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.
York’s Friargate Theatre, domain of the Riding Lights Theatre Company, is well known for housing and promoting fresh theatrical talent and original dramatic works. The northern-based ‘Mary’s Sofa Theatre Company’, who are currently preparing for a foray into the Edinburgh Fringe festival 2011, are a classic example of this promising talent and a taste of the bright future of British theatre. Their debut production, ‘Black Shorts’, is a showcase of a wide variety of new material and original script writing. The subject matter and dark humour of the short plays err on the risqué but remain controversial and funny, without stooping to crudeness and the pursuit of cheap laughs.
Immediately one is presented with an unorthodox situation as the narrator (Ruby Clarke) confidently breaks “the fourth wall” by interacting directly with the audience. In addition, certain plays involve direct interaction between the narrator and the actors. In contrast to this unusual beginning one is shown the classical devices of storytelling, such as the spinning of a tale.
There are a variety of issues covered in the shorts of Act 1, such as ‘The Test’, which suggests that sexual education for the young consists of fear-mongering and poor education concerning the transmission of STDs. It is clear, however, that the primary topic linking the plays is Death. This subject is well represented in the arts and widely discussed in everyday life. Refreshingly, however, ‘Black Shorts’ provides a bright and highly original resurrection of this subject within these pieces.
The recurring short ‘Crushing Snails’ primarily features an unlikely duo of a sadistic, passive aggressive monkey (Rachel Price) and a blind man (Jon Boustead) who gradually and comically tests the boundaries of sympathy for his affliction. The writer is evidently encouraging the audience to question whether all of what is presented to us in life is as it seems. The narrator provokes us to consider whether we believe the man to be blind, purely based on his declaration that he is afflicted in this way.
Next, the audience is privy to the musings of a drunken and troubled mortician who is baring his soul to the corpse lying before him. The writer presents a clever and humorous insight into an amusing individual who possesses a dark secret.
‘Awake’ transports us to a situation that would be familiar to most of us: a funeral wake. This normally sombre and solemn occasion is irreverently toyed with, to great comic effect. A brash funeral guest (Jon Boustead), of questionable relation to the deceased, bombards another mourning guest (Rebecca Thomson) with inappropriate remarks and questions. The awkward humour derived from this situation is brilliantly presented.
Act 2 presents shorts that are of an unconnected nature although dark undertones persist nonetheless; such as ‘End of The Season’ which subtly helps us to identify the excuses that people use to convince themselves that they have made a decision for the right reasons.
An element of fantasy is presented in the opening and recurring piece (You Gave Me Nothing). A seemingly lucky woman (Ruby Clarke) stumbles upon a genie-enchanted bottle. When she attempts to bring her wishes to fruition through the pompous genie (James Welford) she realises that many negative consequences ripple from her desires.
The audience is then transported back to reality with the familiar situation of three mates having a beer at home. One of their number, Steve, persistently induces a gloomy change in the conversation every time the others attempt to brighten proceedings. A funny short that provokes awkward laughs as one’s sympathy shifts from the afflicted man to his two friends over the course of the play.
Conclusively, ‘Black Shorts’ provides a refreshing and enjoyable (albeit random) assortment of dark humour. In particular, this is a must see for fans of Pinter, Poe and Ayckbourn but there is also much on offer for those who can laugh wryly at the human condition.
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