David Porter » Archive
Dancing at Lughnasa
Theatre Royal Youth Theatre Company at The Garage, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 18 March 2005 Dancing at Lughnasa A timely St Patrick’s Day reminder – Irish dramatists have enriched the English stage for centuries. This contribution to the wealth of our language is in that tradition. And the Theatre Royal Youth Theatre Company did it in the round! Many experienced actors fight shy of such audience proximity but this talented group handled Irish accents, the second world war and a Tennessee Williams-like rural claustrophobia with flair. Told through the memories of Michael, played by Sam Claflin with warmth and an ease with Brechtian direct address, it’s a tale of family ties in the winds of change from outside. The sisters (Monica Mason, Connie Wall, Sophie Utting, Katie Broadbent and Daisy Wood) kept … Read entire article »
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Dias de las Noches
Novogo Fronta at the Norwich Arts Centre Review published by the Eastern Daily Press, 10 March 2005 Dias de las Noches Theatre that styles itself new frontier sets high expectations in using the old to invent the new. Set in 1974, two Russian performers have defected to Argentina and as they face the reality of never returning home, they are surrounded by a local military uprising. Having been told that much, we were off on a madcap whirl of cabaret, circus and burlesque in a seedy underworld peopled by the undead, the disturbed and the frantic. The show had the air of being rough and ready – spit and sawdust theatre. But that was deceptive. We tapped into somebody’s nightmare with the Big Bang – symbolised by twisted naked bodies writhing to a soundtrack to match. Some … Read entire article »
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Marat-Sade
Mouth to Mouth Theatre at The Cut, Halesworth Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 6 May 2005 Marat-Sade Not a bad choice of entertainment in General Election week! Marat-Sade, like King Lear, questions the assumption that “sanity” alone brings awareness of reality, while “insanity” distorts reality. Originally staged in 1964, it is an evocation of Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty, a powerful, compelling piece with lessons from the Third Reich and earlier history. A wide knowledge of the aftermath of the French Revolution and the assassination of Marat is not a pre-requisite. Nor are details of the Marquis de Sade’s philosophy. Nor the medical treatment of the insane in 1808. This shock entertainment is deftly handled by Mouth to Mouth Theatre. Owing much to Brecht in narrative structure and songs, this play allowed the large cast … Read entire article »
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The Hiding Place
Saltmine Theatre Company at The Playhouse, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 18 May 2005 The Hiding Place Real-life events can sometimes be difficult to work in a theatrical context. Truth is often the first casualty. But in this perfomance of the Ten Boom family’s heroic hiding of Jews in their clock shop during the Nazi occupation of Holland, truth shines out alongside passion, Christian compassion, love and family values. Making a welcome return to the city, Saltmine brought their much-acclaimed show, The Hiding Place, out of the lifestory of Corrie Ten Boom and on to the Playhouse stage in an engaging and totally inspirational evening. Inevitably inviting some comparison with the Diary of Anne Frank and Schindler’s List, this went further. It’s timely on the 60th anniversary of war’s end to consider how forgiveness … Read entire article »
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The Rat Pack
Theatre Royal, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 5 July 2005 The Rat Pack I did it my way. A philosophy for the generation who grew up with the Rat Pack. Songs like That’s Life, That’s Amore, Fly Me to the Moon, Chicago, New York … are the soundtrack of the 1950s and much of the 60s too. In the company of talented performers, unmistakable music, cool dance moves, it wasn’t hard to imagine being at The Sands, Las Vegas. Individually and together Sammy Davis Jnr, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra were a force in entertainment that is felt to this day. The show is a cabaret tribute and more. The luscious Berelli Sisters were the dancing chorus eye candy – It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing. They swung. The 15-piece … Read entire article »
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Vincent in Brixton
Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 25 June 2005 Vincent in Brixton Would Vincent van Gogh be remembered today if he had become a preacher? We’ll never know. His destiny was to paint and his life led that way. It’s that early life in the form of a portrait of an artist as a young man that is the burden of this play. It is a fresh perspective, though it divided the critics from breathless admiration to ‘an impersonation of writing’. Director Rhett Davies takes the five-strong cast through the twists of fortune as young Vincent works for an art dealer in London and lodges in Brixton. Falling first for the daughter – elegantly played by Millie Woolsey-Brown, despite her ties to a fellow lodger amusingly played by Owen Bevan – he discovers … Read entire article »
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Tamla Motown
Theatre Royal, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 27 June 2005 Tamla Motown Along with mini-skirts, long hair and flower-power, Tamla Motown is the 60s. Those of a certain age have only to catch the opening bars of Reach Out I’ll Be There, Baby Love or Get Ready, to start grooving all over again. To have a string of the greatest mighty Motown classics in 60’s costumes, hair-dos and dance routines as performed by The Supremes, The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Miracles and Stevie Wonder, was sheer joy. These were living funky artistes, re-creating the heyday of that unique sound from Detroit that gave a voice to black and white people, then as now. Story there was none – the music spoke for itself. Just to list the titles of the songs is to … Read entire article »
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Romeo and Juliet
Shakespearean Lunges at The Seagull Theatre, Lowestoft Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 26 August 2005 Romeo and Juliet The launch of a new amateur theatre ensemble of students and older people is an exciting event. The intriguingly-entitled company is Shakespearean Lunges and their choice of one of the most well-known tragedies from the Bard’s cannon for their debut, is a challenging one. There is always a difficulty in reciting lines that have become part of the fabric of our English language, but director Sam Grayston has found a number of fresh angles. Modern settings and touches like slow dancing at the Capulets’ ball, small but well-formed comic moments from characters and Tybalt’s blood spat over Romeo’s face, all work to lift the text. Love’s young dream is Romeo (Rhys King) whose measured victim-hood is contrasted … Read entire article »
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And Then There Were None
Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 19 August 2005 And Then There Were None Lovers of art-deco crime, of the English island view of the world of twists and turns in plot, of actors who go beyond stereotypical characters and fans of the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, should set course for the Maddermarket. And Then There Were None is based on a verse, Ten Little Soldiers,the plot ingeniously sees a mystery host bring ten unconnected people to an island to accuse them of a variety of murders. Subsequently they are bumped off in increasingly gruesome acts of vengeance. Undercurrents of loathing, class conflict and a sense of period are directed superbly by Peter Sowerbutts around a clever and workable set. Stylistically it is difficult to portray characters who face certain but … Read entire article »
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Moll Flanders
Kaos Theatre at The Playhouse, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 6 October 2005 Moll Flanders Kaos Theatre returns to Norwich with a reputation for cutting-edge physical theatre and original storytelling. Expectations are high in the tale of the heroine/anti-heroine Moll, whore, victim, thief, woman…. The trouble is, Moll is played by a man (to reflect that the story is really of the disreputable writer Daniel Defoe himself). Many of the male and female parts are strangely swapped. By the end, the confusion has ceased to be comic and become distasteful and pointless. If there was any doubt that performance art reinvents the past, this is proof. It has shades of The Beggar’s Opera (six songs and early musical theatre) and a touch of Brecht’s Threepenny Opera (music, villains and a moral message). But the … Read entire article »
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