Sunday, October 30, 2016

West End Wednesday

This past week's highlight was a two-show day on London's West End. I was able to obtain tickets for a very decent price on the discount ticket seller app and website called Today's Tix. The shows were under twenty each, so that's a fabulous bargain for a student theatre goer. It is a common practice for theatres to use discount ticket agents, like Today's Tix, if they don't have full houses. After all, selling the seat for a reduced rate is better than taking a total loss.

First up was a matinee of a stage adaptation of George Orwell's novel 1984. The special ticket price offer was £19.84. Clever! 1984 has enjoyed great success in London and all over the UK, having first hit the stage in 2013, but, this week the show closed. I've seen the posters in the tube stations since I arrived in London so I had to make sure I saw it before the chance passed me by. I was glad I did. 

Published in 1949, 1984 is a staple of modern literature and has brought us the famous term "Big Brother". Orwell describe's a futuristic world where the population is under constant surveillance and the thought police can take someone away for torture just for thinking differently than the state prescribed edict. Orwell's concept of how it could be stemmed from the influences of the Cold War. However, it is remarkable how many of these societal predictions have been realized even in the free and capitalist societies of the West.

The design of 1984 was very well done with the first portion of this 100-minute performance taking place in a closed in, institutional setting. Nothing was attractive. Everything looked drab and well used. Lighting and sound helped highlight moments and characters that should have our focus. Cameras, which projected onto a screen, helped reinforce the idea of surveillance while giving the audience an inside look at the contents of a journal and a secret room. When the main character Winston, finally got the unwelcome attention of Big Brother, the set shifted into an atmosphere of bright, stark white light. Here is where nothing could hide and Winston, well, Winston had to face the harsh reality of Big Brother's power.

The performances were well delivered by an ensemble of eight. The dialogue never felt dated. The text was taken from Orwell's novel and adapted for the stage by Robert Icke and Duncan MacMillan. It was an excellent way to spend an afternoon and I am happy I saw it.

After a break, I was off to see another show in the evening. Sunny Afternoon brought audiences the story of British pop band sensation from the 60's, The Kinks. The Kinks are famous for hits like "All Day And All of The Night", "You Really Got Me", "Lola" and the title song "Sunny Afternoon". They were part of the British Invasion along with the Beatles but ran into a bit of trouble over not paying musician union dues and were banned from playing in America for a while.

The show took us on the journey through The Kinks' beginning and on to their success, dip in popularity and a comeback, all while making stops to visit their personal lives and troubles along the way. The show is very much in the vein of Jersey Boys the biographical musical about the band The Four Seasons. Sunny Afternoon started it's life at the Hampstead Theatre before transferring to the West End. It won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 2015 and I was privileged enough to hold this award when I did some work at Hampstead Theatre earlier this year. The West End production is now closing up shop and they are hitting the road on tour.

I didn't really know The Kinks before seeing the show, or at least I thought I didn't. But many of their songs were absolutely familiar to me and I was a little embarrassed that I didn't make the association between the songs and the band earlier. The show had a cast of 13 and the music was played by the performers on stage. The four actor-musicians playing the members of the band maintained their parts all the way through but the rest of the cast rotated through a variety of characters that moved through the lives of The Kinks. It was an energetic show fueled in part by a very excited audience. I could tell I was surrounded by die hard fans of The Kinks. It was obvious when the first few chords of favorite songs were played and at the end, everyone was on their feet dancing and haveing a ball. I think my experience was greatly enhanced because I saw it with people who loved it.

Overall it was a fabulous Wednesday at the theatre. I'm scheduled for another couple of shows next week. I'll let you know how it goes.
In the meantime, what's playing at a live theatre near you?

Take care!
-m


1984


Sunny Afternoon


Sunday, October 23, 2016

And... Action!

This past week I focused on the research thesis project, officially called a sustained independent project or SIP that will make up the bulk of my second year on this MFA course. We are required to conduct two case studies as part of our SIP. The subjects of our case studies are up to us (pending approval) and vary wildly among the members of the class but all root in some area of producing.
I will continue with my interest in new writing for the stage and examine the producer's role in the dramaturgical workshop of a new work. My first case study will focus on a play and the second, a musical.

On Wednesday I met with my friend, Diana, who has just completed the MFA in Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media at Central. Her latest stage play will be the focus of our first workshop. Diana is currently doing re-writes on her script in preparation. I am starting the production process with creating schedules, establishing deadlines, programming the workshop, booking space, booking talent, and budgeting. There's much to do and all the while, I must research what other practitioners have done before me.

