Author Archive for Matt

Two Not So Star-crossed Lovers

Published
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Matt
on 4th Dec '08
in Review
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Director: Neil Bartlett
Cast: James Clyde, David Dawson, Julie Legrand, Anneika Rose and Gyuri Sarossy
Company: Royal Shakespeare Company
Theatre: The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

I left the RSC disappointed with Neil Bartlett’s touring production of Romeo and Juliet.  I agree with the Australian girl behind me I overheard saying “It won’t be too long before I see another Shakespeare done like the Godfather.” However, for me the worst of it was that despite its striking style and elegant touches it never struck home emotionally.

The play starts impressively with the entire cast assembled onstage for a rousing Capulate verses Montigue faceoff.  This time flick-knifes spar to the throb of an onstage band and when Romeo eventually makes his first appearance things are looking promising.  He stews over Rosalind, he emotes and he’s a bit of a mess really, but sadly that’s about as far as things get and the next three hours are rather a let down.

An emotional connection fails to materialise between both Romeo and Mercutio and Romeo and Juliet. This resulted in my favourite part of the play, Mercutios death, being an utter anti-climax and the second half of the play, which lets face it can easily become very boring, became very boring.  I would have thought had the actors not managed to find a connection through rehearsals they could have at least popped out for a few drinks together to try and muster some sort of relationship.  Anneika Rose as Juliet was a replacement actress drafted in on short notice, but surely some form of connection should have occurred over the course of touring?

In the production’s defence I assume that directorially the idea was to go for realism rather than theatrics, which may work in a studio theatre, but in a theatre like the Courtyard you have to be able to pull off something particularly special (see Patrick Stewart in Hamlet).  In Romeo and Juliet Owain Arthur stole the show by transforming Peter, a pretty insignificant character, into a lovely morsel of comic relief by playing him theatrically.  Sadly, the majority of the characters appeared devoid of humour and Nurse, who has the best lines, never once managed to squeeze a laugh out of the audience.

The production does have redeeming features.  Neil Bartlett’s direction is masterful in many respects.  The transitions between scenes are comprised of brilliant lighting arrangements and a lovely click of the fingers motif often followed by the odd soliloquy under a spot.  It’s a perfect example of minimalist theatre at its best.  The use of space by all of the actors is excellent and they move brilliantly around the stage and David Dawson is a potential future star.  Not only does he look great, but his voice is beautiful and remember that even David Tennant’s Hamlet lacked the emotional depth that I crave from theatre.  Just because he has one particular tool missing from his box doesn’t mean that he’s not a terrific actor.

Finally, I’ll leave you with the parting words of the Australian girl.  They sum up this production quite well: “By the end I just didn’t care that they were dead” and neither did I.

Second Night

Published
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Matt
on 11th Nov '08
in Stage
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Rehearsals for Twelfth Night have got off to a flying start and I really enjoyed my second rehearsal last night.  There are some superb characters and performances already, so it’s promising to be quite a show.  Twelfth Night is one of the smallest casts I’ve been involved in for a while, so I feel very privileged and proud that I’ve made it onto the team. 

Andrew is shaping up nicely.  I find it intriguing that what I work on at home never seems quite right and yet at rehearsal it’s coming together wonderfully.  I imagine in the company of my fellow actors and under the watchful eye of our director Caz, the often raucous ambience that’s generated must act as a kind of creative gel, filling in the gaps and smoothing over the rough edges of the character.  Ok maybe a bit far with analogy there, but I’m sure you take the point; the positive, jovial atmosphere is definitely assisting the creative process. 

I’m very pleased that this early in rehearsals Sir Andrew is already bedding in because it bodes well for what I might achieve by the time we finally get to perform.

He’s Got Some Aguecheek

Published
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Matt
on 13th Oct '08
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I’ve successfully auditioned for a role in the next Derby Shakespeare Theatre Company production.  I’ll be playing Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night .  I’m ludicrously happy about this arrangement and it’s going to be very silly.

You can get more details on the Derby Shakespeare Theatre Company website.

Minackered

Published
by
Matt
on 3rd Oct '08
in Stage
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The Minack Theatre, Porthcurno

The Minack Theatre, Porthcurno: Henry's home for a week.

The Minack Theatre is hacked spectacularly into the cliffs of Porthcurno bay a stone’s throw from Land’s End. What struck me about the theatre was the sense of tranquillity you experience as you wander around its nooks and crannies. I say wander, hike may be more appropriate and it’s probably far less elegant than that. More often than not I found myself gasping for breath and rubbing my splitting calves. Get-in was a new kind of hell. At the time I thought nothing of bounding up and down the steps carrying props, costumes and other assorted acting paraphernalia. “How fit as a fiddle am I?” I convinced myself, but waking the next morning my legs were barely functional. This, compounded with the resulting maelstrom in my head from the previous night’s revelries, made for an interesting day running the technical and dress rehearsals.

