March 2023 – Page 2 – A Young(ish) Perspective

REVIEW: Punchdrunk’s Burnt City

Published on March 8, 2023March 8, 2023 by Tabitha JamesLeave a comment

Visually impeccable, immersive production with attention to detail like no other, but requires active work from the audience to ensure they get the most from the extraordinary world laid out in front of them.

Punchdrunk is known throughout the theatre world as masters of immersivity and attention to detail. It’s no surprise their popular show ‘The Burnt City’ has extended it’s residency in Woolwich into September 2024. It will undoubtedly become a reference point for various theatrical benchmarks including set design, lighting and originality. However it must be noted for new unsuspecting audience members this is theatre in a way you’re unlikely to have experienced before.

The show offers audiences the opportunity to embark on an incredible journey through the City of Troy’s last days as its walls are besieged by the Greeks, or through the dystopian Mycenae witnessing the cracks and toxicity in Agamemnon’s family. Set up in a 100,000 square foot of purpose built warehouse space, audiences can explore almost one hundred rooms of varying size, clutter and detail, and stumble across various scenes the talented actors take part in (often in complete silence as well rehearsed, rhythmic dance-like scenes).

Practically self service on the storyline front, audience members are likely to leave the experience having followed completely different journeys to their peers. Despite the dire warnings and advice from the welcoming host many individuals explored the world with partners (myself included). Having had my first intro to the world I would caution anyone against doing the same. Not only does it mean you aren’t fully immersed in the production during the walk around, you also don’t have the gift post show of comparing what you saw – which would arguably help join the dots of a lot of the bizarre situations you’ll find yourself in. This cross comparison would enable you to craft a storyline or understanding of the characters if that’s what you so wished.

Audiences immediately split into two groups – those who navigated the world in front of them by doggedly following chosen characters and those who wandered aimlessly through the streets, drinking in each encounter as they came. Either journey could work – it depends what works best for you – I chose the latter and it did leave me pondering what I’d seen, who I’d met and what story they were trying to tell. An uncertainty that I usually wouldn’t appreciate post theatre but something that, after discussing with my fellow audience members and previous Punchdrunk goers, makes the production and Punchdrunk’s theatre style quite unique and special.

The Burnt City is undoubtedly a very specific style of theatre and one that suits our modern world nicely – it makes ‘theatre’ more accessible to tactile, easily distracted audience members and offers a new experience. I can see why people return several times and I already know how I’d navigate it again…. In fact here are some tips I would give to those going for the first time:

Read up on the story of the Fall of Troy before you go, but be prepared to never come across any of the scenes you expect
Wear a watch – phones are locked and there is a finale at the end of the show that you may want to keep an eye out for
Be prepared to explore the world alone – this’ll allow you to compare with your friends afterwards and enable you to explore at your own pace
Suspend any expectations of traditional theatre from the production
Don’t expect to see a clear linear storyline – throw yourself into the spontaneity and randomness of the show infront of you

I reckon I’ll be joining you in the queue again so I can experience it again and from a completely different angle…

The production is located at Punchdrunk’s new home in Woolwich, just 15 minutes from central London, on the Elizabeth Line.

REVIEW: Sleeping Beauty

Published on March 8, 2023 by geegeevonbLeave a comment

“A fairy-tale with a twist.”

An unlikely paring of Aurora and vampires – Mathew Bourne’s sleeping beauty gives gothic romance a new meaning. This piece is a wonderful combination of many variations of the Sleeping Beauty tale, set to Tchaikovsky’s music with vampires thrown in! This story is a breath of fresh-air as Mathew Bourne’s interpretation allows Aurora to escape the old fashioned tale of marrying the first man she kisses – to having a genuine love story with hunky palace groundskeeper Leo (Stepan Murray).

We are introduced to the story by a projection of the introductory lines on the curtain -this was a nice touch that immediately brought back nostalgic memories of Walt Disney’s version – and was a very useful tool in providing a narrative to a piece with no speaking. When we are introduced to baby Aurora – who even at this age is a feisty one. The slightly creepy baby puppet moves across the stage and gets herself into some situations – providing the audience with some visual comedy. Later, Aurora is a young, free spirited girl and Cordelia Braithwaite’s dancing portrayed this beautifully and her dance sequences with the malevolent Caradoc (Ben Brown) show the simultaneous hate and attraction between the two.

