When Shakespeare's Globe in London first announced that Emma Rice would be the company's new artistic director, I had mixed feelings.
On the one hand, I LOVE Emma Rice's directing. Her work at Kneehigh has been amazing, and her Tristan and Yseult was one of the best plays I saw in 2014.
On the other hand, I wondered if she would be a good fit for the Globe. While the Globe does not limit itself to Renaissance-period productions, it utilizes period staging techniques, forcing actors to project instead of using microphones, and using a general light wash rather than allowing directors to rely on lighting tricks to covey scene changes or shifts in mood.
Rice is known for her innovative use of recorded sound and stylized lighting, and even more so for her aerial work. True, the original Globe lowered actors down from the "heavens" above the stage, but that was a far cry from the bungee chords Rice likes to use in her productions. Was this really going to be a good fit? Just because you love Spider-man and you love musicals, it doesn't necessarily mean you want to see the two together.
This summer, I was going to be in the U.K. for a Regency Theatre Conference, so I figured while I was in the area I would see Rice's inaugural production as the new artistic director of the Globe. She was doing A Midsummer Night's Dream. If aerial work is appropriate for any Shakespeare play, it would be for that one, and Rice's innate sense of romance and theatricalization of the sense of falling in love seemed to go perfectly with the play. This should have been the ideal piece for her to do at the Globe.
Alas, I was greatly disappointed, and apparently I was not the only one. The Globe recently released a statement regarding the company's future artistic direction. Rice will be stepping down as artistic director after the 2017-2018 winter season. According to the company's statement:
Following much deliberation and discussion, the Globe Board has concluded that from April 2018, the theatre programming should be structured around ‘shared light’ productions without designed sound and light rigging, which characterised a large body of The Globe’s work prior to Emma’s appointment.
Yes, Rice introduced high-tech lighting and sound to the Globe, and no, it did not work. The Globe is round, and lighting instruments were installed on each tier of seating, and when lights turned on opposite the seat where I was, I was blinded. Instead of adding to the performance, the lights became a nuisance. Perhaps that wasn't the case with all seats, because it was obvious Rice had directed the play out to the front, and had not spent time to the side of the stage, where I was. Directing for a thrust stage can be a challenge, but it can be done, and the blocking for the show was quite frankly insulting to anyone in the cheaper seats on the side.
I wasn't the only one to think so, either. All of us in my row kept inching further and further toward the center, because it was obvious that the further to the side you were, the more of the action you would miss. I've sat on the side before at the Globe, and previous productions have always been blocked with the theatre's seating arrangement in mind. This one certainly was not. Even worse, while the production contained lots of sight gags and ad-libbed lines that garnered laughs, the actual lines by Shakespeare just weren't funny. A Midsummer Night's Dream is a hysterical play, and the fact that Rice added humor to the piece rather than finding the comedy within it seems to imply that maybe she's best off directing things other than Shakespeare.
Seeing Rice's A Midsummer Night's Dream made me doubly sad. I was sad to see the wonderful space of the Globe poorly used, and I was sad to see Rice's equally wonderful talents also poorly used. Not only was the Globe wasted on Rice, but Rice was wasted on the Globe. The space did not match her amazing and unique talents as a director, and for that, we should blame neither her nor the theatre. On the company's website, Rice recently made this statement:
I have had a wonderful time creatively here at the Globe, but I respect the Board’s decision for its future direction. I look forward to continuing to explore the possibilities of this extraordinary space over the next 18 months, excited to see even more astonishing work unfolding in the glorious wooden 'O' as well as the exquisite Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.
The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is designed to resemble an indoor Jacobean playhouse such as Shakespeare frequently used in the latter part of his career. This winter, Rice will be directing an adaptation of the works of Hans Christian Andersen there, which could be delightful. In the summer, she'll be bringing Tristan and Yseult to the Globe, as well as directing a production of Twelfth Night.
