Catherine Bennett resumes the weekly look at the performing arts world, with the sad end of Jerusalem, the luck of a cabbie, and French revolt. Do you hear the people sing?
Adam Alcock reviews Nigel Kennedy playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons and his own Four Elements at York Opera House.
Catherine Bennett highlights the trends in the performing arts world today.
Jonathan Cridford reviews 'Ghosts', one of the Freshers' plays for this year.
Review by Vicky Hotchkiss
One of the main questions put to the audience throughout the play asks "what does the future hold for theatre is in an age where television dominates?" Therefore, looking around, I was slightly alarmed. Was this play right? Had David Hare really nailed it when he wrote Amy’s View and posed this question? I think you will have to answer this for yourself; I am sorry to say that by the end of the play I still hadn't got the answer I was looking for.
Watching the first act I completely understood why interest in the theatre may be dying out. It was set in a living room and the conversation was being thrown from one side of the stage to the other so quickly that it was hard to keep up with what was going on. After the second act I was unsure of what it was the play was actually about and I was not looking forward to returning to the studio after the interval.
Fortunately, the last two acts almost made up for the previous confusion. In the first act I’d found the character of Amy’s mum Esme unbearable; I’d mistaken this as bad acting, yet in actual fact, Shan Braund did an amazing job. She portrayed Esme exactly as intended: an ageing west-end actress who lives in dream world and refuses to accept the changes that are happening around her. She is a conceited little woman who refuses to admit that her daughter has to make her own decisions, and is almost suffocating the people around her. In the third act Amy tells Esme that she scares her because she reminds her of the past, when she wants to see future.
The play is more than just the idea of "theatre versus television". It attempts to look at the role of women, both of Esme in the theatre and her daughter in her relationship with Dominic. It explores love and relationships.
I was frustrated in the first half because the character of Amy never really seems to develop even though her name is the title of the play. Later, however, I realised that this was not needed. The character was made the subject due to her view of love not her ‘depth’, as it were. Amy’s view gives the characters of Esme and Dominic more substance, because it is what draws them together in the last act.
The fourth and final act truly made the play for me, and ultimately I was glad that I had not walked out during the interval. So, would I suggest you go to see it? Yes, if you do not mind putting in some hard work. Toby in the fourth act tells Esme that her style of acting is amazing, because she holds everything in and gives nothing, making the audience come to her, making the audience do all the hard work. Basically, David Hare does the same thing with his play. You have to be prepared to work out what is going on to some extent, and what the true meaning of the play is. If you can do this, you might actually enjoy it. I know there were lots of people in the audience who found the play witty and laughed aloud on several occasions.
As much as I love going to the theatre, I think that perhaps this play was just a little too much hard work for me to really enjoy it. Maybe I am just too lazy! And for that, I may have actually have missed out on something really special.
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