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.
This problem was exacerbated by the lack of projection from a large segment of the cast. Of course, being outside on a breezy day makes this task harder, but sadly swathes of the dialogue and otherwise well written jokes fell astray to puzzled glances of the audience. This was a shame, as some of the humour was genuinely funny, especially King John’s dramatic dance/death and the subsequent whodunit, Friar Tuck’s non-violent leafleting campaign and the mighty Griffon’s banana break.
The show was characterised by impressive performances from a number of the principals and cameo parts. Special praise must go to Odinn Hilmarsson who as the Sherriff of Nottingham was the epitome of geeky charm. It takes a special performance to take what essentially is a villain's part and have the entire audience rooting for him by the close of the show. Other stand-outs included a very Lord Flashheart like Guy of Gisborne (Edward Lewis-Smith), the griffon (Tom Crowley) and the crusading King Richard (Sion Clarke). However too often the stage was overly packed with actors, whose static positioning at the rear only detracted from the main characters. This invasion of the stage by the pantomime chorus was infinitely more welcome during the dance numbers, the singing and surprisingly competent dancing adding a much needed spark to the show.
However to dwell on these issues is to miss the entire point of a student pantomime. Unlike the vast majority of performing arts on campus, everyone who auditions for the pantomime gets cast. It’s a fantastic chance for anyone, regardless of experience to join in the riotous fun. As part of the audience it's also about what you put in; throw yourself head first into the show, boo, cheer, relax and you are bound to enjoy this good-natured, if technically messy show.
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