Hector Blavatsky is the architect of Blavatsky Tower and the top floor of this tower becomes a prison for him and his son and two daughters.

The play shows the dysfunctional family whose only experience of the real world is television and the eldest daughter, Audrey, going to work and fetching supplies.

Ingrid, the youngest daughter, was born as her mother died during child birth, but the son, Roland, is easily the most scarred of the children.

Audrey buys an armchair for her father and Dr. Tim Dunne helps her bring it up 400 stairs! The Blavatsky’s fear using the lift, which I find odd as Hector would have designed the lift shaft etc.

Dr. Dunne’s entry brings chaos into the household of a family that has not dealt with a visitor in 15 years.

There is an attraction between Ingrid and Dr. Tim, which makes Roland jealous as an incestuous relationship has been taking place.

Dr. Dunne is asked to help heal Mr. Blavatsky, who will not see a Doctor as he is studying suffering. So, Dr. Tim has to tend him whilst he is sleeping. After Dr. Tim leaves, Hector dies and the whole dynamic of the family changes.

Finally, the family are free of their tyrannical father, free to join the world of the “crushed”.

How will they cope with this new found freedom? Will the incestuous relationship continue? Will Audrey still be the glue holding the family together?

The play actually takes place in the basement of a small pub/ theatre, where the audience are so close, the actors can brush past you (as happened to me), and yet we can imagine we are in that top floor flat, where leaving is absolutely terrifying for the family.

The night I went, there were sound problems, but that did not spoil my enjoyment of a thoughtful, thought provoking play, with an outstanding cast, in particular, Pia Fitzgerald is wonderfully restrained as Audrey and Ian Hallard as Dr. Tim Dunne. Will Maynard does a great job working 5 actors in such a small space and the producer, Biggles Bristol, also deserves a special mention.

This play deals with several moral issues and leaves the audience to answer the questions. Well done!

Bitch Boxer is a piece about a London teenage female boxer. She has fought many fights and with one more victory she can achieve the highest honour and compete at the Olympics in London 2012. The piece isn’t as much about boxing as it is about her adolescent circumstances, puppy love and the death of her father; navigating the emotional issues inherent in these situations whilst pushing herself to be the best bitch boxer and thereby qualify for the ultimate, the Olympics.

The staging of the piece as done simply, clearly, and was clever. Bare stage, very little costume, very little fuss- pure theatricality; It becomes apparent that a small movement could change the entire setting. One moment the actress is sitting discussing her father and then she stands and puts up her hands and now she is in the gym training; our imaginations, (the spectators imagination) instantly takes the bait and fills in the gaps to compensate for the lack of set. It is my kind of directing, the kind that keeps us actively imagining throughout the piece.

The rest of the review is difficult to find anything else positive about the piece, and with the aim of not trying to deflate the practitioners entirely; I will proceed with caution.

The story is adolencent and lacking originality. It was written by a person who was little compositional or theatrical experience. The highlights of the story are boyfriend issues, loss, perseverance and these kinds of overly done, clichéd elements that a person who has little theatre experience might think is new and exciting- unfortunately we have seen this type of story a million times in a million different ways all culminating in the same disappointment.

The performance of the text was equally disappointing and lacking any real acting diligence. As the story evolves the actress tends to drop out of one character to portray another but does so with little specificity and minor changes in voice, body, or temperance. **Removed by editor,

Bitch Boxer is a piece whose practitioners are trying to run before they have the skills to walk. Better luck next time, diligence and rigour will be the key moving forward.

Performed at the Soho Theatre.

I was excited to see Lady Rizo at the Soho Theatre, not because I knew of her work, but because of all the acclaim I had heard about her work. She is a cabaret singer who has quite an extensive track record in the US, her time at Soho Theatre is her London debut.

Now, there are different rules for the cabaret circuit, and I have to admit I forgot about the leniency that these shows demand from the venue and the spectators. So, when I arrived to find out the piece was 1 hour and 40 minutes in duration starting at 9:45 with no interval, I was a bit perturbed. Then  after I took my seat in the downstairs bar/theatre and the piece didn’t begin on time, I sat there upset about the lack of consideration towards punctuality. All of these disturbances melted away when I was informed that any spectator could, leave, go to the bar, take a toilet break, and do what they please at any moment during the cabaret. I then realized that this was not a piece that was to be judged like theatre, but like a fun night out at a gig. And that is exactly what I was given.

