A Midsummer Night's Dream

Set in the beautiful Lincoln Lawns, outdoor Shakespeare is bound to be a treat. Presenting A Midsummer Night's Dream in such stunning a setting at sunset is a recipe for true magic. 

The setting of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Photo taken Jamie Marcus Productions' Facebook page: from https://www.facebook.com/jamiemarcusproductions/photos  

The cast were terrific, each perfectly chosen for their role and the chemistry between them was spot on as they bounced off each other's energy. The charming Oberon commanded the stage whenever he appeared, giving a real air of authority to the role. He instructed Puck, who was mischievous and animated yet clearly devoted to his Fairy King. Titania brought sass to the role - she was Queen of the fairies and she knew it. Bottom is perhaps the most fun character to play but the most difficult to pull off, yet this Bottom was as hilarious as could be while still evoking feelings of sympathy. The mechanicals stepped up to match him with their own colourful personalities and the production of Pyramus and Thisbe left audience members in fits of laughter. The four lovers had fantastic timing and physical theatre skills, bringing out the comedy and emotion in Shakespeare's lines while following the fast pace that their scenes require.

It was brilliant to see the stage from Wind in the Willows being adapted for this play. The riverbank of the daytime was transformed into a magical woodland with very little effort thanks to the surrounding trees and setting sun. The costumes added to this: although vibrant and colourful, the forest tones of the fairies' outfits contributed to the overall atmosphere and made it feel like you were watching woodland nymphs go about their nightly mischief. 

It is impossible for me to write about a Shakespeare production without a word about that particular production's relevance. A Midsummer Night's Dream is a favourite among directors, performers and audiences as it is rich with possibilities - the magical element makes it feel like anything is possible. This director chose to keep casting straightforward, only swapping genders for characters such as Puck and the mechanicals where it doesn't really matter, and the text itself was uncut and unchanged. This gave the production a traditional feel, keeping things as per the text without any distracting gimmicks. In today's times, bringing this play back to basics felt poignant and desperately needed: right now we want familiarity and security, and something to simply make us laugh without having to think too hard about it. 

This play was a celebration of theatre, laughter, and being together. A real treat and a true triumph, and everyone involved should be incredibly proud.

Wind in the Willows

Finally, we are able to see live, in-person theatre again! And what better place to go than to the beautiful Lincoln Lawns? This week, Jamie Marcus Productions and The Blue Room co-present the Wind in the Willows - and it is the perfect remedy after over a year of putting things on hold.

The play is a family-friendly length of just 70 minutes, but it is filled to the brim with vibrant costumes, fantastic modes of transport, and of course our favourite characters who were all presented so beautifully. Subtleties in their costuming and body language was all that was needed to portray their respective animals. Each has a huge personality, with Mole (Samantha Tootell) beginning as a shy, stay-at-home mammal while Ratty (Stevie Catney) loves going out to explore - especially in his boat! This pair kick-off the adventure and their friendship shines through the entire play.

Along the way we meet an array of wonderful characters who are supported by a fabulous chorus. The distressed Mrs Otter (Laura Martin) is desperately searching for her son; Toad (Jordan Shiel) is too fabulous for his own good; the wise old Badger (Jake West) comes to save the day and restore order. Chief Weasel (Kate Newman) provided a fantastically villainous contrast as she commanded her bumbling crew of stoats, giving the audience great booing and hissing opportunities.

The situation of theatre on the lawn was a joy for the audience, as adults and children alike were entertained in the glorious sun. After the show, the cast members allowed the kids (and adults!) to meet them and have a photo opportunity. Everyone was having a great time, and this is definitely a show not to be missed! 

NT Film: Romeo and Juliet (April 2021)

I've hesitated about writing this review. I prefer to assess a play rather than a film, and this was advertised to us as a film recorded in a theatre. Absolutely, theatrical elements are thrown at the viewer throughout the production, many of which I will enjoy discussing in this blog. Yet, the effect of a film, no matter how theatrical or Shakespearean, will always be different to the effect of live theatre.

For a start, the immediacy is changed. When watching a play, the audience has a real sense of this is happening now, even when watching a live broadcast (although this effect is best when you are in the audience next to the stage). With films however, we get a sense of this is pre-recorded. A great film will make it feel more immediate, but we always go into a film with the knowledge that there will be different angles, different takes, even different days all edited together to make up the version that we as viewers are presented with.

I realise this all sounds very biased and pro-theatre, even anti-film. I enjoy films as much as the next person, of course, and there are some films that just cannot be achieved on stage in the same way. I would even go as far to say that there are some Shakespeare films that are bloody fantastic and work better than some theatrical productions I have seen. But Shakespeare on film is difficult. It was written 300 years before the first film came out, and 400 years before the types films that we are accustomed to today. Editing is necessary, and certain theatricalities just don't translate very easily.

