| Marriage, Murder, Migration, Multiple Universes |
Quarterly Critical Round-up |
| Theatr Clwyd, Theatr Genedlaethol, Mewn Cymeriad, Hijinx, Bale & Thomas, Bohemian Theatre Company , North & Touring Second Quarter 2024 , July 18, 2024 |
The Stage was at THEATR CLWYD for “Rope”: “Patrick Hamilton’s taut 1929 thriller is famous for its attention-grabbing premise. Eighty-five years on, its central plot – which sees two young men murder a fellow student and then play a dangerous game by inviting the victim’s friends and family for a gathering at the London flat where his body is stashed in a locked chest – is just as gripping. “...This strikingly theatrical revival directed by Theatr Clwyd associate director Francesca Goodridge seems to acknowledge this, and cleverly ups the ante in several ways. For a start, it accentuates the comedy already present in Hamilton’s work, played to perfection by the well-calibrated cast – notably Keiron Self as the amiably buffoonish father of the victim, and Emily Pithon as his near-monosyllabic, constantly smirking sister. It also adds an extra layer of self-referential artificiality that heightens the action, without ever sacrificing the mounting tension. “The actors amusingly read out stage directions and character descriptions from chairs on either side of the stage where they wait for their cues, giving the production the air of a radio play being vividly brought to life. Some of the elements of the Mayfair flat in which the action takes place are recreated in impressive detail by Good Teeth’s impeccably realised set, featuring a large picture window through which a storm rages; others are left to the audience’s imagination. Early sections that play out in almost total darkness create an absorbingly evocative mood. “...Combined with a box of tricks from lighting designer Ryan Joseph Stafford, who delivers sudden blackouts as well as blinding floodlights, and composer Dyfan Jones’ heart-stopping sound design, the overall impact is so strong that some of the subtlety of Hamilton’s work is lost, including the class elements at play and the characters’ obscure motivations. “Yet Jack Hammett’s electric central performance as the callously mischievous ringleader Wyndham cuts through all the visual trickery when it counts. This is a production that follows a similarly risky path to its protagonists’, but achieves its aims with considerable panache.” Extract, with thanks and acknowledgement, from the full review in the Stage, subscribers only. * * * * “Constellations” was first staged at London’s Royal Court in 2012 and has been regularly reprised,. As a two-hander it lent itself to distanced rehearsal and four separate high-profile casts appeared in one of the first productions after the pandemic in London in mid-2021. The Stage was at THEATR CLWYD for its production: “Daniel Lloyd’s revival relocates the action to South Wales (there are Welsh-language performances on June 7 and 8), and captures the brain-fizzing energy and relatability of its central pairing that made the original production such a success. "The theory goes, as Marianne drunkenly explains to Roland during their first night together, that every decision or choice that you make simultaneously exists in a parallel world somewhere in the vast reaches of space. It’s a head-spinning concept, but Payne’s play wears its clever conceit lightly, never getting too bogged down in the science, and instead zeroing in on the emotional impact of the characters’ choices. “Once you get used to the repetitiveness of the short scenes stopping, starting and playing out with a different outcome, it builds into an engaging and touching collage of the ways in which our lives, and those of the ones we love, can pivot and change in an instant. “...Gwenllian Higginson and Aled Pugh have an easy, likeable chemistry, and are as good at playing the amusingly faltering, romcomish early stages of Marianne and Roland’s relationship as they are the tragic turn that their story takes. Pugh gets his moment to shine in a sequence in which Roland springs a surprise proposal on Marianne at work with varying degrees of success – he gets to play everything from gauche awkwardness to swaggering confidence. “Higginson takes on more of the emotional heavy lifting as Marianne struggles with a terminal diagnosis that will eventually take her mental faculties away, but also excels with the comic dialogue, which is enhanced here by the melodious South Walian accents. As Marianne makes a heart-wrenching decision about her future, the two actors convincingly convey the playfulness and intimacy of two people who have spent much of their adult lives together. “...the actors work in total unison with Dyfan Jones’ subtly effective music and sound designs, and Jonathan Chan’s immaculately timed lighting changes, while a backdrop of flickering lightbulbs transforms the theatre’s temporary domed auditorium into a suitably atmospheric planetarium-like space.” Extract, with thanks and acknowledgement, from the full review in the Stage, subscribers only. * * * * Nation Cymru was at “Parti Priodas” from THEATR GENEDLAETHOL: “...very well received at the National Eisteddfod last year “Parti Priodas”, written by Gruffudd Owen and directed by Steffan Donnelly...laughing is very much guaranteed from the start. “The stars of the show, Lowri (Mared Llywelyn) and Idris (Mark Henry Davies), had the audience in fits of laughter from the beginning as they each separately reel off how weddings might be lovely, but they’re boring. “...The wedding in question is that of farmer’s son Dafydd (Lowri’s brother and Idris’s best friend) and Samantha, a local Welsh speaker whose parents are originally from Preston. Lowri’s convinced that she was only asked to be a bridesmaid out of politeness and feels noticeably awkward in the company of Samantha and the other bridesmaids, as they’re all speaking English “....After the ceremony, Idris (who’s been taking regular drinks of vodka from a hip flask) makes something of a fool of himself by attempting to discuss Theology with the minister (who escapes at the first opportunity). “Things gradually go from bad to worse at the reception, between Idris’s drinking and Lowri’s increasing frustration.” Extract, with thanks and acknowledgement, from the full review which can be read at: https://nation.cymru/culture/theatre-review-parti-priodas/ * * * * HIJINX presented part of its Unity Festival in Bangor. * * * * MEWN CYMERIAD performed “Geiriau” at the Urdd Eisteddfod in Meifod. MANON STEFFAN ROS devised “Geiriau”, the result of a commission from the Welsh Language Commissioner. The show was aimed for young people in secondary school years 7, 8 and 9. Source: https://nation.cymru/culture/new-stage-show-aims-to-promote-the-welsh-language/ * * * * GARETH JOHN BALE & GWENLLIAN HIGGINSON continued to travel and took “West” by OWEN THOMAS to Cwmparc Community Centre, Theatr Fach Dolgellau, Rhossili Village Hall and the Swallow Theatre in Whithorn. From a viewer: “one of the most moving experiences one could have from a truly beautiful play performed with some of the empathetic interpretation any two (highly gifted) artists could possibly deliver. Simply WOW! Thank you.” * * * * THE BOHEMIANS THEATRE COMPANY presented ‘The Misadventures of Pinocchio: The Radical Robot Girl’ by Benji Mowbray and Joel Nash. “A folk-rock fairytale for the modern age” it toured to Ffwrnes, Aberystwyth, Brycheiniog, and the Sherman. |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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