Monday 30 June 2008

The History Boys

Wyndham’s Theatre
Tuesday 27th February 2007. 7.30pm. Evening Performance

What’s it about?
Set in an unspecified northern grammar school in the 1980s. Alan Bennett’s The History Boys is the tale of eight students and their experiences in preparation for taking the Oxbridge qualification exams.

What’s good?
Simon Cox’s recreation of Nicholas Hytner’s original play is as flawless as if Hytner himself were still directing it. Having the enormous reputation of the original to live up to, the actors all do splendid jobs, seeming as though they were each born to play the parts that they are portraying. With Bennett’s modern classic of a script flowing perfectly from scene to scene. Steven Webb’s Ponser and Orlando Wells’ Irwin standing out particularly from an exemplary cast.

What’s bad?
Although the play is a practically perfect example of great theatre, it has to be noted that Stephen Moore is unable to hold the same amount of disparity that Richard Griffiths bought to the role of the infamous Hector (A performance for which Griffiths won both a Olivier and a Tony for best actor)

Overall
The current revival of The History Boys can barely be faulted, it is clearly in my opinion a modern classic in the making, and one which will be around in the west end for a very long time, bridging the generations in a society where exam pressures are all to real of a concern for the young, during a time when they should really just be having fun learning.

We Will Rock You

Wednesday 28th February 2007, Matinee Performance
Dominion Theatre

Written by Ben Elton and based on the music of Queen, We Will Rock You is widely considered to be the first west end smash hit, considering that it is currently in it’s fifth year at the Dominion Theatre.

What’s it about?
Set in a fictional future, where individuality and live music are no longer allowed, a prophecy tells of a “dreamer” who will lead the bohemians to bring music back to life.
The dreamer in question, is Galileo, a young man who hears “strange phrases” in his head, joining Galileo on his quest is the spunky Scaramouche as they try to hide from the evil Killer Queen and her lead henchman Khashoggi.

What’s good?
Very little about We Will Rock You is genuinely good, the cast do what they can with an incredibly weak script and puerile direction from Ben Elton. Apart from that, there is little to cheer about for We Will Rock You.

What’s bad?
We Will Rock You has many flaws to it; for starters the songs are performed in a pantomime- esque style reminiscent somewhat of a Butlins karaoke show. The show also features an incredibly poor selection of Queen’s legendary repertoire. With a number of songs seemingly included in the show purely for show. As a result We Will Rock You is effectively a very expensive tribute concert.

Overall
It is my firm belief that the show posses’ the potential to be great, however the script needs to be written to set it in a sensible tone, the suggestion was made to me that the show is just “Tongue- in- cheek” however, I have seen a vast number of theatrical shows and We Will Rock You is most definitely one of the most pathetic excuses for a show that I have ever seen. We Will Rock You will probably last a few more years on the west end, such is the status of Queen, however, it is this reviewer’s belief that Queen really should finally lay their music to rest before their reputation is changed from musical legends to a band who out- stayed their time by a few decades.

Equus

Wednesday 28th February 2007, Evening Performance
Gielgud Theatre

The revival of Peter Shaffer’s Equus has received a massive amount of publicity in the news that Alan Strang, one of the plays main characters, is to be performed by Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, a seventeen year old that, as part of the role, appears in one scene fully nude. Along side Radcliffe as the psychiatrist Martin Dysart is Richard Griffiths, in his first stage role since winning Olivier and Tony awards for Best Dramatic Actor for his performance in The History Boys.

What’s it about?
Equus is the story of psychiatrist Martin Dysart, in his attempts to understand the hideous actions of seventeen-year-old Alan Strang (Radcliffe), a young man who has only recently blinded six horses who he cared for. At the same time as treating Alan, Martin Dysart begins to question his own beliefs and sense of being.

What’s good?
Equus is an intense psychological thriller that divulges deep into the minds of the characters. A task which Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths handle with great skill, they are assisted by an incredibly designed minimalist set and intriguing costumes from John Napier, eerily atmospheric lighting from David Hersey and superb direction from Thea Sharrock.

What’s bad?
Equus suffers, however, from the depths and intense nature that Shaffer’s script divulges into. Such detail making it hard for the audience to completely follow at times.


Overall
With that said however, Equus is a truly brilliant revival. The biggest shock being the skill that Radcliffe posses’ as an actor against a performer such as Griffiths. I would in fact be very surprised if the quality of their performances does not lead to Olivier nominations for both, with Griffiths almost certain to surely claim a second Olivier award in as many years.

Saturday 7 June 2008

Spamalot

Tuesday 27th February 2007. 3pm. Matinee Performance.

An extraordinary buzz surrounded the auditorium of the Palace Theatre before the afternoon’s matinee of Spamalot commenced.

The audience, by average old enough to be original fans of Monty Python were joined in their excitement by a moderate selection of younger fans aging from as young as about 17.

The show commenced in typical Python fashion, with fish slapping and the wrong play completely appearing on stage. After, the wrong play issue was corrected, Spamalot began.

Spamalot, a self-described ‘loving rip- off of Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ began brightly and did not once lose the energy that it started with. The script, written by Monty Python’s own Eric Idle, bar a few scenes is a re- tread of the script word for word. Which in turn guaranteed the audience the same Python jokes they were hoping to see.

Understudy for King Arthur, Craige Els was note perfect as he led by example with a performance reminiscent of the original Spamalot King Arthur, Tim Curry.

With inspired original musical numbers (including a few old favourite such as the “fish schlapping song”, “Knights of the round table” and the legendary, “Always look on the bright side of life” Spamalot is a worthy addition to the Monty Python repertoire and proof that the humour of Monty Python can really last the test of time, generation and genre. A must see for Python fans.