Never Tell Them - OxFringe March 24th - 27th 2010

In the autumn of 2008 I had the great pleasure of attending the annual production of the Oxford Writers'Group at the Burton Taylor Studio. Of the three one act plays being premiered by far the best was Stuart Lee’s First World War drama "Never Tell Them"directed by Joe Austin.

The play is set soon after the Great War and focuses on returned hero Lt. Simon Jones. Jones is haunted by the memory of his colleagues and men who all died during the conflict. His troubles fall upon his wife, Celia, and their young children.

Celia has called in the assistance of spiritualist Professor Norman Brailey on the recommendation of a friend. Brailey claims that he can communicate with the fallen and that by putting Jones in touch with his now deceased army colleagues he will be able to come to terms with the fact that he was the only survivor.

A seance is held and the audience witnesses how the charlatan Brailey manipulates his "victims". However this does succeed in getting Jones at least talking about the dreadful happenings of the war. Jones however continues with his visions once the seance is completed and there is a dramatic and thought provoking ending. Though this was well acted in 2008 unfortunately the director possibly over extended himself with the special effects which did not work well on the night that I was in!

The Oxford Finge production runs at the New Road Baptist Church, Bonn Square (Wed 24th - Sat 27th March). Sadly only Steve Hay (Lt. Jones) remains from the original cast. I hope that Hannah Morrell, who plays Mrs. Jones can bring the sympathy to her role that was beautifully portrayed previously by Jo Middleton. Whilst Simon Holden-White takes on the role of Professor Brailey which was played with great character in 2008 by the brilliantly smarmy Cymon Snow.

Vaction planning: The proposal to take a caravan to the fringe this year are in the works! Although we do need to look into getting some Caravan insurance, I am appointing this to Linda...

Tower Hamlet at the Courtyard Theatre,London

It’s fair to say that experimental theatre may not be everybody’s tasse de thé-atre, but Admiration Theatre thrive on it - even to the extent they go as far to make it educational as well a entertaining for attending audiences.

In their innovative version of Shakespeare’s epic, ’Hamlet,’Admiration Theatre deliver ’Tower Hamlet’performed using the methods of Traditional British Shakespeare, Stanislavski, Lecoq, Mime and Grotowski. The result was a thought-provoking, comical and energetic display of visual art and dance.

Theatre reviews would generally explain a little about the plot of the play, but unless you are familiar with the story of Hamlet, there is little sense of attending the Courtyard Theatre to watch this production, therefore there is little sense of engaging readers with the plot of Hamlet in this review. For those who are familiar with the story of the Bards Danish Prince - together with an interest in theatre as a pure art form and power of expression - ’Tower Hamlet’is a must.

Played in the round, the scenes alter dramatically from one form of acting to the next and transform Shakespeare’s tragedy into a tragi-comedy. Opening with Traditional British Shakespeare, the actors slip effortlessly between different methods which at times borders on the verge of satire. With each scene the styles contrast between the surrealism of Stanislavski and Grotowski with the energy of mime.

Each theatrical style is played in groups of actors, thereby giving us several Hamlets and several Ophelias, which included Regina Fichter’s convincing mime of Hamlet seeing the ghost of his father and the bearded Giorgio Spieglegefield’s amusing Ophelia dressed in her ballerina’s costume complete with chest hair protruding from beneath the leotard.

Though the script is mostly true to the original, the contemporary take allowed for cultural references such as Hamlet turning up in England seeking asylum under the name of Mr Prince and declaring, "England is good. I can write a book."

Tower Hamlets is full of surprises, thought-provoking, though at times a little baffling. The play runs at the Courtyard Theatre until Sunday 21^st February.

Holiday update: The plans to take a trailer along the south coast are in full swing! Although we do need to look into getting a Touring caravan insurance quote, I am delegating this to Milton...

Tess of the D'urbervilles/Crime & Punishment Repertoire

After acclaimed success at London’s Baron Court Theatre last year, Myriad Productions return for three weeks with a repertoire of two of their most popular productions, Tess of the D’urbervilles and the epic Crime & Punishment.

Opening on the 16^th February with Tess of the D’urbervilles, the plays will take precedence on alternate nights before closing with Crime & Punishment on the 7^th March.

