Theatre 2015: Review Fourteen

High Society, The Old Vic, London. June 2015.

As a rule Rebecca and I don't see many musicals but this one proved too tempting - a venue we like, at least one actor that we admire and an impressive artistic director - it all added up to a must see.  Added to that very reasonable ticket prices and no planned engineering works/strikes on the trains meant we skipped off to London midweek quite happily.

I certainly wasn't sure what we were going to see - I'd neither seen the film version of High Society nor The Philadelphia Story but that didn't matter as the story telling on stage was very clear from the beginning.  We were in a wealthy American household, somewhere on the East Coast, to celebrate the second marriage of a wealthy woman.  That the groom to be wasn't suitable or liked was obvious.  Thrown into the mix was the ex-husband (much loved by the rest of the family) and a threatened scandal involving a journalist and photographer...

That the plot was so clear was a real plus point as often I found the sound balance to be out meaning that the dialogue was unclear, occasionally inaudible, especially during some of the musical numbers.
The staging also baffled me.  Currently the Old Vic is configured into the round and so the stage space itself felt very cramped, and in some seats the audience had no where to put their feet save on the acting space. This stage design did allow for multiple entrance and exit points which were well used and it was well used in an acting sense - no part of the auditorium felt like it was neglected/unplayed - but for me I thought the production needed the pomp and status that a proscenium arch theatre can give.  As for the number of props needed for each scene and carried on by the ensemble, well I think that they may have had more stage time than the main cast.

Oh dear, this is all sounding terribly negative and while it wasn't the best afternoon at the theatre I've had it was still entertaining and a feast for the eyes.  I think I'd compare it to a Chinese takeaway - at the time you are satisfied but very quickly you realise that you are hungry again!

The highlights for me were certainly the male leads - Dexter, Mike and Uncle Willie plus the little sister Dinah.  They had great roles to perform and fabulous voices to do them justice.  There were some funny lines and witty staging but overall no more than pleasant fluff.  It all felt a little overblown in the wrong way and it really pains me to have to say so,

Theatrical Interlude 12 (2013)

Noises Off. Theatre Royal, Norwich. May 2013

I loved this play so much last year that when I found out it was coming to Norwich I instantly booked tickets for Mr Norfolkbookworm and I because I wanted to share the pure joy of this farce with him.

Since making the booking I've had several wobbles about doing so.  Was it really that good in London? Would seeing it a second time be a let down? Would the touring version be as funny? And lastly after the let downs that I found the Ladykillers and The Mousetrap, was this actually a funny play?

I am so pleased to say that yes it was a funny as I remember, yes the touring version was pretty much as good and no I really don't regret seeing it a second time.

I think that this is a play that requires timing and trust something the cast had in abundance on opening night in Norwich.  Looking at the Old Vic's touring schedule then the Norwich run corresponds with about the second act and if that is what is going on behind the scenes then professionalism shone through and you'd never have known!

The element of surprise had gone for me as I'd seen the play before but i found the humour to be as fresh as every, the prat falls as funny and from the laughs around me so did everyone else.

I am so pleased that the touring versions of London shows are making it to Norwich - it is so much easier for me to get Mr Norfolkbookworm to them!

Theatrical Interlude 6 (2012)

The Duchess of Malfi, The Old Vic, May 2012

My theatre going friend and I ventured south of the river this time to the incredible Old Vic Theatre.

Before I even talk about the production I need a moment or two to rave about the venue - I found the Old Vic to be a wonderful example of how you can bring a traditional building up to date but at the same time lose nothing of the original character.  Unlike the Vaudeville Theatre from a few weeks ago this building is light and airy, comfortable and most important has plenty of ladies loos!  In addition to this while the auditorium still feels like a traditional Victorian theatre it isn't at all thread bare or dated, plus - and this was a bonus on an surprisingly sticky May day - it has wonderfully efficient air conditioning.  Much of this is I am sure due to the input from Kevin Spacey who was appointed artistic director in 2003.

Now the play...

This was another one that I knew nothing about before the performance except that it was written after Shakespeare but before the Civil War.  John Webster appears as a young boy in the film Shakespeare in Love but there my knowledge stopped!

I was sucked in from curtain up, the speech was easier to follow than that of Shakespeare but I still needed a few moments to fully get my ear in tune but then the plot and the acting carried me though and I felt I was living the drama not watching a play.

The basic plot is that the Duchess of Malfi has been left a rich widow and her unscrupulous (and increasingly unhinged) brothers don't want her to marry again as they will then not see any of this money.  The Duchess however has a mind of her own and does remarry for love, but shock horror he is from a much lower class than her.  Their happy life comes to an end when her brothers find out about the marriage and subsequent children.

I think we counted 9 murders, 2 fake corpses and a severed hand so this play is not for the faint hearted!

I saw the actress playing the Duchess last summer at The Globe and thought she stole the show there and the same can be said of her performance here, but again she was supported by a strong cast and they convinced me that they really were feeling every emotion.

The setting was quite dark, very much like the theatres of Webster's time I suppose. While modern lights were used on stage actors carried candles a great deal of the time and it was all very atmospheric, including one scene which took place in pitch blackness - even the emergency exit lights were covered for it.

Reviews online seem mixed for this play - critics liked it but bloggers haven't been so keen.  I'm on the side of the critics. I thought it was fabulous and I will be looking at the listings for The Old Vic a lot more often now as well as following Eve Best's career closely.