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.
There was a great atmosphere in the Drama Barn this Friday: a large queue had formed outside, ready to witness a play written by campus celebrity of PantSoc and ComedySoc, Max Tyler. This play had all the ingredients of a hilarious farce, and despite a chaotic start, did not disappoint.
The play began from an unusual premise: Lord Ignatius Briary had been erroneously entombed after being pronounced dead by a quack doctor. Hilarity ensued as various characters such as his ex-wife, the insurance man and the aforementioned doctor collided in his household, all the while with the very alive and very acquisitive Briary trying to wring as much money as possible out of the situation (much to the despair of his fond and simple servants).
The first scene showed the servants of the household surrounding the bed of Ignatius Briary. Odinn Hilmarsson, as the inebriated gravedigger who dug up Briary, stumbled about the set in such a convincing fashion you couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t far from his natural state. Ryan Lane as the character of Dibley immediately shone as a dim-witted but well-meaning hero, being so endearing that he made all of the women in the audience breathe happy sighs of maternal contentment. The majority of his lines were followed by an enamoured chorus of ‘aaaah’s coming from the female quotient. The beginning scenes were a little shambolic, due to some of the timing not being quite right, but the overall effect was humorous. However, this meant that minor corpsing from some of the performers didn’t give it that slick feel that is so necessary for farce to work.
The action really sped up in the following scene when Ignatius Briary awoke. Michael Wilkins was absolutely brilliant as the titular pompous lord: his range of vocalisation and hilarious body language (particularly some foppish falls onto the bed) gave a freshness to an otherwise rather predictable role. The script was slow-moving in places, but the cast were so energetic that it never became stilted or boring. Scenes of little or no light were dotted throughout the play, providing a nice foil to the pandemonium of the main scenes. Sound was used to good effect, particularly in a dramatic voiceover by Tom Vickers at the beginning of the play which was set to the well-worn strains of Beethoven’s Fifth. This clichéd opening prepared the audience for some of the corny gags to come.
The second half was not as raucous as the first, and several new characters were introduced which slowed down the action somewhat. The dour and boorish insurance man Miguel Farewell (Laurence Cook) provided some memorable laughs with some well-placed one-liners, and Freddy Elletson as the cultivated but oblivious doctor lived up to his reputation as a recognised talent on the Drama Barn stage. The ending of the play slipped into the tragic rather than comic, which was a surprising direction to take, but was carried by the energy and focus of Wilkins. This play was a great showcase for the acting talent in the University’s Drama Society, and sets the beginning of the year off to a brilliant start. Kudos must go to Chiara Tuckett as producer for the elaborate period costumes, and for prop-sourcing such a detailed and lavish set. This show looked professional and, despite some minor flaws in execution, provided an entertaining and hilarious evening.
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