alinewaites

GREEK
MUSIC BY MARK-ANTONY TURNAGE
Libretto by STEVEN BERKOFF from his stage play
Adapted by Mark Antony Turnage and Jonathan Moore
At the Arcola – in the Grimeborn Opera season.
They warned me that there were no tunes, in case one goes to an opera expecting beautiful soaring arias. There is a large orchestra – about thirteen instrumentalists – which acts as a Greek chorus commenting on the action, heavy on rhythm as well as handling sound effects.
Berkoff has brought Oedipus up to date, making him a cockney, Eddy, born ‘not far from the Angel’ as he says in his first speech, but fed up of the pub led life, preferring to drink in wine bars.. . The director must have been so happy to have rising star, Edmund Danon to play Eddy because his posture and movement is almost balletic and as Jonathan Moore has made practically every scene end in freeze frame, the effect is beautiful, like something out of the National Gallery
But all four actors are astounding. Richard Morrison – also a good mime artist and a very experienced opera performer, is the cockney Dad, Philippa Boyce cosy as the Mum and weirdly prophetic waving her beautiful hands about as the soothsayer and Laura Woods lovely mezzo soprano, who is gorgeous and very dignified even during the sex scenes with Eddy. The two ladies also play a couple of weird sisters as The Sphinx, blending their voices in harmony and rhythm.
There is a lot of laugh aloud comedy, most especially when the cockney Mum and Dad come to visit Eddy and his posh wife. The wife does her best to love the in laws, but she obviously doesn’t understand a word they are saying. And the old couple are subservient, impressed by the way their boy has improved since he left home.
The lines are sometimes spoken, sometimes sung in Berkoff’s stylish work and in the same way, the orchestra, drawn from the Kantanti ensemble talk to us and make appropriate noises. The orchestra remain as the decorative set at the back of the stage – loved the Harp. Baska Wesolowska the designer has allowed the setting to speak for itself. There are just tracer lights which change colour depending on where the action is taking place and there is some expert lighting by Matt Leventhall. The astonishing thing about this production is that every member of it seems to be completely integrated in the work. There is artistic endeavour of all kinds here, music, ballet, comedy, poetry, effects all working towards the well-known tragic ending.
It is easy to shed tears at the end, not at the tragedy but with simple pride at the conductor Tim Anderson, the musicians the actors, all the people who have made this thing happen with so much creative expertise.
An opera with no popular tunes? This is something else.

LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR
By Gaetano Donizetti
Libretto by Salvadore Cammarano
Based on the Walter Scott novel The Bride of Lammermoor
At the Arcola Theatre
On a rainy Thursday night what could be lovelier than a typical melodramatic opera by Donizetti
It is part of the Arcola Grimebourne Opera season which specialises in making opera relevant for today.
In this case, it seems to be just a matter of dressing people in normal clothes and doing the opera as written. It is of course in Italian but one soon forgets this as there are English subtitles coming up from time to time on a screen above the piano.
It is a little odd to see the opera with only a pianist -Ben Woodward with Michael Thrift conducting beside him throughout.. Odd it may be , but it doesn’t interfere with the enjoyment of the action.
It is set in Scotland, because Donizetti was fascinated by the wars of the clans in Walter Scott’s story. The Bride of ‘Lammermoor’ and clan wars are at the bottom of the plot.
It’s a well-known story of greed, revenge and frustrated love. In this version, the girl, Lucia Ashton, is romantically in love with Edgardo Ravenswood, a man whose family is at war with hers. Her brother Enrico wants her to marry Arturo a rich man who can get him out of financial difficulties.
The two lovers are vocally beautifully matched in their love scenes. Alberto Sousa as Edgardo wears casual clothes, where Enrico and his religious advisor Raimondo wear elegant suits in order to easily distinguish the factors and making it obvious that Edgardo is an unwanted stranger in these parts.
Nicola Said as Lucia is especially strong in her final mad scene in which she completely dominates the room surrounded by the rest of the cast and the chorus who feel unable to interrupt her enormously powerful voice. This is a brilliant characterisation from a pretty girl with a voice to die for.
Another voice to die for is the operatic base of the remarkably tall and handsome Simon Grange as Raimondo, the priestly advisor to Enrico. The voice is remarkable in his dramatic scenes – it is his job to tell everybody what is happening so he is an ever present character.
Ashley Mercer plays the wicked brother Enrico who cheats her and forces her into an unhappy marriage. He is well cast and gives the impression of his panicky state of mind and desire to save his own skin. He is helped in his nefarious plans by Normanno played by James Bowers. Alisa, Lucia’s friend and confidante is played by the mezzo soprano Rebekah Jones.
It is a satisfying production and one must be grateful to Ben Woodward of the Fulham Opera for the terrific chorus work and to the fabulous Sarah Hutchinson for directing this production.
di lammermoor