The choreography was of particular note as the dancers did an amazing job of portraying emotion and distracting the audience from set changes – multiple times the set changed and I didn’t notice until afterward as I was so enraptured by the dancing on stage. This piece has a bit of everything due to its time jumps, the first one 21 years and the second after the 100 year sleep (also the interval) – this allows Bourne to explore more sets and dance styles and allows us to enjoy the difference between the first and second half. Although the second half is harder to follow than the former as its less plot – more dancing through the woods on a quest to find and wake Aurora.

Now…. The vampires are a nice touch, that make sense as how else would Leo still be around after 100 years to wake her with true love’s kiss? To encompass this into the plot – we have the added character of Count Lilac (Dominic North) – a vampire fairy king who turns gardener Leo into a vampire so he can wake Aurora when the time comes.

The overall effect of the performance was remarkable from the beautiful set and effects, great choreography and visual humour. It was great to see the mix of an improved contemporary tale combined with classical ballet.

Mathew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty is currently on it’s 10^th anniversary tour and is showing at he Liverpool’s Empire until March 11^th.

REVIEW: Coppélia

Published on March 7, 2023March 6, 2023 by mariaansdellLeave a comment

Scottish Ballet’s reinterpretation of Coppélia raises questions about the sentience of Artificial Intelligence with dazzling effect.

Just this week, the release of TikTok’s ‘Bold Glamour’ filter has been subject to its own press investigation. It’s the app’s most advanced technology to date, airbrushing facial features to alarmingly seamless effect. The rate at which Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used and refined feels meteoric and ripe for creative investigation.

For many, and myself included, ballet is a traditional artform contained within a grandiose 19th-century framework. It’s therefore exciting territory when one of the most fated classical ballets is rethought with a punchy contemporary lens. Award-winning choreographers Morgann Runacre-Temple and Jessica Wright (known in the industry as Jess and Morgs) are the partnership behind Scottish Ballet’s highly-anticipated Coppélia, having lifted Arthur Saint-Léon’s original story of an eccentric toy-maker into its modern milieu: a cautionary tale about human relationships with AI.

Having premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2022, there was a tour around Scotland that garnered outstanding reviews. The atmosphere at Sadler’s Wells was electric: from the entrance foyer through to our seats, every conversation was pointed to the imminent performance and high regard of this Scottish ballet institution.

The curtain raised to a pared-back stage (designed by Bengt Gomér), framed by rows of whitewashed doors and a ribbon of digital text that ominously reads “Welcome to NuLife”. We’re in the heart of Silicon Valley and Dr. Coppélius (Bruno Micchiardi) has crafted a new form of AI in his name: Coppélia. Micchiardi astutely portrays this ego-driven entrepreneur, entering the stage with a telling smugness and swagger. Parallels are drawn to familiar tech autocrats: the black polo neck recalls Steve Jobs while a model rocket in his study speaks of Elon Musk’s intergalactic enterprise. Investigative journalist Swanhilda (Constance Devernay-Laurence) and doting fiancé Franz (Jerome Anthony Barnes) arrive at NuLife to interview Dr Coppélius about this futuristic technology. Devernay-Laurence delivers Swanhilda’s fascination, scepticism and disturbance with flawless precision as the unsettling truths of AI creation are revealed.

The piece is a masterful blueprint for mixed media performance. Jess and Morgs have artfully translated their acclaimed work in cinema to the stage, whereby physical action is combined with pre-recorded and live film footage. First Artist Rimbaud Patron weaves a Steadicam operator into his choreography; the close-up lens works to heighten Dr. Coppélius’ absurd cult of personality whilst feeding Swanhilda’s sense of unease. It’s most cleverly used to follow the characters offstage into NuLife’s dystopian operating theatre. Here, we see the in-development stage of Coppélia’s physical creation – individual heads, arms and most disturbingly, a tray of tongues. In terms of the music, Léo Delibes’ composition is fast-tracked into the 21st century by Mikael Karlsson and Michael P Atkinson, applying stimulating electronic soundscapes and spoken word (by Jeff James) to the original orchestral score.