On Friday we had a seminar to help direct us in how to approach the academic part of this process and the actual writing of the papers themselves. We will use the methodology and structure of an Action Research Case Study. Case studies come in many styles and formats but the Action Research Case Study is the one for us. What does all this mean? Well, at its core, it is what it says on the tin; research through action. This does not mean we don't spend time in the library because we do have to base our analysis on theory and precedent from our field of study. However, we will need to also engage in action. Action can, of course, take many forms, observing is an action. But, whether observing or actually doing, we will have to witness situations on which we can draw to discuss our critical debates and support our conclusions. So, on top of doing the research on the actual workshop process, I will need to familiarize myself with the Action Research Case Study style.

Much to do! This coming week will prove to be busy, no doubt. I am also hoping to attend a couple of shows. I'll have to see how the work goes. It all depends on the "action" taken. I'll keep you posted.

Until next time...
Take care!
-m

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Light

This past week's highlight was a trip to the Battersea Arts Centre to see a show; Light by a company called Theatre Ad Infinitum. Theatre Ad Infinitum is an international ensemble of theatre-makers who use the body and movement as a primary tool for story-telling. Many of their principal artists are trained in Lecoq technique. Lecoq is a movement and mime school out of Pairs and its practitioners have made a significant contribution to the world of performance.

Light was no exception to the positive impact of movement artists in our field. The 70-minute show is set in a futuristic world where the population and its government are constantly connected through a communication device implanted in the brain. Freedom of thought is a rebel cause and the mainstream is carefully controlled by those in charge. A small ensemble of five performers played out the Orwellian tale using no dialogue. Lighting effects were used in combination with a detailed soundscape and perfectly choreographed movement to illustrate location, time and mood. The "light" mentioned in the title refers, in part, to the red light implanted into the minds of the people or, once "enlightened" to the rebel cause, the green light that replaces the government's implant. 

The production sounds as if it could be technically complicated. In actuality, the show is very self-contained. Many of the lighting effects were created by simple devices and were manipulated by the performers on stage. The LED lights and other devices were used almost like puppets with some on sticks and were whirled around the stage by the performers as part of the choreography. The stage was a black box with black cubes to use for levels and the performers were dressed in black. All of which gave the staging and use of light the ability to focus the audiences' attention to specific moments and many on a small scale. The use of the staging was a kind of reflection of the world represented in the story. 

Light is an excellent reminder of how effective simple elements can be when clever artists get creative. A big West End budget with lots of bells and whistles can be fun and exciting but a little can go a long way if used with ingenuity. The trip to Battersea Arts Centre proved an inspiration and I look forward to future works by Theatre Ad Infinitum.

This coming week I hope to catch some more shows happening around London. And of course, the thesis project is cooking. More on all that to come!

Stay tuned!
Take care!
-m



Sunday, October 9, 2016

Potter Plays on a Wednesday

This past week I was incredibly lucky to get receive tickets to Harry Potter and The Cursed Child parts one and two. Unless you have been living in a cave for the last decade you have probably heard of the Harry Potter book and film series. The books by J.K. Rowling are wildly successful as were the films based on their editions. Now the young wizard has made his way to the West End stage and will soon transfer to the bright lights of Broadway.

Harry Potter and The Cursed Child parts one and two are the next adventure in the series started by the books. Rowling wrote this new section of Harry Potter in script format and intended it for the stage. The book can be purchased but readers will not read a novel, they will read a script. The story seen on stage is not found on screen, it is only available for viewing at the Palace Theatre in London.

This, of course, is brilliant marketing. As a producer, I applaud this new way of exploring a recognizable commodity. Producers tap into the incredible network of Harry Potter fandom, which is in the millions and worldwide, but create an original piece for the stage as opposed to recreating a stage version of a film or book already known. One of the marketing slogans is "Keep The Secrets" and there is a real sense of loyalty from the audience to avoid disclosing the details of what they saw on stage and spoil the plot for audiences to come.

Tickets are incredibly hard to come by and performances are sold out through May 2017 and beyond that, tickets are not available to purchase. However, patrons do have some options. They can keep checking for returns or they can attempt to purchase tickets from "The Friday Forty". "The Friday Forty" are forty tickets the box office holds for release on Friday that are seats for the following week's performances. This gives people a fighting chance to see the show.

The other clever bit of the marketing of the show is that the story comes in two parts and thus, two performances. There is just too much tale to tell to fit into one show. This has been done at the theatre before. Charles Dickens' novel The Life and Time of Nicholas Nickleby was adapted into a two-part stage play by David Edgar and Tom Stoppard's trilogy The Coast of Utopia requires attendance at three performances to view the complete story. The Potter producers were smart to follow the lead of these previous epics. Each part of the story fits neatly into a performance of two hours and change. And of course, this means patrons will want to purchase twice as many tickets so as not to miss anything.