BRING IT ON ****
Book by Jeff Whitty
Music and lyrics by Tom Kitt ,Lin-Manuel Miranda and Amanda Green
AT SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE

Energy and fun abound in this young peoples’ show. Cheer leaders at two very different schools. One is Truman’s, full of WASP style pupils all dressed in pink. The other is the rough and ready multiracial, multi cultural, multi everything Jackson High – mostly dressed in assorted colours.
The British Theatre Academy has taken on the Southwark Playhouse, both the large theatre and the little one for the whole of August to present two shows.
One has already been dealt with here – the terrific drama ‘Goodnight Mr Tom’ .which is on at the Little Theatre . This was the David Wood adaptation of Michelle Magorian’s children’s book which I have since read and enjoyed. This production was stunning with all the roles played by people under 23 and totally convincing.
Bring it On is something quite different. It is a show for the young, performed by the young. At Truman High School, they have a high standard in their cheer leading squad and their Captain is a talented and charismatic girl called Campbell (Robyn McIntyre). She has just been appointed Captain for their entry into the National Championships when she gets the news that she has been transferred to Jackson High , a tough school with low standing. Her friend Bridget, the squad’s mascot – usually dressed as a parrot – joins her. Bridget is not a member of The Squad. She is small and dumpy and basically a comic figure with some really clever comedy work and great singing from Kristine Kruse. ‘It ain’t No Thing’ which she sings with Matthew Brazier as La Cienega.
The play deals with their relationships with boyfriends and in Campbell’s case her growing friendship with Danielle, leader of the Jacksons dance crew, played by the very powerful Chisara Agor
However the plot is slight as it is the dance that runs this show. The differences in the choreography. The cute Cheer leading dancing of the Truman’s – all in pink and silver dresses and the free style costumes and athletic hip hop style of the Jacksons. Ewan Jones not only directs but choreographs and does wonders in the smallish space available at Southwark.
Particular credit to all the cast who are superlative, in their vigour and dynamism, and a special mention to Isabella Poppa who plays Skylar, a really bitchy member of the Truman Squad and gets all the put down lines.
The music and lyrics are by Tom Kitt along with the musical man of the moment Lion-Manuel Miranda composer of the current hit Hamilton and there are some great numbers. ‘Do your own Thing’ and probably the most resonant ‘The Killer Instinct’ sung by Eva the new leader of the Squad..
The bright, busy setting is by Tom Paris and Ben Jacobs provides some atmospheric lighting.
Long live the British Theatre Academy – a magnificent Institution that can provide such exciting talent in these two shows at Southwark.

