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.
I have to admit that before seeing it in the Barn on Friday, I knew almost nothing about Martin Crimp’s ‘Attempts on Her Life’. My knowledge was entirely comprised of the fact that I had heard of him and knew that he was often associated with the dozen or so ‘In-yer-face’ playwrights who emerged from this country in the ‘90s (although apparently he rejects the label himself). This filled me with a certain amount of trepidation as in my, admittedly limited, experience, ‘in-yer-face’ plays (and productions of them) tend to fit neatly into one of two categories: the shocking, hilarious and thought-provoking (typified by the works of Anthony Neilson, Sarah Kane and the underrated Phyllis Nagy) and the shocking, pretentious and infantile (typified by any playwright trying to imitate one of the three mentioned above). Fortunately, Sarah Lewis’ all-female production of Crimp’s ‘Attempts on her Life’ definitely belongs in the former category, providing a frequently amusing, frequently moving and never less than exhaustingly thought-provoking evening of theatre.
‘Attempts on Her Life’ is not a play in the sense that one might expect: there are no props, no defined characters and no real set, just a square perimeter of white pebbles around the actors. The piece is instead compromised entirely of a series of stories and scenarios about an unseen character named Anne (or Annie or Anoushka), which are delivered by the actors, often one line at a time and often with overlapping dialogue. Anne veers from one persona to another throughout the play appearing variously as a suicidal artist, terrorist, a porn star, an organiser of singles events and even a make of car. Now, this might sound like it could end up being a bit dull or even rather incomprehensible, and in the wrong hands I’m sure it could have done. Thankfully, Lewis and her cast treat the material with a real deftness of touch allowing humour to emerge from even the darkest moments of the play and ensuring that the pace does not let up for a second.
The cast all have moments where they shine and the ensemble as a whole tackles the no doubt exhausting piece with an enviable amount of energy, working very well together to create a coherent sense of mood for each of the individual scenarios in the play. Their ability to switch from quite deliberately paced and serious moments to frantic and highly choreographed dances, such as a hilarious ‘Vogue’ sequence and an amusing car advert set piece, was particularly impressive. I also appreciated the way the cast, who are essentially nameless storytellers, would take on different individual personas for certain moments injecting an extra dose of personality into proceedings. Francesca Murray-Fuentes and Fran Isherwood’s performances are particularly of note. Murray-Fuentes demonstrates an impressive ability to draw humour from even the most harrowing scenarios in a way that does not feel forced and manages to prevent even the darkest moments from becoming dreary. Blessed with apparently boundless energy, Isherwood is also a joy to watch throughout and delivers the play’s most heart-breaking monologue with a degree of confidence and composure that is deeply moving.
The play is not entirely flawless however and I did leave with a couple of minor niggles. The frequent use of music throughout the duration of the play is effective and many of the music choices are very appropriate. However, there were moments when it was a little bit loud and this occasionally made it hard to hear certain lines. This is a minor problem however and I am sure it will be ironed out for future performances. Although I enjoyed the use of black and white (both in the set and the costumes), the choice of rather provocative costumes seemed rather at odds with much of the play particularly as the cast each have to take on many roles throughout.
Ultimately though, Sarah Lewis’s production of ‘Attempts on Her Life’ is an unusual and thoroughly captivating evening of theatre performed by a diverse and engaging cast that will stick in your mind for days afterwards. A triumph.
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