Return To The Forbidden Planet - Review

Upstairs At The Gatehouse, London

****

Music and lyrics by various artists

Book by Bob Carlton

Directed by John Plews

Simon Oskarsson and company

In what is the first staging of Return To The Forbidden Planet since the death of its creator Bob Carlton, John Plews has put together a production that captures the show’s irreverent spirit. It was Carlton who on watching the 1950s B-Movie Forbidden Planet, first spied the potential to create a trinity of cultural fusion – blending cliched Hollywood not only with Shakespeare, but with rock and roll too. 

In a story that is (very, very) loosely connected to The Tempest, Carlton threw into the pot every hackneyed Shakespearean quote, and then some more, together with some of the strongest songs from 50 and 60 years ago, resulting in an evening of unpretentious fun delivered by a company of actor-musicians.

With the Gatehouse configured in its compact traverse arrangement, simple scenic constructions suggest the spaceship Albatross upon which the action plays out. The plot is beyond credible description, though in all honesty no-one really cares as the corny links serve only as filler between each eagerly awaited number.

Plews’ cast is, for the most part, youthful - and it shows. For Return To The Forbidden Planet to really work, every vocal soloist needs to step out of their musical theatre training and immerse themselves in the persona of a guitar-smashing rock star. These songs were written for rock gigs, not seated sedentary sexagenarians – so when health and safety (and quite possibly a few doctors’ orders too) keep the Highgate audience firmly seated, it becomes beholden upon the cast to make the songs soar. To be fair, there are some glimpses of excellence amongst Plews’ company: Edward Hole’s Cookie gives a blistering take on She’s Not There complete with awesome guitar riff; Ellie Ann Lowe’s entrance and vocals as Gloria (and wow, those boots too!) are a cracker, while third year Arts Ed student Simon Oskarsson offers up a robotic Ariel that has to be seen to be believed, such is this young man’s impressive talent. (Has Arts Ed lecturer Mark Shenton been teaching him the moves?) A nod too for David Persiva's powerful percussion delivered from a lofty drum kit, that drives the show's tempo.

Its grins and tapping feet throughout, as Return To The Forbidden Planet’s return to the Gatehouse makes for a grand night out.

Runs until 17th June

Photo credit: Darren Bell

Carmen 1808 - Review

Union Theatre, London


**


Music by Georges Bizet
Arranged by Teddy Clements
Book and lyrics by Phil Willmott
Adapted from the libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
Based on a novella by Prosper Mérimée

The Company

There’s a noble intent behind Phil Willmott’s Carmen 1808 that seeks to meld Bizet’s opera into a narrative inspired by Goya’s painting of Napoleon’s troops brutally firing on defenceless Spanish civilians during the Peninsular War of the early 19th century. 

Tinkering with greatness does, however, demand greatness from the tinkerer - and there is little that is great about this show. Bizet wrote his tunes for classical operatic voices and, aside from the sonorous charms of Alexander Barria (whose Royal Academy of Music training stands out a mile) as Goya sketching out the unfolding narrative, most of the other voices are lost in the Union’s un-mic’d melee. Rachel Lea-Gray in the title role puts in a fine shift but she’s found wanting in the Habanera.

In the right hands (and voices) opera’s classics can work spectacularly on the fringe but all too often in this show one is left with the distinct feeling that Willmott has done to Bizet’s melodies what Napoleon’s riflemen did to the helpless Spanish. There are occasional moments of redemption though as alongside Lea-Gray, Ellie Ann Lowe and Charlotte Haines put in solo turns that evidence their vocal skills.

Elsewhere there’s acting that at times is clichéd beyond belief - and quite why the French soldiers speak with stereotyped accents that are straight out of ‘Allo ‘Allo defies comprehension. Just be grateful that Willmott didn't have his Spaniards speak like Manuel, the Fawlty Towers waiter. 

This all plays out on an imaginative set from Justin Williams and Jonny Rust, while Teddy Clements puts in sterling work on the keyboard to accompany the cast. And for those folk seeking a snatch of Bizet’s “hit tunes” (Willmott’s words) there’s a pre-recorded backing track (that’s disgracefully un-credited in the programme) to support the cast in choreographer Adam Haigh's toe-tapping flamenco-esque finale . Now That’s What I Call Carmen.

Runs until 10th March

Photo credit: Scott Rylander

The Comedy Of Errors - Review

Grays Inn Hall, London

****

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Ben Horslen and John Risebero

Susie Broadbent leads the company

Sixteenth century farce that, unlike much of Shakespeare's work, barely skirts around the human condition, doesn't easily stand up to modern scrutiny. The Comedy Of Errors is an implausible tale of identical twins, mistaken identities and Benny Hill style chases across the stage and to work well, demands a stylish production.

So bravo to producers Antic Disposition for pitching their production squarely in the 1920s era of jazz and spatz-shoed hoodlums. Music adds much to the show's minimalist styling and with an intelligently themed nod to the 1950s movie Some Like It Hot that starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, it all makes for a good evening of entertaining theatre.

The music is bravely conceived through an ensemble of actor-musicians. And to be fair to the creatives, in a casting exercise that must have been challenging, for the most part they have succeeded. The company has decently matching physical resemblances where required, alongside accomplished musical abilities.

