Sandy Pritchard-Gordon

Sandy Pritchard-Gordon
Theatre Blog

Thursday 30 October 2014

Neville's Island at The Duke of York's Theatre





The main adjective to describe Neville’s Island now playing at The Duke of Yorks Theatre, having transferred from Chichester but with a different cast, is damp.  Not a damp squib exactly, at least not for the majority of the playing time, but a dampness pervading the stage.  This is because the four employees of a Salford water company (I rest my case) who are on a team building exercise and get lost in the rain, end up on a small island in the Lake District, which the designer, Robert Innes Hopkins, has brilliantly created.   The trees on stage drip, as do the actors, who arrive on stage via a downstage river (well stream) but with enough water in it to send splashes over the audience in the front row. Hence the reason why they’ve been supplied with plastic macs.

Whilst the play is often very funny, it also seems rather forced and not sure whether to be comedy, drama, psychological thriller or satire.  The four comic actors, Adrian Edmondson (Gordon), Miles Jupp (Angus), Neil Morrissey (Neville) and Robert Webb (Roy) are all excellent, although their characters not so.  Gordon is a relentless nasty cynic who you long to show one redeeming feature but doesn’t.  Angus is the insecure ‘anorak’ who keeps everything but the kitchen sink in his rucksack.  Neville is the ‘keep everyone happy at all times’ team leader who is keen to appear cleverer than he actually is, whilst Roy is recovering from some kind of nervous breakdown and grieving over the death of his wife.  He is a religious ‘anorak’ who spends much of the play perched up a tree, talking to the birds (in particular a rare breed of falcon). 

It’s a great pity that these four work colleagues are the ones to get marooned together, as there is a general feel that they disliked one another even before they set out.  It is an ensemble piece with each character doing their own thing.  None of them are in tune with each other, thanks in no small measure to Gordon.  He constantly gripes at Neville for thinking each instruction they were given was some kind of cryptic crossword clue, which is the reason they are 180 degrees off course.   He continuously ridicules the poor, hapless Roy, having no sympathy whatsoever for a man teetering on the edge.  And as for his dealings with Angus, he drips feeds several seeds of doubt into Angus’s mind that his beloved wife is playing away whilst he’s away.

Nothing is really resolved during the course of the play and none of the four men appear to learn anything from their experiences.  The only thing it might do is persuade anyone coming to see it that a team building, outward bound exercise is a pointless one.

Monday 20 October 2014

Here Lies Love at The Dorfman



What a transformation!  Not only in the newly refurbished foyer of the old Cottesloe Theatre (now named The Dorfman) but in the theatre itself.  It has been transformed into a nightclub, complete with very trendy DJ, for the production of Here Lies Love.  Yes, The Dorfman is now open and ready for action and action is definitely what’s in store with this new musical, which was originally produced in New York by the Public Theater.
Telling the story of the rise of that famous collector of shoes, Imelda Marcos, Here Lies Love is a disco musical, so named because the ex First Lady of the Philippines (who, by the way, is still alive at 85) once said she wanted this epitaph written on her tombstone.  My abiding memory of Mrs. Marcos is of her passion for shoes but this is not mentioned in this musical about her life, co-devised by the American singer-songwriter of Talking Heads fame, David Byrne and our own Grammy Award winning DJ Fatboy Slim.  Instead, we are drawn into the world of peasant girl made rich, with the help of a pulsating beat, laser lights, psychedelic projections, moveable platforms and a large cast.  The only problem is that, whilst this journey constantly assaults the visual and auditory senses and is definitely entertaining, it left me strangely unmoved and at times bewildered at what was actually happening at certain stages of her life. 
As in all good rags to riches stories, Imelda Marcos grows up in poverty and marries well thanks to good looks.  Her wedding to Ferdinand Marcos takes place in 1954 following an 11-day courtship and in 1965 he is elected president, thanks in no small measure to his wife’s ceaseless campaigning on his behalf.   Corruption, profligate spending and sexual shenanigans on their part blights the couple’s reign as President and First Lady and when the people have had enough and take control of the TV and radio stations, the pair are airlifted to America by US marines.  During their command of the Phillipines, an old flame of Imelda’s, Benigno Aquino, an ambitious reporter who always had political aspirations, is elected opposition leader in 1969.  Despite intervention from Imelda that enables Aquino to travel to the US for a heart bypass operation, he is assassinated as soon as he returns to Manila in 1983.  It is not really clear whether or not the first lady is upset by this turn of events. In fact such is the pace and verve of this disco musical that the quiet and contemplative moments are sparse.  This production resembles a pop video on 'speed' and there is very little dialogue.  The only moving part of the whole evening is at the end when the final song is sung to the accompaniment of a single guitar.
I sat in the balcony, so am sure my view of the whole thing was very different to those whose tickets enabled them to be part of the action ‘on the floor’.  Here they are herded by stewards in pink jumpsuits, making sure no-one gets squashed by the moving podiums and revolving catwalk.  This all looks rather messy from up above but I’m sure makes the evening much more involving for those being herded.  In fact this part of the audience is crucial to the action (being as they are) stand-ins for the Filipino crowds at various rallies etc.
The performances from the cast are excellent, especially Natalie Mendoza who makes a perfect Imelda, nicely highlighting the change from poverty stricken young ambitious girl to rich, dead behind the eyes, middle aged woman.  Gia Macuja Atchison playing Estrella Cumpas, Imelda’s childhood friend and later maid is also excellent.  Her character, the real voice of the people, deserves more time in the spotlight.  All credit, too, to Martin Sarreal who makes a wholly believable DJ.
The Dorfman, with it’s brand spanking new refit (which includes state of the art loos) has opened with a stylish production which, if not worth a handful of stars, is nevertheless a whole load of fun.