RIOT ACT *****
BY Alexis Gregory
At the Kings Head

A NEED TO BE HEARD. Here is a verbatim theatre piece on gay liberation and queer history with a stunning and deeply emotional performance by the author.
Alexis interviewed three gay men, and he took note of their stories word for word and their experiences. Michael Anthony Nozzi – a man who at the age of seventeen had witnessed the Stonewall riots in New York; Lavinia Co-op an East End Drag Queen and a fifty year old gay man Paul Burston who is a leading activist for the establishment of Pride and a continuing battle with AIDS and HIV.
Alexis has taken from the three guys not only their words in their exactitude but also their voices their gestures and mannerisms and brought the men to life. He inhabits these men, telling their stories exactly as they were told to him.
The most symbolic representation of LGBT is Pride which marks the anniversary of The Stonewall Riot in 1969 . Michael who speaks in a husky American voice, knew that he only felt comfortable in New York in Stonewall, the single gay bar in town in 1969. Here there were mainly frightened middle aged and older men wo were constantly afraid of the constant police raids who arrived with heavy truncheons. He remembers there was a Judy Garland film on. Suddenly during the police raid, the Gays started fighting back. Gay Hell’s Angels swept in and war broke out. The police had banned ambulances and taxis to take the wounded to hospital so it was young men like Michael who ran to get water to bathe the wounds.
Donning a pair of killer heels, Alexis next becomes the persona of Lavinia – an East End drag queen – this section is both comic and poignant. She loves dressing up on stage but is afraid to wear make up or ‘transvestite’ clothing in the streets of Notting Hill because of possible prison sentences and hostility from the community.
Paul Burston, the activist sums up the story. He is so happy to have a wedding photograph of himself and his husband but he warns that the current freedom could easily turn back the other way, one has to be vigilant not to lose what has been gained. It is important that the fight carries on.

This is a deeply profound production, deftly directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair.

Aline Waites

GOODNIGHT MISTER TOM ****
By David Wood
Adapted from the book by Michelle Magorian
At the Southwark Playhouse

This play begins with a crowd of children singing ‘Wish me Luck as you wave me goodbye’ It is 1939 and London children are being evacuated to the country to escape the war. The singing of the children immediately creates an atmosphere, especially as they have their gas mask boxes and labels around their necks. Some of them are afraid, some excited, none are as sad as the parents who are saying goodbye to their children for who knows how long.
Some of these children were unfortunate, being turned into slaves by the people who were meant to nurture them. They were made to do housework and work in the fields and were not treated as part of the families.
David Wood’s quite brilliant play tells the story another way round. Tom Oakley is a crusty old widower who lost both his wife and his newly born child many years ago and has become a recluse. He has, billeted on him a little boy .William, who has been abused by his bible thumping mother. Tom finds this out by seeing the bruises on the boy as he gets dressed for bed and from at the contents of the boys luggage which contain a bible and a cruel belt obviously used for beating him.
We see the boy gradually warming to the country people and it is devastating for him when his mother sends for him to come back to London
The story is blisteringly honest and we are torn apart by what is done to the boy in the name of religion. This is great drama and it is beautifully performed.
What is totally surprising is that it is being acted out by children of the British Theatre Academy. They are well known for producing light hearted musicals, but this is real stuff and the leading characters seize their roles with both hands and are utterly convincing.
The Press night performance has James Sampson as the grumpy but kind recluse Tom Oakley and an enormously appealing Evan Huntley-Robertson as the little boy William The leading roles are shared among the children with a different cast each night. There are actually four Williams in the company, but having seen this one it is hard to see how it could be performed better. The other starring role is that of Zack – a comedy characterisation by Felix Hepburn who plays a boy whose parents are actors and he bounces around quoting lines from Shakespeare whenever appropriate. Again, during the run he is one of four actors playing the role.
It plays at the Southwark Playhouse until 25th August and is directed by Jo Kirkland for the British Theatre Academy – a remarkable organisation which gives children the opportunity to work in a professional environment with theatre professionals in every aspect of the business.