The performance schedule alternates between part one and part two. One of the easiest ways to ingest it all in one trip is to see both on the same day, as I did. Part one was a matinee performance, dinner break and then part two in the evening.

I must thank my friend, Shai, for passing on his tickets to me. He ended up being out of town last week, so I was quite fortunate he offered the seat to me. Thanks Shai!

As for the show, I'm sorry, I can't really talk about it. "Keep the Secrets" and all. I'll just say, the special effects were excellent and Potter fans will be in heaven. If you are not up on all your Potter, don't worry, the story stands on its own and you will be able to follow the plot just fine.

If you do get the chance to see the show, go! Theatre history in the making!

Coming up this week: more thesis research and more trips to the theatre.
I'll keep you posted!

Take care!
-m

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Shows Seen

This week I saw two shows. On Wednesday I went to the historic Theatre Royal Haymarket and saw the-always-pleasing-to-the-eye Dominic Cooper in a new revision of Stephen Jeffreys' The Libertine. And on Saturday I had the pleasure of seeing Rory Kinnear in The Threepenny Opera at the National Theatre.

The Haymarket, as we call it for short, is in the west end theatre district just a few steps from Piccadilly Circus. The theatre opened in 1720 and is a magnificent structure complete with an elaborately embellished ceiling and proscenium arch. This made it the perfect venue to host The Libertine.

The story is based on actual events in the life of John Wilmont, Earl of Rochester. Rochester was a nobleman in the court of King Charles II and took full advantage of his privileged life. He enjoyed the libations offered at the local water holes, the presentations of the playhouses (which at the time were not the most respectable places to spend time) and the talents of the local working girls. He enjoyed pushing the boundaries and challenging decency. However, he was also a poet and playwright. The play suggests Rochester was a thinker, a skeptic, and was tortured by the hypocrisy in the world and in himself.

Jeffreys' play is text heavy but not difficult to follow. His use of language and character was efficient and effective. Cooper was refreshing and strong in the role of Rochester. He delivered the journey of a complex man with clarity and captured this historic antihero with an ease of craft. The costumes by designed by Tim Shorthall were well balanced between the opulence of the period and the subtlety required to avoid distraction from the performances and text. Shorthall also designed a clever set that was simple enough to morph into the various locations with the use of simple platforms and an ever-changing assortment of background projections.  Overall, it was a lovely way to spend an evening.

Saturday took me bankside to the National. The Royal National Theatre was established in 1963 and is one of the UK's great national institutions for culture. They are a subsidised theatre, meaning they are benefactors of government funding. In 1976 they moved from the Old Vic Theatre to their current home on the south bank of the river Thames. As it was built in the 70's, the National is an example of a modern urban design made of concrete with various levels and shapes. Inside the complex are multiple bars and cafes and a bookshop. Oh and stages, four performance spaces of different shapes and sizes.

I went to see The Threepenny Opera in their largest space, the Olivier. Threepenny is a play with music written by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Elisabeth Hauptmann. The show is based on The Beggar's Opera by John Gay. Many people are familiar with the song "Mack the Knife" from Threepenny which was made famous by Bobby Darin and Frank Sinatra.

Threepenny opened in Berlin in 1928 and is one of Brecht's most well-known works. Brecht was a German playwright who made significant contributions to theatre and theatre history. He was a Marxist and used theatre to explore political and philosophical ideas, and comment on society and materialism. To symbolize this, the show is most often produced in a bare-bones, ragamuffin fashion.

The National's Threepenny did nod to the simplistic by using raw wood and exposed hardware in the set design by Vicki Mortimer, but there were several components to the set that was shape-shifting constantly during the show. Kinnear took on the role of Mack, a man not so different from the aforementioned Rochester in that he enjoyed a series of women and found himself tangled in violence and legal troubles. Kinnear did a fine job with Mack representing the underbelly of mankind and how power and position can be a person's downfall. Brecht is a very specific style. He quite literally uses signs with words to make his point clear. So, the understated has no place on a Brechtian stage. The show captured the style effectively and the message that there was no message, was received. Well, Brecht does tell you upfront through the use of a prologue, there is no moral to the story. I am glad I saw it. Threepenny is a classic of the theatre literature canon and this was my first visit with Mack the Knife.

It was an excellent week at the theatre and I see in the adverts there are additional excitements coming soon to London stages. I am compiling a list. I'll keep you posted.

Until next time...
Take care!
-m





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