antigone, national theatre

Don’t be fooled by the poster – this does NOT happen!

I think I may have been to opening night of Antigone  on Wednesday (I am not altogether sure) – and that’s something I generally try to avoid, as I always feel that the cast and crew haven’t yet had time to perfect it.

However, I didn’t book the tickets…to be honest, I had absolutely no idea what I was going to see on Wednesday.  A few months ago, my mate asked me “Would you like to see a play with Christopher Ecclestone in it.”  He probably said more than that, but that is as much as I heard.  I really like Christopher Ecclestone – and it was months away, so I just said “Yes please!”

I actually put it in my diary as “Christopher Ecclestone thing @ Almeida”. Yes. That’s how much notice I was taking.

So, it’s pretty fair to say that I had no idea what to expect when I sat down in the Olivier Theatre at the National.

Antigone (actually pronounce ann-tig-oh-knee) is actually a Greek tragedy, written by Sophocles.  The title is the name of the heroine, she is a daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta (you remember them – she was actually his mum! Ewww!).

The play starts following the death of Oedipus, and his two sons have died in combat, one defending Thebes from the other.  Creon (Jocasta’s brother) has become King, and his first ruling is that a proper burial should be given to Eteocles who was defending Thebes but that the body of his brother Polynices should be left out for the scavengers and not receive a proper burial.

Antigone goes against Creon’s orders and tries to give Polynices a proper burial, even though her sister Ismene refuses to help her from fear of reprimand.

THAT basically is what the play is about.  Christopher Ecclestone plays Creon, the King who is trying to assert his power and doesn’t take criticism well – even from his son Haemon, who is actually betrothed to Antigone (confused by all this incestuous activity yet?)

The set was an office – a very old fashioned (70s?) office.  There were three proper glass and wood pannelled offices (the middle being the King’s office, complete with portrait) whilst outside was a jumble of desks, wheelie chairs and other assorted equipment.

Personally, I didn’t really get the set, but my mate said he was cool with it – it was very much ‘the state’.

Unfortunately neither of is were particularly convinced by the acting though.  I am not sure whether it was proving my distrust of opening nights to be right, but the acting felt like…well ‘acting’.  It felt like the main players were saying “Look at me, I am an actor!” – I’m not sure how to describe it, but everything felt rather emotionless – as if they were all going through the motions, a bit like a rehearsal.  An emotionless tragedy isn’t a good thing, right?

And it isn’t as if the content of the play is anything to rely on – I bet if you took out the amount of times people described how Polynices hadn’t had a proper burial, then the whole play would have been reduced to an hour, rather than the one and three quarters (no interval) that it was.

And you could probably have got it down to 50 minutes if you took out all the inter-scene bits of chorus ‘office bustle’.

I might actually have thought that it was good if it had been 50 minutes, although they probably would have had to show a cartoon beforehand to pad it out a bit like the days of Saturday morning matinees at the pictures.

OK…I am being unfair now  it wasn’t bad, but it definitely wasn’t good – whether that’s because the play is a bit skimpy on content, or because of the set, direction or acting, I cannot tell.  But there was certainly no standing ovation.  It was the shortest applause I have been part of at the theatre in the past couple of years…and I have been to see a LOT of plays!

It was an experience, it entertained me enough, Haemon, Ismene and especially the seer were pretty good and we got the seats as part of the National Theatre’s £12 deal, so it didn’t break the bank.

I expect it will get better with more performances.

piccadilly (with igor outkine)

Piccadilly

The monthly silent film showing by Filmphonics at Hackney Attic (the top floor of the fantastic Hackney Picturehouse) was British film Piccadilly from 1929.

You may remember that we went to see The Cabinet of Dr Caligari last month, with live score by Minima.  I had never heard of Piccadilly before, and was looking forward to seeing a late 1920′s London!  This time, the live score was performed by Igor Outkine, a Russian accordianist.

Piccadilly is a slightly odd film really – it follows the story of Valentine Wilmot, owner of the successful Piccadilly club in Piccadilly Circus.  A lot of their success is said to be down to dancers Mabel and Vic.

On the night that we join them, a disgruntled customer causes a disruptive fuss about a dirty plate which sends Wilmot scurrying off to the kitchen and scullery in turn to find out how this happened.  Whilst there, he sees a Chinese dishwasher (Shosho) dancing on the table.  He fires her immediately.

