2008 Year Round Up!

I will use this thing. I will use this thing. I will use this thing.

(A new year's resolution, in case you didn't work it out.) 

So to start HERE'S MY TOP 10 of 2008...it's silly and weird, like myself, but there you go. 

In no particular order...

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC - Menier Chocolate Factory - Dir. Trevor Nunn

My first time seeing this Sondheim musical live, and I adored it. It's always a treat to see a musical in the intimate confines of the Menier, especially a musical with such a ravishing score and a production so packed with detailed, delicate performances. Some of the casting could have been stronger, but Alex Hanson and Hannah Waddingham (above) anchored the whole thing beautifully, and Kaisa Hammarlund's rendition of 'The Miller's Son' lifted me halfway to heaven. More than a little magical night music here, then. 

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES - Playhouse Theatre  - dir. Terry Johnson

I disagree that this show feels dated. I'm exactly the 'demographic' who is supposed to find this hopelessly dated with regards to current gay concerns, and yet it resonated strongly with me. But this show isn't in my top 10 because of its topicality - it's because this is a wonderful production, from its sparkling design to the incredible Cagelles, and from Denis Lawson's fabulously sung Georges to Douglas Hodge's absolutely stunning, intricate and heartbreaking performance as Albin. He is electrifying in this role.  I left the theatre bouncy and weightless as a beach ball on the sand. 

NOW OR LATER - Royal Court Theatre - dir. Dominic Cooke

A short but searing new play from US playwright Christopher Shinn, I found both the play and the production thrilling. Superb direction from Cooke ensured strong performances from the whole cast, but Eddie Redmayne, on stage throughout, was a revelation, utterly believable as the Presidential candidate's gay son caught up in events beyond his control. Not perfect, but the most exciting thing I've yet seen at the Royal Court. 

SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR - Gielgud Theatre - dir. Rupert Goold

I loved this wildly inventive take on Pirandello's classic play; Rupert Goold has fast become one of my favourite directors after his outstanding 'Glass Menagerie'and 'Tempest', and now this utterly original reinvention of an old, overdone play has really shown off the crazy depths of his imagination. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.  Technically astonishing and completely gripping, this was a theatrical feast to savour.

Helium - Barbican Pit - dir. Alan Lane

This was a magical little show which has lingered in my mind long after seeing it. Only half an hour long, you experienced the show one person at a time, as your own personal guide led you through a series of box rooms (literally) to explore the sad story of Bella's grandfather Max. Haunting and moving, the show was full of beautiful images and moments, and I am eager to see what Slung Low, the company behind it, come up with next. 

THAT FACE - Duke of York's Theatre - dir. Jeremy Herrin

I guess this is technically from 2007, but I didn't see it until the West End transfer, so shh. I LOVE this play. It is painful and truthful and raw and violent and shocking and beautiful and I can't wait to see it again in some form. (Not sure about a film, though.)  Lindsay Duncan's performance was sensational. Matt Smith was also excellent. I am really really excited about Polly Stenham's next play. That is all about this one. 

BRIEF ENCOUNTER - Haymarket Cinema - dir. Emma Rice

A beautiful immersive environment was created in this grand old cinema by Kneehigh for this show, and it was emblematic of the detail and feeling throughout the whole show; a magical combination of film and performance, music and movement and speech, and lots of wonderfully tortured emotion. Visually beautiful, well performed, lovely music; I became a contented 80 year old with no teeth called Beryl, that's how happy I was.

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG - Watermill Theatre - dir. John Doyle

I love this show. I love the score, I love the story, I love the structure, the ending BREAKS MY HEART. This was the first time I saw it live, so needless to say I was excited. And I love John Doyle's actor-musician productions, so it was a good combination. This didn't work as well as Sweeney or Company, but it was still exhilarating, moving, and occasionally, such as during Jo Hickman's 'Not a Day Goes By'  and of course 'Our Time', I found myself in musical paradise. I really want to direct it now...

And then the last two come from my trip to New York in September...

SPRING AWAKENING - Eugene O'Neill Theatre - dir. Michael Mayer

Oh my god, I loved this show. I'd got a little bored of the songs as I'd had the recording for ages, but finally seeing them in context, seeing the show live, totally reinvigorated it all for me. A mostly-fabulous cast, led by the very talented (and preeettyyy) Hunter Parrish, from Weeds, a spectacular set, and a brilliant score combined to make this an exhilarating experience, despite occasional dodgy acting or numerous problems with the book. I can't wait to see the London cast. 

[TITLE OF SHOW] - Lyceum Theatre - dir. Michael Berresse

 I didn't want to see this show. The premise sounded irritating, the fans sounded irritating. I couldn't have been more wrong; this mini-miracle of a musical speaks to all of us who have ever tried to create something, who have ever wanted anything so badly... a hopelessly loveable cast and a decent score (with a number of sensational showstoppers later on in the show) transcends any problems to create something of unexpectedly beautiful potency. I wept openly from my front row seat as the cast, also crying, stood before me and said ''this is the last line of our show''. No, it's not, not by a long shot, is all I could think....

