Matthew Bourne's Romeo & Juliet

Copyright Johan Persson & New Adventures

Matthew Bourne's Romeo & Juliet

I will be honest, I am massive fan of this company (check out my review of The Red Shoes) so I might be a tad unbiased but I hope to make it clear why this is a worth while visit to the theatre.

Matthew Bourne has a unique style bridging ballet and modern dance, he used the classic score of the ballets but condenses it into a more narrative form so anyone can watch the performance and understand what is going on. This is the first time that company have had a live orchestra to work with and it was as seamless as when they used recordings which goes to show how a live orchestra can support the dancers in expressing the emotions of the piece. They use Prokofiev Ballet score with all the familiar movements you will recognise. It will be interesting to see whether they continue with this.

To the plot; They have gone very Gen Z which is appropriate for this story. Romeo is the son of a rich and famous couple who are committing him to an asylum (or the Verona Institute) for the nervous tick he has. He meets Juliet there who is being sexually abused by the guard. They have their meet cute at a dance arranged by the Rev (The Spiritual adviser). They fall 'madly' in love but as we all know that it is all very fragile and tragedy is moments away. I loved that Juliet is given a lot more agency, Romeo is less 'romantic' (read useless) but still it is Juliet who is the rebel, fighting the ones who oppress her and her fellow inmates. 

The set for Romeo and Juliet

I got to see the Montague cast (there are two casts Capulets & Montagues) and I thought they were amazing. Especially Seren Williams who plays Juliet. I did love the passion that Andrew Monaghan brought to the part but I don't know if he was recovering from an injury because he didn't do lifts, It is modern dance so they may have been the choreography but he seemed awkward in places and notable to me that he wasn't lifting. Again I love the skill and artistry of the choreography and the whole thing is lovely to watch but I wanted to highlight some spectacular moments such when Romeo and Juliet meet and dance together at the dance, the whole ensemble lift them and they 'float' towards each other. There is also the use of the Dance of the Knights to symbolise the oppressive regime at the Institute (I always thought it was an angry piece of music, Prokofiev socialism slipping out?). Also a great solo from Joao Carolino as Mercutio's lover, Benvolio.

The other new addition to the New Adventure performance is the use of young dancers, as this is a play about teenagers it works and it says something to how talented they all are as they were indistinguishable from the main company. Bravo to them!

Just a quick thing about the Venue which was the Wales Millennium Centre, It was one of the best venues I have ever been to; having very comfortable seats with good views (no being blocked by someone's head) and toilets on ever floor. Good job!

Board game review: The Festival Game

The Festival Game copyright: own

The Festival Game

I run my workplace board game club and was recently contacted about trying out a new Kickstarter game called: The Festival Game and giving it a review. So here it is!

The board mid game. copyright: own

As you can see from this photo this is a 'roll and move' game where 4 groups (you will need more then one person on each team to play) have to collect between 3 and 5 backstage passes and all the items you need to camp at a festival before heading to the main stage and answering a question to end the game. The one with the highest points win the game. 

Game play

You start the game with a certain number of camping gear and you can use these to trade for the items you need to complete the game. You can see on the board that every square has a icon which lets you pick up a bottle (bottles are points or can be traded for items), roll again or pick up a Karma card (basically an action card that gives you extra items from the other players or moves you to another area of the board). There is also a Lost/Found square which means you can grab anything that has been discarded (or lost) previously in the game. There are also squares were you have to get everyone a drink and one which gives you a meet card earning you points at the end of the game. Each team has to throw the dice after saying which stage they are going to head towards. When you get to the stage you have to complete the action on the card which involves some form of performance. 

Review

I have to admit I find that most people who play board games are fairly introvert so asking them to dance and sing was little more then they might feel comfortable with! If you like Cranium and that sort of family game then this might suit you. We adapted the game so it was just pictionary/humming or charades. Pictionary and humming worked best however only if you knew the thing you were trying to describe! Here is a selection of some of the cards from the Acoustic Stage (you had to pick one to perform for the rest of your team to guess in one minute):

Sure Leonard Cohen and Guns N' Roses are pretty universally known but the rest?? If you google Waking the Witch they were a indie band from 10 years ago. There were more of the former then the latter and again as introverts we are not natural festival goers so it is unlikely that we would have seen these less famous band perform (not everyone but in our fairly diverse group at work none of us had heard of them). Which made it pretty hard to complete the challenge. I fully embrace the fact that it shouldn't be easy but this was too obscure for us and would have involved swapping out alot of cards to make it playable. 