SINATRA RAW *****
BY RICHARD SHELTON
PREVIEW AT THE HOSPITAL CLUB
To be seen at Frankenstein’s during the Edinburgh Festival
Sinatra was one of the most popular singers in living memory equalling the popularity of the Beatles and Elvis Presley. He sold more than a hundred and fifty million records in his lifetime.
Richard Shelton has the charm, the voice and the general audience welcoming persona of Sinatra. He also has the knowledge to write this engrossing story of the man’s life. A story that goes underneath the charm and shows the inner personality of an intriguing character. Among many anecdotes, Shelton tells us about how the Rat Pack started with a jokey altercation between him and Dean Martin
He begins with one of his earliest songs ‘ All or Nothing at all’ as he flirts with members of the audience. We are supposed to be at Palm Springs at his final show. His goodbye show. He says ‘1971 doesn’t agree with me. Songs about Lucy and diamonds in the sky? .What does it mean?’
His goodbye didn’t last long , He was back in harness after a couple of years. His biggest success was ‘New York New York in 1980. His voice may have deteriorated slightly but it was his commitment to words and music and his complete involvement in the mood of the songs that the audience loved
This was particularly true of love songs which became his staple diet after his break up with Ava Gardner. Richard shows this deep feeling in songs like ‘I’ve got you Under my skin’ and ‘I’m a fool to want you’ His role of the suffering man was incredibly moving and tears were imminent.
His marriage to Ava caused Sinatra a financial breakdown. But his resurrection came with the film ‘From Here to Eternity’ which won him an Academy Award.
It is probably the political part of the show that is the most memorable. His association with the Sicilian Mafia was inevitable as they mostly owned the venues in which he worked, but it was because of this that he was investigated by the FBI. Although he worked to get Jack Kennedy elected, he was snubbed by the Kennedys’ because of his mafia connections. They preferred the company of Bing Crosby – a Republican. His hatred of the Kennedy’s extended to his ex-friend and Rat Pack member, Peter Lawford who was married to one of the Kennedys.
A fiery personality, he had altercations with The Press, with Tommy Dorsey and many others. And once he was hurt, he never forgave. He was able to overcome his hurt, but his anger against those who upset him never subsided.
Nevertheless ‘That’s Life’ He sings and asks for suggestions from the audience.
Inevitably they are ‘Set Em Up Joe’, ‘The Lady is a Tramp’ and of course, what has become his signature song.

‘I DID IT MY WAY’

JAMES DEAN IS DEAD!LONG LIVE JAMES DEAN
By Jackie Skarvellis
At the Kings Head

And Death shall have no Dominion – said Dylan Thomas.
It seems Jackie Skarvellis, who died last year feels the same way
In her play James Dean has just crashed his car and he is fatally injured. He rises from his death to speak to us about his life. . He begins with a joke.
‘Spyder Porsche, my Baby. A car to die for’
Here is a young man who is speaking from the heart. Like a confession, he doesn’t care what he says. He knows that Hollywood is all full of sex hungry people. He has sexual hunger of his own that is enough to allow him to act out his dream. He can give people what they want. His own sexuality was ambivalent and he is prepared to put up with everything, even torture, in order to get on to the ladder of movie fame. He tells of his nickname The Human Ashtray because he is covered in cigarette burns where predators have put out their cigarettes on his naked body.
Eventually he gets his chance and he becomes a cultural image of teenage disillusionment in first of all East of Eden and then Rebel Without A Cause His final film was ‘Giant’ with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. East of Eden was the only one that was released when he was alive, and he won two posthumous Academy Award nominations.
Kit Edwards is great casting as Dean.. The words that come out of his mouth seem to be his own, not something he has had to learn. He looks the part – wearing the 101s, the white t shirt, the bomber jacket. He is a little frightening sometimes, sometimes funny and often heart breaking. His romantic side is expressed when he sings ‘The Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ ..Dean had not too serious dreams of marriage to Pier Angeli but was put off at the idea of himself as a paunchy father playing with his kids. But it still hurt when Pier suddenly got married to Vic Damone.
Dean was a pin up boy for both sexes because of his androgynous appeal. Even Jackie Skarvellis, the writer of this passionate monologue must have admired him. She was never happy with straight guys and much of her knowledge about him must have come from her gay friends.
This play is also a reminder that the predators of Hollywood were not only the abusers of women, but would show favouritism to any young person who would not reject their sexual advances.
The show, directed by Peter Darney, will come back to the Kings Head at the end of August.

