Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Finborough Theatre’

Not Now

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , on November 8, 2022| Leave a Comment »

I’ve become fond of playwright David Ireland’s unique brand of black comedy since I was introduced to it six years ago at the Royal Court with Cyprus Avenue. This is the third I’ve seen since then, a short piece which started as ‘a play, a pie & a pint’ at Oran Mor in Glasgow earlier this year and has transferred to the Finborough, which staged the last one I saw just under a year ago.

Somewhere in small-town Northern Ireland Matthew prepares for a RADA audition, just after the funeral of his father. His Uncle Ray overhears and interrupts, offering to help, greeted with distain by Matthew. Uncle Ray is a middle-aged bachelor boasting of a long line of romantic, or at least sexual, conquests. Matthew is flip-flopping about going to the audition with his uncle insistent he does. As they talk, secrets are revealed and Ray may even have helped Matthew find something which will make him stand out from the audition crowd.

The dialogue is sharp and funny, often at the expense of Ray, but affectionately so. It’s delivered with authenticity, coupled with an impeccable comic timing by actors Matthew Blaney and Stephen Kennedy. Max Elton’s traverse staging, with two men around a kitchen table, has the sort of intimacy that draws you in to their world quickly. Given it’s only 50 minutes long, it’s surprising how much depth these characters have. It’s a much gentler, less surreal piece than Ireland’s previous work, but it’s a little gem that I would wholeheartedly recommend.

Read Full Post »

Bacon

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , on April 4, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Remember the name of playwright Sophie Swithinbank. Based on this fine new play, you’ll be hearing a lot more of her. While you’re at it, remember Corey Montague-Sholay and William Robinson too. These two young actors give mesmerising performances bringing Sophie’s words to life in Matthew Iliffe’s stunning production. This was a superb night at the theatre.

Fifteen-year-old schoolboys Mark & Darren seem polar opposites but they have some things in common. Both are lonely, Mark because he’s new to the school, and Darren because of his behaviour. They both have single parents – Darren’s mum has died and Mark’s mum is divorced – but Darren is in an abusive home and Mark a loving one. Their unlikely friendship is also based on attraction, which draws the hitherto very conservative Mark into Darren’s devil-may-care world.

With just a bench (doubling as a seesaw) in the playing area, they fizz with teenage energy and angst as they move around and on it. Darren plays power games and Mark tries to resist being dragged down by Darren’s reckless, anarchic, rebellious attitude, but the chemistry means neither is in control of their feelings. Occasionally, we jump forward to see how this has played out into adulthood.

It’s only 75 minutes long, but it has the depth of plays twice as long. These are fully drawn characters and their spiky dialogue and animated exchanges have great authenticity. Director Matthew Iliffe has brought the story to vivid life in a finely detailed, tense production where every expression and every movement is as important as the words these two speak. In the intimacy of this small theatre it’s enthralling.

The Finborough Theatre blazing a trail for new writing again. I’m told there may be a TV adaptation, hopefully with the same actors, so look out for that, but I’m so glad I saw such an extraordinary piece live.

Read Full Post »

Yes So I Said Yes

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 20, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Northern Ireland playwright David Ireland has delivered two of the most surreal and controversial new plays of the last five years – Cyprus Avenue at the Royal Court, where a unionist was obsessed by his baby granddaughter’s likeness to Gerry Adams, and Ulster American at the Traverse in Edinburgh, where an Ulster Protestant playwright is outraged by Hollywood’s rewriting of Irish history. This 2011 play, now getting its British premiere, pre-dates them both, but is just as surreal and an even more controversial black comedy, a metaphor for the unionist view of Northern Ireland after the peace process.

Alan is bothered by his neighbour’s barking dog so he visits the doctor who diagnoses depression. Not satisfied, he goes the the BBC to seek mediation from Eamonn Holmes. He confronts his neighbour who claims he has no dog. Is it all in his head? What follows is a bestial attack on the dog, a visit from the paramilitary to exact punishment for it and ‘eye for an eye’ revenge for the attack. Ireland’s coruscating humour is aimed at the solution to ‘the troubles’ through the peace process, from a unionist perspective.

