This extremely creative piece by Shobana Jeyasingh had a definite mood-altering effect on me.
The performance was in three parts;
The first was a run-through of the Bayadere story, with each of the characters appearing behind a screen that switched to the projection of a blog being written by the narrator. He is onstage with his tablet as the audience enters and the screen behind him acted as a mirror to the waiting audience. The creative fuse was lit!
Once each of the characters had been introduced they came in front of the screen and the narrator summed up the plot as Bollywood but found Indian authenticity in the lengthy wedding ceremony.
In the second part, we move to the re-creation of the visit of five Indian temple dancers to Europe in 1838. As a backdrop, there are the words of captivated comment on the dance made by Theophile Gautier who went to see them. The repetitive words, subdued lighting and writhing of the dancers creates the feeling of a drug-like stupour.
Finally, the third part is pure dance - no words; no blog. Again full of writhing and with the music of Gabriel Prokofiev coming to the fore, the performance closes with the narrator once more assuming the stage.
Overall, I thought this was an excellent hour and would happily see it all again.
Thursday, 26 March 2015
23 March 2014. Deposit at Hampstead Downstairs
This 100 minute intrusion into the lives of two couples sharing a small flat to save money was extremely well acted but, for me, lacked particularly novel messages. The two females are old college friends and this friendship is pretty well destroyed by the tensions of living in close proximity to each other together with their boyfriends. (Maybe the novel message is that tensions increase once people are in couples but I don't think that's accurate.) One couple has a lucky inheritance and are anyway, financially, a bit more successful than the other. The jealousies this provokes are well illustrated as is the descent into irritation by trivia - you've left the clothes horse on our bed. The play also underlines the genuine difficulties faced by 20/30 borderliners in getting on the housing ladder in London. But that is scarcely a revelation.
The staging was excellent and between scenes there were well-choreographed routines that the couples executed to mark the change and the alteration in the relationship.
Overall, I wouldn't think of this as a must see but it made for an entertaining and engaging evening which had me feeling I was almost intruding on their private grief.
The staging was excellent and between scenes there were well-choreographed routines that the couples executed to mark the change and the alteration in the relationship.
Overall, I wouldn't think of this as a must see but it made for an entertaining and engaging evening which had me feeling I was almost intruding on their private grief.
Saturday, 7 March 2015
6 March 2015 Antigone at the Barbican
One of this year's hot tickets, this version of Antigone is a new translation by Anne Carson and is directed by Ivo van Hove with Juliette Binoche in the title role.
Some critics have been a bit sniffy about this production, but I go along with the FT's more positive evaluation. Although there were some coughs at the outset, later you could have heard a pin drop in the Barbican with the 1100 plus audience riveted. This was partly achieved by the cast generally speaking quite softly, apart from Antigone's outbursts. However, a lot of the reason must have been their engagement with the story and the way it was portrayed by the actors and the production. The chorus cleverly alternated with characters which kept one attentive and I thought as Kreon was excellent. Although he was miked up which was a bit odd at first, it seemed to work. His tragic loss as both son and wife died as a consequence of his principalled edict was brilliantly portrayed.
The rendition was at a very slow pace and this was reinforced by the music and video in the background. This all worked for me and I was convinced I was in for something good right from the off when the empty stage was scoured by wind from right to left. At first, above the wind, I found Juliette Binoche hard to hear and her early entrances and exits seemed a bit of a wander on and off. But it all quickly got into its stride.
The set was quite minimal and the line up of the characters worked very well, I thought. There were times that I thought it looked very much like a set for a contemporary opera. The play ran for 100 minutes without interval and that seemed the right decision. You could hardly break off for a drink half way through.
Cast
Antigone Juliette Binoche
Guard Obi Abili
Ismende/Chorus Kirsty Bushell
Haimon/Chorus Samuel Edward-Cook
Teiresias/Chorus Finbar Lynch
Kreon Patrick O’Kane
Eurydike/Chorus Kathryn Pogson
Body of Polyneikes/Boy Toby Gordon
Some critics have been a bit sniffy about this production, but I go along with the FT's more positive evaluation. Although there were some coughs at the outset, later you could have heard a pin drop in the Barbican with the 1100 plus audience riveted. This was partly achieved by the cast generally speaking quite softly, apart from Antigone's outbursts. However, a lot of the reason must have been their engagement with the story and the way it was portrayed by the actors and the production. The chorus cleverly alternated with characters which kept one attentive and I thought as Kreon was excellent. Although he was miked up which was a bit odd at first, it seemed to work. His tragic loss as both son and wife died as a consequence of his principalled edict was brilliantly portrayed.
The rendition was at a very slow pace and this was reinforced by the music and video in the background. This all worked for me and I was convinced I was in for something good right from the off when the empty stage was scoured by wind from right to left. At first, above the wind, I found Juliette Binoche hard to hear and her early entrances and exits seemed a bit of a wander on and off. But it all quickly got into its stride.
The set was quite minimal and the line up of the characters worked very well, I thought. There were times that I thought it looked very much like a set for a contemporary opera. The play ran for 100 minutes without interval and that seemed the right decision. You could hardly break off for a drink half way through.
Cast
Antigone Juliette Binoche
Guard Obi Abili
Ismende/Chorus Kirsty Bushell
Haimon/Chorus Samuel Edward-Cook
Teiresias/Chorus Finbar Lynch
Kreon Patrick O’Kane
Eurydike/Chorus Kathryn Pogson
Body of Polyneikes/Boy Toby Gordon
Thursday, 5 March 2015
5 March 2015. Inventing Impressionism at the National Gallery
Another amazing exhibition at the National Gallery, following the Rembrandt. This exhibition is cleverly based around the relationship between the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel and the painters whose work he loved, championed and dealt in.
