. But that’s just my personal reaction, and as the post-performance discussion showed, my reaction was not typical of the audience as a whole.

Solfatara by A Tres Bandes (Barcelona)

The night ended on a high for me with this crazy and extremely funny piece, which won the audience prize at this year’s festival. It concerned a couple’s relationship and how simmering tensions can come to the surface, contrasting this with the behaviour of a volcano. As well as the couple in question, there is a third character on the stage, a masked man, a kind of inner voice, vocalising the unsaid tensions of both parties, and stirring them up to erupt and descend into chaos. I find it quite hard to describe what went on as its structure and performance were completely original, somewhat surreal at times and very, very funny. The performance was in Spanish and there was a genius use of surtitles which loosely followed the script but occasionally and quite hilariously veered off, for example when an argument was in full rapid fire flow and the surtitles admitted defeat. Interestingly, the company told us that the surtitles were not used as part of the piece in Spain, and a Spanish speaker in the audience commented on how much more they added to the piece even though she could follow the language.

Overall this night was a great opportunity to see some diverse pieces from across Europe and get a real feel for what the BE Festival is about. From what the festival directors were saying in the post-show discussion, they owe a debt of thanks to the Lowry Studio’s current programmer, Porl Cooper, for the advice, support and encouragement he has given them in bringing this to a wider audience outside Birmingham. Porl is moving on soon, and he will be a big loss to the Lowry, but I hope his influence lives on and exciting work like this continues to be brought to our doorstep.