Corteo - Review

Royal Albert Hall, London

****

Written and directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca 

Valentenya Paylevanyan

Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo has spectacularly arrived at London’s Royal Albert Hall for the company’s traditional Winter residence. The beauty of this particular show is that the festivities, joy and wonder commonly associated with the circus are combined with imagining what lies beyond life on Earth, as it follows the vivid imagination and dreams of a clown named Mauro.  What follows is a breathtaking display of skill, artistry, strength and story telling as only Cirque Du Soleil know how.

Much of the narrative takes place in a carnival like setting with the traverse stage full of jugglers, dazzling costumes and fabulous music. There are moments though, when the stage is more bare and the act more nuanced such that the show can feel a little lost in the huge auditorium.

Of course there are some standalone performances across the show. In the first act particularly, Ukrainian Valentenya Paylevanyan has the entire audience in the palm of her hand, or rather her in the palm of their hands as she floats and flies merely by the force of 4 giant helium balloons and bounced around the auditorium. 

The second half is a snappier affair, filled with some simply death-defying stunts. Ranging from Duo Straps, an aerial routine performed by Hitomi Kinokyuniya (Japan) & Oleksandr Kunytsky (Ukraine) to Roman Munim (Russia) and his Acro Ladder which at one point has the entire audience breathless and silent as he climbed to the top step the ladder. 

Corteo takes us from childhood memories such as bouncing on the bed and pillow flights or playing with puppets and dolls, right through to ex-lovers and partners in a form & style that is, as always, unique. Written and directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, there are so many aspects of growing up and life that are included within the show, with Pasca rarely missing a beat. 

Occasionally in the slapstick scenes - performed mostly in Italian - the storyline becomes a little blurred. That being said, some of the visual moments and concepts as Mauro, played by Stephane Gentilini (France), explores not only his funeral but also his journey to heaven is truly beautiful and even at times, dare one say, comforting.

At a time when the world can in so many ways feel divided, it is a pleasure to witness the 58 strong group of performers and musicians from across the globe come together to form this insanely talented company. While Corteo could do with some tightening up in places, as a spectacle it’s flawless and an opportunity to see some of the best in the world soaring to dizzy new heights!

Runs until 2nd March

Photo credit: Anne-Marie Forker

Oliver! - Review

Gielgud Theatre, London

*****

Music, lyrics and book by Lionel Bart

Freely adapted from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist

Revised by Cameron Mackintosh

Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne

Cian Eagle-Service and Billy Jenkins

Matthew Bourne’s production of Oliver!, arguably the greatest English musical ever written, was outstanding when it opened in Chichester last summer. Now transferred into the West End, it is a privilege to be back soon, reviewing the situation of this production that sparkles even brighter than before. Rarely does a show offer such breadth and depth of performances, across the entire cast, as is achieved by Bourne with his wondrous company. Co-Producer and reviser Cameron Mackintosh has had a lifelong love affair with Oliver! and the subtle revisions that he brings to Lionel Bart’s brilliant original move the show effortlessly into the 21st century.

On press night it was the sublimely talented Cian Eagle-Service playing Oliver, delivering a finish to his big solo, Where Is Love? that all but took the roof off the Gielgud. Rarely, actually NEVER, has that song been sung by a child performer with such power, passion and intensity.

Bart’s genius - aside from penning a show that delivers so many hit songs in rapid-fire succession - was to take the bleak brutality of Dickens’ novel and imbue it with nuanced and perfectly pitched bittersweet comedy. The fun begins early on with Katy Secombe and Oscar Conlon-Morrey paired as Widow Corney of the workhouse and  the beadle Bumble. In a double act that in the original Oliver! was to inspire Boublil & Schoenberg in their creation of the Thenardiers in Les Miserables, they capture the duo’s heartless bombast and petty penny-pinching to a tee. With pinpoint vocals and a mastery of physical comedy, their work is flawless.

Next up are Stephen Matthews and Jamie Birkett as the undertaking Sowerberrys. Again, harsh irony and tragedy but overlaid with comic class - and it should be noted there’s a fine turn from Birkett in act two with her reprise of Where Is Love? in the role of Mrs Bedwyn.

Oliver’s arrival in London of course introduces the show’s most colourful characters. Billy Jenkins is The Artful Dodger, whose cockney vocals and nifty footwork are everything a Dodger should be and more. Aaron Sidwell has grown into the role of Bill Sikes, his understated menace proving both ugly and chilling.

