| Madcap Comedy, Song & Exuberance |
At Black Rat |
| The Invisible Man- Black Rat & Blackwood Miners' Institute , Aberystwyth Arts Centre , November 3, 2022 |
Black Rat and Aberystwyth Arts Centre share two things in common in this time of return after pandemic. The tours of Black Rat in the past have depended on recognisable author names from outside Wales: Godber, Reza, Ayckbourn, Orton. The summer musicals at Aberystwyth, dating back to the 1990s, came from the London-Broadway canon: Kander and Ebb, Rogers and Hammerstein, Bart, Menken and Ashman. In 2022 both have produced their own home-made productions. That is a good thing. There is always honour to be paid to classics of theatre. But a vibrant theatre culture writes its own. Certainly “the Invisible Man” has brought in a good and enthusiastic audience. Crucially it is diverse; young and old are to be seen in a broad spread. In the way of the world, which can be weird, both “the Invisible Man” and Theatr na nÓg's “Operation Julie” feature a chemist as a lead character. Both are called Dr Kemp. Black Rat's collaboration with Blackwood Miners Institute goes back eleven years after the company's first production of “Bouncers.” Director-writer Richard Tunley acknowledges the influence. Four actors perform an array of roles in a comedy that is fast and physical. Whereas “Bouncers” travels lightly this “Invisible Man” travels with a set and a huge number of props. The designers are Sean Crowley and Ruby Brown. The stage managers, with a lot of work on their hands, are Charly Brookman and Vicky Aston. Costumes, accents and characters change at speed. A peak is a scene where Zoe Davies plays a police chief with Churchillian overtones. She herself has a hat as do four vintage standard lamps with a hat apiece. She swaps the hats at speed, each denoting a separate character and a separate accent. The Irish character has a repeated solution as to how to catch an invisible man. The trick is to throw a pot of paint at him. The pace and verbal flourish earn Zoe Davies a round of applause in her own right. At the beginning the stage is open. By 7:20 the four actors are out talking to the audience in the rows and aisles. “You awright?”, one says, “Looking forward to the film? They've been running out of the cinema screaming.” Richard Tunley has made a framing device of a cinema showing in the Aberllanpencwm Workingman’s Hall of 1933. In the first of his numerous characters Sam Jones' Mr Williams tries to welcome his audience. He is interrupted by a noisy voice from within the hall. The credits and opening scenes of James Whale's original film then show on a white sheet. The opening scene of snow turns to red with the film stock burning. Ryan Owen, in the first of his many roles, carries on two bulky film stock tins and tells of mischief done to the projector. Jemima Nicholas was last seen in Aberystwyth with a singing voice to awe in 2017 in a night of Leeway's micro-musicals. In the first of her many roles she is the Aberllanpencwm resident who has read the book and everything else by H G Wells. The decision is cast. The film is lost so they will, declares Mr Williams, perform the story themselves. So unrolls a fast-moving stream of physical comedy, parody, occasional topical reference and meta-theatre. “Who's Flora?” “She's a love interest.” “She's not in the book.” Jemima Nicholas' posh Flora has an accent that twists the name of her loved one, Jack, into a tortured vowel sound akin to “Jake.” The first act follows the film plot which is, to modern eyes, a little creaky. The action, set in the village of Iping, is gradual. The second act opens out and includes, via a plot device of logic, a surreal homage to the cinema of the era. A wooden ladder stands in for the Empire State Building. Kong, the Marx Brothers and Shirley Temple feature. As the fugitive chemist becomes ever more dangerous H G Wells' Time Traveller appears with offer of a journey of escape from 1933. The decades advance. Frankie Goes to Hollywood and others appear on the soundtrack as does the last-but-two of of our Prime Ministers. Many objects get to move and float in space. The lighting design is by Robin Bainbridge and consultant in magic is Stefan Pejic. Kieran Bailey has written eight songs in music hall and 1930s style. Ryan Owen in a red-striped blazer sings jaunty lyrics as the mayhem rises. “Man of science goes insane/ Clear as a window pane.” The exuberance of the late plot, that includes a car chase, circles around a number of not-quite-endings. The knife is the best friend of the dramatist; the script would have strengthened from a ten-minute cut to its last part. But the energy of the quartet of actors is a thing of awe and, unsurprisingly, the audience cheers and cheers. The tour of “the Invisible Man” started 4th October at Blackwood and continued to Barry, Aberdare, Carmarthen, Mwldan, the Stiwt, Pontio and Colwyn Bay. After Aberystwyth it continues to Ffwrnes, Porthcawl, Pontardawe, Theatr Hafren, Theatr Brycheiniog and ends at RWCMD 12th November. Reviews of productions of Black Rat can be read below: "Art": 31 October 2019 "Loot": 26 October 2018 "One Man Two Guv'nors": 16 October 2017 "The 39 Steps": 23 October 2015 "Bedroom Farce": 24 October 2014 "Neville's Island": 26 October 2012 (2) "Up and Under": 07 October 2011 “Wind in the Willows”: 04 December 2010 "Bouncers": 07 November 2009: 12 November 2010 “Romeo and Juliet”: 29 April 2010: 28 April 2010 "A Midsummer Night's Dream": 08 July 2009 "Oedipus": 17 February 2009 "Miss Julie": 18 December 2008 |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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