Wednesday 8 October 2014

Electra at The Old Vic

I always knew Kristin Scott Thomas was a good actress, I just wasn’t aware how good.  That became apparent on seeing her electrifying Electra in Ian Rickson’s production at The Old Vic. The third in this season of plays in the round at this wonderfully adaptable theatre, is the icing on an exceptional cake.

The expectation that a great evening awaits, is there as soon one enters the auditorium and sees Mark Thompson’s stark set with a free standing tap the only hint of any human activity.  The tree planted on the barren dusty floor is dead and the huge double wooden doors leading to the palace of Argos are shut and unwelcoming.  A sense of foreboding hangs in the air.

Our first glimpse of Electra confirms that Scott Thomas isn’t one of those actresses who is concerned about her looks, although even her transformation into an exhausted, dishevelled, ghost of a woman, ravaged by sleepless nights, can’t totally disguise her renowned attractiveness.  Dressed in a grubby shift dress, she prowls, bare footed around the stage, leaving us in no doubt that her grief at the murder of her beloved father, Agamemnon at the hands of her mother, Queen Clytemnestra and stepfather, King Aegisthus, is all consuming.  We realise that this grief and thirst for revenge have arrested her development.  She is forever a raging adolescent, unable to function and prone to bouts of throwing herself on the ground in frustration and utter despair.  In the wrong hands all this weeping and wailing could become tiresome in the extreme, but Scott Thomas bring so much light and shade to her Electra, with her every emotion etched onto her beautiful face, that one only feels compassion and sorrow.  Her anger, never far from the surface, is at times composed, before erupting into loud, undisguised fury.  She is sarcastic, too, particularly with her mother and, like a child, continually brushes the uncontrollable tears away with the back of her hand.

It is only when she is re-united with her adored brother, Orestes that she comes to life.  Her joy at finally recognising him and thus realising that the stories of his death are untrue, is so uninhibited and real that we all smile with her.  When this joy turns into squeals of delight, we are reminded once more  of her child like quality.  Scott Thomas makes Electra real.
The rest of the cast are good too.  Diana Quick plays Clytemnestra, Electra’s self-righteous mother.  Her regal bearing is in sharp contrast with Electra and her exasperation with this troublesome elder daughter is nicely shown.  Jack Lowden, once again proves what a promising young actor he is (his role as Oswald in the recent Almeida production of Ghosts won him both an Olivier and Ian Charleson Award) by lending Orestes a quiet intensity and, what’s more he his voice has great vocal quality. Peter Wight is always worth watching, no more so than here with his subtle performance as the Servant.

This production of Electra is clear and concise, thanks in equal measure to Frank McGuiness’s adaptation, Ian Rickson’s precise direction and the entire cast.  No-one should let the thought of a Greek Tragedy put them off coming to see this.  Why, there are even one or two laughs in it!!