That said, I was very excited when National Theatre announced a new Romeo and Juliet - especially starring Josh O'Connor (I've been loving The Crown on Netflix). Let me start by saying what I loved about the film. 

Photo taken from National Theatre's website: 
https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/romeo-and-juliet-film

1. The intimate atmosphere. This is something that film does better than theatre. Thanks to close-ups, camera angles and narrow alleys created on set, the whole production felt close and almost private. You have a real sense of watching without the characters knowing - the polar opposite of what many of Shakespeare's characters go through. Romeo and Juliet's relationship was steamed up by this intimacy, but we also got up close and personal with the likes of Tybalt and Mercutio in the fight scenes, revealing the anger and pride on their faces and allowing us to watch as it turns to pain.

2. Tamsin Greig. I mean what's not to love. I'd recently seen her as Malvolia in Twelfth Night in which she was absolutely fantastic and presented Malvolio to me in a new light. I was sort of surprised when I saw that she was to play Lady Capulet - I hadn't considered the role to be very big - but as the play progressed I realised why. Many of Lord Capulet's lines were also given to her. In a genius move, the stereotypical family hierarchy of mean-father-controls-daughter was completely removed from the play, I think for the better. We know that mothers can be controlling too, and something about this change made her character feel fresh and modern. By having both parents' lines, Greig was tender and maternal when Juliet obeyed, yet cold and tyrannical when Juliet refuses to marry Paris. As a result Lord Capulet shrank into the background and became more of a passive figure, but the twist was intriguing for anyone already familiar with the play and allowed Greig to shine in this commanding role.

3. Juliet's bedroom speech. Wow. For me, this was Jessie Buckley's shining moment. An element of theatricality was brought into this monologue - for how else can a monologue be convincingly achieved - as Juliet's bed was moved away from the set and all other actors circled around her to watch. Her speech was delivered as what I can only describe as an anxiety attack, questioning every person involved and how this plan could go horribly wrong. Her pacing was perfect, lingering on each cause for anxiety just long enough for the viewer to consider it before moving onto the next tragic possibility.

However, there were some elements that just didn't work for me.

First of all, the drastic cuts. I've seen a review that calls it "Romeo and Juliet cut in half but twice as good" and I have to disagree. How can taking all the comedy out of the play possibly improve it?! For me, a key point of the play is to have the happy, comedic, everything-is-fine first half, then BAM Mercutio dies and its all doom-and-gloom tragedy from there. You're not supposed to feel impending doom right from the start, that's what Hamlet is for. 

Next, the love interest between Benvolio and Mercutio - don't jump to judging me because one thing I'm not is homophobic. I'm all for extra romances and gender swaps etc to speak to the LGBTQ+ community, and theatre is a fantastic way to celebrate this because ultimately theatre celebrates being human. BUT. In this particular production, it felt like a box ticking exercise. Both Mercutio and Benvolio had had their lines drastically chopped, and their characters suffered for it. You don't have time to get to know Mercutio before he dies (no, the Queen Mab speech alone is not enough), and Benvolio felt like more of a background character. Giving them a romantic subplot just did not make up for this, and in a film that is already restricted by time I feel they could have added something more effective instead. What, you ask? Try more of their lines.

Finally, and I hate to return to this, but putting Romeo and Juliet in a film doesn't always work. Yes, you get intimacy, but you also get access to how ridiculous the story actually is. Baz Luhmann gets away with it with his fantastically bizarre adaptation, and the Olivia Hussey version was exceptional. But when the actors (as brilliant as they may be) are not teenagers and it is played naturalistically, the whole story becomes difficult to digest. Combine that with the cuts to shorten the time they have to fall in love even further (Romeo only has two lines from when he sees Juliet to fall in love with her) and it becomes more and more implausible. Godwin attempted to fill these gaps with montages of Romeo and Juliet chasing each other around the stage, but it wasn't enough to justify how they fell so madly in love and why the consequences are as extreme as exile and death. In English theatre, sense rarely prevails, but it is asking much more of the viewer to follow Shakespearean reasoning in a modern film. 

NT Live At Home: Twelfth Night (2020)

I've been terrible at writing reviews lately thanks to lots of changes in my life, but I recently watched National Theatre's production of Twelfth Night starring Tamsin Greig. It was a phenomenal production for many reasons (hello, incredible set design), but rather than write a review gushing over how amazing it was (definitely 5 stars from me) I thought I'd focus on the element that interested me the most: Malvolia.

