Tag Archives: Jack Baldwin

The Shakespeare Conspiracy | Theatre Review

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 The Shakespeare Conspiracy by Andrew Shepherd is not only a brilliant piece of theatre, but it will also keep you guessing all the way through. Full of twists and turns, the Shakespeare Conspiracy is original and incredibly intelligent. Triumphant theatre in two wonderful acts.

The play is superbly directed by Jack Bowman, Bowman has created a well oiled machine which never dips or loses its energy. Full of pop culture references and brilliant gags, The Shakespeare Conspiracy is riveting.

A special mention must be given for the impressive and realistic fight scenes. They really are something to behold.

The play focuses around Martin Shakespeare, the last remaining descendent of Shakespeare, who is working as a travel agent in Stratford. Martin gets caught up in a  400 year old conspiracy involving The Royal Shakespeare Company, which far from being a theatre company, is actually a branch of government like MI6, and a prison, The Globe Theatre. It turns out that Shakespeare’s characters are real.

The cast of twenty are all well cast and brilliant at their parts. A special notice should be given to Jack Baldwin and Libby Evans as Benedict and Beatrice. They have amazing chemistry and I could not watch them without thinking of the brilliant film, His Girl Friday. Richard Armah as Garfield Oberon and Lee White as Edmond also deserve a special mention.

Andrew Shepherd as Iago  was also brilliant. Andrew is eloquent with a wonderful stage presence. There is a funny part int he play when Iago blames his mother for making him a villain. ‘You never had a mother Iago, you are fictional’ he is reminded.

This play is intelligent and witty. You can easily follow it if you concentrate, and you should concentrate, so you do not miss even a second of this stunning play. A must see.

 

Twitter: @tsc61112
Venue: Chelsea Theatre (on the King’s Road – nearest tube Sloane Square Underground, or 11, 22 Bus to Edith Grove/World’s End)
Production Company: www.ascrandom.co.uk

First Supper Review – Theatre

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The Expeditionary Force presents The First Supper @ The Etcetera Theatre, Camden as part of the Camden Fringe Festival.

Sketch shows, especially ones on the fringe, are often filled with either gurning comedians constantly winking knowingly at the audience or a bunch of students throwing catchphrases and ‘wacky’ characters against the wall in the hope that one of them sticks and they’ll become the next Fast Show or Little Britain.

The First Supper by The Expeditionary Force fortunately avoids both stereotypes by assuming something rare in comedy – that its audience is as intelligent as they are. However, even if the audience was as clever as Mike Shephard, Jack Baldwin and Luke Sutherland, they’re probably not as verbose.

This sketch show happily wallows in obscure historical references, literary puns and fast talking absurdity. And, fortunately, it’s well written enough that you don’t need to know, for example, that the people who lived in the ancient Greek city of Byzantium did not refer to themselves as Byzantium to get the joke.

The gags and sketches are not your typical set up, catchphrase, punchline. First Supper often has no distinct ‘gag’ but instead, finds humour in the situation and performances. When Baldwin’s Anubis, the jackal–headed god, is introduced to the parents of his new girlfriend, it is his stoney-faced delivery of lines like: “I held her bloody heart in my hand and judged her,” that get the laughs.

The quality of the sketches does rely heavily on the performances of the three actors. Shephard brings huge energy and verve, while Baldwin, often playing the group’s straight man, offers beautiful comedy timing. Sutherland, however, often feels misused. He has an innocence that fits perfectly in some sketches, but when called upon to provide energy, they feel a bit flat.

And this highlights one of the main problems, not with the show, but with fringe show audiences. If the energy is not in the room, comedy like this suffers. It works on the premise that, even if the audience doesn’t get every reference, the energy will carry them along. If the energy falls, so does the comedy.

But these are minor quibbles. The First Supper is brilliantly written, laugh out loud funny and intelligent comedy.

However, this means that no one will probably ever see it past the sell-out audiences at the Camden Fringe. It’s too clever for mainstream audiences and too absurd for the Radio 4 crowds. But we can hope that this does break out from the fringe and into the mainstream.