The choreography blurs boundaries between the human and the machine, the real and the digital, injecting surprising interventions into traditional ballet movements. Swanhilda and Franz’s romantic pas de deux would be wiped away by Dr. Coppélius’ humorous bodybuilding and jazz hands, followed by frenzied sequences of AI clones and a cohort of laboratory staff grooving to a viral internet dance. The most compelling scene witnesses Swanhilda and her pink-haired AI double (who’s contained within a drop-down screen) mirror each other. This duet between human and computer culminates with Swanhilda’s assimilation into her digital form, emerging robotic from the screen like a 3D-printed object. The motif is echoed when Swanhilda traps a screaming Dr Coppélius inside the screen – a visual representation of the creation overpowering the creator.

As if the piece holds a lens to itself, it is precisely the pioneering technology that makes Scottish Ballet’s Coppélia such a triumph. Earthly and digital realms are dynamically intermeshed by experts in dance, sound and video. The piece couldn’t be more timely, showcasing the innovation of modern ballet with the existential concern of modern technology. Scottish Ballet are tastemakers in their field and have an undoubtedly exciting future ahead of them.

REVIEW: Oklahoma!

Published on March 6, 2023 by Stephen AlexanderLeave a comment

A provocative, somewhat unsettling but intriguing perspective on Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1943 musical.

The first thing we notice as we are ushered to our seats is how brightly lit the auditorium is. This lighting does not change, nor does an overture begin to signify the start of the show. The cast simply walk out onto the quite baron set: a solid wooden stage and back-drop with subtle doors within some of the wood panels; a big white table; wooden chairs (just enough for each cast member); a couple of slow cookers and cans upon cans of Bud Light. Oh and guns. Lots of shotguns and rifles displayed on the walls, and not just on stage, below the box seats too.

The band were situated just below the stage and practically on the laps of the front row. The band, just as the cast, are dressed the part for early 20th century American farm country, equipped with a banjo, accordion, pedal steel guitar and mandolin among some more common orchestral instruments.

The bright lights coupled with the cosy Wyndham’s Theatre meant I could see every hair on each audience members’ head in front of me, and even scribblings which I assumed must be cue notes on the Musical Directors’ script. If I had known Arthur Darvill and co were going to be able to see me this clearly throughout, I might have shaved.

The brightly lit audience were immersed from the off as we joined the rest of the cast as spectators to the opening scenes and numbers. Instead of characters such as Will Parker (James Patrick Davis) entering from the wings when their cues came, they would interject or come to life from their spectators’ chairs. At first I found this jarring, but I grew into this approach and began to appreciate the immersion. Although this is not a style I would like to see regularly, I thought, overall, it was effective and was one of many decisions made by Director, Daniel Fish, to encourage us to really pay attention throughout.

Bold and unique lighting and staging choices were a theme throughout this musical. Notably, one of the first of these moments occurred in Act 1, the first full blackout – and I mean FULL blackout – for quite a prolonged period of time. There were no safety lights for the aisles and nothing, not even the outline of the actors, could be seen. During this scene microphones were used to amplify the actors’ quietened voices, serving to heighten our senses. Later, a projection appeared, covering the whole of the backdrop and gently lighting Curly (Arthur Darvill) and Jud (Patrick Vaill). Both sat on the table face to face, less than a foot apart, Jud holding a microphone between them as Curly clutched his guitar. Beside them, a camera operator dressed as a 20th century cowboy, held a camera barely inches from Jud’s face and this live footage was the projection across the whole backdrop. You could clearly see each bead of sweat on Vaill’s face and every strand of his long hair bounce to the puffing plosives spoken or sung by Darvill. We all breathe the despair as tears fall down Jud’s face while he retorts and sings the odd line of ‘Pore Jud Is Daid’. The camera turns to Curly, still playing guitar and singing, staring deep into Jud’s eyes. This is the first time the focus turns to Curly in the scene, a very visceral and raw few minutes.

