Arden of Faversham, at the Rose Theatre June 14, 2010
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , add a commentIs this a tragedy, comedy, tragical-comical or comical-tragical? The unknown author, who probably wasn’t William Shakespeare but may have been Thomas Kyd, seems to have started out writing a comedy, and then changed their mind. It’s like a modern sit-com, mostly light entertainment, but occasional something quite serious happens. In fact, it is a ‘domestic tragedy’ and, like A Yorkshire Tragedy, based on a real incident.
Arden of Faversham (Mark Carlisle) is a respectable chap, nice enough, but unfortunately his wife (Rachel Dale), her lover (Jonathan Woolf) and Green , who’s land he’s appropriated, all want to kill him. They hire a pair of London ruffians to do the deed, but these two turn out to be a right pair of clowns, and repeated fail. It’s almost a sixteenth century keystone caper. In the meantime, the wife and the lover seem to have the sort of relationship that would have Mariella Frostrup telling her to learn some self-respect. He’s clearly after her money, and she’s caught in one of those unpleasant, vaguely masochistic things where she can’t cope with his rejection, but knows its not right.
The Rose in Southwark is another tiny space, a raised platform overlooking the archaeological dig of the original Rose theatre where this play was first performed over 400 years ago. We sit along the wall, with the actors between us and the red lights outlining the area of the original theatre. It’s a small audience, and a strong bladder is needed for a two hour play with no interval and no loo on the premises, but well worth it.
Perhaps its just as well the theatre isn’t full, as the ruffians give us some excellent clowning, creeping behind the chairs, telling me to ‘sshhh’ while they stake out Arden on his way back from dinner, getting someone in the front row to hold their pistol and at one point, picking up my shoe (sore feet, slipped my shoes off).
The cast is energetic and enthusiastic with good performances from all. Its a rare chance to see a play which was once very popular but now not often performed.
Arden of Faversham runs at the Rose Theatre until 7 July. Tickets £8-10.
Romeo and Juliet at the Leicester Square Theatre June 11, 2010
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , add a commentIn Mussolini’s Italy, the Capulets are blackshirts and the Montagues are Jewish. With very slight changes to the script and an extra prologue to bring the play into 1939, this works well. Capulet (Greg Gee), Paris (Dan Moore) and Tybalt (Martin Dickenson) have a fascist confidence in their own superiority, the right of a renaissance father to dispose of his daughter as he pleases sickeningly apt. Olivia Vinall is a convincing and sensitive Juliet, well and truly the star of the piece.
The tiny space of the basement in the Leicester Square Theatre has no room for a balcony. The audience area, with dining chairs and a bar feels like a thirties cabaret, barely separated from the set. Combined with the music, much of it played live by the actors, the whole space invokes a tense Verona with violence never far away.
This is not the sumptuous, multifaceted Shakespeare you get at the RSC. It’s pared down, with a small cast and smaller budget, getting to the tragedy at the heart of the play and laying it bare. This theatre should be very full.
Romeo and Juliet runs at the Leicester Square Theatre until 11 July and tickets are £15-20.
