The Taming of the Shrew

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s tour of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew came to Baths’ Theatre Royal.  A whirlwind of bawdy humour, seemingly fearsome arguments and an awful lot of romance, suitors and character interchanging, there was not a single boring moment within the play.

The performers were impeccable, particularly the leading female Katherina, whose scorn had the audience draw back in their seats, yet drew hysterical laughs from the women in the audience as she fought with me using rather underhand tactics.  Her opposite, Petruchio matches her scorn with quick wit and steady confidence.  Their chemistry makes Katherina’s journey seem believable, though harsh.  The Lord and his servants from the introduction were sharp and funny; clearly showing the audience what was happening and leading them into the story.  This is particularly effective when attempting a Shakespeare play, as it allows the audience to adjust to the difference in language, as well as putting everyone at ease.

The set was ingenious, set up like large bed covering the stage, with a slope toward the back wall with doors and windows.  It not only allowed for sudden appearances and disappearances, but for more dramatic stunt work to be carried out with ease, as there was no need for wires or bulky crash mats.  The set was established as a bed in the opening scene, and was a continuing source of amusement covering scene changes, as the characters of Sly and the Page would chase each other around under the covers, Sly attempting to grab the Page and him cunningly avoiding his hands.  They were also present constantly on stage, a reminder that the play was just that, a play within a play.

Set in Padua, the lighting was warm in the towns, suggesting almost a closeness in the air, heightened when Katherina was fighting, almost as though the air was thick with the tension from her.  When on the long walk with her husband, the lighting made the stage seem bare and stark, like the desert.  These subtle differences made all the differences, as they reflected the changes within the characters as well as the times of day and the locations within the play. This was furthered by the use of live music throughout the play, cleverly appearing through the various windows and doors in the back wall.  This music added a new dimension to the play, making the parties and celebrations thrown seem more decadent and bawdy, as these glimpses through the back wall also shed light on the more secretive aspects of life for the upper classes presented in the play.

The show was a triumph in all aspects, a must see for Shakespeare lovers and for those who simply want to see a good play.

The King's Speech

Avenue Q

Puppetry, porn, racism and homosexuality doesn’t sound like the ideal content of a hit West-End and Broadway musical; with the exception of Avenue Q.  This down to earth, if slightly surreal show follows the life of Princeton, a recent college graduate, as he moves onto Avenue Q and starts to experience ‘real life’ along side the other residents of Avenue Q.

Act one introduces us to all the characters and their problems with the opening song ‘It Sucks To Be Me’.  The song shows Princeton’s new neighbours arguing over whose life sucks the most, discussing unemployment, disillusion with life and the general difficulties of making a living when you’re from a poor area like Avenue Q.  The comedy in Avenue Q could be described as solely crude but is actually very near the mark; the song ‘Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist’ shows the neighbours discussing the fact that racism is an adult reality; Gary Coleman the black handyman, begins to tell Kate Monster off for a black joke but is quite content to tell other discriminatory jokes.  The audience finds itself laughing along, but acknowledges the truth behind the absurdity.

In contrast to the perfect timed if crude comedy, Avenue Q is almost heartbreakingly poignant in places; Kate Monsters song at the end of Act One, ‘It’s a Fine, Fine Line’ discusses the fine line between love and friendship and just how painful it is when the line is blurred and crossed. The audiences’ intense reactions to these characters are almost surprising; they find themselves sympathising with a puppet that is being controlled by visible puppeteers.  It says something about the skill of the performers to make the character so believable, and in some cases be puppeting a different puppet to the one their voicing!

Avenue Q is a lively tongue-in-cheek look at the idea of ‘life’ after college, both down to earth and completely absurd at the same time.  The songs are ridiculously catchy, the comedic timing precise and the characters so well rounded we find ourselves identifying with puppets.  The show ends happily in some respects, with Princeton and Kate Monster ending up together but is true to life in that not much has actually changed, Princeton never found his ‘purpose’ and they’re still stuck on Avenue Q, but they’ve got each other, and that’s all they need.

One Man - Steven Berkoff

Another stellar performance from Steven Berkoff saw the audience delighted not only with his own take on Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ but also a rendition of his verse play ‘Dog’.

Beginning on a stark set with a single spotlight, Berkoff appears to the audience in a mourning suit, as pale as death.  His intense physicality allowed him to make the most of the bare stage yet still conveying intricate detail of each movement; the simple movement of opening the door was so realistic the audience could almost see the door itself.  Unusually for an adaptation of the morbid ‘Tell-Tale Heart’, Berkoff played on a comedy element, again portrayed through his physicality of running down a long spiral staircase.  Whether intentional or simply playing off the audiences’ reaction, this twist made the piece infinitely more memorable and showed Berkoff for the show man he is.

‘Dog’ seems to cause some controversy; at an earlier performance audience members left the theatre, appalled by the intense racism and foul language.  However it is those points that make the play so compelling; the audience laughs then realises what they are laughing at.  People come away in debate, thinking about what they’ve just seen.  Berkoff is grotesque, disgusting and somewhat threatening, his constant straining to hold back his invisible dog keeping an air of fear in the theatre.  At his description of what he does to the dog, some audiences’ members tried to hide but found themselves unable to look away, spellbound by Berkoffs truly captivating performance.

The fact audience members left raises the question as to whether Berkoffs plays go too far; but the sheer number who stayed and applauded so profusely begs to differ.

Earthquakes In London (A Review For Contemporary Theatre Module)

Every now and then you stumble across a piece of theatre that shakes your preconceptions from the ground up; Earthquakes In London did just that.  A last minute decision to attend meant I knew very little about what the piece contained, how it was conceived or what message they were trying to convey.  Yet from the first moment, as the revolve brought a young couple on a date to the front of the stage, I was totally immersed in that world.

The non-linear narrative, jumping from the early Eighties, through modern day to a bleak future, followed the lives of a family, through three generations, each character so distinct yet inextricably linked with each other.  Crossing theme’s such as the nuclear family, motherhood, global warming, and our need for hope, the plays message was clear, if not depressing; if we do not listen to what we are being told and fix all the problems facing our world, from mental health up to major issues of global warming, there will be nothing left for future generations. 

The characters appeared to be based upon archetypes; a distant, absent father, a power-hungry elder sister, a rebellious attention seeking younger sister with a harassed and depressed pregnant woman in the middle.  The representatives of the airline company we meet in the Eighties are typical money grabbing bad guys, full of double meanings and unrealistic promises, contrasting strongly with a young schoolchild, who’s corrupted by media, imagining himself to have all sorts of issues he’s read about, yet expresses the only real concern about his pregnant teacher.

The true beauty of Earthquakes could have been lost in all the spectacle of multiple revolves and pumping music, but its true nature at the core pushed through to make it a truly memorable piece; a must see, for anyone.

The session begins...

My name is Anna, i'm an 18 year old girl, originally from South-East London, though I moved to the town of Ramsgate aged 11.  I am just starting a BA Honours Degree in Drama Studies at Bath Spa University.  I'll be using this blog as a place to share ideas, plays, productions and rehearsals for the next 3 years. :)