William de Coverly and Alex Hooper along with Andrew Venning and Keith Higinbotham are convincing as the two sets of identical twins separated from each other in their infancy and it is a particular treat to hear Hooper's banjo strumming. With Chichester's current Half A Sixpence heavily centered around the banjo, the instrument's 2016 renaissance in both drama and musical theatre is proving a blast. There is classy work elsewhere from Susie Broadbent's Courtesan, playing the role not only as that of prostitute (as Shakespeare originally ordained) but also as a sultry-voiced Monroe-esque chanteuse, offering up a handful of American Songbook classics that nicely fill what is one of the shorter plays in the canon.

When not playing the saxophone (which she does very well), Ellie Ann Lowe stubbornly smoulders as Adriana the wife of one brother who then finds herself amorously (and unwittingly) involved with her identical brother in law. And Philip Mansfield's deliciously end-of-the-pier tackiness as inept magician Dr Pinch spices up the second half, enhanced by Lizzy Gunby's economical lighting plots. 

Horslen and Riseboro take some liberties with the verse, but the context remains clear and with most of their performers delivering top notch turns it all works well. There's a lovely note to history too - remarkably and some 400 odd years ago, the play premiered in this very same venue!

Runs until 1st September 2016

Love Story - Review

Union Theatre, London

***

Music and additional lyrics by Howard Goodall

Book and lyrics by Stephen Clark

Directed by Sasha Regan

David Albury and Victoria Serra

Following on from the extremely successful run of The Dreaming and with Girlfriends in hot pursuit, Love Story is the second in the Union's three part Howard Goodall season. Whilst it is always refreshing to see venues supporting British writing and despite its nomination for an Olivier back in 2010, one cannot help but feel that there are still some holes in this classically cheesy plot that are holding the production back.

An adult fairy tale from the 1970’s, Erich Segal’s novel, famously filmed starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw and helped in no small way by Francis Lai’s Oscar winning theme, imprinted itself upon the baby-boomer generation and in the show Stephen Clark’s book makes a grand attempt to capture the dreamy yet doomed relationship between Victoria Serra’s working class Jenny and the more patrician Oliver.

Serra’s performance is executed well, flitting effortlessly from “feisty with attitude” to the slightly more delicate young innocent, swept up in the passion of an exciting romance. She demonstrates her vocal versatility and strong stage presence almost instantly in Jenny’s Piano Song, later showing an equally impressive but far more tender side in Nocturnes, a scene that is stunningly complemented by Iain Dennis’ lighting.

In slightly awkward contrast, David Albury brings an uncomfortable harshness to Oliver. There is no doubt that both Albury's chiselled looks and singing voice are wonderful, but at times one feels that a greater sense of anger, or even heartbreak is required to truly reflect not only the story's tragic ending, but also the difficult relationship, universally recognisable, that he has with his parents.

Regan directs well. She knows her beloved space intimately, ensuring that every inch of stage is used to great effect, never more so than in the opening and closing number What Can You Say? where the full company create a splendid ensemble sound, even if there seems to be just a hint of Blackrock from Goodall’s The Hired Man creeping in to the melody.

Special mention also to the female ensemble of Tanya Truman, Grace Osborn and Ellie Ann Lowe. Their voices combine beautifully as they watch the lovers’ romance develop, providing an almost Chorus like narrative, backed delightfully throughout by Inga Davis-Rutter’s exquisite musical direction.

Bring tissues and a significant other, a visit to the Union’s Love Story makes for a great date!

Runs until 25th October 2014

Picture by Darren Bell

Grease

Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford

****

Book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey
Directed by Michael Vivian

One of many stunning dance moments from the GSA class of 2014

The audience for Grease, on a Monday night in refined Guildford with the River Wey in near flood-like spate, may well have been more blue-rinsed than Brylcreem’d but along with the cast’s family and friends they packed out the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre. There, they witnessed the GSA class of 2014 morph into the Rydell High graduates of ‘58 in this all-American tale of rites of passage that over many years and countless disco mega-mixes, has been so forcibly injected into our culture.

We know the songs and the story, so with little to surprise us in the plot it is down to the cast’s talent and the show’s production values to impress. And at times this production is truly breathtaking, never better than when the full ensemble pack the stage to execute Phyllida Crowley-Smith’s inspired dance work. If the Rydell girls sing and act, en masse, better than the boys, (which generally they do) then the lads’ movement, which was at times almost acrobatic, more than makes up for it. The agile, technical excellence that the dancers display in Grease Lightning and the show’s carnival like finale, to name but two memorable moments, suggests the jaw-dropping choreography of David Toguri in his pomp.

Like all drama school productions, the focus here is on the company rather than upon the leading characters. That being said, there are still some stand-out performances on offer. Ones to watch from this year’s graduation are Erik West, whose bespectacled square-jawed Eugene is a masterclass in akward geek and who when the Rocky Horror show is next being cast should be a nailed on Brad. Elizabeth Walker admirably tackled the challenge that is Sandy. To plausibly play the pink-clad saint-like virgin, who falls from grace to become a cigarette smoking high heeled hussy ain't easy but Walker pulls it off. Andy Owens’ Doody singing These Magic Changes was perhaps the most charismatic male vocal turn, but the truly spine-tingling performance of the night came from Ellie Ann Lowe’s take on the grizzled Rizzo. Lowe skilfully explored the layers of this brash and ballsy yet still damaged and complex character with empathy beyond her years and her solo, the not often heard “There Are Worse Things I Could Do” was deeply moving in its honest intensity.

For the townsfolk of Guildford, Grease makes for a grand night out. The staging is clever, the laughs are familiar and corny and so long as the teeming Wey stays within its banks, there truly are worse things you could do than give these talented undergraduates full houses for the rest of the week.

Runs until 15th February

Photography by Mark Dean