Meanwhile, the disruption to his dance has vexed Vic so much, that he plans to leave Piccadilly for Hollywood, and tries to get Mabel to go with him, declaring his love.  Mabel however is already in love with Wilmot, and tells him no. Vic then goes to quit, but Wilmot fires him first.

The film then follows the story of how Wilmot encourages Shosho to dance at the club, the conditions she enforces and increasing Mabel’s jealousy.

The film includes scandal, racism, dancing and eventually murder.

There are lots of close-up shots of eyebrow-raising (mainly from Valentine), sly looks (mainly from Shosho)  and shock and horror (mainly from Mabel).

The whole film felt quite long, and there were parts that just seemed really random, with long shots of not very much, giving no progression to the story – in fact seeming to get in the way of it at times.  I often found that I was busy giggling at some random thing that someone had done in a rather bizzarre manner.

Igor Outkine played an accordian the like I had never ssen before, and he told us right at the start that he was improvising. His accordian was an electric one (I assume), and sounded of many, many different instruments, from drums to piano to trumpet – which was very effective.

However, I am not sure that Piccadilly is a particularly easy film to improvise a soundtrack to, as it flicks through emotions and moods rather quickly and has a LOT of scene cut-aways (you will see what I mean in the clip below).  It was also almost TWO HOURS long and he played admirably without a single break.  Pretty amazing really.

Anyway – for £20 including a rather bloody good homemade burger, chips and coleslaw and a nice glass of wine / £9 without food & drink (or £18 / £7 for members like me!) it was a really good evening out, and we will probably be going along to the next one.  The Great White Silence on Sunday 24th June.

I will leave you with this. Charles Laughton played ‘the disgruntled diner’ in the film.  And if I hadn’t seen this, I never would have known that Monty Python’s Mr Creosote was actually BASED on someone already dreamed up.  He was, wasn’t he?

the morning after

Last night seems so long ago.
Just a distant memory.
There you were – sitting before me.
So full of promise.
So full of spirit.
A fun time, waiting to be had.
Once I got you home
It took a brief tussle to get your top off.
And then you were open to me.
Giving yourself freely.
Warming me.
Filling my head with thoughts and desires.
But this morning my warm feelings for you have gone.
Replaced with mild regret.
I look down at where you lay
Empty.
Hollow.
Discarded.
And I sneer.
You were by no means my first.
Many have been before you.
I am sure that there will be many more after you.
You will not stand out in my memory.
You are just one of many identical to you.
Last night was your only night.
And I am not altogether sure that you were worth it,
Oh empty vodka bottle.

 

And in other news…I think I may still be a little drunk.

the cabinet of dr caligari (with minima)

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

A couple of weeks ago, me and three friends went along to Hackney Attic (top floor of the wonderful Hackney Picturehouse – where I happened to take The Girl to see the brilliant Avengers Assemble yesterday) to see a one-off showing of 1920 silent film The Cabinet of Dr Caligari.

This featured a live score by 4 man band Minima.

The film itself is often thought of as one of the most influential horror movies.  It is a lesson in German expressionism – the sets are all highly stylized, with a lot of sharp, jagged buildings and furniture, disproportionate sets and backdrops that were painted on canvas.

The actors also often played their roles in a rather odd and jerky manner (think the Smirnoff Judderman advert) and I read that it is believed to have introduced the twist ending in film.

Obviously these days, watching such an old film, a lot of the melodrama and horror and over-acting seems rather amusing in places, but it doesn’t detract from a solid tale, and some truly iconic scenes and memorable moments.

This was completely enhanced by Minima’s score.  i had never heard of Minima before, but I will certainly be looking out for them in the future – they were amazing.  This definitely wasn’t your usual silent film score.  They’re funky, and definitely more of a rock band, but the atmosphere they injected into the film was truly outstanding.

Minima consist of an electric guitar, drums, bass, and the necessary spooky cello – and you wouldn’t believe such a wide-range of moods and sounds could be emitted from such a tiny number of instruments…they were fantastic.

The film for this month is Piccadilly (which I had never heard of, let alone seen!) again at Hackney Attic on the 20th and will have a live score by Igor Outkine on the accordian.  I will probably be going!