Lady Rizo walked on to the stage and she was elegant, full of presence, and demanding attention. There was a 3 piece band on the stage, drums, piano, and guitar; and the band complimented Rizo exceptionally. Rizo then gave us a selection of covers ranging from ‘Little Wing’ to ‘Sinnerman’, and a few of her original songs. Of course, like any cabaret, Rizo delighted us with jokes, stories, audience participatory circumstances and general impromptu humour. She chose to exploit sex and her sex appeal as the main subject of her humour; it was great, sexy and charming.

The highlight for me was not her sexuality, or her singing voice (which is lovely), but her themes of freedom and righteousness; themes that didn’t really come into her show until the final few songs. She had the audience learn the chorus of one of her original songs- The Song of Freedom (after telling us about her youth on a hippie commune), and then she brought all of us out of our shells and we all sang with her, RAISE YOUR HANDS, THIS IS YOUR SONG OF FREEDOM. And it was awesome, rarely have I seen the british audience so animated at a piece of theatre, I got a shiver down my spine and felt liberated.

I recommend Rizo to anyone.

Performed at the Soho Theatre.

What do you do if your mother’s boyfriend is the same age as you?

Described as ‘un peu shocking’, Noël Coward’s youthful drama was a huge success at its premiere. The relationship between the decadent, drug-addicted Nicky Lancaster and his flamboyant mother, Florence, still packs an extraordinary punch.

We have found this show reviewed on X websites and here are some of their comments.

“A spot-on revival, warmly recommended.”
4/5
The Independent

Noël Coward’s play The Vortex may never have been more persuasively performed than in Stephen Unwin’s production at Kingston’s Rose Theatre.
5/5
The Telegraph

High drama, cutting wit and a dash of fabulousness
5/5
So So Gay

A highly recommended show. The show averages to 4.66 ratings out of 5 ratings.  You will enjoy the till the end.

The Vortex is being performed at Rose Theatre Kingston until March 2nd, 2013.

Robert Lepage has been said to be the director of theatre for people who dislike the theatre. I find this opinion of his work does not hold water when discussing his most recent piece; Playing Cards. This piece is a die hard theatre lovers work; two and a half hours with no interval the play is full of diligent stage tricks, subjective symbolism and is a prime example of the Brechtian distancing effect.  As a diehard theatre practitioner I loved watching the company work; the timings and specificity in the exceptionally complex stage transitions, the fact that only 6 actors play multiple characters from many countries provides the illusion that the company was over 20 actors strong. I sat and absorbed the rigour that Lepage demands very impressed- it is not everyday you see a piece this tight, this professtional, this passionate. But I do understand how a person not familiar with the theatre would take this piece with a pinch of salt.

Firstly, the piece is far too long for no interval. A person could argue that thousands of people everyday go to the cinema and watch epic films for 3 hours with very little attention issues; however Lepage’s use of the distancing effect stops the viewer from getting sucked into the temporalites of the piece which stops the viewer forgetting about the temporalities of their actual moment. (Like when you watch Frodo walk through Middle Earth, days pass in Frodo’s life and it seems like 10 mintues for the viewer even though an hour has passed, Lepage stops this from occurring with his Brechtian choices). This is very subtle directing, an example from Playing Cards: The floor of the stage opens and a mini bar rises out of it- another trap door opens and actors rise- it is clear they are in a bar now, and everything looks perfect, realistic- and the brilliance of the actors suit this very well. As the story of the scene unfolds, the viewer begins to become sucked into the story- as with Frodo- but then you notice the person at the bar is drinking out of a pint glass that has ‘prop’ beer in it, i.e. its fake- the beer is painted on the glass and when the punter drinks out of it the beer does not respond. In this instant the punter becomes an actor, the bar becomes a set and the viewer begins to judge instead of absorb (Like with Frodo). There are hundreds of moments in Playing Cards that promote this effect- so the piece feels long and the audience shuffles considerably feeling every second, very aware. Now I could talk about the positive effect of distancing for 50,000 more words- (if you are interested just pick up Brecht’s book on the theatre) but in this circumstance it doesn’t really work for me because the content of the piece is to clichéd. We watch stories of people making sinful decisions because of circumstance- but it is too easy to accept the sinful decisions of the characters as justified because of their circumstance. So Lepage distanced the audience and then didn’t give us enough to chew on. Don’t get me wrong, we could sit for hours and argue over if the play was about war, the devil, the crumbling human, sin, etc; but at the end of piece I am not emancipated or considering myself- which is kind of the point of distancing, which is kind of the point of theatre.