The exhibition opens with a room of Renoirs, including several paintings of Durand-Ruel and members of his family. I particularly like the, portrait of his two sons. Next was a room covering three themes a) the backround of the Barbizon school, especially Corbet b) the visit of Pissaro and Monet to London, that included a magnificent portrait of Mme Monet on a chaise-longue c) Durand-Ruel's gamble on the art of Manet. The third room was under the theme 'committing to the 'new painting'" and contained works that he invested in from 1872 featuring Pissarro, Sisley Monet and Degas.
The remaining rooms concentrated on exhibitions in Paris, New York and London. The 1876 Second Impressionist Exhibition was promoted by Durand-Rueland Room IV contained paintings featured in that exhibition, including Sisley's The Watering Place at Marly-le-Roi. The fifth room was devoted to a selection of the Monets shown in a single artist exhibition of a type pioneered by Durand-Ruel. Included are five of the poplar series, including two that have travelled from Japan.Also in this room was Monet's custom's house perched on a cliff.
The sixth room featured works taken to America and Germany for sale. The Americans were apparently particularly receptive to this new art and the room included a striking Cezanne landscape. The final room was based on an exhibition at the Grafton Galleries in 1905. It contained an early working of the Bar at the Folie Bergeres as well as Manet's Tuileries painting.
All in all an excellent exhibition. The impressionists are not my favourite painters but this exhibition would be hard not to like and enjoy for an hour or two however challenging or not you find the works it contains.
The exhibition opens with a room of Renoirs, including several paintings of Durand-Ruel and members of his family. I particularly like the, portrait of his two sons. Next was a room covering three themes a) the backround of the Barbizon school, especially Corbet b) the visit of Pissaro and Monet to London, that included a magnificent portrait of Mme Monet on a chaise-longue c) Durand-Ruel's gamble on the art of Manet. The third room was under the theme 'committing to the 'new painting'" and contained works that he invested in from 1872 featuring Pissarro, Sisley Monet and Degas.
The remaining rooms concentrated on exhibitions in Paris, New York and London. The 1876 Second Impressionist Exhibition was promoted by Durand-Rueland Room IV contained paintings featured in that exhibition, including Sisley's The Watering Place at Marly-le-Roi. The fifth room was devoted to a selection of the Monets shown in a single artist exhibition of a type pioneered by Durand-Ruel. Included are five of the poplar series, including two that have travelled from Japan.Also in this room was Monet's custom's house perched on a cliff.
The sixth room featured works taken to America and Germany for sale. The Americans were apparently particularly receptive to this new art and the room included a striking Cezanne landscape. The final room was based on an exhibition at the Grafton Galleries in 1905. It contained an early working of the Bar at the Folie Bergeres as well as Manet's Tuileries painting.
All in all an excellent exhibition. The impressionists are not my favourite painters but this exhibition would be hard not to like and enjoy for an hour or two however challenging or not you find the works it contains.
Tuesday, 3 March 2015
3 March 2015. Catch me Daddy at the Tricycle
This is an amazing film. Described by the FT as 'pure cinema', the opening shots could each be put on a gallery wall as stills. Then the tension and air of unremitting menace take over for the entire duration of the film, taking one into a Britain that is well removed from the world of Radio 4 listeners - yet one knows it is not pure fantasy. The 15 certificate seems a bit low to me. The violence while not dwelt upon is tough. And the prop of one drug or another is constant. Not that those aspects of the film should put anyone off seeing this incredible portrayal of a descent into hell.
2 March 2015. Multitudes at the Tricycle
This highly topical play, if anything had too much in it and to it; so it's key messages got slightly lost amongst the action.
The key plot is that the Tories are having a conference in Bradford. The local councillor Kash lives with Natalie, a convert to Islam and daughter of a Tory stalwart, Lyn. Also in the household is Khadira his teenage daughter.
The City is the site for an anti-war peace camp, somewhat to the horror of the visiting party high-ups.
Khadira becomes radicalised and carries out a failed protest at the conference, suffering bad burns for her trouble.
There are many good lines but I'm not sure that I fully understand why Khadira took the path she did; and yet this is a fundamental topical question with the actual departure of the three schoolgirls and the story of Mohammed Emwazi. The person who radicalised Khadira has virtually no lines and yet her role in it all is critical. All we are left with is to wonder why all muslims are not radical in the face of the mother's deep-seated lack of acceptance of diversity. The end of the first act is particularly telling when her veneer of tolerance breaks down and she comes out with the old 'why don't you go home' cliches.
So overall, a good evening and excellent acting if a little too much shouting. The play itself, for me, needed simplifying so that the 'take home' was more obvious and worked through.
The key plot is that the Tories are having a conference in Bradford. The local councillor Kash lives with Natalie, a convert to Islam and daughter of a Tory stalwart, Lyn. Also in the household is Khadira his teenage daughter.
The City is the site for an anti-war peace camp, somewhat to the horror of the visiting party high-ups.
Khadira becomes radicalised and carries out a failed protest at the conference, suffering bad burns for her trouble.
There are many good lines but I'm not sure that I fully understand why Khadira took the path she did; and yet this is a fundamental topical question with the actual departure of the three schoolgirls and the story of Mohammed Emwazi. The person who radicalised Khadira has virtually no lines and yet her role in it all is critical. All we are left with is to wonder why all muslims are not radical in the face of the mother's deep-seated lack of acceptance of diversity. The end of the first act is particularly telling when her veneer of tolerance breaks down and she comes out with the old 'why don't you go home' cliches.
So overall, a good evening and excellent acting if a little too much shouting. The play itself, for me, needed simplifying so that the 'take home' was more obvious and worked through.
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