REVIEW: 'Christmas Dinner', The Greenroom

Published: MANCHESTER CONFIDENTIAL, 11th December 2008

"Christmas Dinner at Greenroom"

The Christmas lights are twinkling and the bank balance is fearfully quivering as letters to Santa are carefully composed. You’ve slipped on the ice at least once in the past few days and if, like me, the tree is up already, the carpet has become a pine needle danger ground. Me thinks, this must mean, it be time for a pantomime!

Panto can be a difficult one, a bit like Marmite, people either love it or hate it. Slapstick, raucous running around and a good old sing-a-long in Christmas spirit is not everyone’s idea of a pleasant night out. But Greenroom’s very own Christmas Dinner might well change your mind.

This is the panto I have been looking for, still suitable for kids, but simultaneously wonderful entertainment for those who no longer believe in Father Christmas, or receive Christmas stockings. I am a panto (and Marmite) lover, but in recent years I have to admit that I have found myself lagging somewhat after shouting, “He’s behind you” for the fifth time in a row. This was not the case tonight.
 
Oliver Bray has succeeded in writing an unpretentious, witty and refreshing festive script. Baron Balbus, the wonderfully evil baddy who will kill you with his own tongue, vows to destroy the enchanted forest after being spurned by the spectacularly clothed Dame Lederstrabenaffe (the monkey hat being a particular favourite). As the forest is the home of Fairy Mary and brothers Nelson and Nigel, this is an event that cannot be allowed to happen. Not only will all the forest inhabitants be forced to live in housing estates (as the Dame rightfully exclaims: “Oh no!”) but as Nigel reminds us, we also must remember our love for the trees: “We love the environment,” he ardently exclaims. A Christmas Dinner aided by Santa Claus is, obviously, their only hope of swaying the Baron’s decision.

This story is wonderfully aware of the social construct behind its creation, and that exists past the 'fourth wall' of the stage. Not only are parents welcomed, but ‘mums and mums, dads and dads’ – no sexual discrimination here, thank you very much. The stock characters remain, as do the songs and catchphrases – yet all with a twist for the better.

Food is sarcastically organic, the Fairy likes her tipple a wee bit much and the Dame definitely has a beard. Santa, though still white-haired and red-attired, is magnificently lewd, and sleazily seduces Fairy Mary. The music is cheesy, badly sung and hilarious.
 
Asking you to 'leave pre-conceptions at the door’, Christmas Dinner is a self-conscious narrative frequently commenting on, and battling against, the traditional pantomime structure. References to the contract being formed with the audience are stated; the actors artificially come out of character to express frustration at their constrained roles.

Sound effects and projections are used to great effect. In typical Greenroom style, the snow falling outside an arched window floats upwards, as well as down. The sets are similarly impressive – salt snow floor, an ornate dinner table and a flickering fire all add to the magic of the performances. The actors are clearly enjoying themselves as they perform, improvising and interacting with the audience with skill. They render jokes with irony and smiles, and the audience love it. Adults hiss and boo, laugh loudly, grapple for sweets and clap to Christmas renditions of ‘Eye of the Tiger’. What more could you want? Absolutely nowt.
 
It might not have the big budgets of the larger Manchester pantos, nor be so expertly rehearsed, but that only makes it jollier. This ‘Christmas Dinner’ really is the cream in the pie. It is a ridiculous, endearing and most importantly, a fun, pantomime. A wonderful Christmas treat, expect to have your tummy tickled and winter woes lifted. You should go. Take family, friends, reindeer and a token elf. At only £9, it would be silly not to.



'Christmas Dinner' is on at the Greenroom until the 21st of December.

Link: http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Entertainment/Theatre-and-Comedy/Christmas-Dinner-at-Greenroom

PDF: Christmas Dinner, Manchester Confidential, 11th December 2008

REVIEW: 'Antigone', Royal Exchange Theatre

Published: MANCHESTER CONFIDENTIAL, 28th October 2008

"Antigone at The Royal Exchange"

Antigone is a tale of raw emotion. Loss, grief, injustice, betrayal, loyalty, love and pride impregnate this most harrowing of tragedies. Daughter of the Oedipus, destined to destroy his father and marry his mother, Antigone’s life is one of unavoidable sorrow.

