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.
Fridgelight Theatre teamed up with DramaSoc to create a comedic style that most would struggle to find in a modern theatre. To witness this inventive and highly energetic production was a rare treat.
The Stormy Teacup Café: Pierre's Big Break differed from 'conventional' theatre. Each actor sported a different mask. They had their mouths free, not only to speak, but to astutely manipulate their facial expressions in conjunction with the character of the mask. This allowed them to be defined by the appearance of the mask, which emphasises the director Simon Maeder's wish "to have a set of masks from which characters could be created."
To witness this inventive and highly energetic production was a rare treat
The play is set in The Stormy Teacup, a café owned by the ambitious but apprehensive Cyril. Indeed, Cyril has every reason to feel uneasy with the ridiculously clumsy Jack in charge of orders. Added to this is the chef, Gordon Bleu, whose culinary flair extends itself to a menu comprised entirely of eggs. Cyril's best chance of turning the café into a success rests with Pierre, a man who longs to visit Paris in pursuit of the French lifestyle. Yet, all their hopes are shattered when a health inspector shows up. After seeing the state of Bleu's kitchen, the inspector has The Stormy Teacup shut down. For Pierre, this means he can finally realize his dream and flee to Paris. However, was leaving the Stormy Teacup and all his friends behind worth it?
The performances were simply outstanding. It was clear that a lot of energy had gone into the creation of the characters in the rehearsal room and even more energy was released on stage. The actors moved with such expression to create some extremely farcical characters. This was apparent with Jonathan Kerridge-Phipps' Edna and Anna Pinkstone's Ted. Kerridge-Phipps gave us a worryingly accurate portrayal of a loud and outgoing woman in Edna. Pinkstone's performance as Ted, the broad Yorkshire lad who doesn't stand for any nonsense, was wonderfully reminiscent of 'Last of the Summer Wine'. Josh Littlewood, moreover, created a crowd favourite with his humorous depiction of Gordon Bleu, who often walked round in a drunken stupor grumbling "chef" under his breath. Neil Forster had the difficult task of balancing enthusiasm with a lack of confidence in his performance of Cyril. But Forster played the role with precision, beautifully jumping back and forth between his character’s highs and lows.
However, the sweet double act formed between Helen Fletcher's Pierre and Cat Smith's Jack stole the show. For the most part, Jack is a bumbling, clueless character. Yet, Smith filled us with sympathy for this hopeless waiter, giving us tender moments of sorrow and concern. Praise also goes to Smith for maintaining an extremely squeaky voice throughout the entire show! Fletcher showed great versatility in her portrayal of a Pierre, moaning and rolling her eyes at Jack one minute, then dressed in a hilarious egg costume to the next.
Huge credit should go to the mask designer, Annette Peacock. Her design skills gave the actors an unique opportunity to develop their characters in a variety of ways. Lauren Clancy’s set design was also a wonderful creation. Simon Maeder's direction was exquisite. The use of comedy was perfectly timed, facilitating the audience's identification with the characters. The fact that the comedy didn’t detract from the narrative highlights Maeder's skill.
The Stormy Teacup Café had a nice and simple storyline, an endearing set of characters and great dose of clean humour. At times the jokes were a little cheesy and fell on deaf ears, but much like a Disney film, the lovable characters made it a thoroughly pleasant, amusing and intriguing experience.
The Stormy Teacup Café: Pierre's Big Break is on at the studio theatre at 41 Monkgate from Friday 27 Feb- Sunday 1 March, 19:00, with a Saturday matinee performance at 14:30.
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