Drama
Refreshing and innovative, Black Comedy turns the audience's perception of light on its head, with an opening scene in blackout followed by a violent plunge into full naturalistic wash when the fuse blows... confused? You might be, but only temporarily. The idea is that when the characters suffer an electrical fault and stumble around in the darkness, we enjoy the delicious voyeurism of watching them when they think no one can see.
The play is set in the 1960s, when artist Brindsley (David Opperman) and his fiancée Carol (Rachel Parris) are anticipating the visit of a German millionaire sculpture collector (Georg Vonkalckreuth) to view Brindsley's lastest work. Coupled with this is a visit from Carol's esteemed father Colonel Melkett, played hilariously by Tim Youker. Confusion ensues when Brindsley's next door neighbour Harold Gorringe (James Bounds) is heard, and begins (with an elaborate and farcical routine of mime and Wilde-esque scripting) to discover the fact that Brindsley has "borrowed" a large quantity of his furniture to impress his visitors! The second (teetotal) neighbour who "appears," Miss Furnival, is played by Lily Sykes; she manages in the "darkness" to mistake gin for bitter lemon, and consequently is soon staggering and slurring around the stage in a hilarious fashion, and for a long while continues completely unnoticed by the other characters who of course cannot see each other.
The plot takes an even more peculiar turn when Brindsley's former lover, Clea, who turns out to be rather more "current" than anyone is aware of, enters the room and remains undiscovered for some time until she happens to collide with Brindsley in a comically contrived moment amongst the chaos. When the electrician (great characterisation by Greg Coulter) finally arrives to mend the fuse, he is mistaken for the art collector Brindsley is expecting, and proceeds to disrupt the scene even further by offering his completely unqualified opinion on Brindsley's sculpture which he is forced to examine "by feel" when Carol removes his torch from him before Harold sees his own furniture in Brindsley's house! Confused? You will be! The cast carry off an impressive farce, that builds gradually into a satisfyingly predictable one that is simply a delight to observe.
Director Hannah Thorpe has spent considerable time with her cast in workshops and exercises to create the effect of "blindness" of the characters, and it pays off. They speak at each other and usually in completely the wrong direction, stare into space without looking at the speaker and mistake one another in a beautifully choreographed yet surprisingly realistic sequence. The set is smart and incorporates levels (Brindsley's bedroom is a raised platform at the back) as well as practical design, and Brindsley's sculpture is a very interesting creation built of completely unidentifiable materials; it all adds to the warming comedy of the play.
In whose terms do we think about and assimilate news stories into our everyday lives? In our cliché-ridden, sound-bite, pop-culture society, the question we have to ask ourselves is this: in what ways do we take in and articulate what we understand about what is really going on in the world? Such questions lay at the heart of Crossed Wire.
The play is a 45-minute devised piece, created by means of group improvisation, developed over the course of the term. Having drawn on newspaper articles and actual news stories during their development, the cast plunge you headlong into a rollercoaster ride through a whole host of different scenarios: interviews, news reports, TV adverts, politicians' speeches, a UN court house... there is no formal narrative structure or plot, rather, there are a number of separate threads which run through the piece, so that through the kaleidoscopic presentation of scenes and images and the confusion of sound and music, there is a satisfying, if disturbing, coherence.
The effect is a dizzying, and often comically unsettling experience. Stunning, too, are the performances of the actors. They portray effectively the idea that if things are repeated enough they become meaningless. The fact that none of the characters really have any names is a reflection of the fact that the people we see on the news are ultimately faces without names. There is no single message, but a challenge to think about the ways in which you think and the vocabulary in which you do so.
Robert Marshall's production takes the 'Tudorish' Teddy Hall Old Dining room as his set for Shakespeare's pastoral comedy. This setting bodes well for the tone of Marshall's production, which has chosen an explicitly 'theatrical' tone. As You Like It in this interpretation is lively, unfussy, and slickly delivered. None of the cast takes themselves too seriously, which is a definite plus in a Shakespeare comedy; it frees up the production from that 'naturalism' which can act as a sedative to Oxford Shakespeare.
Ruth Taylor's Rosalind perfectly mixes the playful and the serious in her role, that makes her performance totally convincing, especially in the forest scenes. Louise Dumican's Celia is a perfect foil to her, providing a good dose of common sense, and it is testament to her engagement in the play that, during those long scenes when she is an observer, she never, ever, looks like a lemon, but remains totally interesting to the scene. The more predictable emotions that are necessary to the story at the beginning are played through with a lightness and swiftness which is commendable, as the actors focus on the more interesting, complicated emotions in the forest into a stronger light. Sylvius and Phoebe play their farcical courtship out very funnily. By contrast, Donal Coonan's Jacques is a more disturbing presence than I have seen the character played before, maybe just because he is younger than most, but his 'melancholy' seems a deeply bitter resentment of the nobility frolicking around the forest,rather than a laughing tolerance. etation of it will be worth seeing.