It’s superbly acted, with Daragh O’Malley commanding the stage as Alan, and Kevin Trainor doubling up brilliantly as doctor and dog! There’s excellent support in two roles each by Laura Dos Santos and Kevin Murphy and by Owen O’Neill and Declan Rodgers in individual roles. Director Max Elton and designer Ceci Calf use the tiny Finborough space brilliantly. Ireland really is a one off, a very distinctive playwright and a lone voice in reflecting on the unionist perspective of recent history and the political situation today.

The Finborough proving indispensable again.

Read Full Post »

The Wind of Heaven

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on November 29, 2019| Leave a Comment »

The Finborough Theatre has a knack of rediscovering forgotten plays and this is a particularly fascinating one, not seen here for seventy-five years, which gets as fine a production as you could wish for.

Emlyn Williams was writing in the second world war about events ninety years earlier, at the time of the Crimean War. It’s set in a mountain village in North Wales where Dilys has been widowed by that war, whilst her niece Menna has found love with someone returning from it. The other members of her household are her servant Bet and Bet’s teenage son Gwyn. Village teacher Ambrose, who left and made a new life as a circus proprietor in Birmingham, has returned in search of an attraction for his shows, following his assistant Pitter, who is researching his book on this village, where a disaster left it without children and faith. There’s an outbreak of cholera at the military hospital that threatens the life of Menna’s new man, and young Gwyn displays spiritual powers. The village seems to have found faith once more, Ambrose born again and there is an influx of followers.

It seems to be a parable about war and healing, a fascinating, intriguing period piece which may not appeal to everyone in a contemporary audience, but whatever you think of it, Will Maynard’s production is simply superb, having to convey as much offstage as on. He’s given it a traverse staging, complemented by an excellent set and costumes from Ceci Calf & Isobel Pellow respectively. A hugely atmospheric soundscape and music by Justin Starr & Rhiannon Drake adds much. A uniformly fine cast is led by Rhiannon Neads as Dilys, with newcomer Kristy Philipps very impressive as Menna. Benedict Barker’s role as Gwyn is mute but he does a great job of conveying its mystery and spirituality.

The Finborough punching above its weight again. A must see.

 

Read Full Post »

Maggie May

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 2, 2019| Leave a Comment »

This show came just two years after Lionel Bart’s mega-hit Oliver. Based on a folk ballad about a Liverpool prostitute, featuring unions, dock strikes and political boycotts of cargos of arms destined for misuse in Africa, I’m not sure it had ‘hit’ written all over it. The great British public had other ideas, though, and it ran for 1.5 years, though this is the first professional revival 55 years later. I did see an NYT production 27 years ago, though, in which this theatre’s AD apparently appeared! The Finborough certainly gets my gold star for reviving it at last.

Maggie’s childhood sweetheart Casey decided not to follow in his dad’s unionist footsteps and goes off to be a seaman. When he returns, she’s a professional woman, an empathetic character, and they struggle to rekindle their relationship, as Casey struggles to re-establish himself in the docks. It’s a very working class story, anchored in Liverpool, with a book by local boy Alun Owen. Designer Verity Johnson works wonders conjuring up a dockside setting with some pulleys, steps and crates and I thought it had an authenticity of both location and period, and decent accents.

The story is a bit of a cocktail of ingredients, as is the musical style. If you’re being generous, you might say eclectic; a less positive take would be a bit of a rag-bag, including ballads and knees-ups with snatches of the Mersey sound of the period.  It’s played gamely on solo piano, occasionally breathlessly, by MD Harry Brennan. After a shaky start, Matthew Iliffe’s production gets into its stride with some fine choreography from Sam Spencer-Lane and an enthusiastic ensemble led by Kara Lily Hayworth as Maggie and James Darch as Casey.

It’s amazing the things you find out when you’re reading around a show, on this occasion that Judy Garland, a friend of Bart’s, recorded an EP of four songs from it!

Great to see it staged professionally after all these years. Unmissable for historians and lovers of musical theatre.