Rarely do I leave a musical and find myself not instantly reminiscing about the music, singing, dancing, and acting, but preferring to discuss the staging and direction of the show. This is not to say that I did not enjoy the music, singing, dancing, and acting, nor that I found the direction incredible. This urge was drawn from how diverging from the norm this piece of Musical theatre is. The music was expertly played by the band, led by Musical Director and accordionist Huw Evans. The cast sang every number impressively, with strong acting throughout. The two leads, Arthur Darvill and Anoushka Lucas as Curly and Laurey, are brilliantly cast and fantastic musically, however it is the supporting roles that stood out to me. Georgina Onuorah as a comedic and vivacious Ado Annie, James Patrick Davis as the hilarious pining Will Parker, Patrick Vaill as the intense outsider Jud Fry, and Liza Sadovy as a strong and entertaining Aunt Eller, all excelling in their respective roles.

In complete honesty, there is so much I can say on this musical but still I cannot find clarity on whether I actually enjoyed the production or not. Depending on which lens I choose to look back upon the show, I could rate it anywhere from one to five stars. The reimagined musical offers an extremely talented cast and musicians. The delivery is truly unique and however unsettling you may find it, it maintains intrigue. However, the lights at times felt too blinding and uncomfortable. Even though I can appreciate this may have formed part of this lighting choice, sometimes I found it too much and would not recommend it to anyone suffering from any light sensitivities. For anyone who might be interested in an unconventional musical, an interesting spectacle, and has strong retinas, a trip to Wyndham’s Theatre’s ‘Oklahoma!’ might just be for you.

REVIEW: Mother Goose

Published on March 2, 2023March 1, 2023 by geegeevonbLeave a comment

An amazingly camp, interactive play that most people would enjoy – starring Ian Mckellen and Liverpool’s own John Bishop

Mother Goose at Liverpool Empire is a play made for the masses to enjoy. Comprised of amazing costumes, talented singers and engaging dance numbers – the play has something for everybody. The real selling point of this performance is the audience participation – it’s a real classic pantomime piece that will remind you of childhood with all the “he’s behind you” and boo-ing and cheer-ing. Front row seats also get treated to the potential to have lots of ingredients from the stage – yes ingredients land on them whilst members seated further back are susceptible to some chocolates and the occasional squirt of water. This makes for an engaging evening at the theatre.

To start off the review I have to commend the play’s comedic side, as the play had humour for people of any age – from slapstick to innuendos. It’s one of those wonderful numbers where the humour is tailored so adults can enjoy themselves and have a laugh at jokes that kids wont be able to understand yet. My one criticism of the panto is that whilst there is jokes for everybody – it is very much tailored to an older audiences humour, maybe 40+, despite this, as a 20 year old, I still chuckled a lot.

The play started with an impromptu introduction from Liverpool’s own John Bishop who introduces the play, audience participation expectations and throws in some one liners and stand up whilst dealing with any would-be hecklers. This sets the heart-warming atmosphere for the evening. Unlike other shows, this play was very off the cuff and left room for nightly changes, this gave the play a different feel to the normally fully rehearsed pieces I am used to seeing – the actors throughout the play were quick to adapt to any changes and stifled their own laughter quickly enough to entertain us.

Another thing I have to mention is the amazingly talented cast: there was Ian Mckellen and John Bishop who both gave us stellar performances. The pairing of these two is pure genius. I cant neglect to mention the iconic menagerie of animals and fairies! The fairies in particular excelled in their musical numbers with their strong voices – Sharon Ballard (Encanta) and Karen Mavundukure (Malignia) shined bright on that stage.

The soundtrack was full of golden oldies and true classics – brought to life by the amazing cast and colourful outfits. The night was brought to a close with John Bishops rendition of Sweet Caroline in which he invited the audience to join in – the atmosphere at this point was truly magical and there wasn’t anywhere I’d rather be than in Liverpool’s Empire at that moment.

