Death Trap Review

Death Trap was the extra show I have chosen to write about and probably my favorite show I saw while in London. It was show full of suspense and comedy that constantly kept me on the edge of my seat. Every aspect of the show seemed flawless and well put together. I am now going to take the next few paragraphs to tell you just how much I loved Deathtrap.
          First thing I loved about Deathtrap was the story. I love the story within a story, a plot within a plot. Just when I thought I had figured it out, there was a new twist. The characters were just so sleazy in the best of ways.
       The next aspect I loved was the set. The set remained the same for entire show, only small pieces of furniture were moved or removed. It was the interior of the writer's home and it was a beautiful lodge full all kinds of weapons, old movie props and ornate decorations and had to be a set designer's dream. It was realistic yet fantastical and had such a campy feel without being too cheesy. It was the perfect atmosphere for the story to take place.
           Next on my list to praise is probably the most important, the actors. They were just so smooth. I never once felt that they were over acting. They were so utterly believable it was the truly amazing. They completely got me, I was completely en-rapt. I think it was because they convinced me so fully that I had such a good time. I wasn't thinking about how the theatre was functioning because I was too busy watching what was playing out in front of me. They were just so quick-tounged and the pace of the dialogue was just fantastic. It was a constant back and forth without becoming repetitive. I really just loved Deathtrap, going in with no expectations and just being delightfully surprised was a great experience. Not to be repetitive, but this was my favorite show!

La Boheme Review

            While I was a fan of many of the productions in London, this was one performance that fell short of winning my admiration. La Boheme was our last show to see and instead of going out with a bang, I feel we instead went out with a bit of a whimper. The version of La Boheme we saw was not the original Italian opera, rather it was a modern version with some rather “modern” translations that at times left me wishing they had never touched the original.

            The play started out all right. The first act took place in a messy apartment shared by two starving artists, a painter and a writer. They struggled to pay rent despite having a seemingly large apartment and high tech devices such as a macbook and fashionable clothing with hairgel. I could let those details go but when the actors started singing in belting tenors about that “damn computer” they lost me. I understand that the translation was meant to be humorous but it times it passed the fine line of clever and tasteless. The whole joke just got old far too fast. The understandability of each character varied greatly which only frustrated me as time went on. I know we had a program with the lyrics but I wasn’t interested in having to read along and missing all the visuals, not that there was much to miss.

            After a lackluster first act intermission came and I was relieved for a nice sit down. Instead I was forcibly ushered out of my seat and down to the already pack bar below. Then a great marketing ploy was put into place because, surprise! Act two was to commence in the bar! Oh boy, oh wait, oh no! I wasn’t exactly please to find out that I would have to stand shoulder to shoulder for the next act when I thought I had been promised a seat with my ticket purchase. Needless to say if I had know the scene was to take place in the bar I just might have pushed forward to the front so that I might actually see but instead I stood in the back straining to see let alone hear what the actors were singing. Needless to say the entire act was completely lost on me and felt ripped off.

            I wasn’t even in the mood for the third act, by that point I was just waiting for the play to be over, wondering just how long these songs could last, and could Mimi just die already? Just the small details were aggravating such as the fact that while painting the sign, he does not in fact ever actually put the brush to the sign. It was just plain awful pantomiming. I had completely lost interest and despite the beautiful songs and wonderful piano playing I just didn’t care anymore. While I think the adaptation was a clever in theory, in practice failed.

Cinderella Review

         I had never seen a Matthew Bourne show, let alone any sort of dance theatre so I went into Cinderella not really knowing what to expect and not really knowing how to judge. This Cinderella was set during the Blitz in London, a modern fairytale. There was no fairy god mother but rather an angelic man who seemed to be playing the part of Cinderella’s conscious. There was no prince either, instead there was only an injured pilot who stumbles into Cinderella’s home. There were still an evil stepmother and sisters however, some of the characters who stole the show because I felt the main characters were quite bland by comparison.

            Which leads me to my first criticism, the characters. I felt that so many of the characters just fell short. There was no real character that really kept my attention for very long and wooed me with their charm. I felt that the dancers were great dancers but not necessarily good actors. Maybe it was because it was a story I had heard so many times before, but there was no new twist put on the characters to keep my interest. They seemed to distinctly lack a personality.

            While the story and the setting didn’t win me over, the dance and choreography seemed quite beautiful. Like I said I had never really seen a dance show before so I didn’t really have anything to compare to. I also know nothing about dance. I mean those dancers were definitely doing things I could never do and that alone impressed me. Then they were also doing in unison with each other. Wow. But after a while I felt like they were just dancing the same dance over and over again. Maybe it’s my dance ignorance that kept me from seeing the differences but I felt like the same waltz was being performed with different costumes in different settings. In fact it was the big dances with the most characters that I strangely felt were the least interesting. One dance that did win my fancy was the dance that Cinderella performed with the manikin while dreaming about the prince. I felt it was truly unique compared to the other dances. It was only the time in which I felt Cinderella showed any sort of personality. There was quirk and humor in dance and it was overall charming. It was less graceful and more entertaining.

