Thursday 21 April 2011

Claymoore

bored bored bored. usually have some sort of reflection for the pieces i watch but nothing seems to jump out at me at this moment in time. rough and under-rehearsed in parts, not one to write home about.

Fiddler on the roof

the musicality of this play was excellent and some of the singers were brilliant, however actors forgetting lines and bumping into eachother is inexcusable and the fault of the director as well as the cast.

Friday 8 April 2011

The Others

Innovative and a fresh approach to theatre, the ‘Paper Birds’ theatre company try in this piece, ‘The Others’ show differing perspectives of what it means to be a woman in today’s society, The first character we are introduced to is an Iranian housewife played by Shani Erez, where the other two actresses Kylie Walsh and Jemma McDonnell make many common stereotypes that western people may have of an Iranian wife. Highly stylised and physical, this scene shows Erez reacting to punches her fictitious husband throws at her, and ducking for cover from impending bombs before rejecting these ridiculous notions and challenging the other two actresses, and the audiences’ prejudices.
Next we see life through the lens of a female prison inmate who we later find out was convicted of murdering her husband. We see the bleak reality of domestic violence and the emotional distress it has upon this vulnerable woman, turning her from a normal woman to a woman serving a life sentence for murder.
In complete juxtaposition we are then introduced to Heather Mills, famous divorcee of Beatle George McCartney, and through a clever and entertaining use of media in which former GMTV hostess Fiona Phillips interviews Heather Mills, the words are dubbed which is entertaining and humorous but maintains poignancy.
Questioning their own ability to relate to women from different backgrounds and circumstances as well as ours- the audiences, the concept that ‘Paper Birds’ attempt is bold and novel. Although much to the dismay of my peers I struggle to see the appeal that others have within the piece as parts felt forced and under rehearsed but still an enjoyable evening nonetheless.

Clockwork Orange

Moments of inventiveness and entertaining acting, although these were very few and far between. The piece lacked fulidity, clarity and for a script as incredible as the clockwork orange this piece was an epic fail.

Under Milkwood

A thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours. the vocal prowess displayed by the two voice actors throughout was mesmerising and highly engaging as were the vast array of tales they told. the lyricism of dylan thomas's writing was portrayed perfectly and the introduction of polly the sound effects artist created hilarious moments, as did the subplot of her emotional breakdown. a definite must see, really great entertainment

Lear: A Trail of Tears

The arrangement of this piece was wrong, the movement of the play into civil war america was durastically wrong. However the actor playing Lear was remarkable to the point that his performance overshadowed other actors and exposed the frailties amongst the play.

Monologue and Landscape

two enjoyable pieces with excellent moments. however these moments were sadly too few and far between. the actress in the second piece 'landscape' was horrendously boring and nearly ruined the piece for me, shame on you maggie henderson.

Avenue Q

I wish i had these puppets instead of the muppets when i was younger, i would be the ultimate unpolitically correct person ever! Smashing taboos whilst celebrating the wonderful term 'schadenfreude', avenue q really is a must see