Read Full Post »

Time Is Love / Tiempo Es Amor

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , on January 11, 2019| 2 Comments »

I’ve had mixed experiences with playwright Che Walker’s earlier work, but I was positive about The Frontline and Klook’s Last Stand and this features Sheila Atim, also in Klook, who has wowed me thrice more and who has provided original music, so I booked as soon as it was announced. Though there are things to enjoy, I left the theatre somewhat befuddled.

It moves between 2016 and 2019, before and after Blaz’s period in prison. We meet his girlfriend Havana, his friend Karl, who may have betrayed him, and Seamus, the cop who caught him, a serial womaniser who has betrayed him in a very different way. Then there’s Havana’s friend Rosa and Serena the sex worker. There’s a nod to Othello, and the main theme is revenge, but there are a lot of unanswered questions, which leaves the story with a whole load of holes. Some of the dialogue is in Spanish and the setting is meant to be the Latino barrio of LA, but I couldn’t see the connection with the programme page on the Latin American gender-neutral term Latinx.

It’s all very film noir, somewhat Chandleresque, but with contemporary sensibilities, including a sexual frankness that occasionally made even me blush. Sheila Atim’s music is more of a soundscape, and a bit of a disappointment. It has a cinematic quality, helped by a screen the width of the theatre space on which stills and seemingly live video are projected. It has an atmospheric, sensual quality to it, but it didn’t deliver on the narrative front.

The performances are outstanding. Sheila Atim is as mesmerising as ever as Rosa, as is Gabriel Akuwudike as Blaz, and there are fine performances from Benjamin Cawley, Cary Crankson, Sasha Frost, and Jessica Ledon, visiting from LA, where the show was first staged. There were too many loose ends for me, though, in a show which was obtuse for its own good.

Read Full Post »

Finishing the Picture

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 19, 2018| Leave a Comment »

It’s taken thirteen years for Arthur Miller’s last play to cross the Atlantic, and on this showing you can’t help wondering why. As if the Finborough Theatre didn’t have enough feathers in its cap, here’s another one for this European premiere of a fascinating play.

Though Miller insisted it was a work of fiction, he is clearly revisiting a period in his life he first did with After the Fall forty years before. His five-year marriage to Marilyn Monroe was disintegrating during the filming of The Misfits in 1960, for which Miller wrote the screenplay, and it’s hard not to see this play as based that real-life experience.

We’re on a troubled film set where the leading lady’s behaviour is raising a lot of eyebrows. Famous director Derek Clemson is desperate to complete his film, cinematographer Terry Case anxious she looks right in his shots and Philip Oschner, the producer sent by the company’s new owners, just wants to finish it before his boss closes it down. Actress Kitty’s assistant Edna and coach Flora try and keep her together; they even fly in Flora’s husband Jerome, another coach. Our other character is screenwriter and Kitty’s husband Paul, their marriage breaking down before our eyes.

There are a couple of striking things about the play. The first is that it revolves around a character we never see, and the second is that the third act is made up almost entirely of a series of monologues by all of the characters talking to Kitty through a gap in the doorway of her hotel room. Most of the characters are probably archetypes or ‘composites’, as Miller said, but there are too many parallels between Kitty and Monroe and Phil and himself to make this anything other than an exorcism of a troubled period sixty-five years before, through guilt perhaps.

I much admired Phil Willmott’s staging and the work of design team Isabella Van Braeckel (set), Penn O’Gara (costumes), Rachel Sampley (lighting) and Nicola Chang (sound). Oliver Le Sueur creates a totally believable period perfect rookie producer in Philip. Jeremy Drakes, with the help of some specs perhaps, actually looks like Miller and I very much liked his restrained performance. Rachel Handshaw makes much of her role as assistant Edna, embarking on a relationship with producer Philip. Patrick Bailey looks and sounds every bit the down-to-earth cinematographer Terry. Stephen Billington, Nicky Goldie and Tony Wredden complete the picture with fine characterisations.

For a Miller fan like me, this is a huge treat, but it’s a decent play regardless, and a lot better than the other two of the final trio – Mr Peter’s Connections and Resurrection Blues – which I’d recommend to anyone.

