Photo Credit: Johan Persson
Review
Fiddler on the Roof (until 2 September)
Chichester Festival Theatre
Box Office: 01243 781312 www.cft.org.uk
Photo credit: Johan Persson
Heart, humour and world-class performances are just some of the elements that make Daniel Evans’s big summer musical an absolute belter. Add to that terrific musicians, Alistair David’s thrilling choreography and Lez Brotherston’s cleverly conceived set, which makes the very best use of Chichester’s unique stage, and you have a show that has all the hallmarks of a West End transfer.
The story of Tevye, a poor dairyman with five daughters, it is 1905 and in Russia an uneasy sense of impending change is in the air. But on a poor shtetl Tevye is more immediately concerned with finding husbands for the three eldest of his girls. Alas, despite his best efforts to keep with tradition, it seems that they are determined to follow their hearts rather than their heads, or indeed the advice of Matchmaker Yente (gloriously played by Liza Sadovy).
Omid Djalili is superb as Tevye. Radiating warmth sufficient to melt a Moscow frost in January, he convinces absolutely as the ordinary family man who is not without his shortcomings. In his regular exchanges with God (Dajalili’s stand-up career is much in evidence here), and later as he sings the touching Do You Love Me? to his wife, he reveals a touching vulnerability.
Tracy-Ann Oberman as his wife Golde is equally impressive. A feisty lioness who knows her old man better than he knows himself, it is an inspired pairing.
The singing overall is outstanding. From sweet and soaring to joyous and rousing, Tradition, the opening number, is nothing short of an emotional musical wallop to the gut.
A stupendous ensemble effort, this is a revival that feels both fresh and relevant. Delivering the theatrical triple of laughter (the dream scene is as clever as it is riotous), tears, and food for thought, it is the latter of the whole shebang that is the production’s ultimate strength.
A sharp reminder of how political and social unrest continues to throw lives into disarray, the final moments are heartbreakingly poignant.
Sweet Bird of Youth
Chichester Festival Theatre
Until 24 June
Box Office: 01243 781312 www.cft.org.uk
Photo credit: Johan Persson
With the run-up to General Election a veritable carnival of hypocrisy, self-interest, arrogance and rampaging egos, the day after the event itself wasn’t the ideal time to digest more of the same. Alas, in Tennessee Williams’s 1959 play there is little relief from such monstrous conduct.
Fearing derision and rejection after the premiere of her latest film, aging Hollywood movie star Alexandra Del Largo (Marcia Gay Harden) has bolted and is holed up in a hotel in St Cloud on the Gulf Coast of Mexico with Chance Wayne (Brian J. Smith), a gigolo and wannabe actor who skipped the town a few years previously. While the actress hides behind an alias and dulls her demons with alcohol, narcotics and sex, Chance is determined to be reunited with Heavenly, his teenage sweetheart. Unaware that before leaving St Cloud he infected his girl with a STD that necessitated a hysterectomy, he has no idea that Heavenly’s father and brother are resolute: should Chance ever show his face in the neighbourhood again he will pay for his crime.
The first act, almost entirely a two-hander set in a hotel bedroom, offers superb performances from Harden and Smith. Convincing and compelling, on the Festival Theatre’s thrust stage, however, some of the intensity and intimacy is lost.
Elsewhere the performances are strong, especially Richard Cordery as Boss Finley, a bully with double standards and an unshakable belief in the American Dream. Victoria Berwick as Heavenly Finley is also excellent. Vulnerable, compliant but filled with a rage, when she sobs silent, despairing tears, her grief and anger is sorely palpable.
Easy on the eye, Anthony Ward’s set is stunning; clever, evocative and stylish, it is also beautifully complemented by Mark Henderson’s lighting.
The ruthless marching of time is one of the play’s key themes. In Jonathan Kent’s undeniably ‘classy bird’ there remains a niggling sense that the pace needs to be stepped up.
Photos: Johan Persson
Taking up his post as Artistic Director new Head Boy Daniel Evans opens his first Chichester Season with Alan Bennett’s early play, which is set in 1968 at Albion House, a fading public school.