Mother Goose is showing at Liverpool Empire until the 4^th of March before continuing it’s journey across the country until the 16th of April where its last night will take place in Bristol. Please find tickets at: https://mothergooseshow.co.uk/

REVIEW: The Sacrifice

Published on March 1, 2023March 1, 2023 by Alexander PearnLeave a comment

Mesmerizing and haunting, The Sacrifice grips from start to finish.

Dada Masilo is both choreographer and sacrifice as she bares her body and soul for all. Known for reimagining classic European ballets in an African context, her latest project is based on The Rite of Spring, a work that has been reinterpreted many times since its 1913 premiere. Masilo takes inspiration from Pina Bausch’s 1970s version, as well as the Tswana traditions of Botswana, where dance is an integral part of storytelling and healing.

Divided in two parts, the first being a euphoric celebration of the coming of Spring. With smiles splitting their faces, the dancer’s bodies are wholly consumed by the movement, with Masilo as the centrepiece. Movements are wild yet controlled, dancers exuding ecstasy as they respond to the music played by the onstage quartet. Harmony is broken when the dancers stop to inform the musicians that they’re playing too fast, even for them; a rare insight into the authenticity of the performance taking place. Despite this slight blip the musicians were nothing but outstanding with Ann Masina’s voice stealing a starring role. The opera singer soared above all, her voice lacing every moment of the show with a human and connectable texture.

Part two was introduced with a drastic tonal shift. Gone are the ecstasy and celebration. Taking their place is a dreamlike sombreness that engulfs dancer, musician, and audience. The story is the titular sacrifice, a woman from the tribe being prepared and presented ready to be taken. Dancers becomes more panicked, their bodies surge and heave as Masilo’s cries take over from the onstage quartet who can do nothing but watch from the side-lines. There becomes a separation between man and women, those dressed in white and those in the original earth-coloured robes from part one. A strong feeling of oppression looms in the air as Masilo is held in place before being offered to Masina, as if she is given to the music of the community.

Masilo has managed to meld celebration with death, ballet with traditional African dance, and bodies with voice. The show is an almost seamless display of storytelling that, whilst getting slightly lost in part two, manages to land with significant resonance and impact.

REVIEW: In PurSUEt

Published on March 1, 2023 by Claude GrahamLeave a comment

An oddball comedy that packs a punch.

In PurSUEt is a one woman show about stalking Sue Perkins. This premise, coupled with the silly promo shots with a life-sized cardboard Sue, led me to expect pure frivolity; in actuality, writer-performer Eleanor Higgins’ debut show has a lot to say about obsession, addiction and denial – whilst also packing in the laughs.

A lot of the early comedy comes from our unnamed lead’s total denial that she has a problem. Sure, she may drink heavily but there is always a justification; yes, she is tracking Sue’s whereabouts but she’d never go to her actual home. Our lead tells us that she can put her willpower to anything she wants – she has simply chosen to “put [her] mind to Sue”. The chasm between what is being shown and what is being said is a set-up ripe for humour. However, there is also something painfully realistic about the denial and circular logic on display, that anyone with experience of addiction will know all too well. Higgins is sparing with the more earnest lines of dialogue, but the choice few cut deep: at the heart of it all, “she [Sue] makes me feel safe”.

The show relies on Higgins’ charisma and energy to captivate the audience, and she very much delivers. Unlike many one-woman shows that rely solely on monologuing, In PurSUEt also steps into the action through flashbacks. Higgins’ physicality is vital in evoking different settings and a believable sense of back and forth dialogue, all whilst solo on stage with very little scenery or props (a credit also to director Tom Knight). Sound and lighting (designer unknown) are used intelligently to further conjure a sense of place, and to convey our lead’s mental state and intoxication. There is one extended sequence near the end of the show that is a masterclass in drunk acting, and the accompanying sound design takes it to another level.

In PurSUEt is original, funny and insightful. Parasocial relationships are increasingly relevant living in a digital age and the show manages to contribute to this wider social commentary, without losing sight of its own absurdly specific story. Furthermore, it effectively mines that story for comedic potential, whilst never making light of the darker themes at play. The night I saw the show, Higgins was under the weather recovering from Covid – and yet her performance, and the show itself, were utterly stand out.