Her brothers Eteocles and Polynices, left to rule the city of Thebes, kill each other in battle, and leave their uncle Creon as leader. Creon, a tyrant, decrees that Eteocles shall be buried with honour fitting to a man who has died defending his city, while Polynices shall be left unburied, ‘to be devoured/by dogs and birds, mangled most hideously’. In refusing burial Creon not only dishonours Polynices, ‘but the Gods below, who are despoiled’ – they are denied a soul that is rightfully theirs.

Antigone, brave and resilient, defies her uncle and buries her brother in full knowledge of the punishment. Creon, outraged at her disobedience, sentences her to be buried. Encased in a rock cave, Antigone hangs herself. Creon's son, betrothed to Antigone, kills himself out of grief, resulting in the additional suicide of Eurydice, Creon’s wife. Thus the Gods punish Creon: he is left alone, having paid for the two deaths he caused. As Tiresias foretells, Creon is forced ‘to make amends for murder, death for death’.

Unfortunately I found Greg Hersov’s production of Antigone at the Royal Exchange confused and unsure of the stance it was taking on the original text. It attempted to place itself both within Greek tradition and the present and it didn’t work.
 

The tragedy begins at dawn and ends at dusk. No violence is committed on stage. The chorus remains, though greatly diminished. Creon is sinful of hubris (overweening pride) and is punished. Antigone is the complete tragic hero. The set is representative of ancient Greece, dry cracked earth covers the floor, a funeral pyre of ash and sticks stands off centre.

Yet the costumes are modern. Non-descript suits, high heels, flowing country dresses that do not marry with the other visuals of the production. Creon delivers his speech like a presidential candidate and the messengers are army-clad soldiers. His refusal of the rightful burial changes emphasis. This is no longer about him shaming the Gods: it’s reduced to an argument about what’s humanly decent or not. The messengers are figures of fun instead of solemn bringers of distress. Several moments of overwhelming grief are stunted with sarcastic and comically delivered lines.

Now first and foremost Antigone is a tragedy. It is filled with awful and unjust events, pain and emotional suffering. It is at no point meant to be funny.
 

An example: Antigone is brought to testify in front of her uncle and Ismene, where she is committed to a terrible death. It is a moment of utter desolation. The sisters are never to see each other again; they are preparing for grief and death. When Creon, in Sophocles’ text, proclaims: ‘Of these two girls, one has been driven frantic, the other has been frantic from her birth’, a poignancy is added to their fate, Creon’s tyrannical rule is reiterated and the grief of the situation heightened. Antigone's death is sealed with his unfeeling observation.
 

This production’s alternative line: ‘These women are lunatics!’ has the opposite effect. All gravitas falls away. The sister’s tears seem ridiculous. Creon becomes a comic misogynist. Instead of being overcome with sorrow, we laugh. The production seems afraid to let the audience feel the magnitude of the tragedy.

The original text, by Sophocles, is subtle but direct. It is an overtly political play, directly confronting the problems and dangers of anti-democratic leadership. It presents the importance of family bonds and honouring the dead. The words and events in Antigone are strong enough to carry this message, to be plainly relevant in any time period. I wish the Royal Exchange production had realised this. I wish it had been brave enough to stick to a decisive and clear portrayal of a heart-wrenching tale.

Despite these criticisms it is still not a bad performance. Audiences unfamiliar with the original, or interested in modern takes on classic texts, may well enjoy this production. It is a well acted, entertaining and engaging take on Antigone. It is important for theatre to revive old texts, attempt to bring them into modern contexts and to take risks. I applaud Hersoy for having done so.

My personal experience was to sit for the one and a half hours frustrated and annoyed. I have a pre-established relationship with the text. I have studied and formed a loyalty to what I think are the original intentions of the play. It is not that you shouldn’t see this production: you should. More that I would not want to go again.

 

Antigone, is showing until the 8th of November.

Link: http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Entertainment/Theatre-and-Comedy/Antigone-at-the-Royal-Exchange

PDF: Antigone, Manchester Confidential, 28th October 2008 

REVIEW: 'Three Sisters', Royal Exchange Theatre

Published: STUDENT DIRECT, 22nd September 2008 

The Royal Exchange’s production of Chekhov’s classic Three Sisters is absolutely stunning. Not for a long while have I seen a play so smooth and eloquently performed. The set was beautiful and simple, clear columns and shear curtains ensuring no view was blocked. The acting from all was worthy of Chekhov’s poetical language, wrought with emotion. The audience were literally forced into submission, the three hours passing unfelt, as Three Sisters harrowing and sorrowful tale unfolded.