Lepage’s work is beautifully put together and executed as good as any full funded production should be, the acting company is flawless and magical- they should be proud. I will wait at the edge of my seat for anything else they bring to town, but I am a theatre lover… And I will probably go see Playing Cards again just to analyse his staging again..

Next Week: Bitch Boxer and Lady Rizzo- Soho Theatre.

Performed at Soho Theatre.

Simple8 turns a cult film into clever theatre at the Arcola. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the noted German silent horror film of 1920, which championed the art of cinematic expressionism and the collision of illusion and reality, has inspired this theatre company’s latest daring production.

This stage rendition effectively deviates from the cinematic counterpart that inspired it. This is not intended to be a recreation of the original film. On the contrary, Directors Sebastian Armesto and Dudley Hinton have dispensed with the notion of wordless, exaggerated performance and wonky, abstract scenery, and have created an atmosphere that successfully evokes the fast-paced nature of the fairground, and the point at which dreams become nightmares and nightmares become distorted into a shaded, shadowed Tim Burtonesque reality. After all, limited budgets call for simplicity and inventiveness, and Simple8 is noteworthy for possessing both qualities in abundance. Song, dance, mime, live music made with a vast array of instruments, puppetry techniques, and the art of conjure and illusion are all played out for us by the members of this talented ensemble with dedication and finesse.

The plot centres around the activities of Franzis Gruber – a bureaucrat down on his luck – and the provincial German town of Holstenwall at the time of the arrival of a traveling fair. A carnival ensues, complete with magic acts and the intriguing sideshow of one Dr Caligari, with his coffin-shaped cabinet in which he keeps the main feature of his act: Cesare the somnambulist. The sleeping Cesare, who Caligari controls by hypnosis, appears to have the ability to foresee future events,  and in answering questions put to him by his audience, silently gives away what murderous intent the future has in store, only for all prophecies to be fulfilled.

It’s always incredible how effective dark lighting, extreme movement, an off-white sheeted screen, and a hand-held spotlight can be in making the macabre more macabre, the sinister more sinister – a repeated silhouette effect which is skillfully achieved here. These comparatively prolonged moments work well at breaking up the otherwise frenzied nature of the proceedings – a nature necessary in making the boundaries of nightmare and reality even more blurred.

The production seems to reach a perfectly slow and despondent pace as it creates an uncertain, uneasy world in which one feels anything might happen, but it also manages to indulge in a racy, jovial sense of carnival and occasion. This conflicting atmosphere, when set against the rather more surreal, expressionistic, and nightmarish aspects associated with the horror genre among others, completes a compelling and visually-thrilling piece of theatre.

There are splendid performances by all, but mention must go to Joseph Kloska as Franzis and Christopher Doyle as Cesare, who carried this production with aplomb. Likewise Oliver Birch nailed the part of Dr Caligari with his furtive, fearing aspect, and his general ability to make one feel ill at ease.

Performed at the Arcola until the 16th March.

Forced to leave her home in the Middle East, young Shahrazad lives with her father in London, far away from the home she once knew.

Using everyday objects, the bookish Shahrazad transports her friend and father night after night to an imagined world of kings, viziers, and jinns.  These fantastical flights of fantasy help them make sense of the world in which they live and what home really means.

We have found this show reviewed on X websites and here are some of their comments.

“an utter delight”
4/5
The Telegraph

“1001 Nights is an enjoyable piece which celebrates, among other things, the power of stories, family and friendship.”
4/5
WhatsOnStage

1001 Nights is a delightful show. It’s an enjoyable show and one can watch it with friends and family. The show averages to 4 out of 5 ratings.

1001 Nights is being performed at Unicorn Theatre until March 17th, 2013.

One would expect a witty and intelligent production from Kit Hesketh-Harvey following his Traviata last year and this doesn’t disappoint. The conceit here is that the autobiographical details of the end of Mozart’s life are interwoven with the plot, so that Mozart becomes Tamino, and Constanza Pamina.

