Forwards and Backwards, Three Minute Theatre 27-8-12

A gorgeous late summer’s evening (if you ignore the driving rain, near gale force winds and distinct scent of autumn) saw me head back to the characterful space of Three Minute Theatre in central Manchester, to see Square Peg Theatre’s first Production, Forwards and Backwards, which had previously been part of both the Camden and Buxton Fringe programmes.

This is a two hander play, written, devised and directed by its cast, Michael White and Katie Robinson that combines dialogue, physical theatre and mime to chart the relationship of two people, from the day they first meet, through marriage and the ups and downs of their relationship. The story is told in non-linear from, which I’ve seen a few times recently, and can sometimes be quite distracting, but it isn’t here, as we switch forwards and backwards through time at a dizzying pace across the hour, sometimes for just a brief moment, and sometimes for a longer scene, building up a compelling picture of their developing relationship with all its highs and lows.

The physical theatre elements of the production are extremely impressive, precise and slick, cleverly conjuring up, with minimal props, the various settings. It is like watching a dance at times, as they move seamlessly from one scene to the next, and both performers have incredible timing and great fluidity of movement. The tale itself is at turns funny, emotional, and heart-wrenching, as we uncover the complexities of their individual and joint journeys.

As an actress Katie Robinson particularly impresses with an engaging and skilful performance. There is something almost effortless in the way she switches from one situation or character to another. Moments of high drama are well judged and emotionally affecting, and yet she manages to switch from that to a light hearted scene without missing a beat. She also has a beautiful singing voice. I definitely think she is a talent to watch. 

The narrative is nicely written, balancing dramatic but realistic confrontations, with affection and humour, and unfolding at a rate that keeps the audience engaged throughout, although I do think that some elements of the overall story could be sharpened in further development.

Overall I thought this was a well written and stylishly executed piece, with excellent pacing that kept me engaged throughout. I hope to see more from them.

Lowry Backstage Tour 16-8-12

So, what is an excellent birthday present for a theatre obsessive? Maybe a backstage tour of one of her favourite venues? Well thanks to my membership of the Lowry’s Friends scheme, my spotting of a twitter competition, and some fortuitous scheduling on the Lowry’s part, that is exactly what I did on my birthday this year, accompanied by my lovely pal Michelle.

I didn’t know what to expect from this event. I assumed we would be given some kind of whistle stop tour of one of the stages and maybe a dressing room, and then be released back into the night, and I would have gone away happy. But what we got was so much more, a brilliant evening being shown around all the stages and many backstage areas, with heaps of fascinating information about the Lowry including the history of the spaces, the behind the scenes life of a theatre, the technical complexities of the various types of programming, the challenges faced in making the books balance whilst still providing a unique mix of funded and non-funded work, and even a bit of theatre superstition, all rounded off with a drink in the very lovely Quay Club bar, which I’d always been very curious about, but never in the privileged position to enter.

August is traditionally the time when many regional theatres are ‘dark’. Whilst there may be no programming on, it’s a very busy time for the technical team as its when all the spaces and equipment get serviced, tested, and generally spruced up, and, having seen a small part of what’s involved in this we were very lucky that Technical manager Dave and one of his colleagues were able to take time out from their busy schedule to join us and give us an insight into the hidden life of the theatre.

We started off in the Studio area, which began life as a non-theatre space (which explains why every time I visit the studio these days I get flashbacks to visiting a Cosgrove Hall exhibition there many moons ago). It has now been cleverly adapted into three extremely flexible spaces, the main Studio theatre and two other areas which are used for all kinds of things such as rehearsals, performances and private events. The three separate areas can even morph Transformer-like into one large room to host big events and functions. The Studio is the venue that I visit most often these days at the Lowry, it has an extremely varied and interesting mix of programming and I’ve seen some real gems there over the last few years. It’s also incredible value for money, with most tickets coming in under a tenner.

A ride in a service lift and a few labyrinthine corridors later (I think new staff must be issued with balls of twine and homing devices as standard), and we emerge underneath the Quays theatre. Now I’ve actually been here once before, as part of the Crypt Project, but this time it’s filled with banks of seats from the auditorium. I’ve only ever seen productions there with the standard set up (Proscenium Arch), but the ground floor of the Quays is completely flexible and can be converted to thrust stage, theatre in the round, or no fixed seats (in fact, we did get a top tip that the Library Theatre Company’s Christmas production of Arabian Nights would be using one of these alternative configurations which I think should make for an even more magical experience so get booking!). 

Underneath the floor of the Quays is a very clever lift system that collapses into itself, allowing the seating banks to be removed, and some of these seating banks are actually ‘hovercrafts’ allowing them to be manoeuvred easily. Apparently all the seats can be removed and stored (as long as you do them in the right order!) in around an hour and a half, which seemed amazing.

After having a quick look at the stage of the Quays we exited the at the rear of the space into a large  area that links the two main stages at the Lowry, which has direct loading bay access, and from there walked on to the huge stage of the Lyric Theatre. It’s quite an awe inspiring sight standing on that stage and looking out at the vastness of the auditorium. However I was too busy listening to the fascinating facts, stories and insights being imparted by our tour guides (who seemed to have multiplied at this stage, but no one was introduced so thank you all whoever you were!) to remember to take a picture. 

All too soon it was time to move on to the next stop on our itinerary for those who dared, an ascent of the fly tower. I was a little nervous at this juncture as my brain tends to have an unpredictable reaction to heights, but actually as we walked round the galleries that skirt the stage many feet up I felt completely comfortable, and fascinated to see the arrangements that allow backdrops, lights etc. to be moved in and out of the stage area. When we reached the very top of the tower however, where the floor is made up of a grid of bars through which you could see the huge drop down to stage level, I did find myself holding tightly to a girder for reassurance. Again sadly no photos, mainly as I knew if I dropped my phone it would not have stood a chance of surviving and might have taken someone out on the way down!

As we headed off to join the rest of our party in the Quays bar, we had a couple more stop offs, once in what my non-technical mind can only describe as the biggest fuse box you ever saw, and once to get a closer look at some of the lighting suspended above the auditorium. If you ever visit the Lyric Theatre at the Lowry, look upwards towards the ceiling from your seat, you may be able to glance a wire grid – apparently this is quite suitable for being walked on, but I have to say I’m not in a rush to test out that theory!

The Lowry team really put a lot into this insight into their work, and although the tour was around two hours long, I left wishing it could have been longer because it was so enjoyable and enlightening. I had learnt loads about the inner workings of the theatres, and it has made me appreciate all the more how lucky we are to have such an amazing arts centre and such dedicated staff on our doorstep. Thank you Lowry for an utterly brilliant birthday treat.

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Royal Exchange Manchester, 28/7/12

I was a little nervous heading off to see this production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Advertised with lovely pictures of flower fairies, I was expecting a fairly standard romantic production of this well-known classic, and had invited my parents along for a nice summer treat, but I suppose by now I should know to expect more from the Royal Exchange. 

I had not noticed the small print on the marketing that referred to this as a ‘retelling’, and although I was aware that this production had originally been staged by Filter Theatre at the Lyric Hammersmith, and that reviews were good, in my usual way I’d avoided any more detail than that. However, a few days before we were due to visit, a ‘tweet’ from the Royal Exchange caught my interest, and I found myself on the theatre’s discussion board for the show watching a battle raging between those who had loved this production, and those that had detested it. Accusations were flying that it was a travesty, that it had altered the heart of the play, that it had messed with the Bard’s wonderful words, there was ‘disgusting’ language, it wasn’t suitable for kids, and there were tales of people walking out. Not that any of this really bothered me, I enjoy seeing a different take on a known text, I knew the reviews had been glowing, and I enjoy being challenged (although some theatre productions do seem to get the word ‘challenging’ mixed up with the words ‘self-indulgent’ and ‘obscure’ from time to time) but how would my ‘more mature’ guests take to all this modern stuff?

Well let’s just say a few quick sideways glances at my parents’ faces during this hilarious and anarchic production put paid to those fears. This was a wonderfully energetic and original reworking, with a large dose of slapstick thrown in for good measure. It cracked along at a lively pace, involved the audience in some unexpected and surprising ways and made me laugh from start to finish. If anything I wish I had seen it sooner in the run so that I could have gone back for a repeat dose.

Did it disrespect the original play? Not in my opinion, all the key elements of the play and much of the text were present and correct. The key characters were all there, but maybe not as you would ever have expected to see them realised. There were some additions to the text, most notably an extremely funny ‘stand up’ routine at the outset that set up the premise, and also set the tone for the piece. And the Mechanicals topped and tailed the play, rather than being buried in the middle. Was it ‘disgusting’ and unsuitable for kids, an emphatic no from me. I think there may have been a couple of mild swear words in there, hardly earth shattering, and there was a bit of very funny innuendo, that would have gone straight over the head of the younger element of the audience. But there was also madcap tomfoolery that appealed to any age.

I do think that knowledge of the play helped me appreciate some of the elements of the production better, but this production would be a good way of introducing someone who wasn’t familiar to his works, to Shakespeare. And at times the level of reverb used with some of the musical numbers did make words a little hard to distinguish, but overall this really was a refreshing reworking, and an excellent way for the Exchange to round off its season. In fact rather than rolling in his grave, I think if he had been alive today Will Shakespeare would have been rolling in the aisles, and proud that his work could inspire such creativity.

But I have to say, the real heroes of this production have to be the people responsible for resetting the mess and chaos left behind after each performance, especially on a two show day! If you saw it, I’m sure you’ll appreciate what I mean!