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.
Looking for Claire is a misleading title for this week’s play at the Drama Barn, written and directed by third-year student Sarah Goddard. Claire is not sought for, but lingers in Michael’s mind long after she is welcome.
Michael’s wife, Claire, left him when their daughter was nine months old, and was never found. In present time, Joanna, their daughter, is twenty-two, and Michael is still being driven mad by memories of their time together and fantasises that Claire is still with him.
Michael (Stuart Hall) was presented as a passive character, who had long since given up the search. He spends most of his time in an armchair centre-stage, while other characters flit on and off stage. The shifts between present time, memory and fantasy, became more frequent as the play progressed, showing Michael’s increased turmoil and confusion. And these different modes were distinguished by changes in lighting.
Ironically, Claire (Emily Russel) was associated with the colour green; she wore a green dress and had green mood lighting. While this colour usually represents new life, Claire had been unwilling to have a child and eventually, Michael presumed, ran away from the new life they had created together. By surrounding her in green, director Sarah Goddard emphasised the pressures and entrapment she was feeling.
Indeed, this subject matter might have been thought-provoking, but Looking for Claire suffers from a hackneyed plot and repetitive dialogue. It was difficult to understand the development of Michael’s character. It was unclear how long he has been plagued by fantasies of Claire, or what exactly had caused his near heart attack, which lead to a stay in hospital. His nurse (Katherine Barnett) became a neat tool in persuading Michael into his final decision to banish Claire from his dreams, but I needed to hear a motive from his own mouth.
The relationships between the characters were also hard to believe. Perhaps because it was Valentine’s Day, I was hoping for a little more romance, but the contact between Michael and Claire was simply awkward; even Michael and Joanna’s (Ellen Stevens) conversations were more like those between occasional acquaintances rather than father and daughter. Though the play lacked literary scope, I enjoyed the lullabies, which were sung by Stuart Hall in a delicate voice. These were perfectly suited to the Barn’s intimate atmosphere and provided a medium to carry the play forward.
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