Read Full Post »

The Biograph Girl,

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 31, 2018| Leave a Comment »

This is more of a rediscovery than a revival, a 1980 musical which may well have remained lost but for the ever enterprising Finborough Theatre and Mercurius. Written by a man in late career, David Heneker, who’d done eight shows before, including Expresso Bongo, Half A Sixpence and Charlie Girl, and another, Warner Brown, in early career, it seems to have been a critical success but a commercial flop.

Like Jerry Herman’s Mack and Mabel, it’s set in the silent movie era and features real life characters like film-makers D W Griffith and Adolph Zukor of Paramount, actresses Mary Pickford and her friend Lillian Gish and the godfather of silent comedy, Mack Sennett. Over sixteen years, Griffith makes serious epics with Gish and Zukor populist fare with the eternally juvenile Pickford. As it ends, United Artists is born and talkies arrive. The personal relationships are interwoven with the history.

It’s a very good score and the book, in this scaled-down version, is excellent. They’ve reintroduced two songs that never made it to the West End, one which accuses Griffith of racism and the rather chirpier They Don’t Call ‘em Flickers too. MD Harry Haden-Brown plays the score alone on piano, which somehow suits the silent movie aesthetic. Jenny Eastop’s simple production, virtually without decor, allows the show to move and breathe.

I loved Matthew Cavendish’s Sennett, all his work with Mischief Theatre giving him great physical comedy skills, but a great voice too. Sophie Linder-Lee is a delight as Mary Pickford, who’s much more savvy than the girliness would have you believe. Emily Langham’s performance as the more serious and restrained Lillian Gish (who apparently attended the 1980 premiere), somewhat in awe of Griffith, is lovely too. Jonathan Leinmuller has great presence as Griffith, and there are five fine supporting performances, with the MD stepping forward to play a role.

A very worthwhile rediscovery given a fine production. Yet more gold stars for the Finborough.

Read Full Post »

The Best Theatre of 2017

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 1, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Time to reflect on, and celebrate, the shows I saw in 2017 – 200 of them, mostly in London, but also in Edinburgh, Leeds, Cardiff, Brighton, Chichester, Newbury and Reading.

BEST NEW PLAY – THE FERRYMAN

We appear to be in a golden age of new writing, with 21 of the 83 I saw contenders. Most of our finest living playwrights delivered outstanding work this year, topped by James Graham’s three treats – Ink, Labour of Love and Quiz. The Almeida, which gave us Ink, also gave us Mike Bartlett’s Albion. The National had its best year for some time, topped by David Eldridge’s West End bound Beginning, as well as Inua Ellams’ The Barbershop Chronicles, Lee Hall’s adaptation of Network, Nina Raine’s Consent, Lucy Kirkwood’s Mosquitos and J T Rogers’ Oslo, already in the West End. The Young Vic continued to challenge and impress with David Greig’s updating of 2500-year-old Greek play The Suppliant Womenand the immersive, urgent and important Jungle by Joe’s Murphy & Robertson. Richard Bean’s Young Marxopened the new Bridge Theatre with a funny take on 19th century history. On a smaller scale, I very much enjoyed Wish List at the Royal Court Upstairs, Chinglish at the Park Theatre, Late Companyat the Finborough, Nassim at the Bush and Jess & Joe at the Traverse during the Edinburgh fringe. Though they weren’t new this year, I finally got to see Harry Potter & the Cursed Child I & II and they more than lived up to the hype. At the Brighton Festival, Richard Nelson’s Gabriels trilogycaptivated and in Stratford Imperium thrilled, but it was impossible to topple Jez Butterworth’s THE FERRYMAN from it’s rightful place as BEST NEW PLAY.

