As the world tipped - a fantastic opener the the Derby Festé

I have chosen this short video from the Facebook page of Wired Aerial Theatre to give a flavour of this truly fantastic outdoor bungee assisted performance art extravaganza. I saw it  performed in Derby last night as the opening act in Derby's amazing Live Arts festival that continues over the weekend. A capacity audience stood aghast as the actor/dancers reacted through stunning movement on the 12mm square stage tipping from a level position to an upright position. You need a real head for heights to perform in this one! Stunning concept, application, visuals and movement to a dramatic and moving soundtrack.

'The piece is about how governments fail to come to grips with climate change and the world slides, literally towards catastrophe. Conceived as a real life disaster movie in the sky, this production delivers one breath-taking image after another.'  Festé  brochure.

The festival continues over this weekend with music on the Music Stage in the Old Market Square with artists such as Hudson Super Fix, Jamie Joseph Band, Riptide and Alex Blood & The Diggers. At various venues throughout the city visitors will be delighted and entertained by Bread and Butter Theatre, Upswing Theatre - Red Shoes (circus), the hilarious and talented Maison Foo - Tea Tent, street performers Reckless Invention - Turbo and Dai and Wrong Size - The Dragons (inspired by the Gaudi sculptures of Barcelona). The 2 Men - wardens will be let loose on the streets of Derby amusing people by enforcing ridiculous laws around the city such as breathing too loudly or wearing a loud shirt in a built up area!

Derby Independent Theatre Network will be presenting their A Very British Exhibition around the historic Derby areas such as St Peter's Quarter and the beautiful Cathedral Quarter.

On Saturday evening there will be a Bollywood Party with Charity Shop DJ and Surtal Arts all kicked off by Flame Oz - high energy entertainment with a choreographed fire dance.

                                                       Still from White Wings (Holland)

And that's not all! The festival also includes C12- Trolleys - a stunning dance piece involving supermarket trolleys, Dutch theatre company - Close Act - are performing their fantastical White Wings show with amazing costumed characters seeming to float over the heads of the shoppers! A packed weekend at Derby  Festé which certainly deserves to be supported.

Review: Kes at Derby Theatre.

Kes at Derby Theatre.

This production is adapted by playwright Lawrence Till from Barry Hines' novel – A Kestrel For A Knave and runs from Friday 13^th September to Saturday 5^th October.

 

The story of Kes concerns a 1960s Yorkshire schoolboy called Billy Casper who is bullied, neglected and misunderstood and, in the Derby Theatre production directed by Sara Brigham, Billy is played with great energy, passion and emotional subtlety by Sam Jackson. Billy is bullied by his older brother Jud (Jimmy Fairhurst) and emotionally ignored by his feckless Mother. As the story evolves we discover that Billy has been teaching himself falconry and devoting himself to his found kestrel wherein he finds a personal peace, an unbridled excitement and a purpose in life. The kestrel training is a challenge to the young man, a hard won reality and also infers a deep desire for personal freedom and an attempt to find himself in amongst the cruelties he encounters at school and in his family life. On the positive side Billy's character is transformed when he speaks to the school class and to the audience about his love of the wild kestrel he has named Kes and he is solely supported by an English language teacher, a Mr Farthing, performed with great compassion and conviction by John Elkington.

Jackson is especially strong in the heart breaking scene where he confronts and fights his useless Mother and nasty brother Jud and later on when he breaks into an abandoned cinema and pours out his feelings to his absent father who he imagines up on screen. The emotional truths and the teenage frustrations are brilliantly handled and conveyed on stage.

 

In amongst the darker elements of the play are lots of laughs during the school scenes – Paul Clarkson is perfect as the controlling 1960s headmaster and Andrew Westfield is hilarious as the menacing but rather thick PE teacher, Mr Sugden. The laughs work on two levels: the genuinely funny plot and actions/reactions and also on a nostalgic level for those in the audience old enough to have been a school child themselves in the 1960s. The local children playing the school kids are terrific and thoroughly believable in their parts and they work very intuitively in the choreographed ensemble movement although each retaining an individual personality within the group. The professional actors playing two of the schoolboy speaking roles (Thomas Pickles as Tibbut and John Holt -Roberts as the bully MacDowell) are excellent. If a production of One Flew Over A Cuckoo's Nest ever came up Pickles would be a perfect casting as Billy Bibbit.

Samantha Seager as Billy's estranged Mum – Mrs Casper – is extremely exasperating in her selfish reluctance to offer Billy love and support in his moments of deepest need and plays the unsympathetic role with great conviction. Nova Skipp is utterly brilliant in her very different roles as the teacher Miss Fenton, Mrs MacDowell, Librarian and Miss Rose. As far as the audience are concerned each character she plays could well have been a different actress performing.

The whole piece is a terrific example of ensemble playing and the very moving Derby Theatre production is to be thoroughly recommended. The simple setting and use of panoramic back projections coupled with a dynamic musical score by composer and sound designer Ivan Stott really enhance this play and the whole package makes for a wonderful night at the theatre.

Phil Lowe.