After that and after the following winter, I'm not sure where she'll be going or what she'll be doing, but I'm sure whatever she does will be better than her Midsummer. Rice's parting ways with the Globe should be better for her, better for the theatre, and better for audiences.
Showing posts with label Kneehigh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kneehigh. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Best Plays of 2014
It's that time of year again, and I'm compiling a list of the best new shows I saw in New York in 2014.
Last year the big hits included Saint Joan, Unlock'd, Tamar of the River, and Dialogues des Carmelites.
This year, the same rules apply. This list is only shows that opened in New York City in 2014. (Sorry, Matilda!) However, given my recent post on the top 12 plays of the late 18th century, I'm increasing my picks to a round dozen. Here they are in reverse order:
12. El Año en que nací This documentary theater piece played at La Mama in January as part of the Under the Radar Festival. Performed in Spanish, with English supertitles, it featured young people imagining what life had been like in Chile for their parents around the years when they had been born. Playwright and director Lola Arias beautifully wove together narratives by each of the cast members, creating a haunting portrait of Chile under Pinochet.
11. Billy & Ray This production at the Vineyard Theatre could hardly have been more different from the avant-garde style of Lola Arias, yet it also attempted to recreate true events. In this case, the action surrounded the writing of the screenplay for Double Indemnity, one of the most influential noir films of all time. Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler, both brilliant writers in very different ways, collaborated to pen the screenplay, and the experience knocked poor Chandler off the wagon. Comic playwright Mike Bencivenga turned that story into a delightful, frequently farcical play that provided a platform for actors Vincent Kartheiser (Wilder) and Larry Pine (Chandler) to show their stuff. The result was an evening of pure magic.
10. Tamburlaine the Great Christopher Marlowe might have been basing his megalomaniacal hero-villain on a real person, but facts in this play scarcely matter, and Theatre for a New Audience's production directed by Michael Boyd deftly set the production in a timeless era with geographical differences only hinted at from time to time. War, bloodshed, and pointless slaughter remain constant, no matter where or when they might occur. It's still playing until January 4, so get your tickets here.
9. pool (no water) Mark Ravenhill's play received an excellent production at the Barrow Street Theatre in November, thanks to the One Year Lease Theater Company. Director Ianthe Demos broke up the famous in-your-face playwright's block text into five voices, performed by a superb cast of actors. The ingenious set consisted of only a handful of long, white benches, which the cast rearranged in astonishing ways. The story, which follows a group of artists invited out to visit the California home of one of their former associates, might not seem terribly moving (in part because the characters themselves are such terrible people), but innovative staging and exceptional acting made this piece a pleasure to watch, even as increasingly horrible things began to happen.
8. Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill This play by Lanie Robertson is sensational even without a star like Audra McDonald. However, with McDonald giving the performance of a lifetime, how could you not love it? James Noone provided a set design that transformed the Circle in the Square into a jazz club for legends fallen upon hard times. Instead of just a single piano player accompanying Billie Holiday, the audience was treated to a three-piece band that created a haunting and memorable sound. If you missed it, fortunately there's a cast album available.
7. Tristan & Yseult Esteemed British company Kneehigh brought this fresh take on an old legend to St. Ann's Warehouse. Though the production contained less dance than I anticipated, I was not disappointed. Writers Anna Maria Murphy and Carl Grose kept a contemporary feel for the piece, with occasional nods to the medieval source material and the famous opera by Wagner. Most moving for me me was the portrayal of Whitehands, played by Kristy Woodward, who commented on the action with the aid of the Lovespotters, a chorus of crooners who observe love at arm's length but never engage in passion themselves. The audience, however, has no choice but to engage emotionally, whether flying with elated lovers or burning with despair in this production so skillfully directed by Emma Rice.
6. Red Velvet Kudos to St. Ann's Warehouse for making the list twice with a second British import. Tricycle Theatre brought the 19th-century Shakespearean actor Ira Aldridge to life in this wonderful new play by Lolita Chakrabarti. Adrian Lester, known for his own Shakespearean acting, played Aldridge with both easy grace and simmering anger. As a bonus for theatre history nerds, both Charles Kean and Ellen Tree made appearances in the play.