Tamsin Greig as Malvolia. Photo taken from:
https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/twelfth-night-nt-live-2020/

Casting a female Malvolia, on the surface, feels like any other gender swap: interesting, modern, revealing. For me, Malvolia was all these things and more, and the consequences this might have for a modern audience are very exciting and multifaceted.

Traditionally, Malvolio's malcontentedness is wrapped up in class. He can be seen as an archetypal Malcontent, an outside character who is dissatisfied with the social structure and provides a commentary on the play and by extension on wider society. The irony is that he is an outsider as far as the other characters are concerned, but he is designed to be the most relatable and entertaining for the audience. Of course, Malvolia still does all of these things - the lines were not changed except for a few pronouns. But by changing the gender of the character, an extra layer was added and suddenly Malvolia represented so much more than class.

Gender speaks to today's society perhaps more than class. Looking at the Royals as a modern example, Kate Middleton was wholeheartedly accepted into the Royal family despite her being classed as a 'commoner' by the media at the time (though we all know she is far from common).

As an actor, Greig was fully aware of the implications of portraying a female Malvolia: "I was very nervous of making Malvolio a woman and therefore a lesbian, considering what happens to the character in the play, which is monstrous" (quote taken from her interview with the Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/apr/20/tamsin-greig-malvolia-twelfth-night-national-theatre). But I think that is precisely why this gender swap is so important. What happens is monstrous, and this production made an effort to point this monstrosity out to the audience.

Having an older Malvolia - perhaps of the generation between typically homophobic and LGBT accepting - gives the character a complex subtext. Gay marriage only became legal in the UK in 2013, and it was as recent as 1967 that consensual homosexual acts were legalised. The need to hide her feelings is fitting for Greig's character, and perhaps relatable to members of the audience who went through (or may still be going through) a struggle with their sexual identity due to the cultural pressures they grew up with. 

On top of the Malvolio-Malvolia switch, Fabian becomes Fabia and Feste is also female. The attacks on Malvolia are therefore attacks done by other women, again highlighting an area of society that is often not talked about: women can be incredibly cruel. 

RSC: Young Bloods (16/01/21)

I haven't reviewed anything for a while. That doesn't mean I'm not watching theatre - where lockdown has allowed, I've streamed shows and watched clips and enjoyed theatre and the arts where I can. I simply haven't been in the right headspace to actively write about the performances I've enjoyed. Somehow my voice hasn't felt relevant.

Young Bloods was all about the power of your voice. Whether that is orating to a crowd of people, exploring a character's voice, or speaking to friends and family: your voice matters. Your opinion matters.

Photo taken from the RSC Instagram: @thersc

This theatrical experiment (I'm calling it 'experiment' because, for me, that is what it was. It felt more like watching a rehearsal than watching a polished performance. This isn't a bad thing: theatre is about experimenting). So yes, this experiment really sparked something in me. I found myself arguing with it in my head as the show continued, and wanting to talk about it with people afterwards. This feels like an achievement.

The premise of the show was to take the voices of young people and relate their opinions to extracts from Shakespeare. For example, one young person spoke of LGBTQ+ rights, so the actors took the famous balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet and cast Juliet as a male character. Within this speech, Juliet asks "what's in a name?" and this really spoke to the issues of identity that the LGBTQ+ community face today as society attempts to label and un-label them. In another example, the young person spoke of racism and xenophobia, and the actors responded with Shylock's speech from The Merchant of Venice, in which he explains that Jews have "hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions," just as Christians do. Thus, a correlation between Shakespeare's words and the words of the young people of today was formed through experimental theatre.

The result in my mind was conflicted. At once, I wanted to agree, to shout yes, we need change and we need people to stand up for what they believe in. But at the same time, a certain naivety was revealed. One of the young people said that generations before us have ignored these issues, and that our generation is being left to clean up their mistakes. She was speaking about climate change, and the actors responded with one of Titania's speeches from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Fast forward to a more recent character, and we see that Sir David Attenborough has dedicated his life to caring for the planet, putting a tremendous effort into persuading people to do better. 

I'm not disagreeing with the young person's sentiment as I completely agree: climate change is urgent, and we must change our ways and do better, but it is not a new issue. Rights for minorities, protection for people and animals, the top 1% getting the best while the rest of us suffer for it - these are all issues which have been raised and fought over for centuries in one form or another, in one society or another. Shakespeare is a useful tool for bringing awareness to new issues, but we can also use literature to reflect on our own history and recognise patterns in our politics and attitudes. 

What to take from this? Whatever you like.