Drama
Revue president James Harris assured me that mechanical technology represents a recurrent theme throughout this year's show and an audience more discerning than myself may, indeed, have found that the drama substantiated this thesis. I, however, felt that ubiquitous discussion of paedophilia, penises, and masturbation was the predominant influence on the script. A schoolmaster who likes girls and an aristocrat who likes boys appear alongside a predictable exemplar of the Irish priest with a predilection for his choristers. I am now convinced that the notion of deriving comedy from the topic of the sexual abuse of children is not only devoid of merit, but, moreover, positively abhorrent.
The standard of acting is, however, consistently high and several performances are outstanding. Richard Davies, appearing as the aforementioned clergyman, is a pleasure to listen to and is skilful in his delivery of several of the funniest lines. Lauren Steventon, moreover, embodies not only exquisite beauty, but also the perplexing capacity to obscure the delineation between her art and her character, making this a performance to which no conventional adjective can do justice. Finally, Stephenjohn Holgate must be acclaimed for his unmodified brilliance in actualising the idiosyncratic Abel Fumhat; aspects of the character are ridiculous and Stephenjohn deals with these and with Abel's awareness of his own absurdity with equal precision.
Notwithstanding opprobrium in respect of the content of this show, I confess that the drama takes an inventive and complex form and is at times exceptionally well delivered. I therefore hope that the Oxford Revue will meet with less qualified acclaim from audiences both at the Playhouse and during forthcoming appearances at the Edinburgh festival.
Stephen Royston-Davies
"I love you, you love me, you love Otto, I love Otto, Otto loves you, Otto loves me..." Yes, before you ask boys, it is a play about a threesome. And no, they don't do it on stage. Sorry.
This is Noel Coward as he's seldom seen. Gone is the hammy acting and society comedy, instead we're presented with a much darker work. Artists Leo, Gilda and Otto form the tortured ménage-a-trois - inescapably addicted to each other, they wreak havoc on the lives of themselves and others, until they end defiantly laughing in the face of conventional morality, declaring "we shall live and die our own way, we don't fit." It's short on comedy, big on Important Themes, and it's been moved into a modern setting in an effort to bring it all home to today's audience.
That audience being Oxford studentdom, home of neurosis and site of more unconventional and dysfunctional relationships than anywhere else I can think of, there shouldn't be a problem. But unfortunately, moving the play out of its original atmosphere of stylised society wit leaves it stranded, no longer quite sure what it is. The new naturalistic style leaves lines that could otherwise be funny simply bald and cruel. And remove the idiosyncratic charm of Coward's usual style, and suddenly the content begins to look, rather like Leo's own play, "on the whole... decidedly thin." The themes of love and its loss; sex and its consequences; success and its price are enduring and important, but they aren't enough to carry the play alone. Nor is it easy to muster interest in the dilemma of how to stay true to yourself in the face of society's pressures to conform when all those selves seem unremittingly selfish.
By the end, we have come full circle to where we began - none of the characters have grown up, and none of the questions have been answered.
Catherine Field
Oxford has the deserved reputation for staging high-class drama in all locations and settings, and, after my stirring admonishment that thesps should take to the (metaphorical) streets in search of dramatic brilliance, I'm exceptionally pleased that as many plays seem to be taking place outside as inside, and that they are all of an exceptionally high standard as well.
However, there is a down side to all this al-fresco frivolity, and that is the ever-present risk of getting absolutely soaked, with the evening often ending up being a very miserable and glum one as a result. Which is fine if you're seeing the complete works of Samuel Beckett, but not so great if you happen to be watching something less challenging and altogether sunnier.
Happily, the recent Brasenose Arts Festival had an excellent compromise between artistic integrity and audience comfort; when rain beckoned, the entire cast and spectators moved inside. The popular (and possibly apocryphal) story of a cast hiring period costumes, at vast expense,. and then being unable to use them because of foul weather, was thankfully not the case in the production of The Country Wife in the college last weekend; when rain showed its ugly head (if weather can have a head, being weather, rather than a person), the performance moved inside, and continued to be successful.
As a masterclass in how to stage Restoration comedy, Alison Convey's staging was a strong effort by all concerned. While lesser attempts at staging this play have sent audiences to sleep in the past, I can guarantee that my companion and I were kept wide awake by the superb acting of Chris Milson as the irrepressible Mr Sparkish, and the equally excellent John McGrath as Horner, the licentious young man whose actions cause all the young ladies to fall in love with him.
The second half was, if anything, even better than the first, withj a suitably appetising range of acting and performance throughout. This represented a real highpoint in college drama.
Alex Larman
There is a man who gives away more than a million pounds of his own money every year to support the arts. He works through the Genesis Foundation, which he set up six years ago. His aim is to find young, unknown and unsupported artists and encourage them in their first major opportunity to write, act, compose, or develop in whatever creative process is right for them. He is American-born banker John Studzinski. Genesis has, during the past two years, set up a series of projects and if you have a relevant talent you have to apply via the project. On April 15 of this year Genesis launched a new initiative with the artistic director of the Young Vic, David Lan, to support and train young directors for the theatre in a way that has never existed before. Every year Genesis funds workshops via schemes at the Royal Court theatre to find and support the newest UK writers and international young playwrights. The end-result is that plays and play readings are produced by Genesis to show off the best of the talents and give them the experience of seeing their work live and with audiences. The Genesis seasons have come in for critical praise. Last year a 26-year-old Russian, Vassily Sigarev, won the Evening Standard's Charles Wintour Award for most promising playwright for his play Plasticine. "The point of everything we do," says John Studzinski, "is process, not competition. Every one of our projects is as wide-open as possible and our selection processes are transparent." Genesis Foundation also gives scholarships to LAMDA. "The LAMDA scholarships have been very interesting," says Studzinski. "A panel including Janet Suzman and myself interviews successful applicants who have serious financial problems." "We talk to them about their careers and we award one or two a year. I was at the Donmar Warehouse the other day and an actor came up to me afterwards and said, "I want to thank you, I would never have been in this production had you not given me this award because there was no other financial support." There is no doubt that his Genesis Foundation is the result of good thinking. Playwrights have the Royal Court process, directors can aim for the Young Vic school, actors who apply to LAMDA will have a crack at the Genesis scholarships, and Genesis even supports a strand of the work of the Prince's Trust helping young, disadvantaged people set up in business related to the arts. The first operas commissioned by the Genesis Opera Project will be premiered in the Almeida Opera season this summer. "I believe that there are a lot of artists out there who are starting from nowhere and you just don't want them to get discouraged. Early support is essential because it gives hesitant young artists some sense of what could be. It's about giving them encouragement and confidence in themselves. It's about giving them time and an environment in which to strengthen their self-esteem." The Genesis Foundation is a lean operation, run by a general manager with the help only of part-time consultants as required. Yet, it has the impact of much larger charities in the field by being so focused and selective. Alexandra Cooper
The Genesis Foundation has a web site which can be found at nesisfoundation.org.uk
22nd May 2003