Tag Archives: Bristol Old Vic; Harry Mottram; Trevor Fox;
CHILDREN'S THEATRE MAGAZINE: REVIEW: A battle of wills as Isabella battles with the Beast over dinner every Tuesday at 8pm
Beauty – or rather Isabella – is played by Sara Lessore in this production
An assertive and independent minded Beauty and a boorish but ultimately comedic Beast make this version of the French fairy tale into an enjoyable battle of wills.
Alex Byrne's production of the fairy tale with its roots in ancient European folk mythology takes much of its plot from the early versions of the story by 18th century French writers who gathered up orally related sagas and wrote them down for publication. We have the financially ruined rich merchant with his daughters, the Beast who extracts a promise of a bride from the merchant, the red rose, and Beauty's conversion of the Beast to a Prince through true love. And it all begins with the Prince being transformed into the Beast by an ugly Italian witch for failing to allow her in his house. An Italian witch? Well the story was written down by a French citizen.
An ensemble cast of six played all the roles adding hugely to the flow of the drama by playing musical instruments throughout, either in character or as an impromptu orchestra. Staged in the round with only minimal props and scenery the cast are at once story tellers and characters in this fast moving, very funny and creative production. Kasia Zaremba-Byrne's movement direction was critical in utilising the space with the audience on four sides, but it also worked seamlessly with the casts' many entrances and exits – sometimes in a wheel barrow.
In Sara Lessore we had a very assertive Beauty known as Isabella who didn't take any nonsense from her two snooty sisters Anastasia (Elliot Davis) and Latrice (Samantha Sutherland) and was an antidote to the sometimes sugary image of heroines in fairy tales. The sisters' choreographed bitchiness, name calling and mocking Isabella as 'a creep' created constant laughter as both actors revelled in being the spoilt brats.
Ben Tolley's father figure was forever in the shadow of his long dead wife, apologising for everything, never being able to do enough for Latrice and Anastasia but always shifting the burden of family responsibility onto Isabella because she can take it. His was the straightest of straight roles in a play full of larger than life characters and as such Tolley did well as the much put upon 'daddy' – as Anastasi and Latrice patronisingly called him.
The beast played by Martin Bonger came into his own when he laid the table after the interval. His idea of courtship was to have dinner with his imprisoned Beauty every Tuesday at 8pm. Using the table as his stage he morphed Tuesday after Tuesday from an uncouth bully into a lovable wanting-to-please-puppy of a Beast as he finally charmed Isabella in some knockabout theatre ending with the themes that true love conquers all and transformation is always possible in the most intractable of characters.
One of the strengths of the production was the script which on Byrne's admission in the programme notes is a stripped back version based on the French fairy tale. That sharpness helped the story race along with much unspoken text performed through movement, gesture and music. Like many fairy stories Beauty and the Beast is likely to be a collective folk memory that could be traced back to man's origins when belief systems mixed humans and wild animals to create mythological creatures.
With an atmosphere that had overtones of a lost European world of wild beasts, dark forests and forbidding fortresses created by Trui Malten's moody lighting and the ensemble's music, this is a play that kept the children in the audience entranced and adults chuckling throughout. Creative family theatre can be a difficult one to get right with its delicate balance of being accessible to children and yet not patronising to adults and vice versa but this collaboration between Tobacco Factory Theatres, New International Encounter and Cambridge Junction achieves the right mix.
The play continues to January 14, 2018.
For more details and tickets visit https://www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com/
For more Children's Theatre visit https://childrenstheatrereviews.com/
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged alex byrne, beauty and the beast, bristol, Bristol Old Vic; Harry Mottram; Trevor Fox;, cambridge junction, childrens theatre magazine, new international encounter, sara lessore, tobacco factory theatres, www.harrymottram.co.uk on December 6, 2017 by harrymottram.
Bitching, back-biting and a punch-up: the perfect warm-up for the General Election!
The opening and closing sequence from The Absence of War
The Absence of War. Bristol Old Vic.
Is George Jones going to win the election? Can Ed Milliband beat David Cameron in May? Would Trevor Fox manage to remember his lines? David Hare's play inspired by Neil Kinnock's failure to win the 1992 General Election had an extra twist in this performance when Reece Dinsdale who plays the leading role of Labour opposition leader took ill thrusting Trevor Fox into the role at the last minute. You would never have guessed it as his performance was flawless as he paced the stage and poured out his heart during the rigours of campaigning and sounding at times a bit like Terry in a more thoughtful version of The Likely Lads.
In 1992 John Major narrowly held off the challenge of Labour to win a modest Conservative majority. The result was a surprise as the polls predicted a small Labour win and it was the rally held by Neil Kinnock in Sheffield that seemed to some over-triumphant that commenters felt was the turning point. Whether that was the case perhaps we'll never know but it did lead to a lot of soul searching and eventually a Labour Government under Tony Blair.
The Absence of War is a thumping good show. Slick, stylishly directed by Jeremy Herrin, with stunning lighting, sound and film to support a cast on top form. Bitching, back-biting and even fighting, the back room staff of would-be Prime Minister George Jones keep up a ferocious pace of dialogue, argument and angst ridden speeches from the moment Conservative Charles Kendrick (Don Gallagher) goes down the Mall to see the Queen.
The play hinges on Jones' perceived character flaw of not connecting with the public on the big occasions. In private he's witty and passionate, but goes bland and bombs in front of cameras. This weakness leads Jones to clash with his would-be chancellor Malcolm (Gyuri Sarossy) as election day looms in a testosterone fuelled encounter.
The drama is packed with great lines: Malcolm was far too disloyal to be disloyal we are told, election advisor Lindsay is a perfect member of the party as she manages to make four enemies in five minutes, and Labour stands for justice – but no two people can agree on what that means.
Maggie McCarthy as Jones' secretary had some great one-liners and new how to time the jokes, James Harkness as his minder was early 90s man personified, Cyril Nri as an adviser upped the tempo when it was needed and Ameira Darwish as his press officer irritated brilliantly as the sycophantic flunky. Don Gallagher enjoyed himself as the vile Linus Frank and a word for Barry McCarthy who was brilliant as the old Labour front bencher.
It's funny, punchy and comfort theatre for Guardian readers who look back to those far off pre-Blair days with affection when socialism was still used to describe policies and Margaret Thatcher had finally left office. Shouty politics and shouty theatre. The perfect warm-up for this May's election.
The play continues to Saturday
For more details: http://www.bristololdvic.org.uk/
Plus: http://www.harrymottram.co.uk
More theatre in the west at http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Bristol Old Vic; Harry Mottram; Trevor Fox; on March 12, 2015 by harrymottram.