Review: The Ashes. Nottingham Playhouse

Originally written for The Public Reviews

 

'The Ashes' by Michael Pinchbeck was first produced at Nottingham Playhouse in September 2011 and has been revived to coincide with this year's Ashes test at the Trent Bridge cricket ground in Nottingham. The new version is designed in a different light from the original, principally through the author Pincheck's initiative to contact Harold Larwood's daughter Enid Todd, who now resides in Australia. Their conversations helped the playwright to develop the role of Lois, Larwood's wife.

For any playgoer having seen the 2011 original there are some excellent changes in the projected cricket footage used creating an improved dynamism and focus on the central relationships.

The director, Giles Croft is an active promoter of new theatre writing at Nottingham Playhouse and the East Midlands and in the case of 'The Ashes' he feels that this new production offers a wonderful opportunity to add new scenes and tone to the work and build upon any success the play may have at and outside of this revival at Nottingham Playhouse.

The play of 'The Ashes' tells of the controversy surrounding the 1932-1933 England cricket tour of Australia. The tour was made famously controversial by the dangerous bodyline bowling tactics employed by the England team, in particular the fast bowler Harold Larwood. The events led to a crisis of diplomatic events between England and Australia.

Karl Haynes is very authentic as Larwood as both a younger and older man and his Nottinghamshire accent is perfect. Larwood and his fast paced, fearless reputation for accuracy and speed were legendary but his 'un-sportsman-like' heroics were also his downfall and after his refusal to apologise he never played for England again. Later in his life however, he was welcomed to Australia when he chose to go and live there.

The play boasts six actors, Michael Pinchbeck, Karl Haynes, Robin Bowerman, Sarah Churm, Jamie de Courcey, Daniel Hoffman – Gill, Timothy Knightley and Paul Trussell, some playing multiple roles with various accents and the piece is very much an ensemble piece with an almost bare stage setting the scene for the threads of the story. The stage is very well used and the story telling aided with clever and regular usage of projections of titles, stills and film archive. Occasionally the actors copy the actions of the characters on the archive films with great theatrical results, skill and humour. The only female in the cast, Sarah Churm, plays Larwood's wife Lois and some humour is had with her playing several cricketers alongside the film running above. She is also very poignant in the scenes where she watches sports newsreel footage in Mansfield of her husband the England team thousands of miles away in Australia.

Overall there is some superbly understated acting and great direction from Giles Croft. Even if one isn't a cricket fan it is the human dramas that lift this play well beyond the boundaries of 'just a play about cricket.

Phil Lowe

Review for Blue Remembered Hills at Derby Theatre June 2013

Dennis Potter's play 'Blue Remembered Hills' is a story about the past, the present and the future and follows the lives of a group of seven year old children experimenting through boisterous play to make some sense of the world around them.

The play is set during World War II and the children are discovered playing in the idyllic setting of the Forest of Dean on a beautiful summer day in 1943. They play, they taunt and fight and define relationships with each other by bickering and bullying to be top dog. There is also a great sense of fun and hilarity to be had as the children play their games and build complex friendships. Then in the midst of the play one tragic event changes the way they look at life forever.

Ruari Murchison and Colin Grenfell's stage design of an imposing dark grey hill and blank screen onto which the shadows of trees are cast works well with this version and the potent musical score (Olly Fox) serves well to add several layers of story telling enhancement and drama.

Director Pysche Stott believes that Dennis Potter's play is not only a piece that describes human capability for brutality, namely, the children’s relationships and the major world war going on in the adult world, but also about the human capability for joy, pleasure and wonder. And it is all these attributes that come alive on the stage with the seven children being played by adults – the remembered – aspect of the story.

All the cast work brilliantly as a team and the 'child-like' and childish personalities are superbly drawn. This, to quote Dennis Potter, is “childhood defined as the adult society writ large without all the conventions and the polite forms which overlay”. The work on the stage in Blue Remembered Hills at Derby Theatre has a fluidity and creative freedom and above all boldness and daring and makes for very fulfilling theatre. It is often extremely funny with darker undertones.

At the centre of the piece Christopher Price shines as the cruel and bullying Peter. James Bolt gets the sympathetic note as the stuttering, cowboy outfit wearing Raymond and David Nellist is terribly funny as the non- judgemental boy called Willie who just wants to be loyal and fair to all and is obsessed with Spitfires.

Tilly Gaunt portrays the sniffy Angela to perfection, at once vain and childishly superior, her deeper insecurities are subtly demonstrated though her interpretation. Joanna Holden as Audrey brings a real sense of tenacity to her character and is a wonderful comedian. Adrian Grove moves emotionally as the maltreated Donald who is desperately missing his father and Phil Cheadle portrays his character with a quiet authority and is particularly impressive in his scenes standing up to the bullying Peter. The whole piece has great energy.

The late Dennis Potter wrote 'Children are as intense in happiness as they are in misery. They live in the moment. That's the art of living that most adults have lost. Remembering how to live in the moment and why it might be important to do that as adults.'

This play is chock full of those important moments in our lives and an unforgettable evening at Derby Theatre.