Some fifty local schoolboys join the cast and are outstanding, opening the production with a roof-raising rendition of Praise My Soul the King of Heaven.
The occasion is the end of term show, which also marks the retirement of the elderly headmaster. Under the directorial auspices of his reformist successor, the offering of a history revue includes some sketches that get the old duffer decidedly hot and bothered – to be overtly risqué is definitely tsk-tsk territory.
There are some joyous moments. Danny Lee Wynter’s naughty portrayal of an elderly aristocrat à la Dame Maggie as Downton’s Lady Violet is delicious, while an ace tap-dance solo is worthy of the Strictly! final. A stage invasion of lusty-voiced rugger buggers is also a gas, which for all the headmaster’s puritanical tendencies is deemed perfectly acceptable once it is revealed that the opposition has been roundly trounced.
Alan Cox as incoming headmaster Franklin, Jenny Galloway as Matron and Lucy Briers as Miss Nisbitt give accomplished performances, while the music and singing is superb, thanks to the excellence and exuberance of a terrific ‘school orchestra.’
Some of the historical inspirations do not resonate, leaving these skits teetering on the brink of tedium. But there are plenty of jolly spoofs to compensate, as well as flashes of poignancy bringing a balancing shade.
You can almost smell overcooked cabbage thanks to Lez Brotherston’s impressive school hall set, which comes complete with an almighty oak organ, rising from and towering over the stage.
At eighty years on himself, and having suffered a heart attack only last year, it is perhaps unsurprising that Richard Wilson is not yet tight on his lines. Reading from a script for the most part, when he struggles to find his place on the page it causes the audience collective anxiety. It’s a shame, but there is still much to enjoy here.
www.cft.org.uk Box office: 01243 781312
Vicky Edwards
SALOMÉ – a new play by Yaël Farber
Previews from 2 May, with Press Night 9 May. Continuing in the repertoire until 15 July. Broadcast to cinemas by NT Live on 22 June.
The story has been told before, but never like this.
An occupied desert nation. A radical from the wilderness on hunger strike. A girl whose mysterious dance will change the course of the world. This charged retelling turns the infamous biblical tale on its head, placing the girl we call Salomé at the centre of a revolution.
Internationally acclaimed director Yaël Farber (Les Blancs) draws on multiple accounts to create her urgent, hypnotic production on the Olivier stage.
Salomé is designed by Susan Hilferty with lighting design by Tim Lutkin, music and sound by Adam Cork, movement direction by Ami Shulman, fight direction by Kate Waters and dramaturgy by Drew Lichtenberg. Cast includes Philip Arditti, Paul Chahidi, Ramzi Choukair, Uriel Emil, Olwen Fouéré, Roseanna Frascona, Lloyd Hutchinson, Shahar Isaac, Aidan Kelly, Yasmin Levy, Andrew Lewis, Anna Lindup, Theo T J Lowe, Isabella Niloufar, Lubana al Quntar,and Raad Rawi
Hundreds of Travelex tickets at £15 available per performance.
@nationaltheatre
Stepping Out
In rehearsals for Stepping Out
At Chichester Festival Theatre until 19 November (Booking: 01243 781312; www.cft.org.uk)
At the Vaudeville Theatre, London, 1 March – 17 June 2017 (Booking: www.nimaxtheatres.com)
Directed by Maria Friedman
Cast: Amanda Holden, Angela Griffin, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Tamzin Outhwaite, Nicola Stephenson, Judith Barker, Rose Keegan, Sandra Marvin, Jessica-Alice Mccluskey, Dominic Rowan, Janet Behan, Emma Hook, Katie Verner and Nick Warnford
A weekly tap dancing class in a community hall is the setting for a story that follows the lives of a group of ladies and a solitary man. Like many adult education classes, all human life is here.
Boasting a cast that includes several popular faces from television, Tracy-Ann Oberman is on superb form as wise-cracking Maxine. Glamorous in a wardrobe of nearly new and knock-off, the more-front-than-Brighton exterior conceals a tender and vulnerable heart. Tamzin Outhwaite as is also touching in her role class teacher Mavis. With her dreams of being a dancer dramatically reconfigured and an unhappy relationship to cope with, teaching is both her salvation and a constant needling reminder that she never quite made it. Amanda Holden as posh but tactless neat freak Vera delivers some of the production’s funniest moments, admitting only towards the end that her perfect life isn’t quite so perfect after all.