THE SIMON AND GARFUNKEL STORY
At the Lyric Theatre Shaftesbury Avenue
Giving the cast of Thriller a break is a special presentation of the Simon and Garfunkel story.
It concerns two young boys from Queens New York who met during a school production of “Alice in Wonderland” with Paul Simon as The white Rabbit and Art Garfunkel as the Cheshire Cat. It is not surprising then that the first name for their musical duo was Tom and Jerry. They immediately became great buddies because of their similar taste in music and they started writing and singing songs. They actually had a hit record with a style that depended heavily on their idols, the Everley Brothers.
Tom and Jerry did not get much further in the business, but in their real names Simon and Garfunkel they had a hit with their very beautiful song ‘The Sound of Silence’ The tune and the exquisite harmonies caught the imagination of the public and from then on they became household names.
In this production the story is told in between songs by a couple of young men Philip Murray Watson as Simon and Charles Blyth as Garfunkel, who resemble them very closely, both in appearance and in the singing of the songs which are performed with total respect and with faultless harmonies
They tell of Paul’s trip to England where he became fascinated by folk music and this resulted in one of their greatest hits ‘Scarborough Fair’
The songs are performed with occasional back up from Leon Carnfield on Bass, Adam Smith on Electric Guitar and keyboards and Mat Swales on Drums.
The setting consists of one big screen which shows news items of the time when the boys were in prominence. There is much coverage of Martin Luther King and the Vietnam war.
However the big screen really comes into its own after the interval when the music is augmented with a brass playing trio and a full orchestral version of ‘Mrs Robinson’ with scenes from The Graduate with Dustin Hoffman and Ann Bancroft. This was a really big hit for the guys and also probably the biggest hit in this show.
The fans of Simon and Garfunkel are obviously enraptured with this production. There are two companies – two Simons and two Garfunkels who will share the tour before it opens in London in November.
THE WRITER AND DIRECTOR IS DEAN ELLIOTT

SISTER MARY’S PLAYTIME AT TEATIME.

Hey natives and visitors to High Dunedin.
If you fancy going bonkers in the afternoon in Edinburgh now’s your chance
Tim McArthur is presenting his sister the nun. Sister Mary McArthur at Frankenstein’s from August 3rd to 26th at 5 pm (no perfs Weds 8 and 15)
This is no joke – you have to be ready for rollicking to have enormous fun – Or, you could turn bonkers as soon as she orders you to stand for prayers.
Yes, you are not there to enjoy yourselves you are there to work and work you will
You have to sing, do gestures – not all of them rude – even pray with the good lady in order to receive her much sought after blessing..
As a special treat, She may have done some baking before her concert and will hand round her very special flapjacks.
With luck you will get the opportunity to sing ‘A Spoonful of sugar’ ‘Doh a deer’ and other choice selections from the repertoire of Julie Andrews. The sister has a unique way of managing chitti chitti which is a joy to all especially her bang bangs.
She is a rather talented lady and can sing very sweetly sometimes although her serious manner doesn’t last very long..
One of her guests the other night was Paddy O’Connell, the serious TV presenter and he was amazed to be in a show with a tap dancing nun, but he surrendered to the atmosphere of idiocy and was utterly charming. The good sister promises us a guest artist at every performance, it could be Elaine Page or it could be you, so be prepared.
I have been seeing Sister Mary’s shows for many years now.
Sometimes described as ‘More painful than childbirth’ and ‘the coolest nun since Whoopee Goldberg’
They are always good natured and refreshing.
A good teatime treat.