            While the performers of the show didn’t win me over, to be honest neither did the setting. I felt that while the setting was pretty and interesting, it was a gimmick that got old quick. Once again maybe it was ignorance keeping me from enjoying it. I didn’t live in London during the Blitz and haven’t seen many classic films from the era so all the specific references went right over my head. Instead I focused on the little inconsistencies. One big one was the giant drop with the painted shoe. It was a beautiful shoe amongst the rubble but it most definitely was not he peep toed shoes Cinderella was wearing. How you have such a giant oversight for such a big production amazed me. It only took me a moment to realize that the shoe I stared at for ten minutes waiting for the show to start was not the right shoe. I know it was a small detail but it was enough, along with awfully uncomfortable seats to ruin the entire experience for me. While I had big hopes for Cinderella, it really just fell flat for me.

Black Watch Review

Black Watch was nothing of what I expected. I had heard a brief description of the plot, a documentary type format interviewing young soldiers about their time in Iraq. I was not excited to see Black Watch, in fact I was rather dreading it. I expected it to be too serious and too experimental. I was proved completely wrong within a couple of minutes. It was a brilliant piece of theatre that was truly innovating and completely engaging.

            One of the first few moments of play consisted or soldiers ripping out from the center of the pool table, emerging from the red felt in full battle gear, guns at the ready. It painted such a beautiful and haunting image on the stage. Moments like these would really make the play such a beautiful work. Even though it was set in a time of war and violence, all the staging and movement was eerily poetic in nature. I was constantly being surprised by strange musical numbers that both seemed to come out of now where but at the same time were seamless with the story. The strong male voices were powerful and so expressive. Like I said before it was rather haunting.

            When I went in I never expected song and dance but this production had both. To accompany the moving musical numbers there were also dance like segments. The soldiers, manliest of men moving about in sharp yet graceful “fighting” dance movements throwing each other around with such ease. All the movements in the play were in fact smooth and seamless. In one segment a soldier is changed from costume to costume and carried about by various actors all while continually giving a monologue about the history of the Black Watch. It was testament to both the talent of the writer as well of the actors to keep up with such a constant flow of speech and movement. In fact that is a perfect word to describe the entire piece, seamless.

            While the acting was by far the best I had seen in London, the technical and design aspects of the play were just as impressive. It was such an unconventional space. In fact when we were first seated it reminded me more of sporting arena than a theatre. The concrete floors and metal riggings at either end seemed foreign to me at the beginning of the play, but by the end it made only perfect sense. I find it hard to imagine this play being produced in any other format, I think it would be far less effective.

            The last thing I have to talk about is the overall sense of time in the work. It was fascinating to me how, once again, the shift from past to present was so seamless. One moment the soldiers would be conversing in the bar and the next moment they would be taken back to their time in Iraq. It was the use of such simple objects such as the pool table that functioned not only as a pool table in the bar where they were being interviewed but also as the back of the truck they were driven around in. It occurred to me how it took only a simple everyday object to remind the soldier just what they had seen.

            Overall the work was dramatic and beautiful with a strange twist of comedy. It made me re-evaluate my stance on the war in Iraq and about war life in general. It was heart-warming and heart-breaking at the same time and I will never forget this performance.

Little Red Riding Hood Review

      Well, I have to say Little Red Riding Hood was definitely a unique experience, it was nothing like the other pieces we saw in London. Unlike the serious dramas that filled many of our nights by comparison Little Red was just a grand ol good time! It was a panto, which in Britain is a fairytale with musical numbers that has a ton of audience interaction. It doesn't just break the fourth wall it smashes it into pieces. Which of course made me both really nervous all the while entertaining me.
          I find it hard to fairly analyze Little Red because it just didn't take itself to seriously. I couldn't seem to find time to criticize anything because I was far too busy shouting at Granny to TURN AROUND! I had never been to any kind of the theatre like this before. I've never had an actor so forcefully demand my attention. I mean I was not about to defy the three little pigs, I was going to play along I was more than happy to say oink oink oink. I didn't want to get singled out.
       I can't imagine what that had to be like for an actor to have so much direct power over your audience. To actually be able to yell at that man sleeping in the first row. It must be a rush. While I'm sure the power was great, the amount of energy the actors had to constantly give up was just incredible. They were just so pleasant and enjoyable. I even had a soft spot for the big bad wolf and his morphing hairstyles.
         Little Red was just a great show and I just had a great time. I really wish that pantos like this would come to America, I know I would have loved going to one of these as I kid. I certainly still enjoyed going to one in my twenties and I really feel like Little Red was fun for all audience members, big and small.