Everyone, in fact, has a secret to reveal, but the audience is short changed; what the final outcome is for each of the characters is anyone’s guess. Pace, too, is a frustration. A lethargic beginning gives way to a gentle potter before coming to a rather abrupt and inconclusive ending.
But the dialogue is sharp enough, the performances are (largely) accomplished and the familiar theme of trying to get along with people with whom one has little in common will surely resonate. Touring prior to the West End next year, hopefully the tempo will pick up and settle along the way. Then, no doubt, Stepping Out will be packing ‘em in.
I love musicals. In fact I love them so much that I listen to “Wicked”s sound track every morning on the way to school. When my grandma offered to take us up to London to watch Kinky Boots, I could not refuse. My friend went to see it on Broadway and told me it was amazing and that the songs were so catchy. At first I was a bit sceptical because of the name but when it started I knew that I was going to enjoy it so much.
The story is about Charlie Price, who turns an Northampton shoe factory which is on the brink of closing, into a success by making boots for drag queens who want thigh-high red boots. Hence the name, Kinky Boots.
At the same time, we see how Lola, the project’s design consultant who is also a drag queen, makes Charlie and his co-workers overcome their dislike of men in frocks. All ends happily at a Milan shoe fair where the collapsing business is joyously ‘rebooted’.
The songs were super duper good and the story line was very interesting and personally, I had my eyes glued to the stage the whole time. I would say that this particular musical is great for lots of people, but I personally would recommend it for ages 10+, just because of some of the language and scenes. The show was really funny and had me and my sister laughing, but some of it was quite emotional. Don’t worry I won’t spoil it. All in all I would really recommend this musical and I have been listening to the songs nonstop after seeing it.
See it at the Adelphi Theatre, The Strand, London.
A brand new theatre, named The Bunker, is opening in a former underground car park in Southwark Street and is set to be the capital’s newest contemporary Off-West End venue. Behind this exciting venture are Joel Fisher and Joshua McTaggart – two up-and-coming, emerging creatives set to take the theatre world by storm.
Alongside the theatre programme, The Bunker will curate art installations, film showings and one-off performances encompassing work-in-development, poetry, music, dance, and discussions. A night at The Bunker will be an event in itself that extends beyond an ordinary evening at the theatre.
The autumn season, which runs from October 2016 until January 2017, includes the exciting transfer of a new Philip Ridley production and a transfer of Isley Lynn’s award-winning sell-out show from the 2016 VAULT Festival. The Bunker will also host a brand new musical during the Christmas period, and present a double bill of Irish plays in the new year.
Executive Producer Joel Fisher comments, The Bunker offers a chance for audiences to tell us what they want and what matters to them. Being in the heart of Southwark in this incredible creative hub means that we can start to pinpoint who our audience are and what shows they want to be seeing. This part of London is quickly becoming a cultural hub with developments at Tate Modern and the Globe and the London Theatre Company taking up residency at One Tower Bridge, and The Bunker joins this cultural movement. We want to share ideas with the theatres around us and find new and exciting ways of collaborating.
The renovated space includes a 110-seat auditorium, bar space, office space, technical booth, and dressing rooms.
The inaugural autumn season is as follows:
Rive Productions and The Bunker presents Skin a Cat (12th October – 5th November
Metal Rabbit Productions presents Tonight with Donny Stixx (8th November – 3rd December)
Interval Productions present Muted (7th December – 7th January) New musical Muted, written by Sarah Henley, composed by Tim Pottery-Jones, with additional lyrics by Tori Allen-Martin,
Abigail and Come on Over (10th January – 4th February 2017) For the final production of the season, The Bunker will present a double bill of Irish plays by two of the country’s most exciting writers.
All main house shows run from Tuesday to Sunday with matinees on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
The Bunker, 53A Southwark Street London SE1 1RU
Twitter @BunkerTheatreUK Facebook www.facebook.com/bunkertheatreuk Instagram @BunkerTheatreUK