The Revenger’s Tragedy

So you think Hamlet has a high body count? You aint seen nothing yet. One feels that the set designer for the Royal National Theatre’s latest production of The Revenger’s Tragedy had no option but to use a revolving stage…how else would the living characters be able to ‘bear up Those tragic bodies’ as the script instructs? Much easier to just rotate them off.

Seriously though, this is a glorious, rich and sexy production of this little performed play. The staging includes several emsemble pieces outside of the script, most notably at the start. It takes us 5 minutes to get to the opening line, as the revolving set does its work and the scene is set both literally and emotionally. We are shown the events leading up to the opening scene played out before us. From the graphic rape of Lord Antonio’s wife, to the money troubles of Vindice’s family. If you keep your eyes open and are on the ball (there’s a lot going on!) then there is no excuse for not knowing what the state of affairs is before things get going.

The programme notes liken the play to a feminist Hamlet, and the parallels are obvious. Much of the action turns on the decisions of women to be virtuous or otherwise. Men are very much subject to their passions - both lusty and vengeful - and it is up to the women to keep things clean. Some manage it, some don’t. The hero/anti-hero Vindice, in disguise, swears an oath to help the Duke’s son win over a local virgin to corruption. He then discovers that the lucky lady is, in fact, his sister. Whilst he is perfectly happy to break the laws of the land to avenge various deaths, he is not prepared to break his oath to warn his sister. It is much more acceptable to put his sister and mother to the test.

In another scene the perpetrator of the aforementioned rape is mistakenly sent for execution. One might be tempted to feel sorry for the victim of this mix up. However, all sympathy disappears when, before hearing of his fate, he marvels at how he can be locked up for a whole month for the the sake of just one woman!

My seat was in the front row and to the side, which was fantastic for catching all the nuances of characterisation as they came on and off the main set. From my side-on view I was also clearly able to see how they got so much blood on stage so quickly without actually severing an artery..but I won’t spoil it on here.

All in all a great evening. Entertaining, thought-provoking, and very very bloody!

The delectable Mr Berry

Last night I took myself to the Bloomsbury Theatre to see Matt Berry perform songs from his new album ‘Opium’ along with the songs he has written for various TV programmes (Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, Snuff Box, Saxondale). I’ve recently discovered the talents of Mr Berry, after seeing him at the filming of the new series of The IT Crowd. Since then I’ve been enjoying the delights of Snuff Box and Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, so when I saw a poster for this gig whilst walking to UCL I thought I’d go along and see what it was all about.

In some ways it was a strange old night. The Bloomsbury theatre was by no means sold out, but everyone there was obviously a hardcore fan, and it almost felt like being part of a secret little group who had discovered this gem of a performer. There were other famous faces (well, famous if you watch these sort of programmes) dotted around the audience. Rich Fulcher was in the bar from the very beginning and joined Matt on stage for the Snuff Box theme tune. I heard rumours that Matt Holness was also there, and for the finale Matt was joined by “Motown legend” Geno Washington.

Particular highlights for me were the songs from the AD/BC musical that I’ve mentioned before on this blog and ‘One Track Lover’ from GMDP.

I’ve just found this fantastic video of bits of the evening on YouTube. Great quality and just like being there again:

If you like that, check out the other video posted by the same person. A lovely bit of rock opera.

Matt swigged from what appeared to be vodka bottle throughout the hour long set. He has such a distinctive speaking and singing voice and from my position in the 3rd row it was often as if he was singing straight to individuals in the audience.

Matt is also the voice of the Volvic volcano in the current adverts on TV and inevitably this led to shouts of ‘Warrrtteer’ from the audience and he replied that his bottle was full of ‘vodka-nicity!’.

I sneakily took a couple of photos and a bit of video footage, but they are only snippets as I didn’t want to remember the whole evening through a lens.

A unique evening of entertainment!

.

A review of an earlier gig with fabulous pictures can be found here.

Landscape With Weapon

Last night I took myself off to the theatre to see a new play by Joe Penhall in the National Theatre’s Cottesloe. I’ll admit that I chose this play partly because of the actors in it, but I’ve also been promising myself that I’ll go to the theatre more often, so when I found half price tickets for this one, I thought, ‘why not?’

Landscape With Weapon focuses on a engineers called Ned (Tom Hollander) who has designed a new kind of military technology which lets unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) operate without the need to rely on GPS. At the start of the play he is wrapped up in the intellectual feat he has achieved and it is only when his brother Dan (Julian Rhind-Tutt) questions what exactly his technology will be used for that he is forced to question the morality and possible consequences of what he has designed.

Enter his boss Angela Ross (Pippa Haywood) from the ministry of defence, who demands he signs over 51% 0f the IP (intellectual property) rights. Ned then has to face the reality that the beautiful technological solution that he has come up would no longer be within his control. When he tries to resist the situation takes a very serious and frightening turn as M16 agent Brooks (Jason Watkins) is brought in to ‘persuade’ him to co-operate.

The Cottesloe theatre is an intimate space and you never feel too far from the action in this production. The seating in arranged either side of a strip of stage, and Ned and Dan are often at each end of the strip forcing the audience to switch from looking at one to the other much like a tennis match. Maybe it’s the influence of my theatre studies A-level coming back to me, but I can’t help thinking that this is designed to reflect the way the dialogue flips you between the two sides of the argument.

Given the seriousness of the subject matter, this play is surprisingly funny. The reviews I’ve read seem to focus of Rhind-Tutt as the root of most of the comedy, but all four characters have their moments. It’s strength also lies in the fact that whilst moral and political debates run through the text, this is ultimately a portrayal of a human story.

Make sure you’re not too hungry if you go to see it though - the curry that the brothers eat just before the interval smells delicious (although if you’re lucky you might get a grain or two of rice to munch on!)