Even if you managed to complete the correct backstage passes and collected the camping items you needed then when you got to the Main Stage you were greeted with questions like this:

They are all like this! Again how many people really know the history and technical information about festivals? It was too hard for us and we would need to write different ones to play it again. 

It is an active game were you always have something to do and we mostly got around the board quickly, the difficultly of knowing the bands not withstanding. It definitely had alot of potential with some more universal acts or with a more festival loving group. It was fun and could be played quickly or with more breaks if you want.

Home, I'm Darling

Katherine Parkinson in Home, I'm Darling Copyright: Seatplan.com

Home, I'm Darling tour

I was lucky enough to get last minute tickets to see this new play by Laura Wade at the Theatre Royal Bath so it was my first time in this venue.

The play itself is interesting; exploring what is feminism and what is the perfect marriage. We are introduced to a seemingly perfect 1950's couple, wife making breakfast and husband getting ready for work. The stage is set up as four rooms in a house (a typical two up, two down) and once the husband leaves the wife busies herself cleaning before pulling a laptop out a drawer and sitting down to work on it. The play has a lot of fun with the jarring nature of living an old fashioned lifestyle in a modern world. The wife (Katherine Parkinson) use to be high powered but when she was made redundant throws herself into the keeping the 1950's lifestyle committed to the point of cutting herself off from modern news and seeming to be the 'little, ignorant wife' when guests visit. Her husband also seems to find her servile and this causes friction in their marriage. The play has another 50's loving couple who are contrasted with the main two and this is used to show the difference between hobby and obsession. The wife also has a hippy 2nd wave feminist mother who is frustrated by her daughter harking back to a type of life that was inflexible, racist and sexist and until rationing ended not as bountiful as the films she loves so much suggest! The play explores the fantasy of the perfect marriage and then deftly demonstrates what a real, happy marriage is. 

The set is lovely and beautifully curated and when we have a flashback the cast do an excellent job of changing the scenery around them so there is a seamless change back to the present. The costumes are great and really pop.

Theatre Royal Bath is a nice theatre but does have a few issues in that it has pillar that restrict views on the Royal and Dress Circle but they have an 'Standby ticket' option which for £9 means you can sit on unreserved benches or restricted view seats that are only available on the day. Plenty of bars and snacks but only programmes no additional merchandise. 

Strictly Ballroom

The cast of Strictly Ballroom The Musical performing Time After Time - photo by Johan Persson.

Strictly Ballroom: the musical

I am a massive fan of the film 'Strictly Ballroom' so was very excited when I heard that the director was working on a musical for the stage so booked up as soon as it  hit the West End. I was not disappointed.

The core story of the film is still there, the sweet romance, the breaking free of the conventions and the comedy parents so film fans will not be disappointed. We had an understudy for Scott Hastings the main protagonist and Dale White did not disappoint, stepping in to both the role and the solo choreography effortlessly. The performances of the acting performers was great with Stephen Matthews as the father doing great work with his small part. I found Anna Francolini and Lauren Stroud a little over the top for me but they pulled it off and the audience loved it.

The dancing was amazing! I am more familiar with ballet/modern dance so it was a real treat to see a different style of dance. Drew McOnie has really created a great visual and athletic style that is amazing to watch but is recognisable to Strictly Come Dancing fans and to those who know the film. Fran's family scenes have been extended and Ivan De Freitas as Fran's father, Merv really shows his skill as an actor and especially as a dancer commanding the scene and holding the audience spellbound.

A special mention for Will Young who sings all the songs live and pull off his Australian accent. He interacts with audience with ease and is on stage all the time which must be tiring but he kept the energy up.

I think my only criticism is that the stage seemed busy with both the live band and large bits of sets always on stage which seemed like it might restrict the dancers a little, even that they had to come on in different ways but it seemed to work and I am sure everyone whats a bigger stage!

