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.
Gripping, chilling, provocative and disturbing are just some of the words I would use to describe Pilot Theatre's latest achievement, Blackbird. And what an achievement it was. Set in the beautifully suited Theatre Royal Studio, Katie Posner (Parlour Song, State of Innocence) has, with great skill and attention to detail, directed this magnificent piece of writing. Harrower's text invites the audience to witness a confrontation between two former lovers; the disturbing factor is introduced when we learn that their relationship began when he was 40, and she only 12. Simply reminding myself of the premise of this story recalls the uncomfortable and challenging atmosphere that confronts the audience head-on in the intimate performance space. We are forced to evaluate our attitudes, and question, not necessarily the immorality of the relationship, but the motivations of each character. Indeed Harrower has crafted his work in such a way that it does not impose a judgement on the topic, but instead presents us with the scenario, offering us moments of both sympathy and disgust as we watch the dialogue unfold, and as the programme promises, we leave the theatre in intense discussion...
Lydia Denno's cluttered and grimy set complimented the performance greatly, and barricaded us inside the meeting room between the two characters. The grubbiness of the staging served to enhance the grim nature of the piece, and could not have been better suited, with the proximity between spectator and performer making this production all the more thrilling. It would be interesting however, to see how this transfers onto larger stages throughout the three week tour, because I feel it would be a great shame if that claustrophobic atmosphere gets lost in translation.
Both actors in this piece deliver a sterling performance. George Costigan (Of Mice and Men, Death of a Salesmen) and Charlie Covell (Bite Me, Ned and Sharon, The Inbetweeners), with great skill and clarity, keep the audience hanging on every word. They speak with such intensity that at the most poignant moments, you could hear a pin drop... Or frustratingly for some, the rustling of sweet wrappers, and discussions of tonight’s supper... Pick your moments guys, please. Nevertheless, I was fortunate enough to remain undisturbed by the audience rumblings, which is a testimony to the actors' ability to keep us, and themselves, engaged in the performance, believing every line.
If anything, and I'm nit-picking now, my only complaints with the production would be that I would have liked more time to take in the opening 20 minutes of dialogue. There were moments when it felt a little too fast-paced, and Una's nervous twitch was, for me, a little over-done, but this did die down later on. Also, I would have liked to see more physical fighting in the piece, and more of Una's heart-wrenching moments of sadness. I felt that occasionally, Una's pain was met with too much restraint – this, I would have liked to have seen given a little more attention. Nevertheless the tension and chemistry between the pair on stage was undeniable: an unsettling frustration, consisting of anger, hatred, lust, love and compassion was executed beautifully by the highly skilled performers. It is evident that Posner has worked closely and carefully with both.
Blackbird is not only thematically challenging, but also as a text it can be incredibly difficult. The punctuation, or lack thereof, and the interruptions of either character could, if not handled with care, result in a theatrical train wreck. It is incredibly disappointing to watch a performance, in which it seems like neither actor, nor performer, have really got to grips with the script, and it pleases me to say that this is not the case with Posner's production. I think I might disagree with the Director's notes which say that “These characters speak the way we speak”, because I think that there is a certain poetic element to the text, which I would be careful not to label as entirely realistic. That being said, everybody involved clearly took the time to grapple with the demands of the script and performed it incredibly well. It truly was an entertaining and thought-provoking evening – make sure you catch the show!
Blackbird is on at the York Theatre Royal until 12th November before it goes on tour to Glasgow, Colchester and Exeter.
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