I will leave you with a clip.

shivered, southwark playhouse (14 mar)

Shivered

It’s funny, as I said in my post about The Pitchfork Disney, I had never heard of Philip Ridley before, and suddenly I had unknowingly managed to book up to see two of his plays in less than a fortnight!  this time it was to see Ridley’s latest offering -  Shivered at the wonderful Southwark Playhouse.

A young couple are moving into their new home.  Two boys are searching for monsters or aliens. A soldier is being held hostage.  A young family are moving into a new town.  A fat psychic is reliant on her young son.  How do these people inter-connect?  Where does the story begin and end?

The imaginary Essex new-town of Draylingstowe is the setting for the majority of the play – once a place of hope and prosperity it has declined into a misery, bringing down its resisdents with it.  The story revolves around two families and covers twelve years – but NOT necessarily in chronological order.

This play was mesmerising, and really superbly acted – no mean feat considering there was no set at all!  The way that it meandered across the years, slowly changing the audience’s perception of events was extremely clever.

At times the audience were laughing out loud, and at times there was a collective holding of breath – and yet never did I feel that we were being taken on this emotional roller-coaster just for the sake of it.  even the shocking parts didn’t feel that they were purely for shock value – they all added to the evolution of the characters.  And the characters were very rich.

I was especially taken by Joshua Williams as Jack – an energetic, endearing and slightly naive young lad who is a victim of bullying and who can’t believe that anything has actually happened unless he has seen the evidence on YouTube.

I absolutely loved it and even now, a week after I saw it, I am replaying some of the scenes in my head and wondering whether I have just thought of a different angle on something within it.

Shivered is showing until 14th April – if you get a chance to see it, I highly recommend it.

the pitchfork disney, arcola theatre (1 mar)

Cosmo Disney rains money down on Presley

A friend of mine had gone to see this and recommended it to me.  When I clicked on it to see what it was about, the promotional poster featured a picture of Nathan Stewart-Jarrett in an open red-sequinned jacket with no top on.  For those who don’t know, Nathan played Curtis in Misfits - the runner…you know, the dead fit one.  So, I thought “Hell, for £10 a ticket, why not?”

The Pitchfork Disney was written by Philip Ridley (who I am ashamed to say I had never heard of at the time) and was first given its theatre airing in 1991, so this is a really coming-of-age for the play.

Presley & Haley are 28 year old twins, living together in their run-down family home.  Something has happened to their parents, causing their disappearance (did they leave? are they dead?) and the twins live a childish existence, eating little more than chocolate, biscuits and medicine and pass the time telling each other elaborate stories.

Their dull, inane life is suddenly blown-apart with the arrival of flambouyant Cosmo Disney (Stewart-Jarrett) who literally explodes onto the stage (if you consider projectile vomit and explosion!).  Disney embodie everything they are not – he is confident, beautiful, he has presence, a life, and money – oh the money that he has.

All the time that he is in their home, he is talking to Presley, concerned that he is gay and lusting after him, showing a worryingly creepy interest in Haley who is sleeping fitfully throughout the exchange and listening to Presley’s fragmented stories of his past and his dreams.

Eventually they are joined by Disney’s ‘show partner’ – ‘Pitchfork’ is a lumbering henchman dressed in a gimp suit who is supposedly horrifically disfigured.

This was my first visit to the Arcola Theatre, which is in Dalston.  It was a nice venue – intimate, so that you really feel that you’re amongst the action, which is my favourite kind – although can lead to some rather uncomfortable viewing at times.  I do feel that the full price for the tickets (£22) would have been rather expensive for the venue. (Top price is only £18 for later bookings at Southwark Playhouse, and I far prefer the venue).

Overall, I enjoyed the play, although it was rather intense, and I kind of lost the plot towards the end!

Chris New as Presley was fantastic – a mixture of childish, protective and troubled.  He had many monologues, and one in particular must have been about 10-15mins without interruption.  This was the telling of hi nightmare of a serial killer called The Pitchfork Disney that culminated with the destruction of everything in the world as a result of a nuclear war, with just him surviving.  this was absolutely mesmerising – I was spellbound during it and felt an obscure sense of disappointment when it ended.

However, I left with my friends with loads of questions that felt unanswered – what really happened to their parents? did any of it happen? was it a dream? was this the real nightmare brought on because Presley had a sleeping pill?