Backstage at the Minack the horizon feels like it envelops you. “Where else can you go out of the stage door for a cigarette and get a view like this?” said John, our production’s Warwick. Stage right exits and entrances are not a problem, but in order to make your entrances upstage and stage left you have to take a cliff side path. This runs parallel to the back of the stage, with the stage itself being on one side and a vertical drop onto the rocks and crashing spray on the other. Apparently at one time there was no railing and many a promising thesp was lost to the hungry ocean below. Maybe.

Pages: 1 2 3

Backstage at Henry V

Published
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Matt
on 21st Aug '08
in Stage
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In the early hours of Saturday morning I will be heading down to Cornwall to perform in Henry V at the Minack Theatre.  I’m really looking forward to it and weather permitting it will be fantastic.  I’ll blog about it when I get back, but in the meantime click on the image to see backstage photos from the shows at Derby Grammar School.

Fluellen - Angry about leeks or something

Derby Shakespeare Theatre Company frequently hire costumes from the Royal Shakespeare Company.  More often than not there are labels inside and you can find out the production, actor and role the costume was used for previously.  I was particularly excited to find out that my Montjoy costume belonged to Jonathan Slinger’s Richard II in the RSC’s recent histories cycle.  If you click the link it’s the one he’s wearing in the photo, minus the jerkin.

If that wasn’t impressive enough our Fluellen Mat’s suit of armour belonged to Brian Blessed in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Tickets for Henry V are available from the Minack Theatre website.

Update: Henry V has been and gone, I hope you enjoyed the show.

The Pleasant Prints

Published
by
Matt
on 19th Aug '08
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Despite his best attempt to disguise it as a weather report, Andy Potter has given Henry V a lovely review in the Derby Evening Telegraph:

Shakespeare in the open air and a British summer - the recipe for a fine and relaxing night out. The British weather does its best to compound that idea, ensuring that in the lead-up to this latest production by the Derby Shakespeare Theatre company of Henry V, everyone was watching the skies, hoping that the battlefields of France wouldn’t become a sodden quagmire.

As it happened, we happy few, armed with umbrellas and warming refreshments, witnessed yet another excellent telling of the Bard’s work.

Chris Scott has to carry the full weight of this production on his shoulders as the King intending to fight for the lands of France. He has to be astute, grand, personable and a man whom we believe people would fight for.

Scott pulls this off with ease, cutting a swathe through the performance area at Derby Grammer School. So immersed is he in the character he also sports a rather serious haircut to add to the illusion.

Under long-term Derby Shakespeare member Ian Arnot’s direction, the introduction of the warring sides is handled with simple isolation. Scott aside, Helena Franklin as Princess Katherine enchants with her learning of English, and is coyly believable in the protracted finale.

The production is punctuated with fine performances, Matthew Shepherd, Joe O’Brien, Michael Gaunt, Eddy Chambers and Jack Bamford are just some of the people who provide them and when this production heads to the Minack Theatre in Cornwall at the end of the month it will be a fine advertisement for the talent we have in Derby.

Cry God for Harry! England and St George and look forward to another hundred years of Shakespeare in the City, with the sun shining and not an umbrella in sight!

(Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)

A Little Touch of Harry

Published
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Matt
on 11th Aug '08
in Stage
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Henry at the gates of Harfleur as Exeter looks on.

Harry rallys his troops before Harfleur as Exeter looks on.

I took some photos of Henry V rehearsals yesterday afternoon; click the image to check them out. As you can see, rehearsals have moved to the actual performance space at the grammar school and I’m beginning to get used to the size difference between Shakespeare House and the comparative larger school field. Watching offstage I get a sense that the show is really starting to galvanise.

Onstage our entrances and exits are quite tricky because, being an outdoor production, the wings can be observed from the audience. I can be seen before I make my entrance, so it’s a balancing act because I need to appear in character should the audience look over and yet not be too busy that I pose a distraction to the audience or indeed miss my cues. Another issue is hearing cue lines, yesterday was particularly windy and at times it was a struggle for me to hear cue lines to make my entrances. Barring these difficulties it can be particularly exhilarating to perform an elaborate entrance and time it in such a way that my lines are delivered perfectly on cue. Brilliant!

For more information about Henry V and booking tickets visit the Derby Shakespeare Theatre Company website.

Update: Henry V has been and gone, I hope you enjoyed the show.