5. Machinal In January, Roundabout officially opened this stunning revival of Sophie Treadwell's classic play. I saw it in previews and was quite moved by Rebecca Hall's magnificent performance as a doomed murderess. Treadwell's expressionist drama gives the audience nine scenes of descent into an increasingly mechanized life. This production also featured transitional scenes, as Es Devlin's set rotated to reveal new rooms, like fresh cages for urban rats. Director Lyndsey Turner skillfully helmed the play, steering us toward the inevitable conclusion, where the true horror of the machine, literal as well as metaphorical, becomes apparent. This was the kind of production that makes me regret not getting a chance to see more of Roundabout's plays.
4. That Poor Dream The Assembly's modern-day adaptation of Great Expectations had me on two fronts, adapting a work by my favorite novelist and setting it aboard a familiar Metro North train headed from Grand Central to Connecticut. Though the piece skillfully uses much of the dialogue by Dickens, it branches out to explore how the issues in the novel apply to the United States in the 21st century. I'm writing in the present tense now because while That Poor Dream closed in October, it is reopening in January for six performances at The Tank. It's playing only from the 9th through the 11th, so get our tickets here.
3. King Lear The Public Theater doesn't always do Shakespeare to my liking, but they nailed it this year with this magnificent outdoor production starring John Lithgow. Though excessively long (combining Shakespeare's two texts of Lear to create an extended version lasting well over three hours), this production gave a moving portrayal of a once-great man slipping into madness and struggling to regain his senses (and his dignity) again. Chuckwudi Iwuji, who also played Bajazeth in Tamburlaine, was a memorable Edgar, feigning madness with compelling vigor. His father Gloucester, played by Clarke Peters, was also quite effective. Though the set (designed by John Lee Beatty) might not have been as creative as the one for That Poor Dream, it worked incredibly well in Central Park's Delacorte, especially with lighting designed by Jeff Croiter and projections by Tal Yarden. Thankfully, director Daniel Sullivan brought it all together this time.
2. All the Way Amazingly, I never blogged about this show, but perhaps I just wanted to keep the memory of it pure in my mind. The last time playwright Robert Schenkkan had a play on Broadway was The Kentucky Cycle in 1993. I saw that play as a freshman in college, and it left quite an impression on me. Now, more than two decades later, Schenkkan was back again with another play exploring America's history. This one focused on L.B.J.'s efforts to get the Civil Rights Act passed and then win re-election so the Republicans wouldn't smash it all to pieces. Bryan Cranston played President Johnson impeccably, virtually disappearing into his character. The rest of the cast was exceptional as well
1. Macbeth Hands down, this was the theatrical event of the year. Kenneth Branagh starred in and co-directed this production at the Park Avenue Armory. Doctor Who's Alex Kingston played Lady Macbeth, and Jimmy Yuill (Captain Jamy from Branagh's Henry V) was Banquo. Though originally performed in a deconsecrated church, this production re-imagined itself for its new home in the Armory. It used the historic building for great effect, and when the doors opened into the massive drill hall, it was impossible not to be in awe of the Scottish heath that had been built inside the building. Open flames, clanging broadswords, and blood, blood, blood abounded. Even better, however, was watching Branagh illuminate Shakespeare's words in ways only he can do. The "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" speech seemed fresh and new, as if we were hearing it for the first time, even though many of us had been forced to memorize it in high school. Thank you, Mr. Branagh! And please come back to New York soon!
Honorable mentions include Red-Eye to Havre de Grace, Row After Row, and Hellman v. McCarthy. Here's to an even better theatre year in 2015!
Last year the big hits included Saint Joan, Unlock'd, Tamar of the River, and Dialogues des Carmelites.