In what was Thomas Hardy’s penultimate novel, Tess of the D’urbervilles tells the story of Tess, a young peasant girl whose family is thought to be related to the wealthy and noble D’urbervilles. In engaging contact with the aristocratic family, Tess is raped by Alec D’urberville and falls pregnant. However, the baby dies and Tess falls in love with and marries Angel Clare. When her husband learns of her sinful past Tess is abandoned only to fall back into the arms of Alec D’urberville who supports her. Meanwhile Angel has a change of heart and returns to reclaim his lawful wife.

Hardy’s classic is a haunting tale of betrayed innocence, rape on designer bedding and bloody murder brought to life in gripping detail by Myriad Productions.

Russian author, Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote his epic Crime & Punishment after returning from the Siberian gulags. Set in St. Petersburg, we are invited into the life of the mentally unstable, Rodin Raskolnikov, a drop-out student with a plan to kill an elderly, though unscrupulous pawnbroker. Though Raskolnikov’s murderous intentions are to solve his financial problems, he reasons with himself that his actions are not purely selfish, but a service to others in ridding the world of an evil parasite. After committing the crime Raskolnikov must come to terms with his demons. Dostoevsky’s insight into the criminal mind and lust for power is explicit and this tale of love and search for redemption is skilfully played out to dramatic effect.

The admission price for Tess of the D’Urbervilles or Crime & Punishment is £10, or alternatively catch both shows for £15.

Courtyard Theatre in London brings expeimental Shakespeare to the Stage

Following on from the success of their production of Romeo and Juliet staged in the Isles of Dogs last year, the Admiration Theatre Company are performing their latest Shakespeare adaptation - Tower Hamlet.

The challenging performance will be given by five small groups of experienced actors and delivered using one of five theatrical methods - Traditional British, Stanislavski, Lecoq, Mime, and Grotowski. The ambitious project takes four scenes from Shakespeare’s famous play and adapts them for a contemporary audience ever mindful of local history and current geography.

Admiration Theatre are an experimental group who are clearly on a mission to promote theatre as a unique and challenging art form and persist to educate the public in the differences between the many forms of stage acting traditions. Artistic Director, John Seaforth explains: "We believe that putting these five methods in one production is the best way to create for the audience a public debate on theatre as an art form."

Asked about the inspiration for selecting the chosen traditions, Seaforth believes Stanislavski is "the greatest single influence on theatre training of all time," and that "mime is underrated in Britain."

As for the others, Lecoq was a natural choice due to the influence and reputation of Shakespeare adaptations in London whereas Grotowski’s pioneering methods of ’being’ the character was a radical step forward from an actor ’representing’ a character. The essence of a good actor is not acting, but reacting.

To add a local and contemporary flavour the performers were asked to research the local history and geography of the locations setting, Tower Hamlets, so the audience can expect to discover some interesting, and perhaps little known facts of past events in Tower.

Tower Hamlets runs from 2^nd February to 21^st February at the Courtyard Theatre on Pitfield Street in North London. Tickets prices are £12.

How does a competition where the winner gets a month of time to spend at a choice of resorts sound to all of you? All of you must put your names forward, I am convinced we need to to win this and get out of London for a bit because I am deadly bored of it!

Plan D at Tristan Bates Theatre in London

The Tristan Bates Theatre on Tower Street in London, is a self-professed ’thorn in the side of the west end.’ It has a reputation for staging innovative and powerful plays and Plan D is no exception.

Written by actress and playwright Hannah Khalil, winner of the 2007 Special Commendation in the Verity Bargate Award for her moving play ’Stolen or Strayed,’ Plan D is a far-reaching account of a family with deep buried secrets set during the 1948 war between Israel and Palestine. When the family is visited by a cousin who brings warning of a powerful and unseen force, they must decide whether they can trust him.

In what is a complex political issue, the story is inspired by first hand accounts of Palestinian Arabs who survived the atrocities that eventually led to the State of Israel commandeering Arab territory that is still being fought over today.

The mounting troubles in the Middle East began when the United Nations declared Israel independence and recognised it as a State within its own right in the Middle East. Already fraught with tension the relationships between Israel and bordering Arab nations deteriorated and Israel found itself under attack.