The theatre itself is lovely with plenty of toilets and 'at seat service' but the Stalls has the same problem as alot of theatres do in that it doesn't stagger the seats so you can't always see. A great experience and worth a visit.

Mary Magdalene

Copyright Universal Pictures International

Mary Magdalene

I thought it was important to write about this film as a female Christian because it was probably the first time I have seen my own experience of being a Christian on screen. 

Like many people I read the reviews and while lukewarm at best I thought it would be a nice introduction to Easter so went along and came out deeply moved. This was a female centric view of Jesus and the early church. It was moving and real and for once I felt reflected my experience of being a woman in the church. I would encourage any female Christian to go see this film.

Firstly you should be aware that this film was Executive Produced by Harvey Weinstein and stars Joaquin Phoenix who while not accused himself, was involved in a Film were Casey Affleck was accused of sexual harassment. I wanted to make you aware of this.

The film opens with a lovely sequence of 'busy nothings' Mary and her sister fishing for shellfish and then preparing them. They rush to help their Sister in Law who is having a difficult birth. While the house is busy with men the focus is on the women and their activity. Later one of the women jokes "It must be nice to have free time." after seeing all the men go off to hear Jesus speak. I have to admit I have experienced and watch women working hard in the Church to make things easy for others while not getting to hear the teaching themselves/ myself. As a woman you are always asked "Are you a Mary or Martha?" (The other Mary who anoints Jesus' feet). It is not always possible to be a 'Mary'.

Clothing is important. Mary and her sister are freer in their clothing as they are around their family and working,later we see Mary is restricted due to being around non family members except with Jesus. Just a little thing but I liked the visual that with Jesus she was with family and could be herself.

We first get a glimpse that Mary seeks more when she is told she is to be married to a local man and she runs to the temple for guidance and finds only censure from the men especially her father who asks for honesty and when given it assumes she is possessed and has her dunked in the local river in a violent exorcise that nearly goes wrong. She is punished for being truthful, for admitting doubts about the life she is expected to live. For seeking more, stating she wants to know God.

As you can imagine things are a little bit tense at home as Mary feels the burden of  not being acceptable to her family but not knowing how to change. It takes Jesus coming to heal her to make her see that there is another path. She joins the disciples. Jesus treats her like an equal and the disciples to some extent too. I like that the disciples were all races and ages. It shows how rag tag they must have been. They are shown to be much more focused on Jesus being a King on Earth not a Heavenly king which leads them into conflict.

Mary helps Jesus to see that women need to approached differently, that society prevents them from being in the same spaces as men so he goes to them. Some of the best exchanges are when he speaks to women who express their anger and resentment at being oppressed. As in the Bible were the best and most insightful sections are Jesus speaking to or interacting with women (the woman by the well) this really shows how important the women are to his teaching.

We also meet Mary, Mother of Jesus and she gets to tell her story. The burden of knowing your son with die and never truly having him. It is a beautiful moment and I am sure one that many have felt when their child has been called to serve.

The film is also very explicit that it is Mary who is 'The Apostle of apostle" telling the disciples of Jesus' resurrection and later she is seen leading the women of the early church. This is very true as women were often the first converts in households and big supports of the church (there even seems to be evidence they were worship leaders). 

I loved that this film had a fresh perspective on the Gospel story and that is what made it a worth while and revealatory film that should engage and support any female christian this Easter time.

This film also highlights the importance of having women (and BAME) reviewers in mainstream media as it got decidedly lukewarm reviews but they were all written by white men and I wonder if that is why they didn't appreciate this film as much. 

Hamilton

Hamilton London - Copyright Delfont Mackintosh

So after months of waiting I finally got to see the most talked about show to come from Broadway: Hamilton, and boy was it worth it. I was worried that I would be disappointed, that it would all be hype but no; moving, engaging and instantly classic songs. Worth every penny and the pain of getting there!

The musical itself is high energy and packed with stuff, Hamilton crammed alot into his life and the musical feels like it is trying to do the same but it is engaging and has some fantastic emotional moments specifically in the second half during the song 'It's Quiet Uptown'  when the entire Grand Circle could be heard sniffing and holding back the tears. All of the cast are excellent with Obioma Ugoala's George Washington belting out his songs,Michael Jibson making King George a true pantomime villain  and Jason Pennycooke, Tarinn Callender brilliantly moving from one character to another. I don't even need to say how amazing Jamael Westman was as Hamilton!