The surreal scene with Picthfork felt very dream/nightmare-like but then there was another scene after it where Disney conducts some kind of bizarre sexual act on Haley that completely confused me as well – if this was some kind of dream, was it some incestuous wish of Presley’s (hardly surprising considering the exclusivity of their relationship).

Well acted, odd, thought-provoking and at times uncomfortable, I am really glad i saw it but I wouldn’t be telling everyone that this was one that they couldn’t possibly miss!

scarred or just scared?

The Enlightenment Gallery - do you feel enlightened?

Yesterday was a special mum and daughter day for me and The Girl.

We had afternoon tea (to be blogged later) and then went to the British Museum to kill a couple of hours before going to see a show and then out for dinner. not a cheap day out, but we don’t do it that often

As we were walking through the Enlightenment Gallery in the British Museum, she looked at one of the statues and then turned away quickly with a quiet “Ewwwww!!”

Me:  what? Is it cos you can see his willy?
TG: Mu-um!!!
Me: Is it then?
TG:  yes, it’s gross!
Me:  yeah, they are pretty much.
TG:  Do you know what I saw that was REALLY gross?
Me (worried): erm, no – what?
TG:  Well, when we were learning about reproduction, we watched this video and we saw one growing!!  honest mum, it scarred me for life!
Me:  Scarred for life aye? *laughing my head off – quietly of course, this was a museum after all* 
TG: Mum it’s not funny. It was scary.
Me: Yes. You’re right babe, they’re very scary.

She’s right of course – they’re gross and scary, and she should keep away from them til she’s at least 25!

absent friends, harold pinter theatre (8th Feb)

Absent Friends

So, it was a couple of weeks ago that I went with a couple of friends to see Absent Friends.  None of us had been to the Harold Pinter Theatre before, but it was very similar to many of it’s time – it felt just like where I had seen Avenue Q a few years ago (can’t even remember where that was now, but believe it was on St Martin’s Lane!)

I had booked the tickets through Lastminute.com and hadn’t noticed until I got my booking confirmation that it stated that they would TRY to seat a whole party together, but may not be able to. I’m usually very good with these things, and can’t believe I had missed that stipulation! Anyway, we needn’t had worried as we definitely had THE best seats in the house!  Centre/middle in the stalls with about 6ft legroom – no doubt where they would put wheelchair users if there were any!

The last Alan Ayckbourn play I saw was when my friend was in Round and round the garden in Putney. i had really enjoyed that, and this one starred Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd), David Armand (the guy who does the interpretive dance – especially Torn) and Reece Shearsmith (The League of Gentlemen) so it couldn’t really go wrong, could it?

This is a real situational piece – just one setting – the very 70s lounge of Paul & Diana – a married couple whose children were sent away to school, her a housewife, he a businessman, neither of them seemingly happy in their marriage.

Colin, an old estranged friend who had never been married etc, had recently been engaged, although his fiancee had tragically died, and so Diane has decided it would be nice to throw a little tea party for him to try and cheer him up.  Their other long-term friend John and his younger, prettier, rather disinterested gum-chewing wife (Kara Tointon) are there with their baby, and their other friend Marge has had to come alone as her large, hypochondriac husband is (enevitably) unwell.

Before it started, I had read Ayckbourn’s intro in the programme and was surprised that he had actually written this play following an experience in this exact situation.

The stage, the script, the acting were all spot on.  It would have been hard to have found more shades of brown for all the furnishings – took you right back to the 70s!  Parkinson was especially good at the put-upon wife, trying to stand her ground, and her always fantastic comic-timing was apparent all the way through.  Shearsmith also played the awkward, optimistic Colin so endearingly and yet still managing to be rather annoying!

The awkward silences were played to perfection – there were parts during the play that I actually forgot I was watching a play…it was almost like a documentary, so real did the characters feel.  I believed all of them, although Parkinson’s breakdown may have been a little OTT…but then, I guess, that’s what makes a breakdown.

All in all, thoroughly enjoyable – brilliant play! i will definitely go to another Ayckbourn play. Perhaps the other two of The Norman Conquests that I haven’t seen!

the canterbury tales, southwark playhouse

The Canterbury Tales

I went along to see The Canterbury Tales last night with the same friend that I saw The New World Order with on Saturday – and this was the perfect antidote to the grimness of that show.

