Drama
You have to be either very brave or very stupid to take on Dracula. Approach him without the necessary precautions and you'll end up flat on your back with anaemia or, worse still, you'll become a blood-sucker yourself: a minion in the same vein as the original but without the same kudos.
Director Jonathan Gordonís production unavoidably falls into the latter category. He has obviously thought deeply about his place in the work's history and boldly claims to have re-asserted its terrifying authority, but there is one major problem with this statement. No doubt we still harbour the same sexual and anti-Christian desires that Stoker's Dracula represented for the Victorian age but the force the book wields is somewhat devalued when transferred to the stage.
Without being unfair to the powers of the theatre, it is incredibly difficult to convince a modern (if any) audience of real terror without the novel writer's or film director's means of suspense, namely shifts of perspective and exclusion from view.
I am incredibly easy to scare but when Dracula (Nik Piachaud) entered with a swish and a growl I wanted to laugh. Perhaps the point was to segregate him in a different world of fantasy, but the continued melodrama (conveyed through odd meaningful looks and the occasional growl) made it well-nigh impossible to take him seriously.
What ís more, Gothic horror requires atmosphere and due to the restraints of a press-preview there was none: no costumes, no props, just helpful members of cast carrying a coffin around. Don't get me wrong: the poor vampire was obviously facing some extenuating circumstances and Pichaud's strong voice and grand stature suggest that once placed in the appropriate setting and costume he'd be more convincing, but the detachment of audience from action was disappointing.
The rest of the cast generally played their roles well (Mark Lowen as Harker worked well in naturalistic contrast to Pichaud) but Cat Ward was clearly the star of the show. From the little seen of her she fitted the role of Lucy perfectly; managing to portray the gothic heroine metamorphosing under Dracula's nightly drainings in a completely convincing manner, complete with screams, vampire-esque kisses and sexual overtones. Evidently it is into this last coital idea that the director has poured most of his considerable artistic vision.
For Gordon as well as Stoker vampires symbolise repressed sexual desire and the action of blood sucking is steeped in sexual connotations. In this respect Dracula's three concubines are one of the most successful symbols of the play, writhing over each other and Harker like Macbeth's three witches until even their lustful speech becomes intertwined. By continually placing them in juxtaposition with Harker's naturalism and normative sexual relations, Gordon cleverly highlights the disparity between Victorian action and repressed desires. He and Ward are the saving graces of the play, demonstrating that natural ability can push out the boundaries of a restrictive medium. Nonetheless, this doesn't mean the audience will be convinced.
The last word lies with individual taste and expectation: a bloody mess or dead good?
http://draculaplay.cjb.net Rose Foley
Written in 1985 by playwright Frank McGuinness, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Toward the Somme concerns eight of the six thousand Ulstermen who enlisted to fight in the First World War. A major purpose of this play is to show how the memories of Ulster soldiers have been used to serve modern political purposes. The reference to 'marching' in the title is reminiscent of Ulster tradition and the impact of Orangeman ritual and Northern Irish history on the events in the play are emphasised. As well as being an inherently political play, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Toward the Somme, also inspires a great deal of pathos.
Director, Rachel McCrum, seeks to bring out the human interest element in the play in order to make it more accessible to an Oxford audience who, in general, has a hazy BBC-based knowledge of Northern Irish politics. This is done effectively without making the production too sentimental; plays about war can too easily be deliberately over-emotional.
There are some strong performances. The peculiarity of Pyper was played well by Ewan Smith although I thought his performance needed more energy. The way in which the friends, John Millen and William Moore (George Norton and Nicholas Lax) grouped together when under attack from fellow soldiers was good. The two Belfast soldiers played by Rob Porter and Philip Day added some humour into the play and were convincingly rough and unmannered. Although most individual performances were strong, the interaction between cast members needed to be working on in order to be really emotionally involving. Only about half the cast were able to cope with the notoriously difficult Irish accent and while this did not affect the standard of acting it may perhaps annoy the purist.
The set will be minimal so that it does not detract from the action; instead lighting and costumes will be used to create a feeling of period and mood. Spotlights will be used to highlight characters and costumes are to be as naturalistic complete with charming details such hats and string vests.
Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Toward the Somme is generally well performed and directed and with a week's rehearsal to go the play will hopefully gain some of the group coherence which was slightly lacking at the preview. I only fear that some of the political significance that this play would have for an Irish audience will be largely lost on an Oxford audience. However this play, like most First World War literature, is very touching and fans of Journey's End should definitely go and see it, it may even teach you some Irish history!
Liz Sharp
Fancy seeing a play by a man that the United States banned? If so, then you'll want to get along to the Old Fire Station, and catch Presspacks new production of Abducting Diana.
Presspack have been performing contempary theatre for nearly 14 years, and they've fully updated this translation (produced by Robert Stenning in 1994) maintaining the humor of Fo's original script, and adding up to date jokes and references. But the script was great to begin with, with quotes like -
"The government can do what it likes to the economy, but a sex scandal - that really gets the punters going."
Dario Fo is both a Nobel Prize winning playwright and a man denounced by the Vatican, and for nearly 20 years he was refused entry to the US. When they finally let him visit, he thanked Ronald Reagan for the free publicity.
The plot, which includes gun-toting altarboys, a deranged priest and a kidnapper in the fridge, revolves around the kidnapping of media mogul Diana Forbes McKaye, whose captivity in a disused ice cream factory becomes less a question of what will happen, and more one of who will hold the TV rights when it does Written in 1986, Abducting Diana is one of Fo's most biting attacks on the media. Predating Ben Elton's "Popcorn", he produces a funnier, and more robust play, which plays on the insanity of a kidnapping by photo-journalists, whilst keenly portraying the kind of media frenzy that any major news event now provokes. With a strong and experienced company, Abducting Diana promises to be a treat.
http://www.abductingdiana.com Matthew Taylor
Okay, so it's not the most usual thing to find in amongst the drama reviews - but this week we're reviewing a theatre.
The Moser Theatre at Wadham reopened last week after a £19,000 refurbishment, designed to turn it into one of the leading small venues in Oxford. The project owes everything to John Hargreaves, who kicked off the whole project, and Mark Roberts, the current manager, who saw the project through to completion.
During the day, the Moser is a squash court. Like the BT this means that productions must clear the stage every night. Unlike the BT, there is a sizeable prop store close at hand, which along with the additional seating (The Moser seats 113, compared to the BT's 50) will make it a very attractive alternative.
The cost of hire is "affordable", in the words of the theatre's website, but this doesn't mean that you miss out on facilities. A large chunk of the money was spent on a brand new computer-driven lighting loft, and the modern equipment makes it easy for beginners to get to grips with the setup. One senior member of Wadham gleefully pointed out that the space had previously been the "pigswill area", now meaning that those running the lighting rig are closer to the College bar than anyone else in the Theatre. Which is nice...
The facilities for actors are nice too, with fully fitted out changing rooms (one of the advantages of sharing facilities a squash court), and plenty of dark lit backstage space in which to cram those lines at the last minute.
The Moser, which my colleauges at Cherwell didn't seem to think worth a review, is now ready to take it's place as one of the leading venues in Oxford. This week, you can see Daisy Pulls it Off. Go on, you know you want to...
http://www.wadham.ox.ac.uk/~moser/ Matthew Taylor
22nd Nov 2001