Having successfully defended all fronts, Israel moved to expand the territory granted to them by the United Nations at the expense of many Palestinian Arabs. The war left many Palestinians, dead or severely wounded. Many survivors found themselves homeless and persecuted.

Khalil uses the tense situation of the Holy Land to reflect the mistrust and tension between the family and visiting cousin which have had reviewers in Ireland drooling. Writing in Culture, Jane Coyle remarked:

"a play whose subject matter is heartbreakingly apt for these fraught times... a little piece of narrative magic."

Plan D runs at the Tristan Bates Theatre from 26^th January to 13^th February. Tickets cost between £7-£10 and booking in advance is recommended as some nights are already sold out.

Some thrilling news everyone, I was talking to my mate last night and he has just got a lovely new gig at an human resource software company. Well done Thomas

The Little Dog Laughed in London's Garrick Theatre

Taking a satirical view of Hollywoods cut-throat agents and closet homosexuals, ’The Little Dog Laughed,’ staged at London’s Garrick Theatre is a witty, dynamic and altogether enjoyable theatre experience.

Set in New York, the story revolves around Mitchell, an up and coming film actor, and his secret passion for men. The story is catapulted forward when he encounters and falls in love Alex, a Manhattan rent boy who doesn’t consider himself gay. The story is cleverly put together with cinematic influences in keeping with the major industry of Tinseltown. The story is effectively narrated by Diane, Mitchell’s agent, a manipulative and cynical vixen in high heels and Armani suits. Her sharp tongue cuts into her fellow cast with scathing put downs, suggesting she would ’rather give firearms to small children’ than allow a writer to do a final cut. Her best moment however comes when she is asked to keep her word. ’My Word?’ she exclaims, ’You’re asking a whore for her cherry!’

As the relationship of Mitchell and Alex deepens, Diane becomes increasingly worried about protecting her client’s secret from the gossip mongers of Hollywood’s fickle film industry - and their apparent distaste for homosexual men. Matters are complicated however, when Ellen, Alex’s friend come occasional bed buddy announces she is pregnant to the sexually confused rent boy. In the clutches of drama we wait for the sting in the tail to kill us off and are not disappointed.

Director Jamie Lloyd keeps things ticking over like a finely tuned motor, fluent scene changes, perfect comedy timing and such high-octane pace there is barely time for a pit stop from start to finish. The set is minimalistic yet effectively suits the rapid scene changes and numerous locations the character find themselves in. For comedy value, you get your money’s worth and the twist in the tale makes this enjoyable little dog all the more worthwhile.

And now for an update on work for you all to critique, I have finally finished changing the images for the tattoo removal stockport webpage. I really don’t know how I feel about this one, any criticisms are welcome

Fringe Show Review: The Lady Or The Tiger

The show ‘The Lady Or The Tiger’ can be seen until February 13 at the Orange Tree Theatre. It is really a parity to the Arabian Knight’s tale. The story is about a princess whose lover is punished and has to choose between two doors. Behind one door is a tiger waiting to kill him and behind the other is a beautiful woman to whom he will marry. The princess knows who is behind which door, but what will she do? Will she show him the right direction?

The adapters wisely try and keep everything simple. They have reduced the cast to just four- King, Princess, playing most of it for light comedy and reducing the cast to four, the King, the princess, the lover and a narrator who also represents everyone else.

The title song has a Latin beat, which captivates everyone, while a few others offer a distinct 50’s pop feeling. There is also a sing along for those who would be interested. The best track has to be ’Gold’ which is played while the Princess bribes many officials to tell her the secret. The other dramatic climax ’ What Would You Do?’ is flat to say the least.

Andrew C. Wadsworth plays the Narrator and the role of everyone else. He does a good job by portraying the shows light and jolly tone in a very engaging and interesting way.

The real revelation in the show though is Riona O’Connor, who could be the next big thing when it come to acting. She has a distinct charm and can also be funny and sing a couple of songs along the way.

Howard Samuels is very entertaining in his role as a ego filled monarch, while Eke Chukwu catches your eye as the hero. The same cannot be said about his singing though as he seems to be having the wrong notes all the time.

This is a great show to see and you can surely bet that you will have fun.

Nadine’s surprise engagement party: I think I know what we should plan. We should arrange some chalets val d isere as a surprise.