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.
The first thing I noticed upon entering the Barn was the stage – the seating running along the sides of the performance. I thought I might be distracted by the faces of audience members opposite me, but to the production’s credit, rarely did my attention wander from those on stage. Effective use of lighting throughout the play helped to accentuate and add to the on-stage action, without ever detracting from the actual acting.
The flow of some early scenes were disrupted by an unfortunate number of rushed and fumbled lines, symptomatic of many a first night. However, the emotion encapsulated in some of the later scenes, especially the conversations between Gerado and Paulina, was quite simply touching. Special mention goes to Tom Ellis – from being gagged and bound to pleading for his life, I found his performance to be nothing less than convincing throughout. Whilst initially unsure of Pippa Caddick’s portrayal of the unstable Pauline, her character progressed and blossomed through the course of the performance into something far more effective and moving. I found my expectations of Tom Crowley’s ability to play the mild-mannered middle class man suitably met in the first scenes. But an almost Hulk-like transformation towards the middle completely threw me off guard, giving a character who I perceived initially as superficial a new level of depth.
All in all, Stuart Hall's interpretation is something that he and the cast and crew should be extremely proud of. Wait, do I have to say something bad about this play? Too many fireworks outside, one missed lighting cue and one too many references to sodomising the helpless captive with a broom handle. I hope the image of Tom Crowley performing such a deed to a helpless Tom Ellis haunts your dreams as it has mine.
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