The dream-like nature of the performance growing out of Mozart’s final delirium is complemented by the pastel shades of the costumes and the predominance of white. Most cleverly, the ordeals of fire and water that form part of the Freemasonary references become the “cures” that Mozart’s physicians inflict upon him in vain.

Diction is mostly clear and, although odd moments are lost, there s plenty of opportunity to appreciate the word-play.

Vocally, the picture is more mixed. Undoubtedly the strongest all-round performance of the evening was Dario Dugandzic’s Papageno/Schickenader. Unlike the original creator of the role, he has a strong voice and ample acting range for creating a credible character. He was well-supported by Joe Morgan as Tamino/Mozart. The three ladies blended beautifully and all had powerful voices and excellent characterisation. One felt that Kristin Finnigan was holding back on her stonking contralto that seemed as if it could have shaken the rafters.

Less secure was Elisabeth Marshall as the Queen of the Night. She seemed very nervous in her opening aria and threw away her top notes as quickly as possible. She was much better in the second act although, as a character, was far too shrill and lacked the authority and power required.

Matthew Quirk as Sarastro was the weakest vocal presence. His bass notes were secure but thin and he seemed to struggle with intonation throughout.

The supporting musicians were also rather patchy. Unfortunately the woodwind player seemed much happier with clarinets than with the eponymous flute with a tone that was breathy and rather forced. There was a fair bit of singing behind the beat which may have been due to the acoustics at Riverside Studios but which was sufficient to irritate in places.

All in all, this was a very enjoyable evening and deserves a bigger budget and more experienced singers in order to reach a wider audience.

Performed at the Riverside Theatre until 3rd March.

Feast is a musical play that guides the spectator through a journey of three sisters through times of suppression throughout history. It is a celebration of Black, Cuban, and Brasilian dance while at the same time the play interrogates the culture and strife of these people as the piece moves from the 1700s to today. The actors transform multiple times to encapsulate the culture and period they choose to represent; the through line comes from the three sisters. The three sisters regardless of time or culture are always related in other words the lead characters, always play the lead characters. The piece is narrated by a magic shape shifter who is telling us this story and can take us to anytime or place.

Now to the review, I find it difficult to write about this without infecting my review with just my opinions of the content. The piece is feebly utters this philosophic notion that the individual must figure out who they are and ‘just do you’; while at the same time most scenes are about specific oppressions, that the cultures they are representing, experience from the western world. The piece is just another ‘look at what the evil white man did, now let’s rise above it’; the story was boring and I am sick of this type of theatre. There are a million different oppressions and morally problematic circumstances that these ‘non- western’ cultures experience/experienced and there are a million ways to create pieces of theatre about this but it seems as if the plays being produced are the same. Fine, the music, dancing and singing in this piece is great and I do appreciate the exposure. The directing is contradictory to the piece, the singers and band are tucked away and we cannot watch their performances, shouldn’t a piece openly celebrating these aspects give them to us wholly, so we can experience it wholly? There is far too much digital projection which takes away from the beautiful costumes, choreography, and the literal magic of the theatre. I would have enjoyed the play a lot more had the content been given to me, simply e.g. all the performers on stage at all times conscience that they are collaborating through telling a story, sharing their cultures- no nonsense. Let me imagine the magic! Give me a diligent performance! The actors did not seem to have enough time to really change from culture to culture, accent to accent- they had an ocean of material to work with and some of them couldn’t swim as well as they thought.

I think chalk it up as another Young Vic produced piece desperately trying to tick their funders boxes.

Until we meet again loyal readers.

Performed at the Young Vic until the 23rd February.

Deep in the bloody fields of ancient Scotland, after the mist has cleared from a recent battle, a warrior Macbeth and his friend Banquo witness three witches prophesize the future. Macbeth will be King. Taking this information back to his beloved wife and knowing the King is due to feast at their home that very night, they decide to take the prophesy into their own hands that will lead to mass murder, ultimate power, madness and their eventual down fall.

We have found this show reviewed on a number of websites and here are some of their comments

“Streatfeild’s softly spoken Macbeth has a sensitive core and slightly metrosexual leanings.”
3/5
The Guardian

“Geoffrey Wright’s Macbeth is likely the single most unpretentious Shakespeare film you will ever see.”
4/5
Playshakespeare.com

It’s a nice show to watch. Reviewers praise this how and the show averages to 3.5 ratings out of 5 ratings.

Macbeth is being performed at Camden People’s Theatre until February 24th, 2013.