This year, the same rules apply. This list is only shows that opened in New York City in 2014. (Sorry, Matilda!) However, given my recent post on the top 12 plays of the late 18th century, I'm increasing my picks to a round dozen. Here they are in reverse order:
11. Billy & Ray This production at the Vineyard Theatre could hardly have been more different from the avant-garde style of Lola Arias, yet it also attempted to recreate true events. In this case, the action surrounded the writing of the screenplay for Double Indemnity, one of the most influential noir films of all time. Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler, both brilliant writers in very different ways, collaborated to pen the screenplay, and the experience knocked poor Chandler off the wagon. Comic playwright Mike Bencivenga turned that story into a delightful, frequently farcical play that provided a platform for actors Vincent Kartheiser (Wilder) and Larry Pine (Chandler) to show their stuff. The result was an evening of pure magic.
9. pool (no water) Mark Ravenhill's play received an excellent production at the Barrow Street Theatre in November, thanks to the One Year Lease Theater Company. Director Ianthe Demos broke up the famous in-your-face playwright's block text into five voices, performed by a superb cast of actors. The ingenious set consisted of only a handful of long, white benches, which the cast rearranged in astonishing ways. The story, which follows a group of artists invited out to visit the California home of one of their former associates, might not seem terribly moving (in part because the characters themselves are such terrible people), but innovative staging and exceptional acting made this piece a pleasure to watch, even as increasingly horrible things began to happen.
7. Tristan & Yseult Esteemed British company Kneehigh brought this fresh take on an old legend to St. Ann's Warehouse. Though the production contained less dance than I anticipated, I was not disappointed. Writers Anna Maria Murphy and Carl Grose kept a contemporary feel for the piece, with occasional nods to the medieval source material and the famous opera by Wagner. Most moving for me me was the portrayal of Whitehands, played by Kristy Woodward, who commented on the action with the aid of the Lovespotters, a chorus of crooners who observe love at arm's length but never engage in passion themselves. The audience, however, has no choice but to engage emotionally, whether flying with elated lovers or burning with despair in this production so skillfully directed by Emma Rice.
5. Machinal In January, Roundabout officially opened this stunning revival of Sophie Treadwell's classic play. I saw it in previews and was quite moved by Rebecca Hall's magnificent performance as a doomed murderess. Treadwell's expressionist drama gives the audience nine scenes of descent into an increasingly mechanized life. This production also featured transitional scenes, as Es Devlin's set rotated to reveal new rooms, like fresh cages for urban rats. Director Lyndsey Turner skillfully helmed the play, steering us toward the inevitable conclusion, where the true horror of the machine, literal as well as metaphorical, becomes apparent. This was the kind of production that makes me regret not getting a chance to see more of Roundabout's plays.
3. King Lear The Public Theater doesn't always do Shakespeare to my liking, but they nailed it this year with this magnificent outdoor production starring John Lithgow. Though excessively long (combining Shakespeare's two texts of Lear to create an extended version lasting well over three hours), this production gave a moving portrayal of a once-great man slipping into madness and struggling to regain his senses (and his dignity) again. Chuckwudi Iwuji, who also played Bajazeth in Tamburlaine, was a memorable Edgar, feigning madness with compelling vigor. His father Gloucester, played by Clarke Peters, was also quite effective. Though the set (designed by John Lee Beatty) might not have been as creative as the one for That Poor Dream, it worked incredibly well in Central Park's Delacorte, especially with lighting designed by Jeff Croiter and projections by Tal Yarden. Thankfully, director Daniel Sullivan brought it all together this time.
1. Macbeth Hands down, this was the theatrical event of the year. Kenneth Branagh starred in and co-directed this production at the Park Avenue Armory. Doctor Who's Alex Kingston played Lady Macbeth, and Jimmy Yuill (Captain Jamy from Branagh's Henry V) was Banquo. Though originally performed in a deconsecrated church, this production re-imagined itself for its new home in the Armory. It used the historic building for great effect, and when the doors opened into the massive drill hall, it was impossible not to be in awe of the Scottish heath that had been built inside the building. Open flames, clanging broadswords, and blood, blood, blood abounded. Even better, however, was watching Branagh illuminate Shakespeare's words in ways only he can do. The "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" speech seemed fresh and new, as if we were hearing it for the first time, even though many of us had been forced to memorize it in high school. Thank you, Mr. Branagh! And please come back to New York soon!