BEST REVIVAL – ANGELS IN AMERICA / WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF

Much fewer in this category, but then again I saw only 53 revivals. The National’s revival of Angels in America was everything I hoped it would be and shares BEST REVIVAL with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. The Almeida’s Hamlet was the best Shakespearean revival, with Macbeth in Welsh in Caerphilly Castle, my home town, runner up. Though it’s not my genre, the marriage of play and venue made Witness for the Prosecution a highlight, with Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Apologia the only other West End contributions in this category. On the fringe, the Finborough discovered another gem, Just to Get Married, and put on a fine revival of Arthur Miller’s Incident at Vichy. In the end, though, the big hitters hit big and ANGELS IN AMERICA & WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF shone brightest.

BEST NEW MUSICAL – ROMANTICS ANONYMOUS

Well, I’d better start by saying I’m not seeing Hamilton until the end of the month! I had thirty-two to choose from here. The West End had screen-to-stage shows Dreamgirlsand School of Rock, which I saw in 2017 even though they opened the year before, and both surprised me in how much I enjoyed them. Two more, Girls and Young Frankenstein, proved even more welcome, then at the end of the year Everybody’s Talking About Jamie joined them ‘up West’, then a superb late entry by The Grinning Man. The West End bound Strictly Ballroom wowed me in Leeds as it had in Melbourne in 2015 and Adrian Mole at the Menier improved on it’s Leicester outing, becoming a delightful treat. Tiger Bay took me to in Cardiff and, despite its flaws, thrilled me. The Royal Academy of Music produced an excellent musical adaptation of Loves Labours Lost at Hackney Empire, but it was the Walthamstow powerhouse Ye Olde Rose & Crown that blew me away with the Welsh Les Mis, My Lands Shore, until ROMANTICS ANONYMOUS at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at The Globe stole my heart and the BEST NEW MUSICAL category.

BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL – A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC / FOLLIES

Thirty-two in this category too. The year started with a fine revival of Rent before Sharon D Clarke stole The Life at Southwark Playhouse and Caroline, or Change in Chichester (heading for Hampstead) in quick succession. Southwark shone again with Working, Walthamstow with Metropolis and the Union with Privates on Parade. At the Open Air, On the Town was a real treat, despite the cold and wet conditions, and Tommyat Stratford with a fully inclusive company was wonderful. NYMT’s Sunday in the Park With George and GSMD’s Crazy for You proved that the future is in safe hands. The year ended In style with a lovely My Fair Lady at the Mill in Sonning, but in the end it was two difficult Sondheim’s five days apart – A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC at the Watermill in Newbury and FOLLIES at the National – that made me truly appreciate these shows by my musical theatre hero and share BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL

Read Full Post »

Quaint Honour

Posted in Theatre, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 15, 2017| Leave a Comment »

I so love these Finborough rediscoveries. This one is the sixty-year-old only play by a man better known as a translator / adaptor, literary manager and theatre critic and it’s another gem which makes you wonder how work of this quality can remain unproduced for so long while inferior work is revived with great regularity. It could only be staged at the time because it was produced at the Arts Theatre, then a club; theatre censorship was still in place and they would never have allowed it in a normal theatre.

It’s set in a public school, and in particular the shady world of sex, love and power. Housemaster Hallowes gives sex talks to the fifteen-year-olds whilst the seventeen-year-olds are ignoring them. House prefect Park takes an even stronger stance than Hallowes, which his deputy Tully ignores. Hallowes latest talk is too late for Tully’s fag Turner, but not for his contemporary Hamilton. The examination of the abuse of power by older boys echoes current events in film, theatre and politics. It’s examination of the difference between sex and love is altogether braver and more original. It’s a beautifully written piece, though perhaps a touch overlong in the closing scenes of each half.

Christian Durham’s impeccable production takes place on the set of the Finborough’s other play, but you’d never know it. All five performances are outstanding. Simon Butteriss’ Hallowes is a benevolent master with a clear moral code; his sex talk scene was a gem. Of the 17-year-olds, Oliver Gully’s stern and earnest Park contrasts with Harley Viveash’s gregarious and passionate Tully, whilst in the 15-year-olds, Jacques Miche’s cheeky and knowing Turner contrasts with Jack Archer’s naive and serious Hamilton; the latter’s facial expressions spoke volumes.

A great rediscovery given a fine production. Hopefully to be seen by more than the 600 that can fit into these twelve scheduled performances.

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »