The Audience

Gielgud, London

26^th February, 2013

Please note that I saw The Audience during previews when the production was still going through rehearsals. This review certainly contains spoilers.

Peter Morgan recently admitted in an interview with The Telegraph that he was worried that audiences might just see his new play as a series of impressions as there’s no single story. Admittedly, The Audience could’ve easily been criticised as a piece of commercial theatre that lures audience members to the performances of a myriad of Prime Ministers and Helen Mirren as the Queen, the role which won her the Academy Award for best actress for The Queen in 2006 (for which Peter Morgan wrote the screenplay). What manifests though is a theatrical masterclass in acting, play writing and directing in what is surely one of the highlights of theatre in 2013.

The Audience, which explores the Queen’s relationship with most of her 12 Prime Ministers throughout her reign seeing Mirren go through a series of quick changes, is a play of binaries. First of all, there’s the difference between fact that the play is based on and the fiction of the imagined conversations of which the play consists, but we also see the contrast of private conversations being made public in a theatre as well as the binary of HM and the PM sitting across from each other in one room. Furthermore, there’s also the difference between Elizabeth as a young girl (excellently portrayed by Bebe Cave at my performance) and Elizabeth II as the head of state with duty and responsibility upon her. Onstage, they are portrayed by two different actors (Cave and Mirren) which fittingly reflects how a person’s identity can be two-fold when they are restrained by duty, beautifully performed in a poignant moment which reminded me of The Duchess of Malfi.

The title refers to the audience between the Queen and the Prime Minister but it also alludes to the theatre audience and with such a theatrical title there are plenty of other moments where The Audience is self-conscious as a piece of theatre. For instance, when walking into the auditorium, we see a completely bare black stage. The play then opens with the Queen’s Equerry walking on stage and directly addressing the audience to tell us the protocol of every Tuesday when the meeting takes place in audience room, which soon appears behind him.

The performances are all superb, but there are some which stand out more than others. Mirren is onstage nearly for the whole play aging and de-aging not only with quick costume and wig changes but also in stance, voice and attitude. She brilliantly captures both a sense of truth and humour in the monarch which ensures she doesn’t just portray a symbol. Paul Ritter’s understated performance as John Major shows us insight into the private life of a Prime Minister especially when he tears up in the first scene after revealing how he didn’t have many prospects. John McCabe also gives a comic and popular performance as the ‘humble northerner’ Harold Wilson. He is astounded by the grandeur of Buckingham Palace, asks for photos with Her Majesty and backs out of the room bowing after his first sitting with her, his down-to-earth nature understandably making him her favourite Prime Minister. And Haydn Gwynne gives a brilliantly powerful performance of a powerful woman as her extremely accurate Margaret Thatcher. Her scene is bookended with ‘Your Majesty’ and a curtsey, her voice instantly recognisable as the woman who appears distant and cold with the Queen. The way they sit, they’re legs pointing away from each other, provides a mirror image, suggesting that they’re perhaps both too alike in some ways to get along. Before she rushes onto the stage Mirren delivers a line with the word ‘she’ which prompts us to realise that it’s Thatcher who intimidates all of the Palace’s staff.

The day I saw the play, it was announced that Robert Hardy had withdrawn from the production due to an injury and will be replaced by Edward Fox. However, at the start of Tuesday evening’s performance, director Stephen Daldry came onto the stage to announce that the company wish Hardy well and that his understudy David Peart will play both James Callaghan and Winston Churchill. He seemed to be line perfect on the night and greatly conveyed a man who was firmly settled down in his job and set in his ways in a mourning Queen’s first audience meeting.

Peter Morgan’s play is extremely clever and well-structured. Act one is framed by John Major’s scenes with the latter one seeing Mirren perform with an extremely convincing cold. However, it’s also a scene which is referred to at the start of act one, exemplifying how the play isn’t linear or chronological.  The second act is framed with scenes containing Harold Wilson, the first of which sees a nice change of scenery being set in a rainy Balmoral after the Queen has walked her two corgis (which are later seen again on stage at the end of the play). The end of the play also sees the Queen state how ultimately it’s the Prime Ministers who are the more important ones and that she has gone “down the line”. The word ‘line’ not only reflects how the PMs are all standing in a line behind her but also echoes back to a line at the end of act one when an angry Queen (after arguing about the decommissioning of Britannia to John Major and how she has spent her life committing herself to this country) insists that “the line must be drawn somewhere”.

Some of the quick changes are done onstage hidden behind a group of dressers that stand around Her Majesty’s desk and you don’t even notice that they’re happening at times. Paul Englishby’s music is wonderful as is a visually impressive scene in act two in which the Queen is having a photo shoot behind a gauze. Peter Morgan said that his priority was to give his audience a good night out and this is certainly what the audience is given, particularly in the David Cameron scene which has been kept up to date with satirical touches such as the Queen’s iPhone going off with a Gangnam Style ringtone, the Queen mocking her amount of security, a jibe at the apparent state of the coalition and a punchy side remark about the Queen not being able to retire or abdicate – ‘like the Pope’.

I have plenty more to say about The Audience but ultimately it is a play about what it means to be British and about the British constitution, but with a stellar cast and a brilliant script and creative team, this is an extremely entertaining production which is not to be missed.

For The Audience, I queued for over two and a quarter hours in the cold to get a front row centre day seat for £10 and it was completely worth it. A worthy standing ovation was given at the end and the cast seemed quite surprised when the curtain came up for an extra time.

The Audience is playing at the Gielgud Theatre, London until 15^th June and is being broadcast live as part of NT Live to cinemas around the UK on the 13^th June as well as to cinemas around the world at a later date.

What'sOnStage.com Awards 2013

To me, the WhatsOnStage.com Awards always seem a less-sophisticated version of the Oliviers, but some might say a more fun version of them. The only theatre awards voted for by the theatre-going public were this year ‘presented’ by One Man, Two Guvnors star Rufus Hound, The Great British Bake Off presenter Mel Giedroyc and the understandably-flustered Terri Paddock, all three of whom seemed to think that the awards were aimed at an adult audience. The guest performers included Tim Minchin, Melanie C, the casts of The Bodyguard and Top Hat, but unfortunately anyone watching on the live stream (most of us) didn’t get to see any of them but instead were treated to unrevealing interviews with the winners, most of which had just walked away from the stage being insulted by the hosts.

Aside from these problems, the WOS Awards are interesting as they reveal what and who is most popular with the voting public. So, when Sheridan Smith and Stephen Fry received the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor awards respectively, it was perhaps no surprise. What was a surprise though was Rupert Everett being voted Best Actor for his role as Oscar Wilde in David Hare’s The Judas Kiss. This is not because he didn’t deserve it, in fact critics have said that this is probably the performance of his career, but he certainly had tough competition. I saw David Haig’s King George III, David Suchet’s James Tyrone and Mark Rylance’s Olivia and they were all some of the best performances I’ve seen in the theatre.

The real winner, once again, is subsidised and regional theatre. The Old Vic’s Hedda Gabler, Menier Chocolate Factory’s Abigail’s Party, Shakespeare’s Globe’s Richard III/ Twelfth Night, National Theatre’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Royal Court’s Constellations and Chichester Festival Theatre’s Sweeney Todd all won major awards tonight and all deservedly so. In particular, Jonathan Kent’s production of Sweeney Todd swept five awards which reflected its critical acclaim last summer and the fan base of Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton.

In terms of omissions, I was surprised Laurie Metcalf didn’t get a mention for her performance in Long Day’s Journey into Night and Simon Russell Beale in the National’s Timon of Athens – both of which I imagine will triumph in the Olivier nominations this March. Furthermore, considering two of the West End’s long runners (Blood Brothers and Chicago) closed last year, it would have been nice to see them celebrated in some way although congratulations go to Les Miserables for winning two awards tonight. And also to Danny Boyle for his amazing Olympics Opening Ceremony although I still don’t quite see why it was legible for one.

Something we did learn tonight was that The Ladykillers might be making an announcement soon, which I suspect will be that it’s returning to the West End, as rumoured last year.

Well, here’s to the next 12 months in the theatre. I’m merely guessing that the 2014 awards will be dominated by The Book of Mormon, Once, Sheridan Smith (once again) and David Walliams, and the Michael Grandage Company.

You can see the full list of winners by clicking here.

The Ladykillers

Curve, Leicester

5^th February, 2013 (also seen on 3^rd November, 2012 at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham)

Graham Lineham’s stage adaptation of the 1955 Ealing comedy classic is now on tour after a successful West End run at the Gielgud. It tales the plan of five criminals who rent a room in Mrs. Wilberforce’s King’s Cross house to carry out a cash robbery, although their disguise as avant-garde musicians soon falls apart with farcical consequences. Although the story is simple, it is remarkably theatrical, clever and most of all thoroughly entertaining.

The characters are admittedly cartoons, so if you’re expecting Chekhov then you might be disappointed; however this play – just like the film –is billed as an entertainment. Paul Brown’s Professor Marcus excels as the so-called mastermind who tries to keep his clang of criminals and ultimately flawed plan together, as does William Troughton as the young, pill-popping Harry Robinson and Chris McCalphy as the slow One-Round who takes a shine to Mrs. Wilberforce. Clive Mantle, Cliff Parisi (Sean Williamson last year) and Marcus Taylor also impress at creating realistic caricatures – if such a thing can exist. Michele Dotrice is extremely watchable and does a terrific job at aging up without overplaying the role – I particularly enjoyed the line ‘we’re old, we’re up at 4.30’.

And it wasn’t until I read the programme that I realised what a clever play about England this is. It’s quite easy to recognise that it’s set in a time of great change in post-WWII London, but interpreting the characters as a representation of ‘new’ England invading Mrs. Wilberforce and her rickety, subsided house (representing an archetypal view of England) is quite genius.

Lineham’s script is brilliant: he includes moments of observational, surreal and slapstick humour as well as ably adapting the plot. Admittedly, I feel that it doesn’t quite reach the comic heights of Noises Off and it is perhaps an unconventional farce as these are not just any ordinary people in an extraordinary situation however it is more than satisfying and does conform to characteristics of farce in the sense that none of them want to be there (certainly in act two). Moreover, by giving the play a happy denouement, you feel all is well again and that the crumbling image of England has survived. Sean Foley ensures that the slapstick sequences are swift and actually funny and he has allowed for several fitting coups-de-théâtre, including a shaking house, impressive robbery re-enactment and several moustached old ladies!

As you walk into the theatre, the façade of the house sets you up for the story’s setting and the projection of The Ladykillers logo is fitting as it perhaps makes the play self-aware which is apt for an entertainment as well as it alluding back to its history in cinema. Michael Taylor’s design is probably the most absorbing and detailed of a play at the moment and Scott Penrose’s special effects are easily applaud-inducing when chairs and tables move and picture frames fall off walls (at least they certainly were on a Saturday matinee like when I saw it last year but not on a Tuesday evening interestingly). Special mention also goes to Ben and Max Ringham’s sinister music and sound design, which is instantly likeable as it becomes a motif to move the story along.

I do not hesitate to recommend this show as I’ve seen it with two other people of different generations and think it is one of the funniest and most visually impressive pieces of theatre in the UK at the moment. A return to the West End has been rumoured and a most welcome one it would be.

The Ladykillers is currently touring the UK.

Shrek the Musical

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

26th January, 2013

Screen to stage musicals sometimes make theatregoers hesitant to go to see them, perhaps thinking that they are simply a producer’s way to make easy money. However, I was pleasantly surprised by Shrek the Musical at Drury Lane as it proved to be a fun, funny and extremely clever piece of theatre.

Firstly, before I saw the show I heard that the musical references other musicals akin to how the film references other films, leaving me looking out for them during the show. A chorus line of tap-dancing rats alludes to A Chorus Line, waving a flag with a face similar to the Les Mis Cosette logo undoubtedly is a reference to Les Miserables, there are Shakespeare references, a parody of the end of Defying Gravity from Wicked and a pastiche from The Lion King. These were just some of the musical references which make Shrek post-modern. These references are fitting for Shrek as it’s a story littered with allusions to well-known fairy tales so by acknowledging the world of theatre outside the walls of the Theatre Royal mirrors the way Shrek mentions, and turns on their head, moments of popular children’s stories.

Other things which make the show post-modern could be the references to Will and Kate’s castle and Donkey’s take on Usain Bolt’s the lightning bolt. However, there is also a self-consciousness about this piece of theatre which makes it particularly interesting. For instance, the story is framed with Shrek telling the audience his story, the opening being made up of a line of story books, one of which Shrek comes out to tell us his back story of being sent away to live in a swamp, shortly followed by Princess Fiona, whose own back story runs parallel with the ogre’s. Lines such as ‘cue the villagers’ and ‘this is the part where you’re meant to run away’ are fairly theatrical and make clear that Shrek not only is self-aware as a piece of theatre but also places itself in the world and language of story-telling.

It’s in the second act where the story’s morale lesson is explored deeper when we learn how Princess Fiona and Shrek aren’t so different after all (‘I Got You Beat’) and how being different can be a good thing (‘Freak Flag,’ featuring an impressive performance from Alice Fearn as Gingy). Carley Stenson is very funny as Princess Fiona and Dean Chisnall’s understudy Bradley Jaden is also great as Shrek. However, it is Neill McDermott’s camp Lord Farquaad who is most impressive spending nearly all of the show on his knees to much comic effect as he yearns to be in a stage show himself.

The balcony on Saturday evening was fairly noisy but then again maybe that is to be expected with a family show which has so many lines from the film franchise and ‘gimmick’-like references to other children’s stories. Another problem is that Richard Blackwood’s Donkey doesn’t quite reach the comic heights of Eddie Murphy’s performance and I can’t help but wonder that if you haven’t seen the films (who hasn’t) then you might have problems keeping up with the pace of the show and might not be able to relate to the main characters. Speaking of the main characters, even though Shrek is billed as the star of the show, there seems to be just as much focus is on Fiona, Donkey and the show-stealing Lord Farquaad.

Michael Billington noted that the music didn’t quite fill him with a feeling of euphoria like a musical should but I think that Jeanine Tesori’s score is nearly capable of doing that but it wasn’t quite uplifting enough to go through you and give you goose bumps. Tim Hatley’s design seems small compared to some other shows that have been on at this theatre in recent years (although Drury Lane has a nice link with the films) but there are plenty of different set pieces including a very impressive rope bridge (‘we crossed a bridge – that’s a nice metaphor’ cries Donkey) and a huge puppet dragon which flies over the audience at the end.

Perhaps it seems pretentious talking about the many layers of performance with a show like Shrek but as well it being post-modern like the films it is also a brilliant family show that fits in with many other screen-to-stage and children’s literature musicals and plays at the moment. I highly recommend you go and see it before it closes.

On a side note, thanks to the FOH and box office staff at Drury Lane for helping us with reallocating seats after letting us in a week early than we should have been there! They were very helpful.

Now in its final weeks, Shrek the Musical plays at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane until 24^th February, 2013.

2013 in theatre

What’s to look forward to in theatre in 2013?

It’s only early January but the calendar for many West End theatres already seems to be full, not only with actual productions that are certain to go ahead but also with plenty of rumours.

Seeing as the Wyndham’s Theatre seemed to be quiet at the end of last year, I shall start by plugging their full year. The Christmas filler Dreamboats and Petticoats closes on 19^th January, before previews commence for the revival production of Simon Gray’s Quartermaine’s Terms on  23^rd January for a limited 12-week run. It is directed by Richard Eyre and produced by Michael Codron along with the Theatre Royals in Bath and Brighton and will mark Rowan Atkinson’s return to the West End since playing Fagin in 2009. Following that, there will be a limited run of Doktor Glas which will star Swedish actor Krister Henriksson and have English surtitles, prior to welcoming Lindsay Posner’s production of Alan Aykbourn’s Relatively Speaking with Felicity Kendal, Jonathan Coy and Kara Tointon for the summer. Seeing out the year will be what has been billed as a new and diabolically funny comedy by Clive Exton, Barking in Essex, which will star Lee Evans and Sheila Hancock.

2013 will also see Helen Mirren return to her role of Elizabeth II in The Audience at the Gielgud next month as well as seeing Kristen Scott Thomas return to the Harold Pinter Theatre in another Harold Pinter play, Old Times. Similar to Betrayal, Old Times is another memory play and three-hander. Interestingly, Scott Thomas and Lia Williams will alternate roles and at some performances, the toss of a coin will decide who plays which role with Rufus Sewell only finding out who is in which role only when they are on stage.

The Duke of York’s will shortly be home to the Hampstead Theatre’s production of The Judas Kiss with Rupert Everett reprising his role as Oscar Wilde and then house the West End revival of Passion Play, starring Zoe Wanamaker. Furthermore, Michael Grandage continues his season with John Logan’s new play Peter and Alice starring Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw.

The National Theatre continue their success with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time transferring to the Apollo in March as well as a possible West End transfer of the Alan Bennett shorts Hymn and Cocktail Sticks. If this does happen, I imagine it will go into the Duchess Theatre. The NT also celebrates its 50^th anniversary this summer and there are rumours that a revival of Gypsy starring Imelda Staunton could be on the cards.

There are rumours of the Royal Court’s production of Jez Butterworth’s The River transferring to the West End as well as Chichester’s production of Private Lives. Outside of the West End, the Rose Theatre, Kingston-Upon-Thames is putting on Coward’s The Vortex starring James Dreyfus and there’s an exciting season at the Old Vic in which to look forward. Along with the highly publicised Mark Rylance production of Much Ado About Nothing with Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones towards the end of the year, there is also Tennessee Williams’ Sweet Bird of Youth with Kim Cattrall and Terrence Rattigan’s The Winslow Boy (will this star Kevin Spacey?) as well as a touring production of the highly acclaimed Noises Off.

Other highlights include the Donmar Warehouse’s revival of Conor McPherson’s intimate play The Weir and Lindsay Posner is back with the stage adaption of The Turn of the Screw at the Almeida. No doubt I have missed things out, but these are just a few.

Moving on to musicals, Shrek the Musical will soon make way for Sam Mendes’ Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Douglas Hodge at Drury Lane and Broadway biggies, The Book of Mormon and Once will also start their West End runs – both of which have no doubt done well in advanced sales.

2013 will also be the year where we find out how successful Viva Forever will be – despite the bad reviews I can imagine it seeing out its run until July but am weary as to whether it will extend or not. It will also be interesting to see if other musicals which didn’t receive brilliant reviews such as Let It Be (soon to be transferring to the Savoy) and The Bodyguard (at the Adelphi) will end or extend their runs this year. What with Rock of Ages transferring to the smaller Garrick Theatre later this month and rumours of Billy Elliott the Musical being on its way out at the Vitoria Palace, there could be many new shows coming into Theatreland.

Could it be that the Crucible’s My Fair Lady will transfer and if it does, will Dominic West still be able to do The River? I wouldn’t be surprised if the Menier Chocolate Factory’s production of Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along gets a commercial life and the same goes with Gypsy if that does go ahead. There are also reports of Damian Lewis being interested in Me and My Girl and it looks as if Chichester could well be reviving Barnum. Fittingly, this could be produced in their temporary ‘tent-like’ auditorium whilst their theatre gets refurbished. Seeing as I forgot to mention this in my last post, I will also say how their production of Goodnight Mister Tom will leave the Phoenix on 26^th January.

Regionally, Curve is producing the first production of Piaf since the playwright Pam Gems’ death as well as housing the 25^th anniversary production of Hot Stuff and they will most likely announce their Christmas show soon as well. Con O’Neill returns to a Willy Russell piece of work with One for the Road at the Royal and Derngate in Northampton next month and I’m sure there will also be exciting seasons from The Crucible and Chichester.

There will be touring productions of Blood Brothers (with Maureen Nolan and Marti Pellow), Ghost, The Lion King, Wicked, War Horse, Hairspray (with Mark Bennett), The Woman in Black, The Mousetrap, The Pitmen Painters, Evita and many more.

What are you looking forward to in 2013? You can now follow us on Twitter @nobillington

2012 in review

Looking back to the start of the summer, it seems odd to think that many West End theatres will have completely different shows in them by the start of summer 2013. For plays, which often only do a limited run, and musicals with short engagements, this isn’t that uncommon but 2012 has also seen many long-running shows either close or move. With Blood Brothers, Chicago, Ghost, The Wizard of Oz, Shrek the musical and Dreamboats and Petticoats either gone or soon to be gone and Mamma Mia having moved to the Novello, it seems that there is an excitement in theatreland of some fresh new shows coming in 2013.

Once again, subsidised and non-commercial theatre triumphed with the RSC’s Matilda the musical garnering a record 7 Olivier Awards at this year’s ceremony and the West Yorkshire Playhouse’s production of the new musical Loserville transferring to the West End (albeit for only a short-lived run). The Old Vic achieved great success with their first West End transfer in Noises Off and Shakespeare’s Globe’s productions of Richard III and Twelfth Night also gained five star reviews and transferred to the much-transformed Apollo. The National not only managed find new success in Alan Bennett’s latest play People and the West End bound Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time but also produced much acclaimed productions of Timon of Athens and Collaborators, both proving popular in the awards’ ceremonies, with the critics and more importantly, audience members. Furthermore, they also continued their West End success with War Horse and One Man, Two Guvnors, the latter of which proved to be just as successful with a new leading man. Further afield, OM2G has embarked on an international tour, stormed Broadway and it has also been announced that War Horse will tour the UK next year as well.

The Royal Court is just about to finish off an extremely successful West End season at the Duke of York’s as well as producing new work with In Basildon, The River and Love and Information. Chichester Theatres have also had a successful year with their West End transfers of Sweeney Todd and Singin’ In The Rain and London transfer of Kiss Me, Kate, but it is a shame that The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, which was rumoured for transfer, didn’t happen thus leaving the Wyndham’s Theatre dark for a short period.

One of the most successful directors of the year is Lindsay Posner. With Noises Off, Abigail’s Party, Relatively Speaking and Uncle Vanya under his belt, all of which have been or will be in the West End, he has directed several nuanced and popular productions. Admittedly, Relatively Speaking hasn’t been widely reviewed yet and Uncle Vanya wasn’t much to shout about (despite Peter Hall allegedly thinking otherwise), his attention to detail and ability to direct a variety of productions is something of which to be proud. The acting ‘equivalent’ of him would be Jonathan Coy. Finishing 2011 with the West End Much Ado About Nothing, he went on to be in Noises Off at the Old Vic and Novello, is currently in The Magistrate at the National and will soon be returning to Relatively Speaking which toured this Autumn and will be at the Wyndham’s Theatre next summer.

It’s been a great year for acting as well, with there being plenty of performances to choose from and argue over in the upcoming awards’ season. Mark Rylance opened the year by playing Johnny Rooster Byron in Jerusalem and ends the year by playing Richard III and Olivia in Richard III and Twelfth Night respectively. We had summer blockbuster performances from Simon Russell Beale and Julie Walters at the National, Jonathan Pryce in King Lear at the Almeida as well as Danny DeVito and Richard Griffiths in West End.

Farce and comedy continued to be ever successful this year in the face of a recession and show no signs of slowing down. Indeed, 2013 will see Noises Off tour and Privates on Parade has only just opened. However, next year also sees a slight change in comedy offerings, more of which I will mention in my next blog entry. However, not every one was a success. The reaction to A Chorus of Disapproval seemed to be lukewarm and the all-star, all-commercial West End revival of Joe Orton’s 1960s’ controversial farce What the Butler Saw was a flop with the critics and the box office. However, the production did seem to take on a celebratory and British tone which reflected the patriotic mood of the summer. Alas, this didn’t quite bring in audiences though, much like many West End shows over the Olympic period, thus leading to closures. However, one show which didn’t close was Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap which celebrated its 60^th anniversary this November with an all-star cast for a special, one-off performance as well as launching a popular UK tour.

The summer also saw the announcement of the blockbuster 15 month run of the inaugural West End season of the Michael Grandage Company. Five plays made up of a mixture of new and classic plays, the season boasted 100 £10 seats on sale throughout the auditorium for each performance. Although these nearly sold out within the first 24 hours (apart from the day seats), it proved a popular scheme that was soon repeated in Trevor Nunn’s West End revival of Alan Ayckbourn’s A Chorus of Disapproval.

For regional theatre, where Sir Nicholas Hytner has raised his concerns that there might be struggles with the arts cuts, receiving houses have seen tours of musicals Oliver!, American Idiot, Phantom of the Opera, Blood Brothers, Lion King and many more. In terms of producing houses, Leicester’s Curve triumphed with the UK’s first major revival of Gypsy for many years as well as hosting the try-out run for the much publicised Finding Neverland, with the producer and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein proclaiming how impressive he found the theatre. Sheffield Theatres also had a successful end of the year with their production of My Fair Lady.

Here are my 2012 highlights:

1.      Blood Brothers, by Willy Russell, at the Phoenix Theatre – the ‘ultimate’/ final cast.

2.      Posh, by Laura Wade, presented by The Royal Court at the Duke of York’s Theatre.

3.      Noises Off, by Michael Frayn, at the Old Vic.

4.      Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare, at Shakespeare’s Globe.

5.      Long Day’s Journey into Night, by Eugene O’Neill, on tour at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, with particular mention to Laurie Metcalf’s and David Suchet’s performances.

Finding Neverland

Curve, Leicester

13^th October, 2012

Let me start by saying that this is a fantastic piece of theatre. This highly anticipated new musical produced by Harvey Weinstein and based on the award-winning movie used Leicester’s Curve as a try-out run to develop it before hopefully transferring it to the West End and Broadway.

We join J.M. Barrie (played by Julian Ovenden) on the opening night of his new play The Wedding Guest which turns out to be a theatrical flop. Soon after, he meets the widowed Sylvia (Rosalie Craig) and her four boys. The six of them along with Barrie’s dog Porthos (played on stage by a real, show-stealing St. Bernard) form a bond and their adventures inspire Barrie’s new work Peter Pan, which turns out to be a success. It’s a post-modern piece of work, with references to other literary works of the time. Secondly its interest in performance seems to be in the zeitgeist at the moment. After all, we have had a whole host of movies such as The Artist, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, My Week with Marilyn and the upcoming Hitchcock as well as musical revivals on the cards for Gypsy and Barnum, so it seems that Finding Neverland’s awareness of performance and interest in ‘play-making’ could do well.

I was aware of how big Curve’s stage was and that it is also first rate when it comes to facilitating technical tricks and effects, but I was still extremely impressed by the aetheitcs of the whole show. A moving car, a staircase, the front of a pirate ship, a fireplace that reveals Captain Hook and a full projection of the façade to the Duke of York’s Theatre in London are just some of the many pieces of set. It certainly looks ready to go into a London theatre now.

However, there are still teething problems, namely the opening (which was reworked a number of times throughout the run at Curve) which seems not as strong as some of the other numbers in the show. Furthermore, there are only a couple of songs which are memorable and that might only be down to the near-incessant TV adverts that Curve were playing in the surrounding area, and perhaps enough is not made of Rosalie Craig’s superb voice.

Craig’s and Ovenden’s performances are both excellent, with their voices occasionally sending shivers down the spine. Ovenden in particular gives a strong and passionate performance as the ever-ambitious Barrie but I wonder if the audience ever fully emotionally invested in the characters.

The end of act one featured an unbelievable pirate ship sequence and the Captain Hook/ pirates vignette inside the study which featured acrobatic choreography was also extremely impressive.

Attending this Saturday evening performance was the singer Katherine Jenkins (who was probably the first person in the stalls to give a standing ovation) and someone who I think was an American producer sitting at the back of the stalls. Overall, for Finding Neverland to have much of a future (which I hope it does) it needs some re-writes and also needs to find a target audience as it certainly isn’t solely for children as some audience members might have thought.

A little end note: For any audience members wondering whether to go to Curve, I can assure you that the view from most parts of the auditorium is exceptional.

Finding Neverland ran at Curve from 22^nd September to 18^th October, 2012.