The show has some amazing choreography; the carefully planned and executed Satisfied (where we get a flashback/rewind to see an event from someone else's point of view) is brilliant! Fantastic and so hard to do!  Of course there are the awesome songs that you will have stuck in your brain from listening to the soundtrack in advance but seeing some of them live made me rethink songs that I had skipped when listening via Mp3.

Ok I am now going to wax lyrical about the costumes (so skip this paragraph if this is not of interest). Paul Tazewell has done something amazing with the costumes of Hamilton, not only are the ensemble and cast dressed in recognisable 18th Century costumes that were adaptable to the part they were to play (British or revolutionary army, party guest or sailor etc) but then THEN he designed costumes that reflect the change of fashion as the Revolution progressed i.e they become more regency in style half way through the second act!! So important and visually stunning I was completely in love with this level of detail (I know some this comes from the Creator Lin- Manuel Miranda but still). I was very impressed that Rachelle Ann Go could run about in a hoop petticoat but she did it with grace however Rachel Johns nearly fell over her skirt in her big song and reflected my worry that the dresses were not originally designed to be moved about as vigorously as they were . Hopefully they with take the skirts up a couple of inches to help with the movement and make sure Rachel Johns continues to be awesome.

I also noticed that Giles Terera had some microphone issues which is a shame as his Aaron Burr is fascinating and nuanced. The end of the musical is also poignant as it reveals the importance of the name of the show.

The merchandise is a great price and has a good selection ( I brought the unique London Hamilton T shirt with King George on for £28 and goes up to XL). Lots of toilets which is great and if the building isn't quite finished it wasn't too messy to look at. The bar was busy so I was put off getting a drink (but I was late arriving). They do have free water there if you need it.

My only issue with this theatre was my seat. I was sat in the Grand Circle and if you are are taller then 5ft 6ins BE PREPARED! My knees were jammed in the seat in front (I had bruises and little indents in them the next day) as there is barely any leg room! Seat was wide but having to fold my legs under the chair in order to sit was VERY uncomfortable. I hate when theatres just cram you in and not consider the customer experience. Theatre tickets are expensive and with live screenings at your local cinema for half the price people are going to rethink going if they are not able to be comfortable.

Hamilton is worth the wait and the price. Get ready to take your shot!!

She loves me (the original You've got mail)

She loves me (photo credit: Tristam Kenton)

She loves me

I will be honest and say that I am such a huge fan of You've got mail that I imported a copy of 'The Shop around the corner' the movie it was based on. Imagine my joy when I found it was based on a musical!! I booked up as soon as I saw the review in The Times. I have never been to the Menier Chocolate factory (very disappointed that there was no chocolate involved 😢) but was happy to try a new place.

The Menier Chocolate factory is small and has bench seating but this worked out alright (my row wasn't fully booked so we had a bit of room). There is restaurant for pre and post food and drink (little pricey for me but looked nice - had an old school plate warmer!) The bar was ok (I had a Rose which was bit sharp but fine) and there is small cloakroom and plenty of toilets.

Once we got into the theatre space I loved that the curtain had images of famous Budapest buildings, the Parliament building and the Matthias Church which sets us up for the story...

Georg is a shop supervisor working in Budapest who has been writing to a secret pen pal and they have finally decided to meet but that could all be ruined when a young woman called Amalia walks in to his shop looking for work and  seems determined to  get him into trouble...

The set is beautiful! I had stop admiring the wallpaper to follow the action. Bright candy colours which were echoed in the clothes. I want the pink pyjamas (above) and the hats the ladies wear.

 The space is used well with the cast moving out into the audience as well as complicated set moves that are seamless. The ensemble cast are very talented being great singers and excellent dancers (in a key scene there is a great tango going on in the background).

Les Dennis is great as Mr Maraczek and Mark Umbers is excellent 'straight man' Georg but the highlight was Olivia Fines as Ilona and Scarlett Strallen as Amalia, both of whom turn in brilliant comic performances that were funny and awkward in all the best romantic comedy ways!!

This is a excellent musical with a great plot and high energy song and dance routines. Great fun and worth every penny!