Honorable mentions include Red-Eye to Havre de Grace, Row After Row, and Hellman v. McCarthy. Here's to an even better theatre year in 2015!
Monday, November 17, 2014
Kneehigh's Tristan and Yseult
Last night, I saw the first preview of the British theatre company Kneehigh's production of Tristan and Yseult at St. Ann's Warehouse. This is a story near and dear to my heart, and the production is well worth seeing.
Writers Anna Maria Murphy and Carl Grose stay mostly faithful to the ancient celtic legend, though the dress is modern, as is the music. Wagner, of course, must rear his head, as the obligatory strains of Tristan und Isolde ring through the theatre, but the audience is more likely to hear pop songs played by the band at "The Club of the Unloved."
Band members, who serve as a chorus of sorts, wear knitted hoods, that if looked at sideways, could almost be mistaken for chain mail. They profess to be merely Lovespotters, observers who hold love at arm's length and never engage in strong emotion themselves. Leading these loveless souls, and narrating the play, is Whitehands, the Yseult of the Fair Hands in the legend, played magnificently in this production by Kristy Woodward. Dressed in white and wearing dark sunglasses, Whitehands remains both detached from the action and cynically engaged with everything that happens.
While the Lovespotters hold love at arm's length, we in the audience cannot. Dominic Marsh plays a Frenchified Tristan, while Hannah Vassallo is the chestnut-haired beauty who captures his heart. When they fall in love, they literally fly through the air, leaping and swinging on cables suspended above the stage. Director Emma Rice choreographs the aeronautics brilliantly, and we cannot help but be caught up in the ecstasy of the moment.
Of course, Yseult has a husband, King Mark of Cornwall, sympathetically played by Mike Shepherd. Traditionally, Mark is Sir Tristan's uncle, but in this version, the play implies he is the knight's natural father. In any case, he clearly loves Tristan with a fatherly love, making the betrayal all that more painful.
Tristan and Yseult is playing until December 14th. For more information, go here:
St. Ann's Warehouse
Writers Anna Maria Murphy and Carl Grose stay mostly faithful to the ancient celtic legend, though the dress is modern, as is the music. Wagner, of course, must rear his head, as the obligatory strains of Tristan und Isolde ring through the theatre, but the audience is more likely to hear pop songs played by the band at "The Club of the Unloved."
Band members, who serve as a chorus of sorts, wear knitted hoods, that if looked at sideways, could almost be mistaken for chain mail. They profess to be merely Lovespotters, observers who hold love at arm's length and never engage in strong emotion themselves. Leading these loveless souls, and narrating the play, is Whitehands, the Yseult of the Fair Hands in the legend, played magnificently in this production by Kristy Woodward. Dressed in white and wearing dark sunglasses, Whitehands remains both detached from the action and cynically engaged with everything that happens.
While the Lovespotters hold love at arm's length, we in the audience cannot. Dominic Marsh plays a Frenchified Tristan, while Hannah Vassallo is the chestnut-haired beauty who captures his heart. When they fall in love, they literally fly through the air, leaping and swinging on cables suspended above the stage. Director Emma Rice choreographs the aeronautics brilliantly, and we cannot help but be caught up in the ecstasy of the moment.
Of course, Yseult has a husband, King Mark of Cornwall, sympathetically played by Mike Shepherd. Traditionally, Mark is Sir Tristan's uncle, but in this version, the play implies he is the knight's natural father. In any case, he clearly loves Tristan with a fatherly love, making the betrayal all that more painful.
Tristan and Yseult is playing until December 14th. For more information, go here:
St. Ann's Warehouse
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