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 Drama Barn is always worth a visit. A reputable theatre, its loyal following of those both in and out of student life, and it's capacity to constantly churn out some good quality productions is enviable - particularly with it being a campus performance studio. DramaSoc seem to be on the ball each week with new shows in the pipeline, driven by enthusiastic theatre-lovers and talented student actors. The variety of shows that grace the stage each week means that there is always something being produced, and something at some point, is bound to tickle your fancy. The current production of Peter Nichols' A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, on paper, is one such show.
I say 'on paper', because my first encounter with the script caught my attention immediately. It is the play that initiated my love of black comedy, and I therefore came to the show with high expectations. The show itself tells the story of Brian and Sheila who are raising a severely disabled child, Joe – also known as “a vegetable”, “a crackpot” and “a spastic”. Yes, the humour is dark, and appears even darker today, given that it was written at a time when such terms were more socially acceptable. The story unfolds as we learn of the stresses that raising such a child has inflicted upon the marriage of the two central characters, and how they use humour as a coping mechanism to relieve the burden. Those who are initially on the periphery: Pam (Georgia Bird), Freddie (Laurence Cook), and Grace, Brian's mother (played by Colette Eaton), serve to disrupt matters further as Pam won't have anything to do with anything that is “NPA: Non-physically attractive”, Freddie is aiming to appease Brian's apparent suspicions that he is “getting his end away with Sheila”, and Grace has never seen the marriage working from the beginning.
Unfortunately, I left the theatre feeling somewhat 'on the fence' towards the production. Neither satisfied, nor disappointed... Don't get me wrong, there were moments of real greatness: Hannah Higton's portrayal of Sheila, I felt, was particularly moving, especially during her delivery of the monologues in the first act. There is a beautiful moment when she recalls a hope for a miracle, and confesses that the only reason she joins in with the jokes, is in order to please her husband – it was clear that Higton had the audience's attention when exposing further the tragic nature of the situation. Georgia Bird's Pam was also one worthy of praise. What highlighted her skill was her comedic timing, in both the obvious 'gag-lines', and the more subtle, responsive gestures she made in reaction to the other characters. Both Higton and Bird's other halves were, I felt, not quite as realised and seemed a little overstated. Again there were some fantastic moments, and Laurence Cook often won our affection with his brutal honesty, and charitable heart – however, there was not so much happening with regards to tonal shifts in his character, much of the lines being delivered the same way, and this kept the audience at arm's length. A similar thing could be said of Soldan. Both performers showed areas of great skill and ability, but this was not consistent throughout.
The direction of the play did not seem to reach its full potential, and there is vast room for improvement, but this is the case with anything that is as subjective as performing arts. The dialogue-heavy script proves to be a disadvantage, and Gray attempts to balance this somewhat with some fantastically directed moments between Brian and Sheila, but I would have like to see the pace pick up earlier on, and a little more attention given to the latter half of the production.
That being said, the comedy in this show was drawn out well, very well in fact, and the cast clearly had a firm grasp on the humour – it is this balance of good and bad points that make it impossible for me to promote the show, or indeed to slate it. My suggestion would be that if you like black comedy, go and watch it, and see what you think.
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