Hamlet Review

            To be, or not to be? That is the question of the night. Should this production be in existence? To me the answer is questionable. Hamlet is not my favorite Shakespeare work and I was reminded of this while I watched the 3 and half hour production at the National Gallery. This Hamlet had a twist on the classic tale. Instead of setting being in ye old Denmark, it was instead an updated version set now, in the 21^st century. Guards instead of brandishing swords, were carrying machine guns. Instead of brightly colored stockings, there was only a sea of slate grey suits. While the concept was interesting, towards the end I was wishing there some ridiculous stockings to keep my attention. It was like watching a extended bad episode of West Wing.

            But perhaps I’m being too critical too fast. Let me slow down and talk about different aspects of the production and their level of success. First things first, the setting. I feel that by choosing to place Hamlet in a modern day the director was just asking for the choice to be analyzed. I admit, for about 70% of the play the modern translation worked well, sadly the 30% just didn’t seem to fit right and it was obvious. Scenes such as the gravedigger’s scene, which is one of the most memorable and important scenes, just feel so out of place and so forced into this modern world. Not to mention the final fight scene which just left a bad taste in my mouth. While they halfway decently explained by Hamlet would be wielding a sword, their interpretation of poison was just so badly outdated. People dying everywhere but at different rates with different reactions despite a shared poison. It was just too far fetched for my taste.

           But moving past the acting, it's time now to talk about the design. Once again, the design left me wishing it was just placed in a castle so I would at least have some nice tapestries to look at. Instead there were only stark white moving walls with a repeated crest. While the movement of the walls to create different spaces was clever, being seated on the side I often had a clear view into the backstage area where i was promptly distracted by the stage crew running back and forth. I didn't necessarily enjoy my surprise game of peekaboo. It was also disorienting to see an actor preparing to go on stage, stretching and being completely out of character and then seeing them snap back into character to enter stage, it kind of the took the magic out of the performance. 

           But alas I've been dragged back to the topic of actors who I thought were talented but left with a tough challenge. I feel as if certain moments of the play were acted beautifully, but other times they seemed to just loose steam, especially toward the end. Maybe it was the extremely long run time of the play, but like me they just seemed to get tired by the end. 

           Overall I think Hamlet had some winning ingredients but mixed together it was just not a winning recipe. Maybe my prejudice against Shakespeare played a part but I really felt as if Hamlet while appreciated by some was just not my cup of tea. I couldn't help pick apart everything that bothered me, and maybe it was because I had three and half hours to neigh say but Hamlet just didn't do it for me.

War Horse Review

            Within the first few moments of War Horse, you are already completely invested in the life of the young foal who prances before you. War Horse is an amazing mix of technical brilliance, as well as a truly heart warming and gripping tale of hope and love. The play starts out with the auction of the young horse to the main character’s drunkard father. A scared foal runs about the pen created by the cast holding up sections of fence while also pretending to lean and lounge on them. To me this first scene was really just a preview of the entire show. Just by analyzing this first scene, you can almost instantly understand why War Horse has become such a success.

            One of the first things I noticed about the show was the super effective use of minimal scenery throughout the play. The stage design for the show is just so impressive, yet at the same time so simple and understated. Besides a hung projection above the stage that shifted and changed as the story progressed, giving away dates and changing times, the rest of the scenery was seamlessly carried on and off by actors. It was amazing how little scenery was needed to explain to the audience just what was happening and where the characters were. Just a little barbed wire here, a few posts there. It was all it took to take me to a new place.

            Another aspect of the play was beautifully done was the music and sound. All the songs were performed by a single narrator character who had such an amazingly sweet and powerful voice. As I looked around me, it was the music of the play that really got the tears flowing. At the climax of the piece with Joey entangled and bombs and gunfire all around, it was the swelling music that really pulled on the audience’s heartstrings. From the booming of the gunshots, to the neighing of the horses, or the sweet melodies of sung verses, it was obvious that audio played an important part in this production.

            The last two aspects about the play I’m going to talk about are the most obvious, one of them being the acting. While I am certainly no expert on acting, I have to say I found the actors to be very convincing. I wasn’t in love in any one actor’s performance, but rather found them good as a company. I admit however, I often got distracted from the actors because I was watching the true stars of the show, the Puppets and the Puppeteers.

            This brings me to my final point, the Puppets. I really feel that while the rest of the show was beautifully done it would be nothing without the beautiful puppets that cross its stage. As I said when I first started, within the first few moments of the play you were already invested, because while only a puppet and three people stood in front of you, it took you only minutes to forget that what was in front of you wasn’t a real breathing, running, neighing horse. The beautiful and intricate construction of the puppets partnered with the absolute talent of the puppeteers controlling them made true magic on the stage. The horses breathed, whimpered, and lived (not to mention carried other actors around) The more I watched, the more and more I was mesmerized by these creatures, not being able to look away, watching how joints moved, how the puppets were controlled and realizing quickly how focused and concentrated the puppeteers must have been.

            Overall the show was beautiful for so many reasons and I would suggest this show to anyone as it a masterpiece.