Once More Unto The Breeches

Published
by
Matt
on 7th Aug '08
in Stage
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I had a terrific time at Henry V rehearsals last night. Andy our soundman made his first appearance and this meant much topping and tailing of scenes in order that he could work out the cues for sound effects. I spent most of my time standing around chatting or gabbling my lines when required in order to save time. It’s amazing how the rhythm of Shakespeare’s verse can allow you to deliver your lines at pace and how trickier it is to accomplish the same with prose. When speaking prose you have to stick to the cadences in order to maintain speed whereas with verse speaking once you lock into the iambic rhythm you can just whizz along.

Despite being in several of Shakespeare’s plays Henry V is the first I have done in traditional costume and it was the arrival of the costumes from Stratford that really made the rehearsal for me. AMAZING! I’ve been in a few productions, all with terrific outfits, but these are in a different league. Hanging banner-like from the greenroom walls were polythene bags containing the type of military wear that you would have expected to see running around the fields of Agincourt 600 years ago. The room was a melee of brigandines and tabards displaying the Lancastrian coat of arms, barbute helmets, plate armor, gauntlets, hauberks of chainmail and chausses for the legs. Apparently there is more coming from London. It’s all very exciting.

For more information about Henry V and booking tickets visit the Derby Shakespeare Theatre Company website.

Update: Henry V has been and gone, I hope you enjoyed the show.

Who’s Hamlet? David Tennant’s Hamlet

Published
by
Matt
on 29th Jul '08
in Review
. 1 Comment

Director: Gregory Doran
Cast: Oliver Ford Davis, Penny Downie, Mariah Gale, Patrick Stewart and David Tennant
Company: Royal Shakespeare Company
Theatre: The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

Whilst the RSC’s Hamlet doesn’t offer anything particular new, what it does offer is an emphasis on the humanity of the play. Tennant is a perfect Hamlet, but at 37 is perhaps more OU than a Wittenberg undergraduate. However, as demonstrated regularly in Doctor Who, he has a youthful spirit and is therefore capable of capturing the duality of Hamlet; both his playful madness and introspective philosophising. Crouched at the back of the stage facing away from the audience, Hamlet’s first monologue is delivered beautifully amidst squeaking outbursts of grief. His relationship with Horatio is very convincing and Peter de Jersey’s terrific reactions to Hamlet’s subtle mockery of the other characters serves to solidify the friendship between them.

Oliver Ford Davis delivers a show stealing performance, deftly handling the humour of Polonius by inexorably churning out the character’s idiosyncratic observations. He often, very humorously, grinds to a halt during his more introspective moments and other characters find this necessitates a quick reboot. His scene with Ophelia and Laertes was particularly memorable. Meanwhile, Patrick Stewart understates Claudius and as a result I didn’t feel the sense of a kingly authority over the proceedings. However, rather more intriguingly, I perceived a sense of menace bubbling underneath, which culminated in a final sinister shrug of the shoulders before necking the contents of the poisoned chalice. How Stewart retains such subtly in his performance whilst projecting enough of it to communicate with a whole auditorium is a skill that’s beyond me. Finally, the ensemble, seen most recently in Doran’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is yet again terrific, delivering some unforgettable supporting performances including a fantastically suggestive dumb show.

This Hamlet is by no means a groundbreaking production, but clearly that wasn’t the intention. What Doran has very successfully achieved is a great Hamlet with a focus on the very human responses each character has to one another and the events that shape the play.

Hamlet can be seen at The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon until the 15th November 2008 before transferring (from the 3rd December until the 10th January) to the Novello Theatre, London. Tickets for the Stratford shows are completely sold out so either try for returns or expect to pay in excess of £250 for a pair on eBay. Tickets for the London run go on sale on the 12th September. For more information about Hamlet and other productions visit the Royal Shakespeare Company or Novello Theatre websites.

Update: On the BBC’s website there is an overview of the critical response to the ‘Doctor Who Hamlet’ accompanied by their own review of Hamlet and you can see a selection of photos from David Tennant’s performance as Hamlet on the Guardian’s website.

Henry V at Derby Grammar School

Published
by
Matt
on 15th Jul '08
in Stage
. 0 Comments
Henry V poster with, like, two crowns being impaled on a sword.

Henry V poster with, like, two crowns being impaled by a sword.

On the 16th and 17th of August I will be appearing as Montjoy in Henry V. It’s a really cracking part and I’m enjoying the character development as his story weaves its way through Shakespeare’s take on the Homeric epic. The production will take place in the grounds of Derby Grammar School before we travel on to The Minack Theatre in Cornwall the following week.

Since it’s an outdoor production it will be a good idea if you bring your own chairs to the show, unless you’re happy to sit on bales of hay. Bring your own plonk and a picnic too. Let’s pray for kind weather!

Tickets cost six pounds for adults and a fiver for concessions.  All seating is unreserved. For more information about ticket bookings visit the Derby Shakespeare Theatre Company website. I hope you enjoy the show.

Update: Henry V has been and gone, I hope you enjoyed the show.