Phil Lowe

Derby Theatre Summer School. Want to get involved?

Derby Theatre Summer School

 

PLAY IN A WEEK

Monday 29 July – Friday 2 August

For one week over the summer holidays;
Derby Theatre will run a Summer School
of theatre for 8 – 16 year olds, where they
will produce a Play in a Week, from Monday 29^th July until Friday 2^nd August.

During this exciting summer project, young
people will work in a real theatre setting, with
professional theatre practitioners, to create
a play in just one week.

For young people with an interest in theatre this a great opportunity to: work with professional theatre practitioners, share ideas and put them into practice and performance, gain an insight into producing a show within a professional theatre environment, be involved in the production, and be a part of the decision-making relating to how the play develops. The end product will be a live performance, shown to family and friends, on the final day. Caroline Barth (Head of Learning, Derby Theatre) said:“We are really excited about working with the talent and energy of young people of Derby and Derbyshire.  Our professional theatre practitioners will work with the group to make a performance to share for friends and family.  This is a great opportunity for everyone, from young people who haven’t been involved with us before to those who would like to develop their passion for theatre.”

There are a total of 50 places available (25 for 8-11 year olds and 25 for 12 – 16 year olds). Interest in the summer school is expected to be high; so early enquiry and booking is recommended. The whole week costs £65 per person.

To book a Derby Theatre Summer School place: email Matt Clay at: m.clay@derby.ac.uk. For further enquiries, including information about limited subsidised places that may be available to certain young people, contact Caroline Barth, Head of Learning at: c.barth@derby.ac.uk

Review of The Seagull. Derby Theatre.

Review of The Seagull.

 

11th June 2013

Derby Theatre

Anton Chekhov's 'The Seagull' is deemed to be one of the great modern classics and Headlong Theatre and The Nuffield Southampton co-production with Derby Theatre excel in bringing a bold freshness and modern approach to the work through John Donnelly's stunning up to date version directed by Blanche McIntyre. The original ideals of ground breaking theatre written by Chekhov were that the language be direct and have immediate meaning for the audience. Instead of stilted overly theatrical language Chekhov's dialogue and theatrical prose were seen to be startlingly fresh and understood by the audience as 'the language we speak ' or the actions and flow of story 'the way we live now'. These were challenging and exciting concepts that changed the future of theatrical art and how a story is presented on the stage.

Theatre and art are discussed at length through various forms and clever staging in this piece and quite intensely at some points, brilliantly turning a tirade into a sexual turn on for one character. A bold and amusing approach to interpretation. Boris and Nina fiercely argue the pros and cons of artistic success and the naïve Nina succumbs to the magnetism of the successful but unhappy Trigorin both balanced on a rocking sea saw of wild emotions.

The piece could be called a 'movable artistic feast' with the ultra modern symbolic set that isn't traditional in any sense only depicting a change in place through new positioning; a fresh off kilter imbalance of levels and the introduction of hastily drawn suitcases or indecipherable writings on the backdrop. The production was certainly atmospheric and the score electrifying at times and the quality lighting palate that sometimes illuminates the audience as well as the players created tensions as well as the scene. As a piece of theatrical live art it worked well and the acting was top class, on the whole, thrillingly mixing seasoned actors with raw new talent fresh from drama school.

Phil Lowe

The Fantasist by Theatre Témoin at Derby Theatre Saturday 15th June. Promotion.

Theatre Témoin present THE FANTASIST  Derby Theatre - STUDIO Sat 15 June  
A stunning exploration of the  glorious heights and murky  depths of bipolar disorder. 
As part of a nationwide tour, from Cornwall to Scotland, the 5 star-rated production of The Fantasist, presented by Theatre Témoin, will show in the Studio at Derby Theatre for one night only on Saturday 15 June.  

“Astonishingly powerful” Fringe Review 

Stunning life-size puppetry, created in collaboration with War Horse’s Robin Guiver, combines with object manipulation, physical theatre and original music in this highly imaginative, surreal and disturbing story of a woman battling bipolar disorder. Informed by medical experts, The Fantasist emerges as part of a wave of puppetry that is growing exponentially since the West End success of War Horse and similar highly visual puppetry shows. Touring the UK as one of the sell-out successes of the Edinburgh Fringe 2012, the unique and hypnotic visual style of this production explores a deeply personal story of mental illness to powerful theatrical effect.  


The Fantasist runs alongside Mental Health Awareness week 2013 (May 13-19). It was developed between 2011 and 2012 from personal experience and medical research with the North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT). The lead performer has been a carer for her mother throughout her adult life, and has direct experience with the extremes of bipolar disorder. The personal story behind this play has helped it become a vehicle for approaching the taboo subject of mental illness in a way that is non- didactic, funny and theatrically exciting.  


In the mind of the fantasist, the real and the fanciful become dangerously blurred. As Louise gazes into the night, her fancy takes form. Objects move, time changes … and a seductive stranger opens up a world of exhilaration and magic. But everything comes at a price… 


Tickets: £9, concessions £6. For more information and to book tickets call the Box Office on 01332 59 39 39 or visit www.derbytheatre.co.uk