Chekhov’s Three Sisters is a tale of hope and dreams dashed and unfulfilled, of lives disappointed and helpless to their fate. Each character is dissatisfied with his or her present, each longs for a past or future full of glory and happiness. Their lives are confined to a small provincial town in Russia, where the weather and landscape is harsh and unforgiving, society limited and dull, without any prospect of changing for the better.
Three Sisters is a play that portrays with delicate beauty the way humans cope with misfortune and despair – they see at all times ‘in the distance…a gleam of light’.


The sisters Irina, Masha and Olga yearn for Moscow, the place they feel is home, where their roots belong. Thoughts of Moscow are ‘a washed in sunshine’, warm in comparison to the cold wintry present. Vershinin dreams of a future ‘two hundred to three hundred years from now’, when life will be ‘unimaginably beautiful’. While Chebutykin consoles his painful life with the belief that he might not actually exist at all. None inhabit a place they truly call home, either in time or place. All they want is change, change reverting to memory or to the unknown. Anything other than the stagnant and trapped state of the current. Indeed it is not without meaning that the poem Masha repeats throughout begins ‘a far sea shore…’


The lack of movement within the plot (three years pass without change) allows the audience to scrutinise and understand the characters in raw truth. Chekhov portrays the everyday existence of his characters with honesty and humour like no other. None are idealised humans; all have their faults, their selfish wants – yet we come to admire them each for their continuance through individual trials. Even Andrey, when his life has diminished far below his aspirations finds it within him to think of a future where he ‘can see freedom’.


Most poignant in this play is the disharmony of the characters hopes and their reality. Even when a form of happiness seems to glisten within their reach it is dashed from then within an instant. Life is cruel in handing out exactly what is not wanted and thus most hard to bear. What is the respite from such an ‘intolerable life’? Love; what comfort is there? Only, as Irina concludes, ‘that we shall all be forgotten’. All that is to be done is ‘to live our own lives...for none knows anything’.


Thoroughly moving, utterly impressive and refined. One that cannot be missed.

REVIEW: 'Lord Arthur's Bed', The Lowry Theatre

Published: STUDENT DIRECT, 15th September 2008 

It is lucky they gave a warning, otherwise I would have found myself rather shocked. Lord Arthur's Bed, a play about the lives and trials of Ernest Boulton, Frederick Park and Lord Arthur Clinton MP, Gay men of the 19th century, is rather graphic. Not only do we get full on male nudity, but foe sex, many references to sodomy, shafts, bursting pearly seas (their words not mine) and many other things far too rude to mention.

Not a play for the prude then; but very interesting and refreshing for its natural and unshrinking portrayal of Gay love. Lord Arthur’s Bed is not attempting to shock, rather tell a historical story in all its truth and performed in the Lowry’s Studio, a small and intimate space, the experience felt all the more bare and, well, naked.

The story of Ernest (Stella) and Frederick (Fanny), 19th century transvestites accused of ‘abusing gentlemanly behavior’ and performing ‘unnatural offences’, is told by a present day (fictional) Gay couple – Donald and Jim. It is portrayed as an important turn in the history of homophobic behavior. One of the first trials where publicly being Gay was proclaimed wrong and an offence to the decency of society. The legacy of this homophobia we see negatively affecting Donald and Jim’s relationship. The deeper into the trail the plot gets, the angrier, insure and depressed Jim gets. He talks of the shame he experiences in his desires, how sordid society makes his natural emotions feel and the image of his mothers face when he told her of his civil partnership. It is a play about the power of sex within society, of prejudice and love. How people who are brave enough to outwardly be themselves, are often punished and have been throughout history; especially for being homosexual.

Several things niggled at my satisfaction, which is a shame considering overall it was a tight, successful and engaging performance. The bickering of Donald and Jim got repetitive and rarely developed, the set (consisting of a double bed) was cheap and lacking impact or aesthetics, while the acting at times fell flat or over exaggerated. But these did not ruin a very entertaining and thought provoking evening. As the rather camp Lord Arthur Clinton would have declared – Very well done indeed.

Lord Arthur's Bed in on at The Lowry Theatre on the 11th and 12th of September 

Link: http://year2008-2009.student-direct.co.uk/2008/09/lord-arthur%E2%80%99s-bed/