As Nancy, Shanay Holmes has also matured into this most intriguing and complex of roles. Holmes is yet a further example of this company’s vocal magnificence with her take on As Long As He Needs Me giving the Gielgud’s rafters another rattling.

And then of course there is Fagin. Much like Steven Spielberg made us wait before our first glimpse of the shark in Jaws, so too does Bart let most of act one go by before Simon Lipkin erupts from a trap door.

Lipkin’s take on the old Jewish fence is carefully researched and meticulous in its delivery, unlocking Fagin’s humanity and vulnerabilities with a sprinkling of immaculately timed humour. As we see Fagin care for the newly-arrived Oliver into his den of thieves, Lipkin imbues the role with a rarely seen pathos. His skills in comedy and magic are also used wonderfully and with his spectacularly klezmer-esque Reviewing The Situation, his is one of the finest musical theatre performances in town right now.

Lez Brotherston’s designs are simply stunning. Amidst a whirl of wrought iron staircases and bridges, and a deft deployment of the Gielgud’s revolve, Brotherston shifts the narrative across the country and the capital, aided in no small measure by Paule Constable and Ben Jacobs stunning lighting designs. In the pit, Graham Hurman’s orchestra are spot-on throughout.

 

Consider yourself well-in to witness this fantastic spectacle!

Booking until 28th September

Photo credit: Johan Persson

The Merchant of Venice 1936 - Review

Trafalgar Theatre, London

*****

Written by William Shakespeare

Adapted by Tracy-Ann Oberman and Brigid Larmour

Directed by Brigid Larmour

Tracy-Ann Oberman

It is nearly two years since Tracy-Ann Oberman’s Merchant of Venice 1936 opened at Watford’s Palace Theatre in a production that realised Oberman’s powerfully driven mission to take Shakespeare’s classic tale and shift it through four centuries and a 1,000 miles to London’s East End at the time of Oswald Mosley and a focus on the play’s troubling antisemitic narrative. 

Since that opening however, sorrows have befallen the world’s Jewish communities not single spies, but in battalions. The barbaric terrorist assault on Israel on October 7th 2023 unleashed an outpouring of Jew-hatred across the globe in which loudly shouted criticisms of the Jewish state have proved to be little more than thinly-veiled calls for the eradication of the entire Jewish people. While Oberman’s brave production is a tribute to the heroes of the 1936 Battle of Cable Street there are moments which, when contexed against today’s globally expressed antisemitism, already make the show feel out of date.

Now at the Trafalgar Theatre before re-touring the UK, Oberman reprises her Shylock in a performance that remains steeped in the stance and tone of an eastern European immigrant. When her Shylock speaks of being spat upon and treated like a dog by Antonio and his fellow citizens, there is an understated heartbreak to the hatred that she has experienced.

A significant cast change sees Antonio, the Merchant, now played by Joseph Millson. With his character depicted as a prominent member of Mosley’s British Union of Fascists, Millson brings a sharpened gravitas and credibility to the role and a scornful hatred of Shylock that is palpable. Other notables in the cast are Gavin Fowler’s continuing as Bassanio, a performance that has matured into the character’s nuanced complexities and sexualities over the months. There is equally fine work from newcomer to the production Georgie Fellows, who carries the Mitford mantra into her take on Portia.

Interestingly, and again in the context of a 2025 viewing of the production, Grainne Dromgoole’s take on Jessica achieves a further perspective. Hers is the assimilating Jew who discards her faith to follow her love for Lorenzo but yet who, through having been born a Jew, is still scorned by the gentile fascists. Her character echoes those Jews today (and indeed other minority groups too) who appeasingly befriend their enemies while remaining blind to the underlying hatred that can lie just beneath veneers of apparent tolerance.

Watched today, the courtroom scene in which Shylock having already lost his family is now stripped of his fortune and his faith, brings a chilling resonance that Oberman and Larmour in writing their adaptation could scarcely have imagined. Their production may have transported the Duke and his court from Venice to London, but in events that have mirrored the 19th century Dreyfus trial, 2024 has seen new Dukes emerge to hold Jew-hating courts in Pretoria, The Hague and Dublin to name but a few. 

Shakespeare had his Shylock exit the play in act four. In Larmour and Oberman’s truncated fifth act, the devastated moneylender remains on stage throughout, her presence a haunting reminder of the destructive power of hate.

Back in 2023 The Merchant of Venice 1936 was compelling. Two years later it stands as essential and unmissable theatre, brilliantly performed.

Runs until 25th January, then tours

Photo credit: Marc Brenner