First year in a while that I haven't had something in the top 10 from the National...it reflects the less-than-vintage year at the NT. It wasn't awful, there were quite a few shows that I liked, but nothing that set me on fire - the only things I loved at the NT this year were War Horse and Waves, two revivals!  I enjoyed Her Naked Skin and ...some trace of her, (and I hated Fram) but they didn't capture me enough to make it in to the top 10. 

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

Hamlet - Novello Theatre - dir. Greg Doran

Ivanov - Wyndhams Theatre - dir. Michael Grandage

Xanadu - Helen Hayes Theatre, New York - dir. Christopher Ashley

 

Oops. 2008 so far, then...

I haven't updated this in a very long time.

I suppose I've been quite busy. Since term began on January 13th, I've somehow managed to struggle my way through the Victorian/Modernism paper and also direct my first play, The Glass Menagerie, at the Corpus Playroom, which finished its run yesterday (March 15th).

The post about the Menagerie will have to wait til another day when I've been able to let all the thoughts and feelings settle. To whet your appetite, though, you could read this fantastic review
by the West End Whingers. A review by the West End Whingers of MY play. What a landmark :-) Nothing really left to look forward to, to be honest...!



I want to go through all the theatre that I've seen so far this year. As I've been in Cambridge since mid-January, almost all of it is student theatre. Every drop I get of professional theatre I gulp liked a man crawling through the desert discovering a not-quite-empty Evian bottle.

The quality of student theatre is pretty variable, as you'd expect. But the good stuff can be really really fantastically good. Of course the bad can get really really bad. I don't want to be too mean about any of the bad stuff, since all student theatre is really just a noble attempt, but, well, I can't bring myself to lie, either.


So here's everything I've seen in 2008 so far, and a little 'review' for everything.


12th January - The Masque of the Red Death. Er, it was the 6th time I'd seen it. Move along, nothing to see here folks.

18th January - Julius Caesar - I didn't love it. Some strong performances, especially Brutus and Mark Antony, but it's never been one of my favourite Shakespeares, and the lukewarm production couldn't help it win me over.

23rd January - Chekhov Double Bill - The Bear/The Night Before the Trial - Enjoyable. Too much shouting, subtlety out the window, but still enjoyable and some nice comic performances.

24th January - Perspectives - Well, I know almost nothing about dance, but the dance pieces in this show, on the whole, were engaging and accomplished enough for me to follow and even enjoy the whole thing.

30th January - The Gnadiges Fraulein - A raucous and unexpected piece of lunacy from Tennessee Williams, with three superb performances and lots of lovely detail, made for a thoroughly absorbing, entertaining, and moving show.

1st February - All the Ordinary Angels - An enjoyable, if slight, play, well-directed, with a few very good performances and a few less so. Pleasant while it lasted but not much of an aftertaste.

6th February - Two Marias - I actually reviewed this one for TCS. I was pleasantly surprised by Bryony Lavery's haunting, elusive play, and the production featured one wonderful performance and several good ones.

8th February - Dinner - Several stunning performances and extremely acute direction made this one of the best Cambridge productions I have seen yet. Gripping and disturbing.

8th February - Follies - A bit of a mess - one or two good performances lost in a sea of strange vagueness. Lovely to hear the score live, but mostly a missed opportunity.

12th Feb - Skates - A surprisingly good piece of new writing. Some spellbinding stagecraft and a strong ensemble contributed to the play's homespun, delightful magic.

13th Feb - The Pirates of Penzance - I'll never be a G&S fan, so I suppose I enjoyed this spirited production as much as I possibly could have.

14th Feb - The White Devil - A very good cast and an impressive set, but the glacial pacing and unconvincing final scenes let the production down.

23rd Feb - Merrily We Roll Along - Professional alert!!! Wonderful Sondheim musical given the John Doyle treatment at the Watermill. As usual, the actor-musician thing worked for me, and I loved it and found it deeply moving.

26th Feb - Conviction - a promising but deeply flawed piece of new writing. Hard for any cast members to shine given the unconvincing dialogue they were forced to spout.

27th Feb - Alice: A Fresher’s Tale - Silly but highly enjoyable Cambridge spin on the Alice story. An enthusiastic cast and effervescent songs made up for the lack of professionalism and predictable nature of the story.

29th Feb - Sweet Charity - Er....I didn't love it.

14th March - Dad - Watched in a state of extreme exhaustion so probably not judged fairly. It seemed promising to me, yet never reached its full comic or emotional potential. Some exceptionally irritating performances didn't help matters.