I have never read or seen The Canterbury Tales, although I was kind of familiar with the concept and a couple of the tales.  I had also never been to Southwark Playhouse before, which was rather remiss of me, but i happen to be going again tomorrow to see Howl’s Moving Castle – which should be fab!

The Canterbury Tales was actually perfect for the festive season!  The space was set up to resemble an old English tavern, and we were encouraged to buy drinks at the bar, served in proper pewter tankards – ale, water or (in our case) mulled wine.  Introductions were made by Chaucer’s innkeeper, Harry Bailey, who started proceedings worryingly in proper old English.  I could see everyone looking at each other as the words washed over them, with no understanding following.  i didn’t dare look at my mate as it had been my choice to go and I thought he would never forgive me.  However, he soon switched to ‘modern’ English (apart from to introduce each tale – which became extremely hypnotic and fitting) , and introduced the troupe, who were all fantastic.

The tales (and the players) were loud, bawdy, funny and brilliantly acted out.  And the plays were interspersed with old English folk songs, accompanied by instruments well-played by the troupe (violin, cello, lute, guitar, cymbals etc) – some of them slightly lewd (like The Cuckoo’s Nest).  We were treated to tales of love triangles, demons, vanity, greed and chickens!  We witnessed knight’s fighting (all be it with violin bows), poisoning, naked arses (male AND female) and a good dose of raunch!

It was an absolutely brilliant evening – hugely enjoyable, and totally feel good!

the new world order, shoreditch town hall

The New World Order

Shoreditch Town Hall doesn’t seem the obvious place to go to see a play (beautiful as it is) – much less a mash-up of five of Harold Pinter’s political sketches…but the production is very site-specific and therefore works in a rather disturbing way.

I have to admit, I know OF Pinter, but don’t think I have ever actually seen a Pinter play as I didn’t believe they would be very accessible.  I am always happy to have my mind changed though – and this was a perfect opportunity.

Hydrocracker present this political Pinter mash-up as a promenade production.  The short plays / sketches portrayed are:  One for the Road, The New World Order, Precisely, Mountain Language and Press Conference.

When we went into the building, black uniformed, dark-glasses wearing, weapon and radio wielding ‘security guards’ checked us out, processed us and handed us security passes (known as our ‘papers’ throughout this immersive experience).

We were then herded into a gorgeous bright, elegant room by spin doctors (together with ‘members of the press’) for a press conference with the newly appointed Minister for Cultural Integrity.  all seemed quite jolly until at least, ooo, 5 minutes in where the enigmatic but rather scary minister (superbly played by Hugh Ross) informed us that it was perfectly normal in the cleansing of society for the children of difficult families to be killed and for women to be raped by the police / military. So – not quite a sbright and shiny as we first expected.

The next scene (One for the Road) was acted out in a rather claustraphobic but opulent office, where the Minister interrogates an intellectual prisoner who has obviously been beaten up by the guards.  we were actually sitting at the table, and there were parts where I simply wasn’t sure where to look – and yet it all worked to make the situation feel more ‘real’.

Following this, the mood darkened, and we were separated from the people that we had arrived we (passes cunningly given out to pairs with A or B on them on arrival!) and taken down into the dark, threatening bowels of the building – where random shouts and sound effects and hammering could be heard echoing around.  I was actually peeled off by one ‘security guard’ at one point with just 2 other people and a black clad ‘Moutain Woman’ actress and taken to a far-flung corner where she wouldn’t be quiet and was eventually dragged off screaming.

All spooky stuff.

We see the prisoner from before (movingly played by Richard Hahlo) meeting with his mother, and then again in a very disturbing scene where he is about to be tortured – this scene is fantastically acted out by the two prison guards.  Everything is worryingly believable!

We see another scene / play acted out by the Minister and the prisoner’s wife, and then there is a final scene before we are thrown out of the building – no opportunity to applaud the cast, and without any knowledge of where we are (a little like when we saw Black Diamond Part 2).

Luckily, once we found our bearings, we found a lovely little Vietnamese restaurant called Huong Cafe and had a lovely meal before heading home.

The play was superb and the acting amazing – the five pieces had been stitched together believably and they really made use of the space within the building.  I love immersive theatre, and this really worked as an experience. I would thoroughly recommend it!