All in all, what comes across is the sheer fun this cast has had putting together this production, and, when they're enjoying it, its impossible not to enjoy it too.
Although set in the 1950's, Look Back in Anger is far from a sunny portrait of a carefree era. The play toys with how an individual can be consumed with bitter memories of the past and how resentment can mar personal relationships.
Set in a 1950s bed sit, the tension between husband and wife Jimmy and Alison Porter is at the heart of much of the action in the play. Despite a turbulent relationship, a generally peaceful dynamic is maintained in the household due to the intervention of friend and lodger Cliff Lewis. However, it is the arrival of Helena an old friend of Alison's which pivots the state of equilibrium seen in the household into one of considerable unease.
Overall, the play boasts of some superb actors. The performances of Laura Mcnaught as Alison and Chloe Reddaway as the cool, upper middle class Helena are extremely convincing. The strength of each actor is particularly seen in the scenes which centre around Jimmy as he acts as a catalyst for each actor to show the their intensity and depth of character. Added realism is also given to the play in the form of meticulous set detail, complete with genuine 1950's style memrobilia.
Despite the cast adequately depicting the angsr and vulnerability of each character, Osbourne's play is rather slow moving. Nevertheless, it is likely to be enjoyed by those attracted to a realistic period piece.
The title of this play will probably be familiar to many people because of the recent Anthony Minghella's Hollywood film starring Jude Law, Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow. The Hollywood production, as well as sprinkling Patricia Highsmith's original novel with famous faces, adds a dash of saccharine sweetness which the theatrical adaptation (written by Phyllis Nagy) avoids. The theatrical version stresses the importance of "what is not said' but, from the start of this production, it is obvious that the play focuses much more closely on the complicated homosexual intrigue between Tom (played by Coleman Crenshaw) and the object of his desire Richard Greenleaf (played by Harry Lloyd.) Both Crenshaw and Lloyd, perhaps inevitably, mimic some of the gestures and stances of Law and Damon; however, this should not detract from the fact that they both portray their characters with intelligence and conviction.
From the opening scene, Tom Ripley and Richard Greenleaf are united by the fact that they are Americans in a foreign country, but the similarity ends there. Everything in their expressions and mannerisms emphasise that they are from different backgrounds and adhere to different philosophies. Lloyd indicates Richard Greenleaf's arrogant, careless attitude that comes from a life of privilege through casual halfsmiles and tilts of the head. Crenshaw manages to make Ripley seem both tightly controlled whilst indicating the menacing capacity of his explosiveness.
Small cast productions rely on the chemistry between the central characters and the entrance of Marge Sherwood (played by Elisabeth Gray) does not disappoint the established tension. A difficult part to play, Gray beautifully manages to express her devotion to Greenleaf without losing a toughfaced exterior and effectively conveying the increasing strain of maintaining her 'brave face' towards the end of the play.
The limitation of the stage, compared with the extravagance of Hollywood productions, is expertly overcome by the director Hugh Montgomery. An imaginative mixture of mime, lighting and sound is used to ensure that the climactic rowing scene (all those who have seen the film will know what I'm referring to!) is both dramatic and surprisingly convincing. I would urge everyone to see this production, whether or not they enjoyed the film version. The themes in the theatrical version are in fact strikingly different and provocative. Be brave and look into the "unflattering mirror" and I guarantee you will be pleased with what you see.
After several frenzied weeks of rehearsals and nearly 40 performances of plays put together entirely by freshers, the judges announced the winners of Cuppers 2002 on Sunday evening. With twelve awards up for grabs, the big gongs went to Bouncers for Best Play (St. Anne's), Mark Grimmer and Jack Ream, sharing Best Actor, Helena Johnson for Best Actress, and Lily Sykes and James Profumo for Best Director. Merton's production of The Miller and The Reeve was the most successful, picking up three awards.
Judge Jos Lavery told the OxStu: "Standards were generally high throughout the week - the range of pieces chosen and performed successfully was impressive". The judges were also pleased to see a number of plays written by students, looking forward to new writing talent continuing the alreadystrong tradition in the university. Best New Writing was won by Ed Chappel for Natural Selection in the 21st Century.
Christine DeBlaseBallstadt, also a judge, has invited Bouncers to go with her production company, Genetically Modified Productions, to perform in Edinburgh. Of the play, she said: "It was the slickest show of the entire week".
The four best plays, picked by the judges from ten finalists, will be showcased at Wadham on Friday, starting at 7.30pm.
21st Nov 2002